Stories Beyond Newhouse: Kyle Ott ’16, The Game Designer
The rigorous schedule Newhouse Master’s students must endure is well known, and this amount of work combined with extracurricular efforts can detract students from looking beyond the horizon of Syracuse. As amazing as this communications program is, the point is to hopefully make your professional dreams come to life, and pulling that off all in one year can seem impossible.
So far in my experience, I’ve gone to the Career Development Center (which I recommend you visit yourself), attended a Job Hunting Seminar, and continually read about new media trends to see how I can make the most effective use of my time and skills as a multimedia entrepreneur. Newhouse and its network of hardworking, passionate people inspire me to work hard every day, but I know I must plan accordingly for the future after my time is done in Syracuse.
I wanted to gain a better scope of what entrepreneurship was like after graduation, so I decided to further develop a conversation I had with a Newhouse Television, Radio, & Film ’16 alumni named Kyle Ott. I met Ott in my ICC 600 Entrepreneurial Thinking course taught by Sean Branagan, where he made a rather grand entrance in Room 409 of Newhouse 1.
Ott had plentiful advice to provide to our class, but I knew he had more valuable insight stored in the back of his mind. I thought his experiences as a game designer were profound, as I also aspired to create games growing up a huge Nintendo fan, and he had much more to share about what all goes into his work.
“While I do design game content there’s a lot more that goes into what I do,” Ott told me in an interview. “On any given day, I may be concepting new puzzles, coming up with monsters, reworking rules, running playtest sessions, and taking the feedback we get from players and putting it to good use.”
“Newhouse helped me finally zero in on what I wanted to do,” continued Ott. “When I was here I was running game sessions for my friends, writing game ideas in between classes, and trying to figure out how to turn my Newhouse experiences (and connections) to my advantage when it came to making games.”
It all began with a simple card game Ott created with 100+ index cards he wrote himself. “50 Worst Dates,” the Ott original card game, featured hilarious scenarios players match with one another, acting as a less awkward way for friends to talk about the lackluster dates you just want to internalize and have no one else know about.
Ott can bring these types of ideas and innovations to the forefront of his career, and his future is brimming with huge opportunities given the path he is on so far. When asked about professional advice on entrepreneurship, he provided realistic insight to consider.
“The best piece of professional advice I could give is to start cultivating a network of peers you can work with,” Ott explained. “In the ‘real world,’ it’s tough to get people to bounce ideas off of. Looking back, I feel like I was spoiled because of how many people that I had access to. If I wanted someone to give one of my new games a try, I was three text messages away from a playtest session.”
Clearly, Ott sees the goldmine of value that is the Newhouse network. He makes an excellent point on just how accessible my peers are in today’s technological landscape of communication technology, and building a professional network while I am here is just as important as building my own brand.
Additionally, I must realize the importance of the wonderful Newhouse staff. A random piece of advice I heard was to “make sure to speak to every Newhouse professor at least once, even the ones that you don’t work with.” Given the brief experiences I have had with my professors so far, I can agree. Every professor I have worked with here is humble, professional, and always willing to lend advice and general guidance in the right direction, so meeting them all should be a priority. Even Ott had a few professors in mind when looking back on his Newhouse experience.
“While almost every professor I had contact with helped me in some way (Randy Wenner, Ken Harper, Dan Pachecco, Chris Tuohey, and Michael Schoonmaker come to mind) two figures proved especially important,” Ott remarked. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how important Sean Branagan was to my growth. Sean was the one who helped me form my business, he’s the one I’d run my ideas past, and he ultimately lead to me becoming a better designer, businessman, and person. Keith Kobland was another important figure. He was instrumental in helping me get my first TV interview with News Channel Nine, and he’s been a constant source of encouragement.”
Overall, I will take all the advice Ott shared to heart as I continue my adventure in Newhouse. I have high aspirations to become a successful entrepreneur, and I recognize how difficult it is to make a break in this industry. Being able to write and reflect on these issues certainly helps my mindset as a Newhouse student, and providing opportunities for myself to connect with others who were once in my shoes is the most valuable insight I can ask for. For those of you all still reading, thanks for joining me on this journey. I hope to continue bringing more unique perspectives as a Newhouse Insider!
He has been published across a wide variety of media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, the Cornell Daily Sun, SportTechie, Clutchpoints, Cavs Nation, the Cornell Chronicle, and many more.
Tobe has a plethora of hobbies, including writing, athletics, drawing, acting, and collaborating with others about ideas and startups working in the multimedia space.
One Reply to “Stories Beyond Newhouse: Kyle Ott ’16, The Game Designer”
Go cuz