Level design is one field that is better described graphically, however, strangely there are not many Youtube channels for level designers.
The ten channels that we’ve prepared for you, do not include hundreds of videos each and focus on their own topic - education, livestreams, interview, blockout, Unity, etc. However, if you combine all of them together, you’ll get a fairly comprehensive guide on level design.
1. Level Design Lobby
Level Design Lobby is a one of its kind Youtube channel which is meant specifically for level designers. It has an amazing series of videos with game breakdowns where they explain why these games work so well and how you can use the same techniques. Also, they have great interviews with people from the field, the author answers questions and talks about incredible resources on the topic that you can read or watch. This will be enough for you for a whole year!
2. Steve Lee (Level and Game Design)
Steve is a level designer with more than 15 years of experience in the games industry who worked on big AAA games including Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios) and Bioshock Infinite (Irrational Games). They create educational videos on the topics of level and game design that every designer should know.
3. WorldofLevelDesign
This is a great Youtube channel for beginners in level design and game environment art. Watch tutorials through which you can learn how to design your own maps and create your own game environment art.
4. GDC
This is the largest and most popular channel in our list. It has a dedicated ‘Design Talks’ playlist. Also, you’ll find a number of videos that directly relate to the topic of level design. This Youtube channel is a must-watch for anyone who loves the game dev industry.
5. Maverick
Maverick is a channel focused on creating video game environments in Unreal Engine 4 and Unity 5. It is not meant to teach you something from the scratch but rather to improve your existing level design skills.
6. Game Maker's Toolkit
Game Maker's Toolkit is a great channel for indie game makers and game designers. You can find tons of useful information about game economy, tutorials, mechanics, etc. Why is it on this list? Because it has some useful videos on level design as well as a playlist called ‘On the Level’ - a series of interviews with practicing level designers.
7. griffitii
John is a 3D environment artist who runs this unique channel. They have a number of captured livestream videos where John creates a street scene or a model, and they teach you how to move from a concept to a 3D scene. If you are amazed by the blockout phase of level design - the griffitii channel is for you!
8. Unreal Environments - Speed Level Design
This Youtube channel has two main playlists - one is about speed level design, and another is about Unreal environments. It is rather inspirational than educational (although, you can learn by copying). The author creates a wide range of scenes - from tropical forest and bonfire to a pirate island and a ghost town, so, you can collect the same assets, open Unreal Engine 4 and repeat after them!
9. Pixel Mystique Games
Pixel Mystique is an indie game development studio, so they cover it all - business and marketing topics as well as level and game design. They provide deconstructions, game dev tips, tutorials and even talk about the level design pre-production process which you won’t find anywhere else.
10. MarkG Game Design
Mark’s videos can definitely inspire you into doing something rather than just watching other people’s masterpieces. They have a great educational playlist called ‘Unreal: Building a Level and Mission’ - simply watch and repeat!
These are our top 10 best level design Youtube channels for now. If you work in this field, you need to keep your eyes open because game development is still evolving and we’re seeing more great channels pop up!
By the way, if the game is already released and you want to analyze the successful/unsuccessful aspects of your levels, your can use devtodev - a feature-rich analytics platform made for games and apps.
For example:
Analyze complexity of a location:
Find the levels where they make the most purchases:
And much more! Simply open our free demo and go to the In-game analysis report.
