What are jobs that a game designer can transition to?

Interests: I like building things, telling stories, and creating meaningful experiences. Ever thought about user experience? I think with your portfolio, you could spin the similarities of game design as relevant to the challenges of user experience. No matter what a user is doing, whether playing a game or paying their taxes, they have a quest, and it's your job to help them complete it and to feel good about it at the end. Etc.

Plus, I'm not sure what I would learn that I don't already know. Data Structures Algorithms Big O Notation Functional, Procedural, and Object-Oriented Languages Compilers Numerical Methods Probability & Statistics Linear Algebra Design Patterns Get some rigorous training and game devs are a very good fit for DoD, DoE, Nasa, Genomics, and other http://www.scs.org/.

Apparently Amazon/Facebook etc are hiring programmers like there is no tomorrow in Seattle right now. I have a friend at Amazon that claims that, essentially, if you can get an interview, and beat their interview loop, they are willing to train you up, regardless of whatever skills and previous experience you bring to the table. So that might be something to consider - the tricky part might be getting the interview in the first place. I'm a games programmer myself with a ton of experience and a good full time gig, but I have to say I'm tempted by this idea myself. There's also coding bootcamps in Seattle if you want to learn the current web stacks quickly, and don't want to go back to school, but, again, I don't know exactly how hirable their graduates are. Still, it couldn't hurt if you're interested in breaking into the general tech rather than game programming world.

Also: the degree is also negotiable at a LOT of organisations. Does it make life harder? Sure, but only about 60% of my coworkers have one, despite it being an ostensibly hard requirement for the job.

That said, if you 'fucking hated it', the likelihood of a good outcome is substantially reduced.

Seconding what bleep said above on UX, I literally just did what you're trying to do and successfully transitioned out of video games into the larger tech industry as a designer. With your coding skills you would probably want to seek out a UX Engineer position instead. Plenty of those at Microsoft! A lot of what strict UX jobs are in practice is being at the helm of problem solving, not really doing the whole coding thing. Regardless, if you want to go this route, you'll need to be able to speak knowledgeably on web and/or mobile technologies and be able to connect the dots for hiring managers on the (many, many) ways your game design experience is relevant to UX. You will not be the best fit on paper compared to a graduate fresh out of the UW HCDE program, but someone who knows what value you provide will find you with enough time and searching. Use recruiters. I, too, was never able to land a full time gig, so I said "fuck it" and decided to get paid what I'm worth while still working on games -- and now VR -- in my spare time. It's paying off in spades. Good luck!

First thing, I'd take your experience in the game industry as a reflection on the industry, not you. They take advantage of the huge numbers of young people who want to work on computer games. Second, if your programming skills are at all decent, you should be able to find some work. Third, I think the UX suggestions are great. Being able to do mockups and even functional prototypes will be an asset. There are a number of UX meetups and professional groups in the Seattle area that you can check out to start learning the jargon and networking.

Healthcare IT pays OK and getting in can be easy. If you can manage it, getting into someplace that uses http://www.epic.com/about-index.php and will get you certified will be a huge move towards job stability. There's a whole backend to the application for reporting and interfaces and databases that don't require clinical experience. Also, if you're doing real QA work you should be earning more than minimum wage, unless you're talking Seattle's $15/hr rate, which could be about right. $15 to $20 depending on experience is about where is starts. Neither of these are very interesting, unfortunately.

Please, please stop with the condescending " Plus, I'm not sure what I would learn that I don't already know. " attitude. Only someone who has finished a 4 year degree is qualified to say that. Heck, you can start your 4 year degree, get a decent internship in your second year, convince your employers to hire you full time without a degree and call it a day. Yes, I agree "college" is just an over priced social construct. For all I know, you might already know more than what a typical 4 year college education gives you. But admitting that you do't have the degree and the fact that as a result you are going to be competing against people who have that degree will go a long way. That said, without the degree, I would go with the "who you know, not what you know" policy of job hunts. Look for recruiters directly. Try to get in touch with any of your previous clients. Have active LinkedIn and Monster profiles, maybe even pay for the premium LinkedIn account. It's only a matter of time before you *will* get noticed. Good luck !