What skills are needed to design a game for both single and multiplayer modes?

Mastering game mechanics is, in my opinion, the cornerstone of designing both single and multiplayer games. The essence of a game lies in its gameplay, which underscores why the most effective game mechanics endure over time. Take Tetris for example: its enduring appeal, remaining as captivating today as it was 35 years ago, exemplifies this principle. More recently, Vampire Survivor highlights how well-crafted mechanics, even when simple can transcend and engage players across generations... In order to learn more about game mechanics, I can only recommend the Youtube channel of Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Kirby and Smash Bros, on Creating Games.

When it comes to game design for a hybrid single player and multiplayer experience, particular care towards counter-play and answers to actions that players can take is necessary. In a single player experience, the player can be "broken" with powers and abilities that, realistically cannot be countered or defended against. If player avatars are built like this in a multiplayer setting, however, the experience can very quickly become one sided , such that only one player is really having fun while the other is getting beaten to a pulp. The idea is to create a nice system of tit for tat that players can slot into. From there you design the single player campaign such that it teaches players how to do that tit for tat.

When it comes to art for a hybrid competitive and single player experience, readability becomes extremely important. As players need to be able to recognize what strategies are being employed against them and then construct counter strategies, the actions that players take in the game need to be clearly linked to these strategies. Furthermore it should take less than a split second for a player to recognize "Oh this is happening" so they can move on the counterthought "I should do this". Without this readability the multiplayer aspect suffers greatly becoming a muddled affair, where even if there are cool strategies that can be implemented, no one can tell what is really happening and therefore, have no means to play at a high level.

Como game designer es bueno tener un mínimo de conocimiento en programación, para poder prototipar rapido sin tener que pedirle a un Progrmador que implemente una idea. Tambien es útil para tener una noción si de lo que queremos diseñar se puede llwgar a hacer o estimar el tiempo que tomara implementar nuestra idea.

On this aspect, it can be good to have marketing strategy planning and creativity. Having an idea on the methods to adapt for putting the game to the marketplace and packaging it will be great. There might be a need to understand collaboration mechanics with other marketers, perhaps creators and also the ability to target various forms marketing campaigns for variety of audiences. The creativity skill will help to spread the awareness of the game through innovative approaches, or perhaps merge with suggestions that players might have feedbacks on, enhancing the marketing strategy it already has. These are some skills, and definitely being analytical will be of a great asset, especially when dealing with data and doing analysis.

Considero que tmanien se debe tener un buen conocimiento de cultura general, eso te permite crear personajes e historias ricas, con profundidad, seguramente en varios proyectos no sea necesario pero en otros deberas saber de historia, mitologias o arquitectura. Claro que la creatividad y saber la teoría del diseño de juegos y la experiencia en este campo son muy importantes, jugar juegos de todos los géneros da muchas herramientas para poder hacer diseños interesantes y entretenidos.