When is the right time to quit your job to pursue a career in game design?

My first word of advice, get out of debt ASAP. If you want to be able to quit your job and start your own board game company, I would highly suggest working your way out of those $40,000 worth of debt. When you have no debt, you have a financial freedom that you didn't have when strapped down with it.

Basically, get your finances in order before quitting your job. Sometimes we have to sacrifice things in our lives and putting these dreams on a temporary hold while you get caught up on bills and paying off some student loans is probably the best option. If you can get to a spot in life where you are up to date on your bills, and you have extra money each month, use it wisely and save up.

I'm almost graduated college myself and I'm still debt free thanks to some summer factory work. Financially right now my wife and I could live comfortably for 6 months being unemployed. Even if you do have debt, if you can get yourself to a financial situation where you can do that too, I'd say you're in good shape.

In the end though, the best option is to talk to a professional advisor!

While it may seem different to you, pursuing a career as a game designer is not a primary need to survive. You need food, water, clothes and a roof over your head. Once the basics are sorted out, you can look at luxuries.

I don't remember the specifics, but the author Holly Lisle offered some great advice a little while back as to when you are ready to quit your day job and write full time.

The answer: when you can cover at least a year worth of expenses with savings. (You can email her for more information if you're interested in the video I watched. It's free if memory serves me correctly.)

In that regard game design differs little from writing. Get out of debt and save up until you can live comfortably if the move doesn't work out. The truth is that many successful writers and game designers have a second job on the side to pay the bills. You may have to accept that game design will never pay the bills, because that's the truth for the majority of designers out there.

There are companies out there, I just don't know of them. I am studying accounting. Lol.

Like the previous poster, it wasn't really what I was getting from the initial post, so thanks for the clarification.

Also, I have no clue what sort of field you're currently in, but could looking at a move within your company net you a position that requires more creativity?

In most of my jobs I've been the lab guy in quality control. However, I feel my creativity would really be served if I somehow ended up in product development (in the food industry), so that's what I'm aiming for.

The game industries unlike any other I have worked in. Its surprising how freindly it is. I work some of the big conventions and its not uncommon to loan equipment to other publishers, to cover thier booth in emergencies etc...

Your chances of landing a job will be greatly increased if you widen your net. For every game designer there must be people involved marketing, sales, shipping, etc… Those kinds of jobs although not dream jobs to most of us are more readily available. If what you’re looking for is to simply work in a place that appreciates you start by volunteering as a demo person for a game company. This way you will make connections and get a peek under the hood to see if they seem like the right place for you. Once you’re known to them and show that you are a hard worked you can start asking about openings.

The tabletop game industry supports very few full-time game designer jobs. And people who have them sometimes leave, so there must be frustrations (Kevin Wilson from FFG, Rob Daviau from Hasbro).

Few freelance designers can live on their incomes. Alan R. Moon said that if Ticket to Ride hadn't won the German Game of the Year, he'd have had to get a part-time job (e=despite having won Game of the Year once before). Bruno Faidutti teaches part time. Heck, many publishers do it part-time, and have full-time real-world jobs.

There just isn't THAT much money in it, most of the time. There are obviously exceptions, Knizia makes over a $1M a year, Teuber's a millionaire. But that's as likely as winning the lottery.