"Everyone needs to touch the stove"
Happy to tell them it is hot. And how heat works. Ways to identify and avoid touching hot stoves.
But 99.99% of that will be ignored.
Until they touch the stove, scream in agony, and out of their own will and insight, re-stumble upon a thing that was said to them a dozen times. But now they are seeing it with fresh eyes.
Even then, they'll understand 20% and fill in the rest with some batshit theory of their own. Which is a vast improvement!
So how do you teach game design?
Give them the info. Prepare them. Assume they'll ignore all of it.
Then make sure they touch a lot of stoves. Prototypes, team projects, deadlines, failures. Ship ugly burnt things.
This is why, even with all the schooling available to new game devs, it still take most of them 5-10 years to become senior. Takes time to touch that many stoves, recover and recognize how to improve.
