[kleer001]

Don't forget about fun. Games need to be fun.

To that end I'd recommend some non-computery game design too. Research dice games and card games, design and history. Design a dice game. Then make a card game or two. Test them out with friends and relatives. Make iterations of that game. Sketch out a board game.

This may be more the scope of a game producer, and if one works on a large game others will be managing the mechanics, but most everyone that works on computer based games also loves gaming in general. And it's going to be a miserable time being the only one on a team (if someone one got the job) that doesn't play games in general.