Jazz theory is a way of condensing down and describing to each other what a collective group of musical geniuses did across multiple years. I don't think theor

Jazz theory is a way of condensing down and describing to each other what a collective group of musical geniuses did across multiple years. I don't think theory is strictly necessary, there are great musicians who don't know anything about theory. Theory should never be used as a way of gatekeeping or deriding people's efforts to build things. However, unless you are also a musical genius who has spent decades honing your craft, there will probably be some benefit from learning from the people who came before you. It's not necessary essential, but very little theory is essential. You can technically be a great game designer without ever looking at other games, you can technically be a great UX designer without learning UX rules. The rules just make it much, much easier to get to that point -- because the rules allow you to more quickly learn from a large body of extremely talented individuals who shaped the entire genre.