The Basics of Game Design

What is Game Design?

Game Design is the process of creating the content and rules of a game.

Good Game Design

... is the process of creating goals that a player feels motivated to reach and rules that a player must follow as he makes making meaningful decisions in pursuit of those goals.

It’s also all about the player.

Think about the player’s viewpoint:

• What’s this game about?

• How do I play?

• How do I win?

• Why do I want to play?

• What things do I need to do?

Meaningful Decisions

Whenever the player is allowed to exercise choice in a game and that choice affects the outcome of the game, then designers are creating meaning.

• In order to create choice, there has to be another option that has meaning as well.

• The gameplay itself should inherently motivate the player in the direction the designer wants her to go.

• Games like Tetris and Chess keep the player’s mind busy by forcing her to consider which one of several possible moves she wants to take next.

What Game Design Is Not

• Game Art.
• Pure Programming.

Types of Design

• World Design

  • Is the creation of the overall backstory, setting, and theme of the game.

• System Design

  • Is the creation of rules and underlying mathematical patterns in a game.

• Content Design

  • Is the creation of characters, items, puzzles, and missions.

• Game Writing

  • Is the writing of dialogue, text, and story within the game world.

• Level Design

  • Is the crafting of levels in a game, including the layout of maps and placement of objects and challenges within those maps.

• User Interface (UI) Design

  • Consists of two things: how the player interacts with the game, and how the player receives information and feedback from the game.

What is a Game?

A game is an activity with rules.

It is a form of play often but not always involving conflict, either with other players, with the game system itself, or with randomness/fate/luck.

The Core of a Game

The core or core dynamic of a game is the single thing gameplay is about — the single play experience the designer is trying to convey.

• A core is usually tied to a specific core mechanic.

• These core mechanics can, in turn, lead to core dynamics, which is a particular pattern of play.

• Core statements reflect the core mechanic or the core dynamic and sum up what the game is about, often in a single sentence.

Types of Game Cores

• Territorial Acquisition

  • With this core, things are usually “zero sum”.

• Prediction

  • Some games are about doing the right thing or being in the right place at the right time.

• Spatial Reasoning

  • Puzzle games often incorporate spatial-reasoning skills into video games.

• Survival

  • Human beings are naturally wired to survive and thrive, and it’s no different in the game world.

• Destruction

  • The flip side of the survival dynamic, or the companion side if it’s a player versus player (PvP) game, is the wreck-everything-in-sight dynamic.

• Building

  • In addition to their drive to survive, human beings are also naturally wired to build, even though they’re not told that it’s the point.

• Collection

  • As humans, we’re also natural pattern matchers.

• Chasing or Evading

  • Ancient humans had to run a lot, either to capture prey or escape predators.

• Trading

  • With games that have multiple kinds of resources that belong to each player, it is common to see players trading and negotiating with one another.

• Race to the End

  • Like survival, building, and collection, humans will also intuitively try to do things more quickly, in large part because the brain signals us that faster is better and is a sign of mastery over a given skill.

Game Features

In considering a feature list for a given core, designers tie every feature in the game back into that single core mechanic (or set of mechanics) in some way that ultimately makes the game stronger.

• Feature Sets
  • List all the individual features of the product.
  • Designers generally try for part innovation, part improvement, and part convention.
  • For a game’s feature set, game designers use the standard conventions that define the genre and that players expect
  • But they try to find some way to innovate on previous games.

Where do Ideas come from?

Anything can be turned into a game.

• Play lots of games.

  • You develop a vocabulary of mechanics and dynamics.

• Network with other designers.

  • Two designers talking about the possibility inherent in a topic is a sure-fire way to produce a game.

• Everywhere.

  • Look for game ideas in everything you do and challenge yourself to make a game or think about making a game about a topic at least once a day.

• Apply to learn.

  • Create and play your own designs.

Common Terms in Game Design

• Feature List

  • A list that details key features or selling points of the game.

• Brainstorming

  • A process to generate ideas, usually done in a group.

• Prototype

  • A prototype is a playable early version of the game or part of the game constructed by the designer to assist in understanding and enhancing the player experience.

• Balance

  • When the play is unbalanced, it is too easy, too difficult, or optimal for only certain groups of players. When play is balanced, it provides a consistent challenge for its target audience.

• Mechanics

  • The rules of a game.

• System

  • A collection of game mechanics that is responsible for producing a given outcome within a larger game.

• Dynamics

  • The result of putting rules in motion.

• Avatar

  • The direct representation of a player in a game.

• Playtesting

  • The systematic testing of gameplay, systems, balance, and interface to find all the errors, inconsistencies, or issues and report them to the design team.

• Platform

  • The console, device, or system upon which the game will be played.

Common Terms for Digital Game Design

• Pitch

  • A brief “elevator speech” given to a game publisher or VC (venture capitalist) to solicit funding for the project.

• Concept Document

  • A one-to-three page document that provides a high-level overview of a proposed game.

• Proposal

  • A five-to-20 page document that provides a more in-depth view of the potential game than a concept document.

• Design Document

  • A “living” document that is continuously undergoing revision, it contains the entire design vision for the game.

• Engine

  • The core program that runs the game.

• Game Jam

  • A timed period during which a group of individuals attempts to create a complete game while working around the clock.

• Milestone

  • A point at which the developer is expected to deliver some type of predetermined content.

• Alpha

  • The milestone at which all systems have been implemented and all code is theoretically complete.

• Beta

  • The milestone at which all systems and content are in the game.

• Gold

  • The final version of the game that is then released.

Common Terms for Non Digital Game Design

• Game Bits

  • The informal name given to the pieces and parts that ship with a game.

• Card Game

  • A game that uses playing cards.

• Board Game

  • A game whose board serves as the playing field for the game.

• Tile Game

  • A type of game where the game “board” is made out of tiles.

• Dice Game

  • A game that uses dice as the main bits, typically lacking a board, cards or tiles.

Approaches to Game Design

Game design has different approaches, depending on the situation and target medium.

• Blue-sky

  • Pure blue-sky design allows designers to consider lots of possibilities and ideas with few restrictions.

• Slow boil

  • Sometimes, the design of a game takes days, but other times, it may be weeks, months, or even years.

• Mechanic

  • The strength of a game is based on the sheer strength of a key mechanic.

• Story

  • Developing a game based on a story is also a common design approach, to stick closely to the story of the book, television show, or movie in question.

• Iterative Design

  1. Rapid Prototype: The key point of prototyping is that it has to be rapid. The more iterations a game can undergo, the higher quality it will be.

  2. Playtest: This is a full or partial play session to identify strengths and weaknesses in the design.

  3. Revision: Changes are made in the design to fortify weaknesses and build upon strengths.

  4. Repeat: Go back to the prototype and start the next iteration.

Also

• Don’t write your rules down until you have to write your rules down.
• Be wary of putting a “Band-Aid” on top of a problem, but leaving the problem in the game.

Constraints on (Digital) Game Design

• What is the approximate budget for this game?
• What is the desired time frame for completion?
• What is the desired platform for the game?
• What is the target audience for the game?
• What is the desired rating for the game?
• Do you have any particular genre or category of game in mind?
• Are there any features that you’d like to see in the game?

Overcoming Designer’s Block

Make a Resource Limited (or Unlimited)

Make a list of all the resources in your game and note whether they are limited or unlimited. Next, and one at a time, change the resources from unlimited to limited (or vice versa), and play a session of the game.

Interact with Your Friends

Look at the various actions your players are performing in a game. Next, ask yourself, How could someone else stop that from happening or make it happen even faster?

Mess with the Play Order

Consider allowing players to mess with the sequence of events in your game.

Kill a Rule

Identify the core of the game and start by killing every rule that doesn’t directly affect the core of the game.

Use the "Rule of Two"

Take one of the game’s values and either multiply or divide it by two.