The Basics

Game Design

Francisco Coelho

Departamento de Informática, Universidade de Évora

High Performance Computing Chair
NOVA-LINCS
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.
What is Game Design?

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?
What is Game Design?

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.
Types of Design

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
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.
The Core of a Game

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.
The Core of a Game

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.
The Core of a Game

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.
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.
The Core of a Game

• 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.
Learning Game Design

• You must 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.
Common Terms In Game Design

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 Doc 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.
Common Terms for Digital Game Design

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.
Common Terms for Digital Game Design

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?
Overcoming Designer’s Block

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.