Introduction to Game Design

Introduction
to Game Design
{ JORGE PALACIOS, CHRISTIAN CHOMIAK }
ALL IMAGES ARE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE AUTHORS

Video games as a concept

What is a video game?

“Q: What is a game?
A: An activity that:
- requires at least one participant
- has rules
- has a victory condition”
“Q: What is a video game?
A: A game played through a video screen”
-Scott Rogers (2010) on ”Level Up! The guide to
great video game design”

• System of rules with defined
objectives that involes the
interaction between players and
software.

Games as a medium

Games Design
INTRODUCTION

People involved in the development
•Producer
•Designer
•Programmer
•2D/3D artist
•Sound artist
•QA
•Others…

Design is…
…the art of creating experiences

Boards games

Children’s parks

Amusement parks

What is game design?
• The study of games
• Requires to effectively communicate
the same vision of the Project to all
the members of the team
• It’s NOT directing, management nor
“coming up with ideas”
• Being a gamer is not the same as
being a game designer.

Game Design

Frameworks: MDA
• Defined by Robin Hunicke, Marc Le Blanc & Robert Zubek.
• Games structured into three layers:
• Mechanics
• Dynamics
• Aesthetics
Designer Player

MDA: Mechanics
• Rules and algorithms that define and govern the actions that take place in the game.

MDA: Mechanics

MDA: Dynamics
• Behaviours that arise from plyers interactig with the mechanics.

MDA: Dynamics

MDA: Aesthetics
• Emotional responses to the game, by the player.

MDA: Aesthetics

Frameworks: Elemental Tetrad
• Defined by Jesse Schell in his book: The Art of Game Design.
Aesthetics
Narrative
Technologies
Mechanics

Adventure games (’70s)

Adventure games (’90s)
Monkey Island 2

Mobile games

Game Design
THEORY BEHIND IT

Playtest
• Tests designed to find tech and design bugs.
• Bugs found earlier can be corrected earlier in
development (when it’s cheaper).
• Works best if:
• Testers give direct feedback (written or
verbally).
• Testers are given as few initial
information as posible (reduce biasing).
• Indirect feedback can be captured
(involuntarily and automatic responses
while playtesting).

Playtest: It’s all about iterations
Design
PrototypeEvaluate

Bottom-Up & Top-Down design
Concept
Context
Kernel
(Characteristics and content)
Mechanics
Verbs
Bottom-up
Top-down

Angry Birds: mechanics

Angry Birds: narrative

Enter The Matrix

About Tutorials
• A good tutorial:
1. Is not an exercise on reading a
screen.
2. Works best if distributed through
the game.
3. Should be as interesting as the rest
of the game.
4. Must be reinforsed throughout the
game.
5. Must not be neither intrusive nor
mandatory. It should be seamless.

Mario: A good tutorial

Interest curve
• Experience shouldn’t be linear.
• People get used to external stimuli
and require more to be as satisfied
as before.
• There must be alternations
between action and resting.

Conclusions

Thank you very much!
Jorge Palacios – @pctroll – pctroll.net
Christian Chomiak – @cchomiakm – bonusdisc.com
@iovizna – iovizna.com

Any questions?

Introduction to Game Design

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