A practical guide to Game Design
I love games, I really do. From cards, video games to board games I'm hooked.
What's better than playing a great game, building your own mods and add 'house' rules.
As a wee young boy, we had the standard household games such as Monopoly, Cluedo, Risk and snakes and Ladders, but nothing was more exciting than playing Draughts with my Mum. I remember she was merciless. But I remember clearly thinking about it like soldiers fighting in a medieval war and far more fun than the other games.
A few years later, back in 1984 we also got our first home computer, his name was Arnold and he was the Amstrad CPC64. I started learning AMSDOS so I could create my own RPG games. Typical the ones like "You are standing in a forest, there is a mountain to the north, a wolf den to the East and the City of Bones to the West. Which way do you want to go?" Kids these days really don't know what they missed out on.
The next natural progression should have been Chess, but that wasn't even in the same league as the new game. Christmas had bought me 'Heroquest', and my life was changed forever.
It wasn't all the figures (man those figures!) and the gorgeous game board, but the stories. The Adventures of gold, blood and wine. It was just fantastic.
Naturally, this did lead me to Games Workshop, Fantasy and 40K and then a little later, more serious RPG games.
No, I don't mean those wonderful series of 'Fighting Fantasy' books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone but the much darker Dungeons and Dragons.
I quickly found that depending on the dungeon master, the focus of the game would alter incredibly. One week, our heroes would be knee deep in Orc blood holding back the tide of death against the innocent villagers, and the next week would be pillow fights with the tavern owners daughters and killing everyone in a bar brawl. I knew which story I liked better.
Dungeons and Dragons gave way to White Wolf's world of Darkness. I usually hosted as the games master, and also played the main villain character and any character opponents. I did realise it then, but I was starting to create a web of stories and characters, that month by month would tell a tale of betrayal, death, resurrection, revenge, glory and finally misfortune. Almost straight out of a Shakespearean novel. (Almost)
I still have my copy of Heroquest, and once in a while a friend will come along with nostalgic memories and we'll have a game. last time we played though, it turned into a year long adventure as I built new rules and quests, brand new character sheets and turned it into a mini D&D RPG Skyrim cross-over game. Serious, a 60-page expansion rule set isn't really the same game anymore. (Don't even get me started on Skyrim or Witcher)
Jump a bit in time, and I'm having fun playing Decent and Eldritch Horror (of course with 'house' rules) but what is it about these games that make people love them, stand the test of time and draw you in again decades later? Simply, Storytelling and Game design.
So how do you make a timeless game with challenges and replayability?
- Creative dynamic systems
- Inventive compelling game mechanics
- Fascinating settings
- Developing the medium
- Art
- Probability and Math
- Literature and language
- History and Geography
- field of play
- Encouragement of repeated patterns of behaviour
- Player competition
- Player cooperation
- Skill Mastery
- The study of player psychology
Managing Audience expectations is a huge hurdle to overcome. Game designers will often be asked by players and clients to deliver the same but different, whilst changing and improving on everything. Catch 22.
Immersive Play
Immersive play is something that a lot of people talk about and everyone has their own theory, some even more obscure discussion related topics like reward ratio, reading saccades, Skinnerian response, interface design and more. Immersion is the sense that a player is deeply connected and invested in their character or part in the game.
However, immersion is different for every player, as long as the designers provide a wealth of options and graphic designers and animators provide compelling images, gamers will find a role they like and take to it. Immersion is important but not central to design, but rather a consequence of good design practices at a different level, mechanical design, character design and world design.
Process of Creative Thought
Creativity is at the heart of good design, but it's an overused word. The work of creativity is different than analytical or physical work, but it is still a process that can be mastered. David Kord Murray's Book, Borrowing Brilliance tries to systematize and demystify creative thought for the engineering and technical professions. Murrays states that the creative thought process can be taught and that you can become better at it with practice. I also believe that this is true because it follows the simple logic, practice makes perfect. Creativity improves in quality over time, for instance, a new developer's first game is held to a lower standard than their later work.
Evolution and incubation
Puzzling over the elements of a game doesnt alwasy get you very far. Some times, the combination of ideas provides a solution. The first three elements of creative thought are about the inputs to your subconscious. Trying to force everything together in a rush usually doesn't lead to good results. Pushing the design process requires time to pause and think. Work out what you enjoy about the game, and what bothers you, and then figure out how to correct it.
The Mechanical hook
Find a unique mechanic hook, every game has one. It may be pure inspiration but usually, it comes from somewhere else. Keep pushing until you find something that will set your game apart from all the others. Hard work at the start will make the final weeks of production flow better. Play testing is very important. you may think your hook is great but if it doesn't work within the game then it's time to review it. Three example are 'Machi Koro', the hook is that it's simple to play game yet with a hidden tactical system with both players potentially benefiting for other players turns. 'Escape the curse of the temple' has all players rolling and taking their turn simultaneously which leads to a fast and frenzied gameplay which is perfect for the game setting. Finally, the afore mentioned 'Heroquest' had a great combat dice system with different symbols to indicate attacks or defense, yet still felt unrealistic for combat so with some new house rules, heroes and monsters would roll simultaneously adding any new special abilities. This felt more dynamic and fun.
Resolutions Systems
Every game uses a different method of determining success or failure. This can be tied together with the mechanical hook to make a better experience.
Figuring out the probabilities and base chance is important, this will have an effect on gameplay, replayability, balance and enjoyment. Creating more powerful in game items is great but it means that everything before is now obsolete unless the can be upgraded. 'Destiny' suffered terribly from this. Once you had your Gjallarhorn and Thorn, you were unstoppable, so what did they do. Introduce buff and nerf to balance out the items. A terrible solution as players had already invested hours worth of game time to get these times. They then later tried to correct this with an upgrade system but this too became pointless, as the new DLC packs introduced even more powerful weapons and armour. This poorly designed system was based on the incentive that buying the DLC would give you better equipment than other players, which is basically 'pay to win'. I really hope this is changed in the second game.
Action and Time systems
What counts as an action, and what order should actions be performed? How long is a unit of time? Can the Mechanical hook and Resolution system affect these? It's hugely beneficial and important to set these foundations at the start before building the game.
Consequences
Consequences and reward. Is the goal of the mission worth it? Random rewards might keep a small amount of players will grind for a while but eventually, the drop off rate will be enough to make the game unplayable. Having a staggered reward system helps incentivise players to keep grinding but it can become repetitive and boring. A lot of mobile games are simply just tapping the screen repeatibly until the end of the level to be highly rewarded, then repeated for an even better reward or allows the player to skip a level by paying to do so. 'Witcher 3' has some great consequences built into the story of the game. A lot of side quests start out fairly simple promise of no good deed goes unrewarded, yet somehow turns into an enjoyable multi-quest which links together with other side quests to form complete narrative stories. Often doing the moral thing has negative effects later in the story but the immediate final reward is worth it, producing a balanced experience and consequence system.
Main goal
Introduction to the main goal of the game should be fluid and simple, often this is the first thing the player will learn about the game. The primary story delivery method needs to be easily understood and straightforward. This is usually told in a few different ways and is a good way of allowing the player to uncover the main goal whilst playing a tutorial level.
Sea of Plots and Shackles of Stories
Having one story can work well with some games but to increase player enjoyment, emersion and replayability often there are several stories all carefully woven around the central plot. Taking the time to invest in these side stories will help develop characters, gameplay and game items.
Add some Jalapenos
Yeah, get schwifty! Mix things up. Throw in some curve balls and overpowered items. Players love being OP. Arrange things so that players gain satisfaction and invest in their characters. Tailor the player experiences to your plots and what they enjoy doing or can't resist. Of course, having too many Jalapenos will ruin the party.
Growing mighty and a good ending
The end of the game is equally important to the start. Was it worth all the effort? Usually, by the end of the game, the characters are over developed and have all the best items. Unless monsters level up too, this can make the game feel flat and unchallenging. Having Super boss fights will help incentive players to push harder for better gear but ultimately will lead to an unsatisfying end. Rockstar's 'Red Dead Redeption' deals with this is a great way. (SPOILER) At the end of the game, there are still a few things to be done, yet the main player is pretty powerful and hunting down a grizzly bear or a few outlaws might not seem the interesting now. So, they treat us to an emotional rollercoaster of great storytelling closure, and kill off the main character and allowing the player to over the role as his young son. This then opens up more open stories and missions to finish. You end up finishing at the start, not having the best equipment in the game but feeling ultimately rewarded.
Location
Having the right game world location is crucial. Not only will this shape the gameplay mechanics but also the characters and immersion.
Realities of Game Balance
The easiest way of breaking your game is to overpower players, pay to win items and unbeatable monsters. Having powerful items is great as the players enjoy them for a short time but then they start to become a problem in the game mechanics and story. Balancing a game can be done in many ways, mathematically working out the percentages is a quick way of analyzing where things are going wrong and by simply having these items as a one time use. Story elements can be used to force the player to remove, give up or have these items stolen which can add to the experience.
Sandbox Pitfalls
Open world experience was a big deal a few years ago. Games had to tick three boxes to even be considered good. They had to include a single player campaign mode, multiplayer mode and be set in a sandbox environment where you could literally go anywhere. Experience has told us, sandboxes are usually boring low textured places with not much happening between events and filled to monsters which slow the story. However, some games get it right. Each environment is treated with the same attention to detail, just because you're in a desert or grasslands doesn't mean there should be a lack of side quests or story elements to uncover.
Forward Momentum
No matter what, the game needs to keep moving forward. If things start to get too technical the base mechanics need to be adjusted. Having a game which isn't fun won't last long.
Critique with Kindness, Revise with a butcher's knife
When combining ideas and mechanics together to create a game or story it's important to understand that you can't critique in a way that's too abrasive or too passive. By stating that someone work is no good will lead to bad collaborations and an arrogance that will develop into Delusions of Grandeur.
In reality, the results won't be that special or unique, because anyone with a difference idea or style will be driven away. Doing what everyone else is doing isn't the way to develop or generate new business opportunities, but it does help pay the bills. Honest compassionate criticism is needed, with supporting advice on how to improve. Accepting criticism can be hard too, sometimes stepping back before responding is necessary and evaluating if this is the right project for you can be helpful.
Fail early and hard
Learning to fail is difficult because we all want to get it perfect first time. This is impossible and anyone that tells you different is either extremely lucky or lying. The problem with getting it right first time is that you don't learn anything, you don't struggle. Making anything requires training, skill and time. Failing is a positive. Quitting is the failure.
A nice Japanese quotation I've always remembered is from the Hagakure. "The Shogun prefers to employ men who have made mistakes. They will not make the same mistake twice in his service."
