Basics of Game Design

Most of the content and images are drawn from:

Schell, Jesse, The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses, Elsevier, 2008.
(Available online through MIT libraries)

Presented by Adam Ross

Friday, June 14, 2013
E38-555
 What is a Game?

• Games have the following characteristics:

–
Entered willfully
–
Have goals
–
Have conflict A game is a problem-solving activity,
–
Can be won and lost approached with a playful attitude
–
Are interactive Schell 2008, pg 37
–
Have challenge
–
Can create their own internal value
–
Engage players
–
Are closed, formal systems
• Examples of games: What’s a
– Card games (e.g. poker, blackjack) “Toy”?
– Sports games (e.g. baseball, basketball)
– Board games (e.g. monopoly, chess)
– Video games (e.g. super mario brothers, tetris)

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 Spectrum of Game Types
Monopoly: Classic family board
• Entertainment game by Hasbro; buy and sell
properties in Atlantic City
• “Edutainment” =
“Serious” games
see: “Serious Games Taxonomy,” Sawyer and Smith,
Serious Games Initiative 2008.

• Education
Windfall: a strategy game about building wind
farms to create clean energy profitably. Persuasive

• Simulations Games (http://www.persuasivegames.com)

– Management flight Microsoft Flight Simulator

simulators X: Gold Edition: Experience
realistic flights with day/night
– Aircraft flight simulators and weather effects,
multiplayer races and over 80
(Aldrich 2009)
missions worldwide

Whether stated goal is to teach a lesson or to escape reality, the main purpose of
games is to create an “experience” in the mind of the player

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 “Simulation” as Organizing Idea for
Computer-based Games

Sims

Immersive Learning
Games
Simulations

Computer Serious Educational

Games Games Simulations

First Person Shooters Frame Games Branching Stories

Real-time Strategy Games Mini Games Interactive Spreadsheets
Racing Games Interactive Diagrams
Tycoon Games Virtual Products
Game Shows Virtual Prototypes
Squad Shooters Virtual Labs
Practiceware
(Aldrich 2009), pp. 9-41 Virtual Experience Spaces

A game does not have to be on a computer; many game design techniques can be
used across many technologies (e.g. card games, sports, as well as computer games)
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 Four Basic Elements of a Game

• Mechanics
– Procedures and rules of a game
– Describe the goals, how players can and cannot try
to achieve them, and what happens when they try
• Story
– Sequence of events that unfolds in a game
– Linear and pre-scripted, or branching and emergent
• Aesthetics
– How a game looks, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels (Schell 2008), pp 39
– Has most direct impact on game experience
• Technology
– Any materials and interactions that make a
game possible, such as paper and pencil,
plastic chits, or high-powered lasers
– Is the medium in which aesthetics take place,
in which mechanics occur, and through which
a story is told
(Schell 2008), pp 41-43
(Schell 2008), pp 42

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 Game Mechanics

• Space
• Objects, Attributes, States
• Actions
• Rules
• Skill
• Chance

(Schell 2008), pp 129-170

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 Space and Objects

• Space
– Discrete or continuous
– Number of degrees of freedom
– Boundaries

(Schell 2008), pp 134, 132

• Objects, Attributes, States

– Object = “noun”
– Attribute = “adjective”
(category of information about
object)
– State = “level” of an attribute
– Knowledge of states (private
vs. public)
(Schell 2008), pp 137
(Schell 2008), pp 130-139

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 Actions and Rules
“Emergence”
+ verbs
• Actions + verbs that act on
many objects

game
– Action = “verb” + many ways to
– Operative actions vs. resultant actions achieve goals
+ many subjects

• Rules + side effects that

D constraints
– Operational rules = “how to play” game
– Foundational rules = underlying formal
structure
– Behavioral rules = implicit rules for
player behavior
– Written rules = documented rules of the
game
– Laws = enforced rules (usually for
competition)
– Official rules = written rules merged
with laws
– Advisory rules = “rules of strategy” to
help play better
– House rules = local modified version of Parlett’s Rule Analysis in (Schell 2008), pp 145
operational rules
(Schell 2008), pp 145-147
Video games allow for more complex rules Good game goals
since a computer can enforce the rules concrete, achievable, rewarding
(Schell 2008), pp 148-149
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 Skill and Chance
mental
• Skill
– Physical, mental, social memory

poker
baseball
• Chance
– Influence of uncertainty on
other mechanics
– Tangling of skill and chance
• Estimating chance is a skill
• Skills have probability of (Schell 2008), pp 161
success (e.g. hedging)
• Estimating an opponent’s skill is
a skill (e.g. bluffing)
• Predicting pure chance is an
imagined skill (e.g. “lucky
streaks”)
• Controlling pure chance is an
imagined skill (e.g. superstition)

(Schell 2008), pp 151-169

Games must allow some skill, not just chance, to influence likelihood success
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 Game Balance
Twelve common types of balance
1. Fairness
2. Challenge vs. success
3. Meaningful choices
4. Skill vs. chance
5. Head vs. hands (Schell 2008), pp 177
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Finding Flow, 1997.

6. Competition vs. cooperation

7. Short vs. long
8. Rewards
9. Punishment
10. Freedom vs. controlled experience
11. Simple vs. complex (Schell 2008), pp 181

12. Detail vs. imagination

(Schell 2008), pp 171-205
Balancing is essential for a successful game; be sure to allocate enough time
using various approaches (e.g. “doubling and halving”)
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 Interface for Interaction
• Basics
– Transparency, Juiciness
– Fun (pleasure with surprises)
• Interaction feedback

– Feedback is essential to
learning
• Channels of Information (Schell 2008), pp 225
– List and prioritize info
– List channels (way to
communicate stream of data,
e.g. screen location) Interface tips
– Map info to channels
1. Steal 5. Sound maps to touch
– Review use of dimensions 2. Customize 6. Use metaphors
• Other 3. Balance options and 7. Test, test, test!
– A mode = change in mapping simplicity with layers 8. Break the rules to
of interface; try to minimize # 4. Theme the interface help your player
(Schell 2008), pp 221-244

It is okay to reuse interfaces from other games since they will be more
familiar (easier to learn) to the player and more likely to have been “proven”
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 The Story
“A sequence of events that is ‘interesting’…”
• Active entertainment “String of pearls” storytelling:
– Engaging storytelling creates free explore, back to story, free explore,
decision-making desire in the listener back to story, etc.
(e.g. guessing “what’s next?”)
– Unity in a “story” can effectively
compel engagement in the player
(i.e., it is very difficult to create a (Schell 2008), pp 264
“good” emergent story)
• Archetypes of stories “Story machine” storytelling:
(Schell 2008), pp 261-281 generate an “interesting” sequence of
events, not pre-scripted
• Frustration-resolution pairs
– Learning and satisfaction occur
through alternating frustration and (Schell 2008), pp 265
resolution (obstacle, then overcoming
the obstacle)
Story tips
– Both characters and players go
through these pairs in their “journey” 1. Goals, obstacles, and 5. Keep your story world
– Trick is for frustration to not exceed conflicts consistent
the “threshold to quit” (level varies by 2. Provide simplicity and 6. Make your story world
person) transcendence accessible
(Aldrich 2009), pp 485-488 3. Consider the hero’s 7. Use clichés judiciously
journey 8. Sometimes a map brings
4. Put your story to work! a story to life

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 Interest Curves

• Psychology of experience
• Peak-end rule (e.g. “duration neglect”)
Kahneman, D., Well-being: The foundations of hedonic
psychology, 1999
– Based on memory recall
• Desired curve shapes
– Notice Schell has slightly
different curve shapes Peak-end rule shown graphically by Greg Ness

(Schell 2008), pp 248 (Schell 2008), pp 249

Experience will never be static, nor should it be; shape the timing of
experiences to maximize interest by design
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 Indirect Control

• Feeling of freedom
– Exciting for the player, but could
overwhelm game design
• Methods for indirect control:
1. Constraints
• E.g. Limit number of choices
2. Goals
• Sculpt “world” around goals since player
will likely pursue (e.g. fly in urinal) Center-focused Edge-focused
3. Interface
• Provide select inputs to limit options
(e.g. plastic guitar)
4. Visual design
• Layout affects where player looks
(e.g. lines, emphasis, asymmetries)
(Schell 2008), pp 288
5. Characters
• E.g. s.t. players want to obey/help Fast music Slow music
6. Music • Speeds up • Slows down
actions actions
• Can affect moods, desires, actions
• Increases • Increases
(Schell 2008), pp 283-298 energy savoring

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 Aesthetics
Ocarina of Time Wind Waker Twilight Princess

Zelda images copyright Nintendo

• Value of aesthetics and experience
– Look and feel are first impressions, luring or repelling players
– People tend to forgive minor bugs if aesthetics are good
• Memory and depth of experience
– Recall peak-end rule; try to shape the “peak” experiences to coincide with
learning goals
• Finding balance
– Use concept art freely, balancing “depth” and “breadth”
– Use audio and consider from beginning to help shape the feel of the game
Aesthetics matter; the game has it even if not explicitly “designed”
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 Iteration in Development
“the more times you test and improve your design, the better your game will be”
(Schell, p. 80)
• Choose an idea
• Rule of Loop
• Risk assessment and
prototype
Spiral model proposed by
Barry Boehm in 1986
(Schell 2008), pp 75-95

Practical interpretation
of spiral model
1. State the problem. (Schell 2008), pp 83
2. Brainstorm and choose a design.
3. Figure out the greatest risks in your Prototyping tips
design.
4. Build prototypes that mitigate those risks. 1. Answer a question 5. Don’t get attached
5. Test the prototypes. 2. Forget quality 6. It doesn’t have to be
3. Prioritize your digital
6. Come up with a more detailed design prototypes 7. Pick a “fast loop”
based on what you have learned. 4. Parallelize prototypes game engine
7. Return to step 2. productively 8. Build the “toy” first

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 Teams and Documentation

• Designing together • “Game design document”

– more ideas, better filtering, – No perfect template
more perspectives, ownership – Purpose: memory and
• Team communication communication
– Objectivity • Types of useful documents
– Clarity
– Persistence (keep records)
– Comfort 1. Game Design Overview
– Respect 2. Detailed Design Document
3. Story Overview
– Trust 4. Technical Design Document
– Honesty 5. Pipeline Overview
6. System Limitations (Schell 2008), pp 383

– Privacy 7. Art Bible – Documents serve as

8. Concept Art Overview
– Unity 9. Game Budget
boundary objects between
10. Project Schedule design groups
11. Story Bible
12. Script
– Not all documents needed
13. Game Tutorial and Manual for every game
(Schell 2008), pp 371-387 14. Game Walkthrough

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 Playtesting
Does the game create the intended experience in the players?
• Always playtest and repeat!
• Questions to ask
– Why
• Develop a list of questions to answer during a playtest
– Who (target demographic)
• Developers, friends, expert gamers, tissue testers
– Where
• Development studio, playtesting lab, public venue, playtester’s
home, on the internet
– What
• Things you know you are looking for (why list), Things you don’t
know you are looking for (surprises… be ready)
– How
• Developers present?, advance training?, where to look?, what data
to collect during and after (surveys vs. interviews)?, disturb players
mid-game?
Playtesting can be very difficult and uncomfortable, especially when people dislike the
game; this is normal and why playtesting is essential to creating a good game

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 Transformation and Responsibility

• Can games be good or • Responsibility

bad for us?
• Good for us – Intend to do good
– Emotional maintenance • Being accountable
– Connecting
– Exercise – Do no harm
– Education Game-based
• Facts learning

• Problem Solving
• New Insights
• Curiosity
• Bad for us
– Violence Miller’s pyramid of learning in

– Addiction (Schell 2008), pp 445

Games are a powerful medium that creates

(potentially transforming) experiences in players
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 Art of Game Design

Whenever you need a break

from your other work, please
read through The Art of
Game Design, it is an easy
read and quite useful

Schell, Jesse, The Art of Game Design—A Book of Lenses, Carnegie Mellon University,
Elsevier: Burlington, pp. 489, 2008. (Available online through MIT libraries)
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 Games for Learning

• Most of this talk was on game design (for entertainment)

• Additional considerations must be made for pedagogical
games (i.e. “serious games”)
• On Thursday, we have a guest lecture "Keeping the Play in
Learning Games“ by Scot Osterweil, Creative Director of The
Education Arcade
• We will provide you additional reading materials to learn more
about serious games and organizations developing them

www.educationarcade.org
www.txchange.nl

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 Important!

• Please make sure that you set aside time

to play games

• Be sure to be “self-aware” when playing

games, looking at your experience as well
as the design of the game itself

• Try to keep an eye out for good and bad

decisions game designers have made on
these games

• Have fun (and understand the reason)!

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 Further Resources

• Game developer websites

– www.igda.org
– www.gamedev.net
– www.gamasutra.com
• International Journal of Computer Games Research
– http://gamestudies.org/1101
• Here at MIT
– Game Lab (http://gamelab.mit.edu)
– Education Arcade (http://www.educationarcade.org)
– MIT/Open Courseware
• 6.831 UI Design and Implementation (R.C. Miller)
• 11.127J Computer Games and Simulations for Investigation and Education (E. Klopfer)
– http://moodle.mitstep.org/course/view.php?id=8, (log in as guest)
• Other
– EDTEC 670 Exploratory Learning through Educational Simulation & Games
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/
– Board games examples:
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/cardboard/CardboardCognition.html
– Game Design at CMU (Schell): http://gamedesign.etc.cmu.edu/ (blog not pwd-protcted)
– Serious gaming at T-Exchange (Thales, University of Twente, the Netherlands)
http://www.txchange.nl

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 Resources for Card and Board
Games
• Cardboard Cognition
– http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/cardboard/CardboardCognition.html
– Developed over 8 years at San Diego State University in EDTEC 670
– More than 132 card games, 103 board games
• The Game Crafter
– Custom, small-run publisher
– Useful templates: http://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish/templates
• EDTEC 670 lectures on board game design
– Summary: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/slides/Board.htm
– Part 1: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/slides/Board1.pdf
– Part 2: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/slides/Board2.pdf
– Process: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/boardgame/BoardGameDesign1.html

Please read the EDTEC lectures and become familiar with a variety of games
Goals for week: familiarity with Space Tug Skirmish; be able to critically analyze
games, recognizing SEAri constructs in these games

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 Primary Sources

Aldrich, Clark, The Complete Guide to Simulations and

Serious Games: How the Most Valuable Content Will
be Created in the Age Beyond Gutenberg to Google,
Pfeiffer: San Francisco, pp. 576, 2009.

Schell, Jesse, The Art of Game Design—A Book of

Lenses, Carnegie Mellon University, Elsevier:
Burlington, pp. 489, 2008. (Available online through
MIT libraries)

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