Game Design Staffan Björk

Some General Points Teacher Staffan Björk Locations Lectures at SV 118, floor 1, house Svea Tuesdays and Fridays Exercises start in Torg 3, house Patricia Tuesdays and Fridays Supervision,, floor 4, house Svea Tuesdays and Fridays when there are no exercises Optional board game nights, Wednesdays

Learning Objectives After successfully completing the course you should be able to: Understand the role of a game designer within a game design project Motivate different perspectives on games and use of games, both from practical and ethical aspects Discuss game design features explicitly using both de facto industry concepts and academic frameworks Pitch game design concepts for an audience Relate current game designs to earlier examples, from the direct predecessors to the first recorded examples

Learning Objectives, cont. Further, after the course you should also be able to: Plan game design projects according to best practice descriptions Develop a game design concept from initial idea to a full game design concept, using iterative design processes and prototyping Specify target audiences and develop game design concepts for these Analyze different game design using analytical tools to be able to Suggest design changes and Compare different game designs

Aims of the course Focus on Game Design Not Implementation Not Graphics Not Sound Not Project Management Not Business Models Not IPR Gameplay Design Interaction Design Game Design All types of games not only computer games

Aims of the course, cont. Counter-part to Simulation Engines Game Designer is the natural step from Lead Programmer But also an area with strong aspects of interaction design Working efficiently as programmer requires understanding of game design

Some relevant games

Some relevant games, cont.

General Structure Mandatory assignments 2 individual 2 in groups 2 Elective assignments Three exercises Activities Analyzing Training in pitching Low Fidelity Play Testing A lot of writing Train communication & argumentation Seek & use references Expected to play & discuss games Supervision is to help with projects and with writing But no exam

General Structure, cont. Parts of the Course History of Games Famous Game Designers Analyzing Games Narratives & Games Designing Games Communicating Design Ideas Games & Education The Book Use chapters Use exercises during lectures

Why is Gameplay important? The core of a game Still underdeveloped area Interaction Design Improve game industry Current knowledge Licenses Sequels Work from good game designers

A Word about Simulations Course Focus on Games Interaction Design most distinguishable in that area Applicable in many other areas Encouraging behaviors Balancing users Steering activities Adjusting activity to player actions

Formal Requirements Assignments 1 What is a game? [10 pts, Tuesday ] 2 Game Analysis [10 pts, Thursday ] 3A Game Idea[5 pts, Friday ] 3B Playtest [10 pts, Friday ] 3C Oral presentation of project [10 pts, Tuesday ] 3D Project report [15 pts, Friday ] 4 Personal report [40 pts, Friday ] Elective Assignments E1 Kudo game [10 pts, before Friday ] E2 Game Jam [20 pts, Friday Sunday ]

Formal Requirements, cont. Grading ScoreGrade -49 Fail | G | G 90+5 | VG Course Evaluators Volunteers? Reporting By Send to Have [Gameplay Design 10: Assignment] in the signature Having the attachments names using the format "[Last Name],[First Name] Assignment [x]"

The Role of Game Designers Related texts: Chapter 1

Responsibilities of Game Designers An Advocate for the Player Have clear vision of target group Providing good gameplay Creating ideas Ensuring quality Making sure that intended gameplay is achieved Project Leader

Skills Required by Game Designers Communication Writing Speaking Compromising Finding Ideas & Inspiration Extensive knowledge of games Extensive knowledge of gameplay

A Player-Oriented Design Process Involve players No, not yourselves Iterative Design Setting an initial goal Stepwise developing and refining Evaluating against initial design goal See Human-Computer Interaction & Interaction Design for more details and specific methods Evaluate Playtest Test Ideas Implement Generate Ideas Identify Target Group Formalize Ideas Create Specification

Game Exercise: First to 12

Game: first to 12 The winning condition is to be the player that makes the shared value reaches 12 The two players take turns increasing the value by 1 or 2 The shared value begins at 0

Break

Is “First to 12” a game?

Book Exercise: 1.2 D.O.A

What is a Game?

Definitions of Games

D. Parlett Game historian with focus on board games, word games, and card games. Distinguishes between informal and formal games. puppies play ” playing around” sandbox play means & ends Has a winner “every game is its rules” Parlett, D. The Oxford History of Board Games, 1999.

C. C. Abt ”...a game is an activity among two or more independent decision- makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context.” Abt, C. C. Serious Games, 1970

J. Huizinga ”[Play is] a free activity standing quite consciously outside ”ordinary” life as being ”not serious”, but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings, which tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress their difference from the common world by disguise or other means.” “Magic Circle” Huizinga, J. Homo Ludens, 1938

R. Caillois Free Separate in time and space Uncertain Unproductive – creates no goods or wealth Governed by rules Categories Competition [ Agôn ] Chance [ Alea ] Make-Believe [ Mimicry ] Vertigo [ Ilinx ] Callois, R. Man, Play and Games, 2001

C. Crawford “A closed formal system that subjectively represents a subset of reality.” ”Interactive representation” (the cause-effect relationship) ”Conflict” (obstacles that challenge the goal pursuit) ”Safety” (psychological experience of danger, without the physical realization thereof) Crawford, C. The Art of Computer Game Design

B. Suits ”To play a game is to engage in activity directed towards bringing about a specific state of affairs, using only means permitted by rules, where rules prohibit more efficient in favour of less efficent means and where such rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity.” or “playing a game is the voluntary effort to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia, 1990

G. Costikyan ”A game is a form of art in which participants, named players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal.” From: Costikyan, G. I Have no Words and I Must Design

E. Avedon & B. Sutton-Smith ”Games are an exercise of voluntary control systems, in which there is a contest between powers, confined by rules in order to produce a disequilibrial outcome.” From: Avedon, E. & Sutton-Smith, B. The Study of Games

K. Salen & E. Zimmerman ”A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.” ”Game design is the process by which a game designer creates a game, to be encountered by a player, from which meaningful play emerges.” From: Salen, C. & Zimmerman, E. Rules of Play

J. Juul 1. Rules 2. Variable, quantifiable outcome 3. Value assigned to possible outcomes (+ -) 4. Player effort 5. Player attached to outcome (game contract) 6. Negotiable consequences ” A game is a rule-based formal system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the activity are optional and negotiable. “

J. Juul, cont. Transmedial Games not bound to a specific media Some games are implemented on several different media

J. von Neumann & O. Morgenstern ”Theory of rational behavior for interactive decision problems. In a game, several agents strive to maximize their (expected) utility index by choosing particular courses of action, and each agent's final utility payoffs depend on the profile of courses of action chosen by all agents. The interactive situation, specified by the set of participants, the possible courses of action of each agent, and the set of all possible utility payoffs, is called a game; the agents 'playing' a game are called the players.” From: Von Neumann, J. & Morgenstern, O. Theory of Games and Economic Behavior

T. Fullerton, C. Swain & S. Hoffman A closed formal system Engages players in structured conflict Resolves in an unequal outcome From: Fullerton, T., Swain, C. & Hoffman, S. Game Design Workshop

Assignment 1 What is a Game?

Assignment 1 What is a Game? word argumentation for your personal definition of what games are. An individual assignment due in 1 week! Learning outcomes Reflect on your personal view on what a game is, and how others may differ in their opinion Write argumentative texts where you take one position with motivations and argue against possible objections Compare games that belong to different categorizes to analyze the common features and differences between genres and mediums of games

Assignment 1, cont. Requirements One sentence definition Comparison to the definitions presented today Answer the following questions Is weight lifting a game? Is Sudoku a game? Is all forms of gambling games? Is a game played if two computer programs met each other in Chess over the net? Examples & counter-examples of things that fit the definition (besides weight lifting, Sudoku & Roulette) Reflect on how your definition of games affects the role of a game designer (e.g. what must be emphasized)

Thank you! Questions?