1. Game Design

2. Concept Document
How to present your game idea?

3. How do you design a good game?
Do a lot of research
Have a good team
Test, test, test
Prototypes (small, use all tools possible)
You can use some of the frameworks around:
MDA framework (this week’s labs)
Game balance, fit to an old model (e.g. rock, paper, scissors)
Read Tracy’s book (chapters 1-5)
There are several other good books and papers I can recommend

4. Let’s see if you know the games I play …
Time for Game Trivia
Let’s see if you know the games I play …

5. Game Trivia

6. Game Trivia

7. Game Trivia

8. Game Trivia

9. Game Trivia

10. Game Trivia

11. Game Trivia

12. Game Trivia

13. Game Trivia

14. Outside Resources: Fogg Conceptual Designs (handout)
Concept Document
Outside Resources: Fogg Conceptual Designs (handout)

15. Concept Document Use the template supplied by Fogg 1. Title Page
Visual to situate your game, genre
Design Challenge: what is new about your game
2. Overview
Genre, if one exists
discuss aesthetics of your game (use MDA to refer to a list of aesthetics)

16. Concept Document 3. User Description
Who is the audience? Age? Gamers?
4. Storyboard of experience : discuss gameplay
What is the player doing? GamePlay
point out the features of your game
show the mechanics that will achieve the aesthetics you pointed out earlier
Discuss underlying systems of your game

17. Concept Document 5. Prototyping: nothing there
6. Features/Functionality
More details on the game system
More details on the aesthetics
More details on the mechanics of the game
7. Justification of the Design
Is it based an already accepted system? Or new (can argue for originality)?
Basically: why should we give you money to build this game?

18. Concept Document 8. User Testing: nothing there 9. Shortcomings
List problems of the design
List Risks
10. Expansion
What are the alternative designs you are thinking of trying?
11. Next Steps
12. Summary

19. MDA framework Slides are Marc’s slides, used at GDC 2005
Marc is a great guy, look up his game Oasis (Warning: very very addictive), but a MUST play

20. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Designer
Player

21. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Game
Designer
Player

22. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Player

23. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Book
Player

24. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Book
Movie
Player

25. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Book
Movie
Painting
Player

26. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Book
Movie
Painting
Chair
Player

27. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Book
Movie
Painting
Chair
Car
Player

28. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Book
Movie
Painting
Chair
Car
Pizza
Player

29. The Designer-Player Relationship 
Creates
Consumes
Game
Designer
Player
The difference is the way that games are consumed.

30. An Extreme Opposite Example: A Theatrical Play
The “design team” knows:
Script
Lighting
Acoustics
Seating
Intermissions

31. Games, on the Contrary The designer doesn’t know:
When will the player play?
How often? For how long?
Where? With Whom?
And most importantly...
What will happen during the game?

32. Obligatory Editorial
This lack of predictability is the essence of play.
It should be embraced, not eschewed.

33. Games as Software
Code

34. Games as Software
Code
Process

35. Games as Software
Code
Process
Requirements

36. Games as Software
Code
Process
Requirements
Rules

37. Games as Software
Code
Process
Requirements
Rules
Activity

38. Games as Software
Code
Process
Requirements
Rules
Activity
“Fun”

39. A Design Vocabulary
Code
Process
Requirements
Rules
Activity
“Fun”

40. A Design Vocabulary Mechanics Code Process Requirements Rules Activity
“Fun”

41. A Design Vocabulary
Mechanics
Dynamics
Process
Requirements
Game
“Fun”

42. A Design Vocabulary
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics

43. The MDA Framework
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics

44. Definitions
Mechanics: The rules and concepts that formally specify the game-as-system.
Dynamics: The run-time behavior of the game-as-system.
Aesthetics: The desirable emotional responses evoked by the game dynamics.

45. The Designer/Player Relationship, Revisited
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics  
Designer
Player

46. The Player’s Perspective
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics 
Player

47. The Designer’s Perspective
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics 
Designer

48. But they are causally linked
Three “Views” of Games
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
But they are causally linked

49. The Building Blocks: Formal Models
No Grand Unified Theory
Instead, lots of little models
We can think of models as “lenses”
Models can be formulas or abstractions
Discovering new models is an ongoing process

50. MDA is a “Taxonomy” for Models
Knowledge of Aesthetics
Knowledge of Dynamics
Knowledge of Mechanics
Knowledge of the interactions between them

51. Properties of Good Models
We want our models to be:
Formal (well-defined)
Abstract (widely applicable)
Proven (known to work)
On any given game, we expect to use several different abstractions, not one big one.

52. Part III: MDA in detail
In this part, we discuss Aesthetics, Dynamics and Mechanics in detail.

53. The Designer’s Perspective
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics 
Designer

54. Understanding Aesthetics
We need to get past words like “fun” and “gameplay.”
What kinds of “fun” are there?
How will we know a particular kind of “fun” when we see it?

55. Eight Kinds of “Fun”

56. Eight Kinds of “Fun”
Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure

57. Eight Kinds of “Fun”
Sensation
Fantasy
Game as make-believe

58. Eight Kinds of “Fun” Game as unfolding story Sensation Fantasy
Narrative
Game as unfolding story

59. Eight Kinds of “Fun” Game as obstacle course Sensation Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Game as obstacle course

60. Eight Kinds of “Fun” Game as social framework Sensation Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Game as social framework

61. Eight Kinds of “Fun” Sensation Fantasy Narrative Challenge Fellowship
Discovery
Game as uncharted territory

62. Eight Kinds of “Fun” Game as self-discovery Sensation Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Expression
Game as self-discovery

63. Eight Kinds of “Fun” Game as mindless pastime Sensation Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Expression
Submission
Game as mindless pastime

64. Clarifying Our Aesthetics
Charades is “fun”
Quake is “fun”
Final Fantasy is “fun”

65. Clarifying Our Aesthetics
Charades is
Fellowship, Expression, Challenge
Quake is
Challenge, Sensation, Competition, Fantasy
Final Fantasy is
Fantasy, Narrative, Expression, Discovery, Challenge, Masochism
Each game pursues multiple aesthetics.
Again, there is no Game Unified Theory.

66. Clarifying Our Goals
As designers, we can choose certain aesthetics as goals for our game design.
We need more than a one-word definition of our goals.

67. What is an “Aesthetic Model?”
A rigorous definition of an aesthetic goal
States criteria for success and failure
Serves as an “aesthetic compass”
Some examples…

68. Goal: Competition
Model: A game is competitive if players are emotionally invested in defeating each other.
Success:
Players are adversaries.
Players want to win.
Failure:
A player feels that he can’t win.
A player can’t measure his progress.

69. Goal: Realistic Flight Simulation
Model: Flight dynamics match user expectations.
Success:
Match a mathematical formula
Pass our “realism checklist”
Failure:
Counter-intuitive system behavior.

70. Goal: Drama Model: A game is dramatic if:
Its central conflict creates dramatic tension.
The dramatic tension builds towards a climax.

71. Goal: Drama Success: Failure: A sense of uncertainty
A sense of inevitability
Tension increases towards a climax
Failure:
The conflict’s outcome is obvious (no uncertainty)
No sense of forward progress (no inevitability)
Player doesn’t care how the conflict resolves
On to Dynamics...

72. Understanding Dynamics
What about the game’s behavior can we predict before we go to playtest?
How can we explain the behavior that we observe?

73. Formalizing Game Dynamics
Input
Output
Rules
(Player)
(Graphics/Sound)
State
The “State Machine” Model
Examples: Chess, Quake

74. Models of Game Dynamics
Again, no Grand Unified Theory
Instead, a collection of many Dynamic Models.
Dynamics models are analytical in nature.
Some examples…

75. Example: Random Variable
This is a model of 2d6:
Chance in 36
Die roll

76. Example: Feedback System
A feedback system monitors and regulates its own state.
Room
Thermometer
Heater
Too Cold
Too Hot
Controller
Cooler
An Ideal Thermostat

77. Example: Operant Conditioning
The player is part of the system, too!
Psychology gives us models to explain and predict the player’s behavior.

78. Where Models Come From Analysis of existing games Other Fields:
Math, Psychology, Engineering…
Our own experience
On to Mechanics...

79. Understanding Mechanics
There’s a vast library of common game mechanics.

80. Examples Cards Shooters Golf Shuffling, Trick-Taking, Bidding
Ammunition, Spawn Points
Golf
Sand Traps, Water Hazards

81. Mechanics vs. Dynamics There’s a grey area
Some behaviors are direct consequences of rules.
Others are indirect.
“Dynamics” usually means the latter.

82. Mechanics vs. Dynamics There’s a grey area
Some behaviors are direct consequences of rules.
Others are indirect.
“Dynamics” usually means the latter.
Dynamics and Mechanics are different views of games.

83. Mechanics vs. Dynamics There’s a grey area
Some behaviors are direct consequences of rules.
Others are indirect.
“Dynamics” usually means the latter.
Dynamics and Mechanics are different views of games.
Dynamics emerge from Mechanics.

84. Interaction Models
How do specific dynamics emerge from specific mechanics?
How do specific dynamics evoke specific aesthetics?

85. Example: Time Pressure
“Time pressure” is a dynamic.
It can create dramatic tension.
Various mechanics create time pressure:
Simple time limit
“Pace” monster
Depleting resource

86. Tuning is an iterative process.
Part IV: Tuning
Analyze
Test
Revise
Tuning is an iterative process.

87. Use of Sissy fight as an example game
Play the game
Reflect
Fiddle with the mechanics to create an aesthetic
Play test