Independent Game Design

Luke Nihlen
luke@nihlen.us
CNM Game Programming
Fall 2007
Game Design is not Software
Design
• Software design is done to support a
game design
• Games have existed much longer than
software
• Most electronic games can be played in
a non-electronic form
 Expression vs. Simulation
• Games are expression, not simulation
• Simulation emulates the real world,
games exist outside of that context
• Simulation is typically more expensive
than expression
 Indy Game Design
• Design is cheap!
• Software, art, sound, hardware are not
• Challenge is to come up with a fun
game within all the resource constraints
of the independent game designer
 Independent Films
• Smaller budgets = lower risk
• More experimental or creative
• Tend to focus more on people and
stories
• Smaller scope can mean more polish
and stylization
• More catering to individual tastes
 What is a Game Design?
• Rules of the game
• Role of the player
• Challenges the player must face
• Rewards/punishment received
• How the game is controlled (Interactivity)
• Narrative flow
• Balance to improve uncertainty of outcome
• avoidance of no-win and always-win strategies
 What is “Fun” in Games?
• Size of state space in game, learning of
patterns - Raph Koster
• Sensation of flow during play -
Solen/Zimmerman, Chris Crawford
• A vague term to be avoided in critical
discussion - Chris Crawford
• Emotionally interesting choices - David
Freeman
 Player Expectations
• Self-consistency
• Challenge - failure
• Stimulation of imagination
• Consistent behavior
• Controllability
• Immersion
• Depth and breadth of pattern
• Fun
• Emotional Involvement
• “Fairness”
 Game Analysis
• Evaluate existing game designs
• What makes a game fun? or not?
• Play lots and lots of games
• Talk about lots of games
 Fast Playable Prototype
• Build to play as soon in the design as
possible
• “Find the Fun” - Shigeru Miyamoto
• Even good game ideas start out bad
• Process is one of continual refinement
and revision
 Take Care of Your Player
• Continuous stimulus
• Reward frequently
• Balance the challenge
• Adventure, exploration
• Minimize confusion
• Avoid repetition
• Fun to learn to play
 Lessons Learned from
Industry
• Video Game software development lags
behind the industry in tools and
methodologies
• Good design beats massive effort
• Game design can be practiced without
developing software
• pen and paper prototyping
• model mockups
• documentation
 Avoid Progammer-Think
• “Don’t hide the game within the
technology” - Sheri Graner Ray
• Programmers tend to excel at
sequential reasoning
• Most non-programmers don’t enjoy this
kind of thinking
• Try to minimize your sequential
reasoning challenges
 Miyamoto’s Design Principles
• Start with a simple concept
• Design around computer limitations
• Indies should also consider buget/effort
limitations as well
• Minimize player confusion
• Importance of play testing
• Incorporate a smooth learning curve
• Accommodate all skill levels
 Gender-Inclusive Design
• More than half of the consumer world is
female
• Yet games continue to focus on adolescent
males
• Outside of electronic games, women play
games equally to men
• Sheri Graner Ray, Her Interactive
• Diversity can only benefit a creative field
 Summary
• Rapid prototyping
• Play testing in all stages
• Creativity and innovation
• Don’t forget women and girls
• Ideas make games fun, not graphics
• Take care of your player
• Play lots of games and think about them
critically
 Onward
• “The point at which our game puzzles
approach the complexity of the puzzles in
other art forms is the point at which the game
art form becomes mature . . . all art entails
posing questions and puzzles, tough ones,
ethical ones even. And games will never be
mature as long as designers create them with
complete answers to their own puzzles in
mind.” - Raph Koster
Activity: The MySpace Game
 Resources - Books
• Rules of Play
• Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, MIT
Press 2003
• Theory of Fun for Game Design
• Raph Koster, Paraglyph Press 2005
• Gender-Neutral Game Design
• Sheri Graner Ray, Charles River Media
2004
 Resources - Web Sites
• Lost Garden
• http://lostgarden.com
• We Make Money, Not Art
• http://we-make-money-not-art.com
• The Independent Games Source
• http://tigsource.com
• The Escapist
• http://escapistmagazine.com