Game Design Technology

Before you start

1. Foreword4 min

   Foreword · About this edition

2. How to Read This Book3 min

   How the book is organized · Game design is full of abstract concepts · Multiple words for a single thing · Do not underestimate the simplicity of what I say · Controversial material ahead, keep an open mind · Unknown word? Use a dictionary

3. My Definitions6 min

   The basics · Technical terms · Games and real life

Part IThe Common Mistake

There is one mistake that practically every game designer and developer makes, the big and famous ones included. I made it for years. It's so common that…

1. 1Final Result vs Root Cause7 min

   What the common mistake is · A game example · An interactive tool example · In short

2. 2Three Projects, Two Designers29 min

   My project: creating something completely new · My project: an improved version of something old · Someone else's project: making an existing project better

3. 3How I Learned This the Hard Way6 min

   A warning about the labels · How I came about this information · Why the mistake is so common

4. 4Question Everything6 min

   The act of not asking "why" · The traps · Cognitive biases · The cost of not verifying · The important question is "Why?"

5. 5Popularity Is a Side Effect3 min

   The result, not the path · "Be original" · "It will automatically make it better"

6. 6Making Games for the Wrong Reason7 min

   Intrinsic and extrinsic reasons · Why it fails · The six effects of an extrinsic goal · What to do instead

7. 7The Holy Grail3 min

   The four parts · What a perfect design looks like · The mindset side and the technical side

Part IIThe Mindset

This part is about the mental side of design: how to think, relate and decide while working on a project. On its own, it's the most important part of this…

1. 8Purpose: Everything Exists for a Reason6 min

   Purpose-based design · Why purpose matters so much · Purpose is the source of motivation · Purpose in a team · Where purpose comes from

2. 9Understanding Human Beings16 min

   Nonviolent Communication · Fundamental human needs · Feelings point to needs · NVC for game design, in short · Rewards and punishments are two sides of one coin · Power over people and power with people · Self-fullness: your needs are a gift · In short

3. 10Fun Is the Fulfillment of Needs9 min

   Nobody can define "fun" · Games are need satisfiers · What games can give a person · You are an architect of the future · Strategies are where it goes wrong · Six ways games fail to satisfy needs

4. 11From Inspiration to Purpose10 min

   Purpose arises from needs · Purpose finds you · Need, inspiration, dream · Translating inspiration into needs: five steps · Choose the right medium · Creativity is remix · Good design takes time

5. 12Game or Interactive Tool12 min

   One or the other · Game vs interactive tool · The side-effect influence · About gamification · Making learning compelling, honestly · The human need to give

6. 13Purpose as a Compass12 min

   A compass that always works · The purpose test · Catching bad ideas early · Beware: poor design can violate needs · Why some people aren't interested in your game · Where meaning comes from: handmade and procedural · Keep the original inspiration in the project · Where good games come from · Before moving on

Part IIIIntention Is Not Action

There's one more major mistake designers fall into, and it's a sneaky one: believing that what you intend and what you do are the same thing. Dream vs…

1. 14Intention and Action Are Two Things7 min

   The mistake · How the scenarios work · Where the mistake comes from · The four stages of learning · Foreseeing consequences before they happen · Before the scenarios

2. 15When Players Misbehave12 min

   Scenario 1: Toxic player behavior · Why competitive games self-destruct · Scenario 2: Players cheating · Guiding without restricting

3. 16Good Intentions, Violent Methods10 min

   Scenario 3: Making education fun · Scenario 4: A joke caused a backlash

4. 17Money14 min

   Scenario 5: A monetization strategy ends in disaster · A note on cosmetic items

5. 18Afraid the Game Is Too Short26 min

   Scenario 6: Worried about the game's length · Filler content · Artificial difficulty · Arbitrary unlocking and progression systems · Blatant recycling and repetition · Tacked-on features · Time gating · Arbitrary content splitting · Hidden moment-to-moment delays · Rewards for staying · Punishments and threats for leaving · Six more padding methods · Why fear produces all of these · What happened, and why

6. 19More Ways Good Intentions Fail18 min

   Scenario 7: The trailer vs the game · Scenario 8: The sequel that failed its fans · Scenario 9: User acquisition keeps failing · Scenario 10: Adapting an experience from another medium · Scenario 11: Player retention is always too low · Scenario 12: Customers angry about business decisions · More scenarios to think through

Part IVThe Technical Side: Designing the Game

Now the tools. Part IV is about the game itself: how to take stock of what you're working with, how to build the foundations everything else stands on, how…

1. 20Taking Inventory7 min

   Understanding the purpose · Understanding the technology and the platform · Understanding the human being · Understanding skills and resources · Respect for the human · With the inventory taken

2. 21Foundations Before Content7 min

   Everything depends on what's under it · The dependency chain · Foundations first, content last · Buckets or a pipe · A reason to learn about the world

3. 22Build the Forces, Not the Desert10 min

   The throwaway toy · Framework-driven design · Thinking in wholes · Believable, not realistic · Natural limits, not arbitrary ones · Throwaway is worse business, too

4. 23Content That Multiplies8 min

   Additive and multiplicative content · Five weeks for five minutes · Levels that multiply: spawn zones · Characters and items that multiply · Structured randomness: the heuristics randomizer · Cheap, mass-producible content · Nothing hard-coded

5. 24Infinite Metagames14 min

   What an infinite metagame is · Why it matters · Why the usual structures fail · The winning combination: an infinite goal and a finite goal · New Game+ as a bridge · Worked example: making a finished game infinite · It isn't hard, it's organization

6. 25Pacing, Difficulty and Progression Without the Scam9 min

   Campaigns made of modules · Balance by real-life logic · Abundance from the start · Progression as perfecting your world · First-time, returning and expert players · Tutorials and guidance · Never reward, never punish

7. 26Worlds That Last11 min

   The regular world and the wilderness · Hardware limits as a law of nature · Mementos and a living history · Time never rewinds · Death and respawn · Start the universe already in motion · A personal note: do good today

Part VThe Technical Side: Building, Sharing and Growing

A design on paper doesn't make anyone's life more wonderful yet. It has to be built, shared and kept alive, and the person who designed it has to keep…

1. 27What a Game Designer Really Does8 min

   The job · One designer per project · Blueprints with leeway · How it should go · If you're working alone

2. 28The Design Process11 min

   Scope creep is not the enemy · Scope maximization · Tools of the design phase · Prototypes are proving grounds · The barebones game first · Good design is paranoid design · Everything takes longer than it seems · When is it ready, and when to kill it · You will make mistakes

3. 29Working with People8 min

   NVC with a team · Message sent = message received? · A common goal, the same vision · Gratitude, not praise · Translating feedback · People don't always know what they want · Deadlines · The influence of others

4. 30Beyond the Game11 min

   The game starts before the main menu · Marketing · Answering a CEO's questions · Monetization is the designer's job · Pricing and inequality · Forking, not competition

5. 31Handle With Care10 min

   Violence and video games · Flammable content · Gender equity · Out there be monsters

6. 32Putting It All Together16 min

   Walkthrough 1: from a small ragdoll game to a universe · Walkthrough 2: a project to spread NVC · Walkthrough 3: the ultimate dream game · The pattern

7. 33Growing as a Designer12 min

   A big red box · Cortex Command · How to start · What mastery takes · Trends, and the five stages of grief · Learning and teaching game design

8. 34What a Good Game Is6 min

   A definition · What a good game is not · Why this works · What to expect · Your responsibility as a creator · Make it count

Back matter

1. Needs at a Glance4 min

   The needs, and what games do to them · How needs work · Feelings to listen for

2. The Question Kit4 min

   When an idea grabs you · When you're improving an existing game · When you join someone else's project · About any feature, mechanic or decision · When you have to choose between options · At every decision: the purpose test · Before you build it · Before adding any reward or punishment · When money or fame is pulling at you

3. The Padding Checklist3 min

   The checklist · If you found some

4. Further Reading3 min

   Needs and communication · Rewards, motivation and competition · Marketing and business · Ideas met along the way · The articles behind the book

5. Glossary5 min

   A to Z