Take-Aways
I enrolled in two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on introductory game design this past Spring. My motivation was to broaden my understanding on the topic and familiarize myself with the domain language through activities and forum discussions. They were both excellent courses but quite different in their approach and scope. They both emphasized the importance of paper prototyping and the iteration process.
I completed the CalArts course but I found the MIT one to be too time intensive. I participated for the first 4 weeks until the digital designing began. Below are some take-aways from my experience with both MOOCs. |
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Play
"A state of mind where people interact without a purpose - connected to learning and often, storytelling"
"A state of mind where people interact without a purpose - connected to learning and often, storytelling"
Games: "An organized, goal-directed form of play"
Mechanics "The way the rules shape how players to proceed through a game by what they can and cannot do"
"Actions become mechanics when players - or the game itself - uses them"
"Actions become mechanics when players - or the game itself - uses them"
Rules
"Anything that defines what happens in the game outside of player's input: How actions are defined"
"Anything that defines what happens in the game outside of player's input: How actions are defined"
Goal
"Seeing a challenge, recognizing a way to meet it, then overcoming it"
"Seeing a challenge, recognizing a way to meet it, then overcoming it"
Dynamics "The unpredictability created in a game when mechanics interact with rules"
Systems "The complexity of everything that could happen in a game"
Balance "Fine-tuning interest and challenge as new rules are introduced"
Ideas
"There are no perfect ideas so don’t waste a lot of time trying to think of one"
"There are no perfect ideas so don’t waste a lot of time trying to think of one"
Designing Player Experience
• "Identify how you want players to feel and find a way to take them there"
• "Put players in a state of conflict to build tension but design a resolution for that conflict"
• "Players should always feel like winners until the moment they lose"
• "The more your story can include player decisions, the more they will feel involved with your game"
• "Design for meaningful moments, interesting things and twists: create the mechanics that ensure that players get there"
• "Go after a core nugget which is fun"
• "Classic games have simple rules but complex systems"
• "Provide choice: people enjoy deciding how they will play the game"
• "Put players in a state of conflict to build tension but design a resolution for that conflict"
• "Players should always feel like winners until the moment they lose"
• "The more your story can include player decisions, the more they will feel involved with your game"
• "Design for meaningful moments, interesting things and twists: create the mechanics that ensure that players get there"
• "Go after a core nugget which is fun"
• "Classic games have simple rules but complex systems"
• "Provide choice: people enjoy deciding how they will play the game"
Using Stories
• "Most of the narrative should should take place in the player's head"
• "show-don’t tell: players should experience a story with their sense versus being told"
• "keep rules minimal to let players imagination create the story"
• "Strong emotional connections can be made with characters who share qualties or past experiences with players"
• "Players want to make the storyline their own and feel in charge of their direction"
• "Progression: Is there a sense that the game is going somewhere?"
• "show-don’t tell: players should experience a story with their sense versus being told"
• "keep rules minimal to let players imagination create the story"
• "Strong emotional connections can be made with characters who share qualties or past experiences with players"
• "Players want to make the storyline their own and feel in charge of their direction"
• "Progression: Is there a sense that the game is going somewhere?"
The Development Cycle
• "Iteration is the key: prototype, test, revise, test again"
• "Prototyping: test small mechanics one at a time"
• "Find new people for every new phase of testing"
• "Don’t get stuck on an idea by investing too much time on a prototype before testing it"
• "The idea you spend too much time developing may be the element that does not make your game work"
• "Test to see how systems interact"
• "The goal should be plainly evident"
• "Playing from the beginning all makes sense: mechanics should not fight each other
• "It is easy to do tech and play testing yourself, but don’t shirk the user testing"
• "Make an “interest curve”: list all the moment - good and bad - and note when they happen"
• "Define what you expect players to do in a given play session
• "Make an “interest curve”: list all the moment - good and bad - and note when they happen"
• "Prototyping: test small mechanics one at a time"
• "Find new people for every new phase of testing"
• "Don’t get stuck on an idea by investing too much time on a prototype before testing it"
• "The idea you spend too much time developing may be the element that does not make your game work"
• "Test to see how systems interact"
• "The goal should be plainly evident"
• "Playing from the beginning all makes sense: mechanics should not fight each other
• "It is easy to do tech and play testing yourself, but don’t shirk the user testing"
• "Make an “interest curve”: list all the moment - good and bad - and note when they happen"
• "Define what you expect players to do in a given play session
• "Make an “interest curve”: list all the moment - good and bad - and note when they happen"