Players Making Decisions: Game Design Essentials And The Art Of Understanding Your Players Game Design Essentials And The Art Of Understanding Your Players

Game designers today are expected to have an arsenal of multi-disciplinary skills at their disposal in the fields of art and design, computer programming, psychology, economics, composition, education, mythology—and the list goes on. How do you distill a vast universe down to a few salient points? Players Making Decisions brings together the wide range of topics that are most often taught in modern game design courses and focuses on the core concepts that will be useful for students for years to come. A common theme to many of these concepts is the art and craft of creating games in which players are engaged by making meaningful decisions. It is the decision to move right or left, to pass versus shoot, or to develop one’s own strategy that makes the game enjoyable to the player. As a game designer, you are never entirely certain of who your audience will be, but you can enter their world and offer a state of focus and concentration on a task that is intrinsically rewarding. This detailed and easy-to-follow guide to game design is for both digital and analog game designers alike and some of its features include: • A clear introduction to the discipline of game design, how game development teams work, and the game development process • Full details on prototyping and playtesting, from paper prototypes to intellectual property protection issues • A detailed discussion of cognitive biases and human decision making as it pertains to games • Thorough coverage of key game elements, with practical discussions of game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics • Practical coverage of using simulation tools to decode the magic of game balance • A full section on the game design business, and how to create a sustainable lifestyle within it Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 13 Who Is This Book For?......Page 16 How Is This Book Organized?......Page 17 PART 1 Getting Started......Page 19 1 What Is a Game Designer......Page 21 Responsibilities of a Game Designer......Page 22 Attributes of a Game Designer......Page 25 Make Things......Page 28 Cultivate Your Gardens......Page 30 Formalism......Page 32 Summary......Page 35 2 Problem Statements......Page 36 Defining the Problem......Page 37 Low-Hanging Fruit......Page 39 Functional Fixedness......Page 41 Brainstorming......Page 42 Summary......Page 44 3 Development Structures......Page 45 Production Methodologies......Page 46 Scope......Page 52 Summary......Page 54 4 Starting Practices......Page 55 Analog Games......Page 56 Theme and Mechanics......Page 57 Designing for Others......Page 59 Opening Questions......Page 61 Summary......Page 64 PART 2 Prototypes and Playtesting......Page 65 5 Paper Prototyping Development Techniques......Page 67 Software and Materials......Page 68 Art......Page 70 Cards......Page 71 InDesign Data Merge......Page 73 Summary......Page 79 6 Playtesting......Page 80 Playtesting Goals......Page 81 Playtesting Benefits......Page 82 Listening to Feedback......Page 83 Finding Playtesters......Page 87 Iterating......Page 88 Summary......Page 89 7 Playtesting Methods......Page 90 Keep Playtesters Talking......Page 91 Self-Playtesting......Page 94 Summary......Page 96 8 Prototypes and Intellectual Property......Page 97 Do I Need an NDA?......Page 98 Summary......Page 100 PART 3 Meaningful Decisions......Page 101 9 Flow and the Fundamental Game Design Directive......Page 103 Game Flow......Page 104 Interest Curves......Page 109 Learning Curves......Page 114 Individual Differences......Page 116 Summary......Page 117 10 Decision-Making......Page 118 Player Agency......Page 119 Anatomy of a Choice......Page 120 Less-Interesting Decision-Making......Page 122 More-Interesting Decision-Making......Page 127 Summary......Page 133 11 Randomness......Page 134 Completely Random Games......Page 135 Completely Skill-Based Games......Page 136 Fairness and Mitigating Randomness......Page 137 Summary......Page 140 12 Goals......Page 141 How Players Determine Game Goals......Page 142 Criteria for Goals......Page 145 Solving Goal Problems......Page 147 Summary......Page 150 PART 4 Describing Game Elements......Page 151 13 Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics (MDA)......Page 153 What Are Games About......Page 154 MDA......Page 155 More Dynamics......Page 162 Summary......Page 167 14 Milieu......Page 168 What Is Milieu......Page 169 Polish......Page 172 Player Types......Page 173 Motivation......Page 175 Milieu as Design Focus......Page 178 Summary......Page 179 15 Rules and Verbs......Page 180 Rules......Page 181 Qualities of Rules......Page 182 Types of Rules......Page 183 Verbs......Page 184 Summary......Page 186 16 Balance......Page 187 Symmetry......Page 188 Self-Balancing Mechanisms......Page 189 Progression and Numeric Relationships......Page 191 Balance Heuristics......Page 198 Summary......Page 199 17 Feedback Loops......Page 200 Positive Feedback Loops......Page 201 Negative Feedback Loops......Page 202 Feedback Loops in Action......Page 204 Fixing Problems......Page 207 Summary......Page 209 18 Puzzle Design......Page 210 What Is a Puzzle......Page 211 Possibility Space......Page 213 Breadcrumbs......Page 214 Features of Ineffective Puzzles......Page 217 Types of Puzzles......Page 222 Other Puzzle Types......Page 228 Summary......Page 232 PART 5 Game Theory and Rational Decision-Making......Page 233 19 Equilibria in Normal Form Games......Page 235 The Prisoner’s Dilemma......Page 236 Solving Games Using Strict Dominance......Page 237 Using (and Abusing) Dominance......Page 240 Stag Hunt and Coordination......Page 243 Determining Nash Equilibria in a Larger Matrix......Page 245 Mixed Strategies......Page 247 Stag Hunt Redux......Page 250 Summary......Page 251 20 Sequential and Iterated Games......Page 252 Game Trees......Page 253 Promises and Commitment Problems......Page 257 Iterated Games......Page 259 Experimenting with Strategies......Page 260 Successful Strategies......Page 261 Summary......Page 263 21 Problems with Game Theory......Page 264 Rational Actors......Page 265 The Dollar Auction......Page 266 The “Guess Two-Thirds” Game......Page 267 Second-Price Auctions......Page 269 Summary......Page 271 22 Marginal Decision Analysis......Page 272 Marginal Nuggets......Page 273 Balance on Margins......Page 276 Summary......Page 278 PART 6 Human Behavior in Games......Page 279 23 Behaviorism and Schedules of Reinforcement......Page 281 Operant Conditioning......Page 282 Schedules of Reinforcement......Page 283 Anticipation and Uncertainty......Page 286 Ethical and Practical Concerns......Page 290 Summary......Page 291 24 Learning and Constructivism......Page 292 Historic Approaches......Page 293 Novices and Experts......Page 294 Cognitive Load......Page 296 Expertise Reversal Effect......Page 299 Split-Attention Effect......Page 300 Tutorials and Learning Design......Page 302 Summary......Page 303 25 Motivation......Page 304 What’s the Problem with Rewards......Page 305 Self-Determination Theory and Challenges......Page 307 Competition and Motivation......Page 308 Personality......Page 309 Other Motivation Effects......Page 310 Summary......Page 312 26 Human Decision-Making......Page 313 Attribution Errors......Page 314 Misunderstanding Randomness......Page 316 Anchoring and Adjustment......Page 319 Understanding Value in Uncertain Situations......Page 321 Loss......Page 324 Framing Decisions......Page 325 Summary......Page 327 27 Attention and Memory......Page 328 Attention......Page 329 Memory......Page 334 Helping with Memory Limitations......Page 335 Perception......Page 336 Summary......Page 340 PART 7 Game Design Tools......Page 341 28 Documentation and Written Communication......Page 343 The Game Design Document......Page 344 The GDD Creation Process......Page 348 References......Page 353 Documentation for Tabletop Games......Page 354 States and Flowcharts......Page 355 Summary......Page 359 29 Probability......Page 360 Probability Is Fancy Counting......Page 361 Adding Die Rolls......Page 367 Example: The H/T Game......Page 370 Being Careful......Page 372 Summary......Page 377 30 Spreadsheets for Simulation......Page 378 Basics......Page 379 Formulas......Page 382 Goal Seek and Solver in Excel......Page 393 One-Way Data Tables......Page 399 Summary......Page 401 31 Monte Carlo Simulation......Page 402 Answering Design Questions......Page 403 Hot Hand......Page 405 Monty Hall......Page 407 Once Around the Board......Page 413 Martingale Betting......Page 419 Summary......Page 421 32 Presenting Ideas......Page 422 The Thesis......Page 423 Text on Slides......Page 424 Data-Ink......Page 426 Do Not Waste Time......Page 428 Documentation......Page 429 Acquiring Images......Page 430 Example: State of Mobile Games 2014......Page 432 Risk......Page 435 Risk Analysis......Page 436 Pitch Questions......Page 438 Summary......Page 440 PART 8 The Game Design Business......Page 441 33 Profit, Loss, and Metrics......Page 443 Profit and Loss......Page 444 Metrics......Page 446 Virality......Page 448 Cash Flow......Page 453 Summary......Page 454 34 Sustainable Lifestyles......Page 455 Life in AAA Digital Game Development......Page 456 Life as an Independent Developer of Digital Games......Page 458 Life in Tabletop Game Development......Page 460 Market Luck......Page 461 Summary......Page 462 Conclusion......Page 463 Ludography......Page 467 B......Page 472 D......Page 473 F......Page 474 G......Page 475 J-k......Page 476 M......Page 477 P......Page 478 Q-R......Page 479 S......Page 480 X-Z......Page 481 This is the first introductory game design textbook that's 100% focused on practical application and the needs of today's game students, reflects the field's most authoritative research, and includes detailed coverage of player decision-making. Written by long-time game designer Zack Hiwiller, department chair for Full Sail University's pioneering Game Design degree program, Game Design: Beyond Platforms brings together reliable information on the topics most widely covered in modern game design classes. Hiwiller focuses on knowledge that will be useful for years to come, not tips and tricks that will become obsolete long before students can use them. He addresses the needs of both digital and analog game designers, and offers many references as jumping-off points for further exploration and learning. Coverage includes: A clear introduction to the discipline of game design, what game designers actually do, and how they fit into game development teams and the game development process A full section on prototyping and playtesting, from paper prototypes to intellectual property protection issues A detailed discussion of cognitive biases and human decision making as it pertains to games - an important discipline largely ignored in game design texts Thorough coverage of key game elements, with practical discussions of game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics Practical coverage of using simulation tools to decode the magic of game balance A full section on the game design business, and how to create a sustainable lifestyle within it This detailed and easy-to-follow guide to game design is for both digital and analogue game designers alike. It features a clear introduction to the discipline and the game development process; full details on prototyping and playtesting, from paper prototypes to intellectual property protection issues; a detailed discussion of cognitive biases and human decision making as it pertains to games; thorough coverage of key game elements, with practical discussions of game mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics; practical coverage of using simulation tools to decode the magic of game balance; and a full section on the game design business, and how to create a sustainable lifestyle within it