Engineering Fun in Game Design

GAME DESIGNENGINEERING FUN IN DESIGN

OVERVIEWToday I want to talk about the basics of game design and structure while applying those principles to modern digital design. This class is theory and methodology, not practice, but we may reference design and programming principles, so rudimentary experience in design or development will be useful.

. . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL WILSON@STOPWILSON | WWW.PONYWOLF.COM

PRESENTED BY

. . . . . . . . . . . . INTO A PROCESS?CAN WE TURN FUN

GAMES ARE DESIGNED TO BE ADDICTIVE

Photo used under Creative Commons from Jeff Kubina

GAME MECHANICS• Achievements • Behavioral Momentum • Bonuses • Cascading Information • Combos • Community Collaboration • Countdown • Discovery • Epic Meaning

• Infinite Gameplay • Levels • Loss Aversion • Lottery • Ownership • Points • Progression • Quests • Reward Schedules • Status

via http://gamification.org/wiki/Game_Mechanics

. . . . . . . . . . . . METHODOLOGY?SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH

IT’S A SET OF FEATURES

Progress Bars Achievements

Badges Scoreboards Socialization Competition Challenges

etc.

}METHODOLODY

THAT DON’T EQUATE TO FUN

Progress Bars Achievements

Badges Scoreboards Socialization Competition Challenges

etc.

}= FUN/

SO HOW DO WEMANUFACTURE

FUN?

. . . . . . . . . . . . GAME?WHAT IS A

THERE IS A HIERARCHY OF EXPERIENCE

Experience Toy Puzzle Game

EXPERIENCE

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TOY

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A TOY IS DESIGNED FOR PLAY

PLAY = INTERACTION

INHERENT “RULES” OF A TOY• Interaction • Physical/Environmental Rules • Expectations • Feedback (Light, Sound, etc.) • Discovery • Manipulation • etc. TOY

VISUAL FEEDBACK

SURPRISE,DELIGHT,

RANDOMNESS,POSSIBILITIES

(BUT NO GOAL)

PUZZLE

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A PUZZLE IS FUN AND HAS A RIGHT ANSWER

-- SCOTT KIM, PUZZLE MASTER (THE NEXT TETRIS)

IMPLICIT RULES OF A PUZZLE• Puzzles are a form of play. • Puzzles have a goal or objective. • Puzzles are “tricky.” • Puzzles imply needed ingenuity.

PUZZLE

EXPLICIT RULES OF A PUZZLE

A PUZZLE HAS RULES

A PUZZLE IS FUN AND HAS (AT LEAST ONE)

RIGHT ANSWER

SURPRISE,DELIGHT,

RANDOMNESS,POSSIBILITIES

(NOW WITH A PURPOSE)

GAMEPhoto used under Creative Commons from Muffet

A GAME IS A PLAY ACTIVITY WITH RULES THAT INVOLVES CONFLICT

-- INTERNATIONAL GAME DEVELOPERS ASSOCIATION

RULES OF A GAME• Games are an activity. • Games have rules. • Games have conflict. • Games have goals. • Games involve decision making. • Games have an uncertain outcome.

GAMEPortions of text used under Creative Commons from Ian Schreiber

RULES OF A GAME, MAYBE?• Games have Players? • Games have Winners and Losers? • Games are purposely inefficient? • Games have outcomes? • Games involve systems? • Games are...?

GAME

A GAMES ARE STORY MACHINES

STORY

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STORY

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THE PIECES OF OUR STORY MACHINE ARE CALLED MECHANICS

GAME MECHANICS ARE CONSTRUCTS OF RULES

INTENDED TO PRODUCE AN ENJOYABLE GAME OR

GAMEPLAY

WHAT IS A GAME?

Experience Toy Puzzle Game

Lacks Interaction

Explicit Rules

Inherent Rules Outcome

Has Interaction

Objectives

Conflict

. . . . . . . . . . . . FUN!DIALING IN THE

DESIGNING FUN IS ABOUT DESIGNING

BALANCE

BALANCE

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WHAT TO BALANCE?

Risk Luck

Random Completion

…This

Reward

Skill Predictive

Endlessness

That…

vs.

vs.

vs.

vs.

vs.

THESE ARE THE BIG THREE,

BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHERS

RISKVS.

REWARD

RISK

RISK VS. REWARD• Think of RISK and REWARD as a mechanic

to drive MEANING.

RISK = EFFORT

EFFORT + REWARD = MEANING

CHALLENGE & DIFFICULTYAccording to human nature, it is inevitable that a person will learn and gain more skill presented a challenge and a chance to grow—therefore a game must increase in difficulty as the player progresses in order to continue to be challenging

MORE CHALLENGE = MORE EFFORT = MORE RISK

SO, A GAME WITHOUT RISK WILL

INHERENTLY MAKE IT UN-FUN

LUCKVS.

SKILL

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LUCK SKILL

ALL GAMES HAVE SOME LUCK

ALL GAMES HAVE SOME SKILL

SOURCES OF LUCK• Random Number Generators (Dice, Coins,

etc.) • Simultaneous Choices (Rock, Paper,

Scissors) • Hidden Information (Cards, Stock Market) • Environment (Weather, imperfections, etc.)

LUCK

LUCK LEVELS THE PLAYFIELD

LUCK IS INCLUSIVE

SKILL TAKES EFFORT

SOURCES OF SKILL• Physical (Exercise, Practice, etc.) • Intelligence (IQ, Problem Solving, etc.) • Familiarity (Experience, Practice, etc.) • Endurance (Willpower, etc,)

SKILL

SKILL ADDS MEANING

SO, A GAME WITH OUT LUCK WILL INHERENTLY

MAKE IT UNFAIR

MANIPULATING LUCK

WHEN SKILL GETS AN ADVANTAGE, DIAL UP

THE LUCK

RANDOMVS.

PREDICTIVE

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RANDOM PREDICTIVE

RANDOMNESS ISN’TLUCK

PREDICTIONS AREODDS

CHESS IS VERY RANDOM• The Shannon number, named after Claude

Shannon, is an estimated lower bound on the game-tree complexity of chess

• Shanon’s number is estimated at 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1046.7) games

• More than the estimated number of atoms in the Universe

via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_number

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CHESS IS PREDICTIVE}IN BOOK

IN BOOKIN BOOKIN BOOK

IN BOOK

IN BOOK

IN BOOK IN BOOK

NOVELTY

IN BOOKIN BOOK

IN BOOKIN BOOK

IN BOOKIN BOOKIN BOOK

IN BOOK

IN BOOK

KNOWING THE POSSIBLE OUTCOME MAKES VARIATIONS MORE

EXCITING

WHO WINS?

i i

PREDICTIVE OUTCOMES CREATE UNDERDOGS

PREDICTIVE OUTCOMES CREATE RIVALRIES

WHO IS THE UNDERDOG?

Photo used under Creative Commons from Mike_fleming

SO, A GAME WITH OUT PREDICTIONS WILL

INHERENTLY MAKE IT BORING

. . . . . . . . . . . . TOGETHERBRING IT

ARE YOU CREATING CONFLICT?

ARE YOU CREATING MEANING?

ARE YOU CREATING BALANCE?

Q&A