21CSE235T – GAME DESIGN PROTOTYPING

AND DEVELOPMENT

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 UNIT – I

Introduction to Game Development

Game development Overview and

Introduction
Game design and Paper Prototyping

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THINKING LIKE A DESIGNER

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 Welcome to Game Design
 You Are a Game Designer!
 Bartok: A Game Design Exercise
 The Definition of Game
 A game is the voluntary attempt to overcome
unnecessary obstacles
 A game is a series of interesting decisions
 A closed, formal system that engages players in a
structured conflict and resolves its uncertainty in an
unequal outcome
 A game is a problem-solving activity, approached
with a playful attitude
 A system of rules in which agents compete by
making ambiguous, endogenously meaningful
decisions
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 Welcome to Game Design
 Welcome to Introduction to Game Design,
Prototyping, and Development
– Game Design: The iterative process of crafting
interactive experiences for players
– Prototyping: The creation of various paper and digital
tests for your game design
– Development: The programming and implementation
of a digital game that has been refined through
prototyping

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 Welcome to Game Design
 Programming for game designers is like
sketching for cinematographers
– Game prototypes are the clearest way for a designer
to convey her game ideas to other members of the
team
– If you learn to program and prototype, it will make
your job as a game designer much simpler
– The ability to program will also allow you to create
prototypes and test ideas without needing help from
others

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 You Are a Game Designer!
 The techniques you learn, to design any kind of
interactive experience:
– Games
– Parties
– Events
– etc.

 You're more than just a game designer

I am an experience designer.

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 Bartok: A Game Design Exercise
 Bartok is a classic card game that is similar to
the commercial game Uno
 All you need to play are three to five players
and a standard deck of playing cards
– Break into groups of 3-5 players each
– Remove the Jokers from the deck
– Shuffle the cards

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 Bartok: A Game Design Exercise
 Objective
– Be the first person to run out of cards

 Standard Rules:
– Deal 5 cards to each player
• The remaining cards become a draw pile
– Flip over the top card of the draw pile to start a
discard pile
– The person to the left of the dealer plays first, and
play proceeds clockwise
– Each player must play a card onto the discard pile
that matches the suit or number of the top card of
the discard pile.
– If she can’t, she must draw a card.

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 Bartok: A Game Design Exercise
 Example

The player can choose to play any one of the cards

highlighted with blue borders (7C, JC, 2H, 2S).
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Bartok: Asking the Right Questions
 Analysis
– Is the game of the appropriate difficulty?
– Is the outcome of the game based more on strategy
or chance?
– Does the game have meaningful, interesting
decisions?
– Is the game interesting when it's not your turn?

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 Bartok: Modifying the Rules
 Each group should pick a number (1 – 3)
 Based on the number, add the following rule to
the game:
– Rule 1: If a player plays a 2, the person to her left
must draw two cards instead of playing.
– Rule 2: If any player has a card that matches the
number and color (red or black) of the top card, she
may announce "Match card!" and play it out of turn.
Play then continues with the player to the left of the
one who just played the out-of-turn card. This can
lead to players having their turns skipped.
– Rule 3: A player must announce “Last card” when she
has only one card left. If someone else calls it first,
she must draw two cards (bringing her total number
of cards to three).
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Bartok: Asking the Right Questions
 How did the single rule change the game?
 Have the answers to your questions changed?
– Is the game of the appropriate difficulty?
– Is the outcome of the game based more on strategy
or chance?
– Does the game have meaningful, interesting
decisions?
– Is the game interesting when it's not your turn?

 Discuss the changes to these answers for

each of the three rules
 Changing a single rule can have a drastic
affect on the feel of the game!
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 Bartok: Making Your Own Rules
 Now, how do you want the game to feel?
 Try designing a rule to make the game feel
more like this specific emotion
– Change only one rule at a time
– Test with the new rule and see how it feels
• You don't need to complete an entire game if the rule
really doesn't feel right
– Work with your group to make the game your own

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 Bernard Suits's Definition
"A game is the voluntary attempt to overcome
unnecessary obstacles" – Bernard Suits, The
Grasshopper (1978)
 Attempt to create a definition that
encompassed all kinds of games
– Sports
– Board Games
– Make Believe

 Accurate definition of game, but doesn't

teaching designers how to make good games
 Referred to make believe as "open games"
– A game with the sole goal of continuance of the game
– However, some open games have other goals
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 Bernard Suits's Definition

 Passage by Jason Rohrer (2007)

– Several possible goals:
• Moving as far to the right as possible before dying
(exploration)
• Earning as many points as possible by finding treasure
chests (achievement)
• Finding a wife (socialization)
– These goals are mutually exclusive
– The game is about experiential understanding
• Players are complicit in the decisions of the character and
therefore better understand the feelings of the game
character
• The first of our designer's goals (see Chapter 8)
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 Sid Meier's Definition
"A game is a series of interesting decisions" – Sid Meier

 States very little about what the word game

means
 But states a lot about his personal beliefs
about what makes a good game
 What makes a decision interesting?
– The player has multiple valid options from which to
choose
– Each option has both positive and negative potential
consequences
– The outcome of each option is predictable but not
guaranteed

 Second designer's goal: interesting decisions

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 Tracy Fullerton's Definition
"A game is a closed, formal system that engages
players in a structured conflict and resolves its
uncertainty in an unequal outcome" – Tracy Fullerton,
Game Design Workshop (2008)
 Not only a definition of game, but also a list of
elements that designers can modify
– Formal elements: The elements that differentiate a game
from other types of media
– Dynamic systems: Methods of interaction that evolve as
the game is played
– Conflict structure: The ways in which players interact
– Uncertainty: The interaction between randomness,
determinism, and player strategy.
– Unequal outcome: How does the game end? Do players
win, lose, or something else?
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 Jesse Schell's Definition
"A game is a problem-solving activity, approached with
a playful attitude" – Jesse Schell, The Art of Game
Design (2008)
 Like Suits, it is the playful attitude of the
player that defines a game
– Two runners are in a race
– One is running a normal race
– The other is aware that there is a bomb at the finish
line that she must defuse
– Only one of the two is playing a game!

 Third designer's goal: lusory attitude

– From the Latin word for play, training, & sport: Ludus
– Games should encourage the lusory attitude of
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 Keith Burgun's Definition
"A game is a system of rules in which agents compete by
making ambiguous, endogenously meaningful decisions"
– Keith Burgun, Game Design Theory (2013)

 Specific terms:
– Ambiguous: predictable but uncertain
– Endogenously Meaningful: meaningful in the game
system

 Intentionally limited
– Much more restricted definition than Suits or Schell
– Omits play activities like make believe and competitions
of skill (including sports)

 Burgun attempts to restrict the definition to

make it easier to understand the bounds of the
field
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The Nebulous Nature of Definitions
 Suits's book was a response to Philosophical
Investigations by Ludvig Wittgenstein (1953)
– Proposed that there could be no true definition of
game
– Rather than a definition, games shared a family
resemblance
 Mary Midgley also disputed this in her paper
"The Game Game" (1974)
"Something can be accepted as a chair provided it is
properly made for sitting on, whether it consists of a
plastic balloon, a large blob of foam, or a basket slung
from the ceiling. Provided you understand the need you
can see whether it has the right characteristics, and
aptness for that need is what chairs have in common"
– Mary Midgley, "The Game Game" (1978)
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The Nebulous Nature of Definitions
 Humans have several needs that are met by
games
– Structured conflict
• Chess players don't want to engage in any cerebral
activity, they want to experience the specific challenge
of chess
– The experience of being someone else
• Games, make believe, and even stage plays allow
people the chance to experience being someone else
– Excitement
• Most popular media is about excitement in one form or
another
• Interactive media allow players to actually take part in
the excitement
• Players have agency in the media that they experience

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The Nebulous Nature of Definitions
 However, Wittgenstein did have a very important
point:
– Definitions change!
– To each person, the word game can have different
meaning
– When you say you "want to play a game," do you mean:
•A console game?
•A board game?
•A word game?
•A casual game?
– Words also constantly evolve
• The meaning of game has changed drastically over the last
50 years
• Designers are constantly expanding what game means
• The IndieCade independent game festival will accept and
consider anything that the designers want to call a game
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 Why Are Definitions Important?
 Definitions help you understand what people expect
– Especially true if you're working in a specific genre or for a
specific audience.
– Understanding how your audience defines the term will
help you to craft better games for them.

 Definitions can lead you to understand not only the

core of the defined concept but also the periphery.
– Games that fit the definition perfectly, and those on the
edge
– The peripheries are where new genres can be created

 Definitions can help you speak eloquently with

others in the field.
– Read the source material for all of these definitions to
expand your understanding of game design

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"An interactive experience is any experience created by
a designer, inscribed into rules, media, or technology
and decoded by people through play" – Jeremy Gibson

 Any time you create an experience for people,

you should use game design methodologies
 Game design takes a lot of work and
experience
"Game design is 1% inspiration and 99% iteration" – Chris
Swain

 The iterative process of design is the key to

good game design
–Game design and development both take lots of
practice

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GAME ANALYSIS FRAMEWORKS

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 Common Frameworks for Ludology
– MDA: Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics
– Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic Elements
– Elemental Tetrad

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 MDA: Mechanics, Dynamics, &
Aesthetics
 Three elements:
– Mechanics: The particular components of the game
at the level of data representation and algorithms
– Dynamics: The runtime behavior of the mechanics
acting on player inputs and each other's outputs over
time
– Aesthetics: The desirable emotional responses
evoked in the player when she interacts with the
game system

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 MDA: Mechanics, Dynamics, &
Aesthetics
 Designers and players view games from
different directions

– Designers first consider the aesthetic feelings that

they want players to experience
• Then consider the dynamic play that will engender these
aesthetics
• Finally create mechanics that will lead to these
dynamics
– Players first read the rules of the game (mechanics)
• These rules lead to dynamic play
• The dynamics engender aesthetic feeligns

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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 From Game Design Workshop by Tracy
Fullerton
– Formal elements: The elements that make games
different from other forms of media or interaction and
provide the structure of a game. Formal elements
include things like rules, resources, and boundaries.
– Dramatic elements: The story and narrative of the
game, including the premise. Dramatic elements tie
the game together, help players understand the
rules, and encourage the player to become
emotionally invested in the outcome of the game.
– Dynamic elements: The game in motion. Once
players turn the rules into actual gameplay, the game
has moved into dynamic elements. Dynamic
elements include things like strategy, behavior, and
relationships between game entities.
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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 A game ceases to be a game if the formal
elements are removed
 Seven formal elements of games
– 1. Player interaction pattern: How do the players
interact?
• Single-player
• One-on-one
• Team versus team
• Multilateral (multiple players versus each other)
• Unilateral (one player versus all the other players)
• Cooperative play
• Multiple individual players each working against the
same system
– 2. Objective: What are the players trying to achieve
in the game? When has someone won the game?
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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 Seven formal elements of games
– 3. Rules: Limit the players' actions by telling them what
they may and may not do in the game.
• Many rules are explicit, but others are implicitly understood
– 4. Procedures: Actions taken by the players in the game
• A rule tells the player what to do
• The procedure dictated by that rule is the actual action of the
player
• Procedures are often defined by the interaction of a number of
rules
• Some procedures are also outside of the rules: Bluffing in
Poker
– 5. Resources: Elements that have value in the game
• Money
• Health
• Items
• Property
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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 Seven formal elements of games
– 6. Boundaries: Where does the game end and reality
begin?
"A game is a temporary world where the rules of the
game apply rather than the rules of the ordinary world"
– Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens (1955)
• This concept is now known as the Magic Circle
• In a sport like football or ice hockey, the magic circle is
defined by the boundaries of the playing field
• In an Alternative Reality Game like I Love Bees (the ARG
for Halo 2), the boundaries are more vague
– 7. Outcome: How did the game end?
• Both final and incremental outcomes
• In Chess, the final outcome is that one player will win,
and the other will lose
• In an RPG, there are several incremental outcomes
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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 Dramatic elements of games
– Make the rules and resources more understandable
– Give players greater emotional investment in the
game

 Three dramatic elements of games

– 1. Premise: The basic story of the game world
• Monopoly: The players are real-estate developers trying
to get a monopoly on corporate real estate in Atlantic
City, New Jersey
• Donkey Kong: The player is trying to single-handedly
save his girlfriend from a gorilla that has kidnapped her
• The premise forms the basis around which the rest of
the game's narrative is built

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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 Three dramatic elements of games
– 2. Character: The individuals around whom the story
revolves
• Vary widely in depth
– The main character of Quake is nameless and largely undefined
– Nathan Drake, from the Uncharted games, is as deep and
multidimensional as the lead characters in most movies
• In movies, the goal of the director is to encourage the
audience to have empathy for the film's protagonist
• In games, the player actually is the protagonist character
• Designers must choose whether the protagonist will act as
– An avatar for the player
– A role that the player must take on
» Most common of the two
» Much simpler to implement.

– 3. Story: The plot of the game

• The narrative that takes place through the course of the
game
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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 Dynamic elements of games
– Occur only when the game is being played

 Core concepts of dynamic elements

– Emergence
• Simple rules lead to complex and unpredictable behavior
• One of a game designer's most important jobs is to attempt
to understand the emergent implications of the rules in a
game.
– Emergent narrative
• Narrative can also be dynamic
• Narratives can emerge from the gameplay itself
• One of the central appeals of RPGs like Dungeons &
Dragons
• Different from the narrative embedded in cut scenes and
plot
• Unique to interactive experiences.
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 Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic
Elements
 Core concepts of dynamic elements
– Playtesting is the only way to understand dynamics
• Game systems are unpredictable
• Experienced game designers can make better guesses
• But, everyone must playtest to understand a game

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 The Elemental Tetrad
 A tetrad of elements

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 The Elemental Tetrad
 Mechanics
– Rules for interaction between the player and the
game
– Differentiate games from other non-interactive media
– Contain
• Rules
• Objectives
• Other Formal elements
– Different from mechanics in MDA
• Schell differentiates between mechanics and
technology

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 The Elemental Tetrad
 Aesthetics
– Describe how the game is perceived by the five
senses
• Vision
• Sound
• Smell
• Taste
• Touch
– Many different aspects of aesthetics
• Soundtrack
• 3D graphics and animation
• Packaging and cover art
– Different from aesthetics in MDA
• MDA aesthetics describes the emotional response to the
game
• Schell's aesthetics describe the five senses 40
 The Elemental Tetrad
 Technology
– The underlying technology that makes the game
work
– Digital technologies
• Computer and console hardware
• Software and programming
• Rendering software and pipelines
– Paper technologies
• Dice and other randomizers
• Statistics tables

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 The Elemental Tetrad
 Schell arranges the elements in a tetrad
– Four elements also represent four groups in a game
studio
– Arranged from most to least visible

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 Each framework has a different perspective
– MDA demonstrates that gamers and designers
approach games from different directions
• Encourages designers to see games from the
perspective of players
– Formal, Dramatic, & Dynamic breaks games down
into specific components that can be isolated,
tweaked, and improved
– Elemental Tetrad views games from the perspective
of a development studio

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THE LAYERED TETRAD

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 The Layered Tetrad
 The Inscribed Layer
 The Dynamic Layer
 The Cultural Layer
 The Responsibility of the Designer

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 The Layered Tetrad
 This Layered Tetrad is the framework of this
class
– Expands upon those that came before it
– Considers the cultural significance and impact of
games

 Does not define what a game is

– Instead helps you understand and analyze
• The elements that are needed to make a game
• The dynamic behavior of those elements during play
• Both the impact of the game on culture and the affect of
culture on the game

 We use the term game, but this is applicable to

any form of interactive media or experience
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 The Layered Tetrad
 Presented in a tetrad (based on Schell's)
– Mechanics: The systems that define how the game will
react to play. The elements that separate games from
other media
– Aesthetics: The looks, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile
sensations of the game. Game art, sound, and more.
– Technology: The underlying tech that makes the game
work.
– Narrative: The story, premise, characters, etc. of the
game. Renamed from Schell's to show its breadth.

 Presented in three layers

– Inscribed: The game as created and encoded by the
developers
– Dynamic: The game's behavior during play
– Cultural: The game's relationship to society
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 The Inscribed Layer
 Game as created and encoded by developers
 Similar to Schell's Elemental Tetrad
 Limited to elements that exist when the game
is not being played

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 The Inscribed Layer
 Mechanics
– Systems that define how the player and game will
interact
– Includes: Player interaction pattern, Objective, Rules,
Resources, Boundaries

 Aesthetics
– How the game looks, sounds, smells, tastes, and
feels

 Technology
– Paper and digital technology that enable gameplay

 Narrative
– Authored premise, characters, and plot

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 The Dynamic Layer
 The game as it is being played
 Players move the game into the dynamic layer

Pl
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 The Dynamic Layer
 Mechanics
– Players' interactions with inscribed mechanics
– Includes: Procedures, Strategies, Emergent game
behavior, Outcome

 Aesthetics
– Aesthetics that are generated during play
– Play environment

 Technology
– Execution of inscribed technology and code

 Narrative
– Narrative created as a part or result of gameplay

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 The Cultural Layer
 The game beyond play
 Intersection of game community and society

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 The Cultural Layer
 Mechanics
– Game mods created by players that alter the
Inscribed Layer
– Impact of emergent play on society

 Aesthetics
– Fan art, remixes, cosplay
– Does not include authorized transmedia

 Technology
– Game tech used for non-game purposes
– Effect of external cheating technology on game

 Narrative
– Fan-made narratives
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 The Cultural Layer
 The divisions between the four elements are
less crisp in the Cultural Layer
– The four elements intermingle in several of the
examples from the last slide

 The Cultural Layer is also the only layer of a

game that non-players will ever see
– People who don't play a game experience it through
the stories told by those who have
– The collision of the community of players and larger
society

 What messages are our games sending into

society?

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The Responsibility of the Designer
 All designers understand their responsibility
for the Inscribed Layer
– Most understand their responsibility for the Dynamic
Layer
• Example of Team Fortress 2 hat behavior

 Responsibility at the Cultural Layer?

– The common perception of games
• Puerile, Vulgar, Violent, Misogynistic
– Does it have to be this way?
– Games can be…
• Prosocial
• Educational
• Meaningful
• What else?
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The Responsibility of the Designer
 What can interactive media become?
– How can you as designers push the term game
beyond what it means now?
– How can you make your families and friends proud
that you're entering this industry?
– How can you respect your players and treat them
well?

 I believe that it is our responsibility as

designers to
– Promote pro-social, thoughtful behavior through our
games
– Respect our players and the time that they dedicate
to experiencing what we create.

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 The three layers represent a transition of
agency from the developers to the players of a
game
– The Inscribed Layer is entirely controlled by
developers
– The Dynamic Layer is controlled by both developers
and players
– The Cultural Layer is influenced by developers but
ultimately controlled by players and society at large

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