This was given as a 1.5 hour lecture to the MDES students at CCA, removing the opening game play and the later exercise. It's better at 2-3 one hour lectures, plus game play.
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1. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
@cwodtke | cwodtke@eleganthack.com
www.eleganthack.com
CHRISTINA WODTKE
Game Design
Fundamentals
@cwodtke | cwodtke@eleganthack.com
www.eleganthack.com
CHRISTINA WODTKE
The Mega Deck
This work is licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.
2. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Hide this slide, educators!
This is a very long deck offered under na attribute, remix and share
creative commons license. Feel free to reuse, just try to keep all the
citations intact, and share back out when you’re done.
It really should be 3 classes at least (depending on how long your
classes are.
I recommend you read these two articles first.
https://medium.com/@cwodtke/teaching-game-design-in-non-game-
design-programs-c1ddae83208c
https://medium.com/@cwodtke/9-big-ideas-from-game-design-you-
should-know-71d6c5c514ac
7. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Create a way to
move
• Dice roll
• Answer a trivia question
• Everyone moves
• Person behind moves
• Roshambo
• Card draw
• Pass, but gain currency
• Physical skill
8. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Design Conflict
• Speed people up
• Slow people down
• Extra turn
• Lose a turn
• Swap places
• Block
Hold on to these, we’ll
come back to them.
9. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
What is a game?
A closed, formal
system
That engages
players in a
structured conflict
And resolves to an
unequal outcome.
A dynamic system
that supports
interaction for an
aesthetic goal.
Tracy Fullerton
13. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
What is a game mechanic?
Game mechanics are
rule based systems /
simulations that
facilitate and
encourage a user to
explore and learn the
properties of their
possibility space
through the use of
feedback mechanisms.
Raph Koster
http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/218077
14. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
The 7
Formal
Elements
(Mechanics)
• Players
• Objectives
• Outcomes
• Rules
• Procedures
• Resources
• Boundaries
Fullerton, T. Game Design Workshop. 2008
45. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
5. Rules &
6. Procedures
• Rules
• Requirements that must be followed.
• Procedures
• How the game flows from state to state.
46. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Rules of
Solitaire
• Setup: 28 cards dealt into 7
tableau piles with the number of
cards increasing from one to
seven, left to right. Top is face up,
rest are face down.
• The rest of the cards are the
draw pile.
• Cards are laid out in descending
order, alternating red and black.
• Aces can be removed to the
foundation.
47. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Procedure of
Solitaire
• Move any aces up to the
foundation.
• Move any face-up cards
you can in the tableau.
• Then go to the draw pile.
49. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
The Magic
Circle
“All play moves and has its being within a
play-ground marked off beforehand either
materially or ideally, deliberately or as a
matter of course… The arena, the card-
table, the magic circle, the temple, the
stage, the screen, the tennis court, the
court of justice, etc. are all in form and
function play-grounds… within which
special rules obtain. All are temporary
worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated
to performance of an act apart.”
Johan Huizinga
Homo Ludens, 1938
53. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Magic Circle
“To play a game means entering into a magic
circle, or perhaps creating one as a game
begins.”
-- Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman,
Rules of Play
54. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Magic Circle
“Games are a context from which meaning can
emerge.”
-- Eric Zimmerman, “Jerked Around by the
Magic Circle.”
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/135
063/jerked_around_by_the_magic_circle_.php
61. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Ravaja, Niklas, et al.
The Psychophysiology of Video Gaming: Phasic Emotional
Responses
to Game Events.
Digital Games
Research Association International Conference 2005.
http://tinyurl.com/7rsfz
• More pleasure and excitement
in active failure than in success
• However: passive experience of
failure makes players
disengage.
• Attaining a goal DECREASES
player arousal and interest.
62. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
“Flappy Bird is a perversely,
oppressively difficult game. Scoring even
a single point takes most players a
considerable number of runs. After an
hour, I’d managed a high score of two.”
- Ian Bogost
78. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Dynamic System
• “The designer and the
player are both active – if
not equal – parts of the
entire creative expressive
experience which is
mediated by the machine.”
– Clint Hocking (GDC
2006)
80. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
8 Kinds of fun
• Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure (For example, skiing or driving the 92 way too
fast. Any ios game that leverages the accelerometer. Arguably
Monument Valley.)
• Fantasy
Game as make-believe (I am a hobbit! or a fashion designer!)
• Narrative
Game as unfolding story (What will happen next???)
• Challenge
Game as obstacle course (This game is so hard—said while grinning
maniacally)
• Fellowship
Game as social framework (playing with others. Apples to Apples, and
most board games.)
• Discovery
Game as uncharted territory (What is over that mountain? Bastion.)
• Expression
Game as soap box (Making stuff- Minecraft, Farmville.)
• Submission/ Abnegation
Game as mindless pastime (. Games that let you tune out. Solitaire. Candy
Crush.)
Via Matt LeBlanc
81. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
The Player decides
the Aesthetics
And if it’s actually fun.
Playtesting helps you get to your goal.
Games are unknowable until you play them.
Are other kinds of software really that
different?
86. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
More
Player
Types
• The Collector: Acquires items, trophies, or knowledge; likes
to create sets, organize history, etc.
• The Achiever: Plays for varying levels of achievement;
ladders and levels incentivize the achiever
• The Joker: Doesn’t take the game seriously—plays for the
fun of playing; there’s a potential for jokers to annoy
serious players, but on the other hand, jokers
• can make the game more social than competitive
• The Artist: Driven by creativity, creation, design
• The Director: Loves to be in charge, direct the play
• The Storyteller: Loves to create or live in worlds of fantasy
and imagination
• The Performer: Loves to put on a show for others
• The Crafsman: Wants to build, craft, engineer, or puzzle
things out
87. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Who are your
players?
• Age
• Skill
• Familiarity with Genres
• Platform preference
• Play habits
• Play style
92. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Arcs are highly efficient at
communicating 'success stories', a
singular path through a system
that someone else previously
explored.
93. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
This is a core
loop for a very
simple game.
Start with fish
eggs, that you
grow into fish
that you sell to
buy more
valuable fish
eggs
99. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
Applying What You Have Learned
For this exercise, you will need a piece of paper, two pens, and
two players.
First, take a moment to play this simple game:
Draw three dots randomly on the paper. Choose a player to go
first. The first player draws a line from one dot to another dot.
Then that player draws a new dot anywhere on that line.
The second player also draws a line and a dot: The new line must
go from one dot to another, but no dot can have more than three
lines coming out of it.
Also, the new line cannot cross any other line. The new dot must
be placed on the new line. A line can go from a dot back to the
same dot as long as it doesn’t break the “no more than three
lines” rule.
The players take turns until one player cannot make a move. The
last player to move is the winner.
Identify the formal elements of this game:
• Players: How many? Any requirements? Special knowledge,
roles, etc.?
• Objective: What is the objective of the game?
• Procedures: What are the required actions for
• play?
• Rules: Any limits on player actions? Rules regarding
behavior? What are they?
• Conflict: What causes conflict in this game?
• Boundaries: What are the boundaries of the game? Are they
physical? Conceptual?
• Outcome: What are the potential outcomes of the game?
Does the game have dramatic elements? Identify them:
• Challenge: What creates challenge in the game?
• Play: Is there a sense of play within the rules of the game?
• Premise/Character/Story: Are these present?
• What types of dramatic elements do you think might add to
the game experience?
Exercise from Tracy Fullerton’s Game Design Workshop
101. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
C.A.M.P.
Learn more: A
Unified Theory for
Designing Just
About Anything
https://medium.com/
@cwodtke/a-unified-
theory-for-designing-
just-about-anything-
b87f1e4f050b
110. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
How can we combine micro-
interactions and themes to
create powerful experiences?
And what are the
aesthetics of internet
software?
111. CHRISTINA WODTKE @cwodtke
How can we combine micro-interactions and
themes to create powerful experiences?
What are the aesthetics of internet software?