The presentation I gave at the Korea Games Conference 2014, discussing the importance of having a proper communication methodology in game design (specifically the AGE and 6-11 Framework, which are also integrated in the One Page GDD format proposed by Stone Librande).

1. The #1 Skill for Game
Designers
and How to Practice It
Roberto Dillon
James Cook University (Singapore)
roberto.dillon@jcu.edu.au

2. 1999 2005 2009 2011

3. An often hot topic on LinkedIn groups
 What's the most important skill for a Game Designer?
 Often degenerating in hundreds of comments!
 Creativity
 Programming or Artistic skills
 Writing
 Having an open mind
 Curiosity
 ...

4. An often hot topic on LinkedIn groups
 What's the most important skill for a Game Designer?
 Often degenerating in hundreds of comments!
 Creativity
 Programming or Artistic skills
 Writing
 Having an open mind
 Curiosity
 ...
 Critical Analysis
 Listening
 Explaining your ideas

5. An often hot topic on LinkedIn groups
 What's the most important skill for a Game Designer?
 Often degenerating in hundreds of comments!
 Creativity
 Programming or Artistic skills
 Writing
 Having an open mind
 Curiosity
 ...
 Critical Analysis
 Listening
 Explaining your ideas
Communication

6. How to communicate effectively?
“A method is needed in order to reason accurately”
Descartes
 Game Designers explain their approaches in
very subjective ways.
How can we communicate our ideas in an easy
to understand way?
we need a “pragmatic” approach for explaining
and describe games
 For example by breaking down a game at different level
of complexities and analyze their relationships.

7. The A.G.E. Framework
(inspired by the MDA framework)
FUN
Actions
• the core actions that a player can perform
usually described in terms of verbs.
• E.g. moving, jumping, kicking a ball, shooting, taking
cover
Gameplay
• the resulting play achieved by using and
combining the available "actions". These
can be either verbs or higher level concepts
• E.g. fighting, race to an end, territorial acquisition
Experience
• the emotional experience that engages
players during the game.

8. Emotional Experience
 The most difficult part to explain
 How do players feel when they play?
 What do players really want?
 What triggers „Fun“??

9. „6-11 Framework“
 „Fun” as an outcome from engaging the player
through basic emotions and instincts
 6 Basic Emotions
 Ekman, Plutchik, Izard etc.
 11 Instincts / Instinctive behaviors
 Their correspondences / relationships

10. „6 Emotions”
• Fear

11. „6 Emotions”
• Fear
• Anger

12. „6 Emotions”
• Fear
• Anger
• Pride

13. „6 Emotions”
• Sadness

14. „6 Emotions”
• Sadness
• Excitement

15. „6 Emotions”
• Sadness
• Excitement
• Joy

16. „11 Instincts”
• Survival

17. „11 Instincts”
• Survival
• Revenge

18. „11 Instincts”
• Survival
• Revenge
• Curiosity

19. „11 Instincts”
• Self Identification

20. „11 Instincts”
• Self Identification
• Aggressiveness

21. „11 Instincts”
• Self Identification
• Aggressiveness
• Competition

22. „11 Instincts”
• Protection / Care

23. „11 Instincts”
• Protection / Care
• Greed

24. „11 Instincts”
• Protection / Care
• Greed
• Collecting

25. „11 Instincts”
• Communication

26. „11 Instincts”
• Communication
• Color Appreciation

27. Explaining a game
 In general:
 Emotions can trigger instincts
 Instincts push the player to act in the game
 Easy to link instincts to gameplay and actions
Fear
Anger
Survival
Aggressiveness
Escaping
Avoiding danger
Chasing
Fighting
Hiding
Running
Running
Kicking
Casting a spell

28. Explaining a game, step by step
 From Actions to Experience:
 Play the game
 What can I do in the game?
 Note: check the controls!

29. Explaining a game, step by step
 From Actions to Experience:
 Once we nailed down the Actions...
 Gameplay:
 What can I use them for?
 What am I trying to do?
 Experience:
 Why am I doing it?
 How do I feel while playing?

30. Frogger (Konami, 1981)
Actions What can I do in the game?

31. Frogger (Konami, 1981)
Actions • Move Left/Right
• Advance
• Retreat
Gameplay What am I trying to do?

32. Frogger (Konami, 1981)
Actions • Move Left/Right
• Advance
• Retreat
Gameplay• Avoid being run over by cars (avoidance)
• Reach a safe spot at the top of the screen
(race to an end)
Experience How do I feel while playing?

33. Frogger (Konami, 1981)
Actions • Move Left/Right
• Advance
• Retreat
Gameplay• Avoid being run over by cars (avoidance)
• Reach a safe spot at the top of the screen
(race to an end)
Experience How do I feel while playing?
Joy Excitement
Survival
Fear
Pride
Identification

34. Frogger (Konami, 1981)
Actions • Move Left/Right
• Advance
• Retreat
Gameplay• Avoid being run over by cars (avoidance)
• Reach a safe spot at the top of the screen
(race to an end)
Experience How do I feel while playing?
Joy Excitement
Survival
Fear
Pride
Identification

35. Frogger (Konami, 1981)
Actions • Move Left/Right
• Advance
• Retreat
Gameplay• Avoid being run over by cars (avoidance)
• Reach a safe spot at the top of the screen
(race to an end)
Experience How do I feel while playing?
Joy Excitement
Pride Protection
NO! I’m not the frog! I’m just trying to rescue it!

36. Defense: Evolution
(Adsumsoft, 2014, Android/iOS)
Actions • Place/Remove unit
• Zoom In/Out
• Start/Stop evolution
Gameplay • Evolution (Conway’s Game of Life,
1970)
• Expand control over the grid
(territorial acquisition)
• Protect the “Beacon” (tower
Experience defense)
Excitement
Curiosity
Protection
Pride Joy

37. Turky’s Date
(Adsumsoft, 2014, Android/iOS)
Actions • Slide Tiles
• Use Magic
Gameplay • Drive Turky around to get
bonuses (herding)
• Protect Turky (avoidance)
• Reach Picky (race to an end)
• Make the bad guys fall
Experience
Protection
Revenge Collecting
Pride
Excitement Joy

38. One Page GDD
(Stone Librande, Creative Director, EA/Maxis, www.stonetronix.com)
Title
Date/Version
< topic / high level description >
Callout Main Illustration
Callout
< description >
Details,
Sidebar Zoom In
Sidebar
• Bullet points
• …
• …
Sidebar
or
Flowchart

39. One Page GDD

40. Conclusions
• To be good game designers we need to
communicate effectively
• We need a reliable approach for explaining our ideas
• Gaining insights, discuss, sharing experiences
• AGE model
• Narrow but clear definitions
• Easy to relate the different layers
• Desired emotional experience seen in terms of intuitive
components (6-11 Framework)
• Straightforward to learn and adopt in a variety
of contexts
• One Page GDD

41. Thanks for
Your attention!
roberto.dillon@jcu.edu.au
or
roberto@ProgramAndPlay.com
rdillon73
Adsumsoft:
http://Adsumsoft.ProgramAndPlay.com