GAME DESIGN 101. David J Gagnon University of Wisconsin - Madison ENGAGE Program & Games, Learning and Society Research Community

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GAME DESIGN 101 David J Gagnon University of Wisconsin - Madison ENGAGE Program & Games, Learning and Society Research Community I manage the design and production of: Presentation card games, ARIS,

1 GAME DESIGN 101 David J Gagnon University of Wisconsin - Madison ENGAGE Program & Games, Learning and Society Research Community I manage the design and production of: Presentation card games, ARIS, Bacteria, Cryo, Music I got here because of the intersection between learning and play: Mediated consequences, Magnified Feedback, Systems thinking, Identity My background is in programming, rave promotion, electronic-music and video production

2 SISSYFIGHT 3000 A playground fight between a group of school girls Designed by Eric Zimmermann of Game Lab

3 SETUP Divide into groups of 5 Take 1 sheet and 10 paperclips Label the Cards Choose a color Green Red White Tease Blue Black No Target Scratch Cower

4 OVERVIEW Each girl begins with 10 self-esteem points Reduce the other girls self-esteem to ZERO When there are only one or two girls left, they WIN All communication must be public

5 TO PLAY Choose an ACTION and TARGET in secret. Defend is played with No Target Reveal cards simultaneously Score the result Solo - Target discards one paperclip Team - If anyone else teams against the same target, she discards two paperclips per attacking player Defend - If no one attacks you, loose a paper clip, otherwise loose half chips required (round down)

6 WAS IT FUN? A playground fight between a group of school girls

7 WAS IT A GAME? A playground fight between a group of school girls

8 WHAT IS A GAME?

9 WHAT IS A GAME? LIKE Games are like a number of other things Sometimes designers will start with one of these, then build up to a whole game

10 TOY - SIM - PUZZLE - STORY Toys are played WITH The music game I m working on starts as a toy. (Click the photo) We could whip this up quick and find out if it was fun, then bother to make a game. All games have some sort of toy at their core. But toys are not games. They don t answer the question: How should we play?

TOY - SIM - PUZZLE - STORY Simulations model something and let a user interact with that model The bacteria game I m working on starts with a system of baceria agents and the

11 TOY - SIM - PUZZLE - STORY Simulations model something and let a user interact with that model The bacteria game I m working on starts with a system of baceria agents and the resources they consume. Many educational games start with a simulation. At the heart of every game is a simulation. But simulators are not games. They do not answer the question: Why interact?

12 TOY - SIM - PUZZLE - STORY Puzzles are work, but many people take pleasure in solving them. The cryogenics game I m working on starts with a puzzle. Many games have a puzzle at their core. But puzzles are not games. They are not fun once you have a solution and getting stuck sucks.

TOY - SIM - PUZZLE - STORY Stories are experienced by the audience and are fantastic at producing an emotional response. The mobile games we are working on start with a story.

13 TOY - SIM - PUZZLE - STORY Stories are experienced by the audience and are fantastic at producing an emotional response. The mobile games we are working on start with a story. Games have at least two stories, the designed narrative (designer s story) and the emergent narrative (player s story). What stories do you have to tell from sissyfight? But stories are not games. The audience has no agency

14 WHAT IS A GAME? Made of So many frameworks! Dan Norton - Roles vs Goals Schell - Story, Mechanics, Aesthetics, Technology Squire - Designed Experiences Narritology and Ludology Can any help us design better games?

15 MDA Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics Mechanics - Rules and concepts that formally specify the game as a system Dynamics - The run-time behavior of the game. Aesthetics -The desirable emotional responses (aka fun) by the games dynamics

16 Game as Art Object Game as make-believe Game as unfolding story Game as obstacle course Game as social framework Game as uncharted territory Game as soap box AESTHETICS Sensation Fantasy Narrative Challenge Fellowship Discovery Expression Submission

17 MDA APPLIED Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics MDA applied to SissyFight Mechanics: Turn-Based Hit Points Public Communication Simultaneous Action Dynamics: Cooperation and Team Attacks Competition and Random Attacks Aesthetics: Fellowship: Negotiation, Cooperation, Betrayal, Manipulation Narrative: Drama and lots of emergence

18 WORK BACKWARD FROM EXPERIENCE TO DESIGN When I talk with Artists they often hate this. It s not about the designer pushing themselves out, making their feelings known. No one cares about the designer. Players want to experience something themselves. Our job as designers is to give them something they will feel. Aesthetics: What do I want them to feel? Dynamics: What kinds of emergent behaviors get us there? Mechanics: What systems will give rise to those behaviors?

19 7 TIPS FROM KYLE GABLER

21 An unfair game is no fun to play LENSES TO VIEW DESIGN Lens 1: Fairness

22 SYMMETRICAL Lens 1: Fairness Equal resources and power to all players Good when players have similar skill levels Perfect Symmetry is hard Who goes first?

23 ASYMMETRICAL Lens 1: Fairness Different resources and abilities Harder to balance Reasons o Simulate real life WW2, a chemistry problem o Additional ways to explore the game space Different views o Personalization o Level playing filed - One ghost in pacman? No fun o Interesting Strategies

24 Character Speed Maneuverability Firepower Value Soldier Scout Heavy ASYMMETRICAL BALANCING Lens 1: Fairness Example using TF2 o Balance is really only a theory once things get complicated, playtesting is the real key o Balancing and modeling go hand in hand o Balancing can really only start once the game is playable Simple Example: Rock, Paper, Scissors o No element is supreme o Each element has a strength and weakness

25 LENSES TO VIEW DESIGN Lens 2: Challenge vs. Success We need to feel challenged, but not defeated

26 CREATING FLOW Lens 2: Challenge vs. Success Just like a story, the excitement needs pacing

27 challenge time CHALLENGE / RELEASE CYCLE Lens 2: Challenge vs. Success Just like a story, the excitement needs pacing

28 challenge time CHALLENGE / RELEASE CYCLE Lens 2: Challenge vs. Success The cycle can be repeated

29 e novice Level 1 Level 2 expert Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 time ALLOW FAST-TRACKING Lens 2: Challenge vs. Success Keep experts from being bored by warping them or giving additional content

30 e LAYERS OF CHALLENGE Lens 2: Challenge vs. Success Notice the stars, points, 99% and 828 note streak. All can be improved by a motivated player, though a novice can continue playing

31 e LAYERS OF CHALLENGE Lens 2: Challenge vs. Success Allow the player to select easy, medium, hard or expert

32 LENSES TO VIEW DESIGN Lens 3: Meaningful Choices Good games give meaningful choices. Example: A driving game with 50 cars that all perform exactly the same.

33 AVOID DOMINANT STRATEGIES Lens 3: Meaningful Choices Once a strategy is found that always works, the game is no longer fun because no meaningful choices exist The rules can be changed to correct How does this map to learning games?

34 choices overwhelmed frustrated desires HAVE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF CHOICES Lens 3: Meaningful Choices

35 BIG RISKS Lens 3: Meaningful Choices Taking a big risk for a pig payoff can be good fun

36 Chance Reward Value 12.5% % BALANCING RISKS Lens 3: Meaningful Choices It is very hard to calculate chance

37 LENSES TO VIEW DESIGN Lens 8: Rewards Why is it that people will spend some much time playing a videogame, just to get a good score? We have talked earlier about how games are structures of judgment and that people want to be judged. But people don t want any judgment they want to be judged favorably. Rewards are the way the game tells the player you have done well.

38 TOP 10 VIDEO Lens 8: Rewards

39 Praise Street Cred Points Content Spectacle Resources Expression Prolonged Play Powers TYPES Lens 8: Rewards Praise o The simplest, that game just tells you that you have done good work. This can be a sound (Nintendo) or an explicit message Points o In many games, points serve no purpose other than to measure performance o In other games, they can be cached in for something else Prolonged Play o Pinball allows the player to continue playing until they loose all three balls o Giving an extra life is a no-brainer reward system o Silent Scope has a running timer and success gives extra time Additional game space o New Levels (Pac-Man, Mario Brothers, Guitar Hero) o A key to a locked door (Metal Gear) o A barrio removed from your path (Zelda) Spectacle o A simple animation in Pac-Man was one of the first o o Often paired with other kinds of rewards Expression o Ability to change the player s avatar o Not tied to the system at all! Powers o Getting Kinged in checkers is a simple example o Getting a new tool in Zelda o Getting Big in Super Mario o Sometimes the game gives an intermediate resource that can be used to buy these things in game Completion o Winning a game is fun, too bad it s over

40 1. What rewards is my game giving? Are there others to add? 2. To players get excited when they are given rewards? 3. Do the players understand the rewards they are being given? 4. Are rewards given out too regularly? Can I mix it up? 5. How are the rewards building? Are they keeping pace with the rest of the game? QUESTIONS Lens 8: Rewards

41 LENSES TO VIEW DESIGN Lens 9: Punishment Punishment can add to the felling of Endogenous value, value that is created for in game and only has value in game. o The term comes from biology where it means, caused by factors in the organism or system. o For example a slot machine or roulette wheel create little endogenous meaning, they wouldn t be fun without real money being attached. On the other hand, resources in WoW become so meaningful they are often bought and sold for real money.

42 Shaming Setback Take Resources Shortened Play Take Powers Loss of Points TYPES Lens 9: Punishments Shaming. o Discouraging sound effects, animations, sounds o Loss of Points. Not used very often Shortened Play Terminated Play Setback. In many games, when the player dies or is unsuccessfull in other ways, they have to return to the beginning of a level or a save point. The need to balance the placement of these points is important Removal of Powers. o Very dangerous territory o Usally only done for a period of time Resource Depletion Combos o In TF2 you are warped back to the start point, loose 2 points and are taunted

43 1. What are the punishments in my game? 2. Why am I punishing players? What do I hope to achieve by it? 3. Do my punishments seem fair to the players? 4. Is there a batter way to turn these punishments into rewards and get the same value? 5. Are strong punishments balanced by strong rewards? QUESTIONS Lens 9: Punishments

LENSES TO VIEW DESIGN Lens 12: Detail vs. Imagination Punishment can add to the felling of Endogenous value, value that is created for in game and only has value in game.

44 LENSES TO VIEW DESIGN Lens 12: Detail vs. Imagination Punishment can add to the felling of Endogenous value, value that is created for in game and only has value in game. o The term comes from biology where it means, caused by factors in the organism or system. o For example a slot machine or roulette wheel create little endogenous meaning, they wouldn t be fun without real money being attached. On the other hand, resources in WoW become so meaningful they are often bought and sold for real money.

45 ONLY DETAIL WHAT YOU CAN DO WELL Lens 12: Detail vs. Imagination o Players have rich imaginations o If you can t create an effect as great as the players imagination will create, skip it o The author, for example, says skip synthesized voices o Simlish is an interesting concept o

46 GIVE DETAILS FOR THE IMAGINATION TO USE Lens 12: Detail vs. Imagination

47 USE THE BINOCULAR EFFECT Lens 12: Detail vs. Imagination

48 THE FAMILIAR NEEDS LESS DETAIL Lens 12: Detail vs. Imagination o Houses, streets, offices do not need as much detail as something the player is familiar with

49 1. What must the player understand to play my game? 2. Can some element of imagination help them understand better? 3. What high-quality details can be provided in this game by our resources? 4. What details would be low quality if we provided them? How can we use imagination to fill the gap instead? 5. Can I give details that the imagination can reuse again and again? 6. What details are provided that inspire/stifle imagination? QUESTIONS Lens 12: Detail vs. Imagination

#2: Challenge vs. Success

Balance II 2/29/16 #1: Fairness #2: Challenge vs. Success #3: Meaningful Choices #4: Skill vs. Chance A Bad Example By using the plus and minus keys next to each trait on the menu, you can take points