The Art of Game Design PDF
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The Art of Game Design This page intentionally left blank The Art of Game Design A Book of Lenses Jesse Schell Carnegie Mellon University AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Morgan Kaufmann Publishers is an imprint of Elsevier M organ Kaufmann Publishers is an imprint of Elsevier. 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA This book is printed on acid-free paper. © 2008 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks or regis- tered trademarks. In all instances in which Morgan Kaufmann Publishers is aware of a claim, the product names appear in initial capital or all capital letters. All trademarks that appear or are otherwise referred to in this work belong to their respective owners. Neither Morgan Kaufmann Publishers nor the authors and other contributors of this work have any relationship or affiliation with such trademark owners nor do such trademark owners confirm, endorse or approve the contents of this work. Readers, however, should contact the appropriate companies for more information regarding trademarks and any related registrations. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: ((cid:2) 44) 1865 843830, fax: ((cid:2) 44) 1865 853333, E-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete your request online via the Elsevier homepage (h ttp://elsevier.com ), by selecting “Support & Contact ” then“Copyright and Permission” and then“Obtaining Permissions.” Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Application submitted ISBN: 978-0-12-369496-6 For information on all Morgan Kaufmann publications, visit our Web site at www.mkp.com or www.elsevierdirect.com Printed in the United States of America 08 09 10 11 12 5 4 3 2 1 F or Nyra w ho always listens This page intentionally left blank TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Lenses ......................................................................................................................xvii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................xxi Hello .........................................................................................................................................xxiii 1 In the Beginning, There Is the Designer 1 . .................................................................................. Magic Words ...............................................................................................................................1 What Skills Does a Game Designer Need? .......................................................................2 The Most Important Skill ........................................................................................................4 The Five Kinds of Listening ....................................................................................................5 The Secret of the Gifted ..........................................................................................................6 2 The Designer Creates an E xperience 9 .......... The Game Is Not the Experience .......................................................................................10 Is This Unique to Games? .....................................................................................................11 Three Practical Approaches to Chasing Rainbows .....................................................12 Introspection: Powers, Perils, and Practice .....................................................................14 Dissect Your Feelings .............................................................................................................17 Defeating Heisenberg ...........................................................................................................18 Essential Experience ..............................................................................................................20 All That’s Real Is What You Feel ...........................................................................................21 3 The Experience Rises Out of a Game 23 ....................................................................................... A Rant About Definitions .....................................................................................................24 So, What Is a Game? ................................................................................................................26 vviiii TABLEOFCONTENTS A Short History of Software Engineering .......................................................................81 Risk Assessment and Prototyping .....................................................................................83 Eight Tips for Productive Prototyping .............................................................................86 Closing the Loop .....................................................................................................................91 How Much is Enough? ...........................................................................................................94 8 The Game is Made for a P layer 97 ................... Einstein’s Violin.........................................................................................................................98 Project Yourself ........................................................................................................................99 Demographics ..........................................................................................................................99 The Medium is the Misogynist? ......................................................................................102 Psychographics .....................................................................................................................108 9 The Experience is in the P layer’s Mind 113 ..................................................................................... Modeling .................................................................................................................................115 Focus .........................................................................................................................................118 Empathy ..................................................................................................................................123 Imagination ............................................................................................................................124 Motivation ..............................................................................................................................126 Judgment ................................................................................................................................127 10 Some Elements are Game Mechanics 129 ....................................................................... Mechanic 1: Space ...............................................................................................................130 Mechanic 2: Objects, Attributes, and States ................................................................136 Mechanic 3: Actions ............................................................................................................140 Mechanic 4: Rules .................................................................................................................144 Mechanic 5: Skill ...................................................................................................................150 Mechanic 6: Chance ............................................................................................................153 ix TABLEOFCONTENTS 11 Game Mechanics Must be in Balance 171 .............................................................................. The Twelve Most Common Types of Game Balance ................................................172 Game Balancing Methodologies ....................................................................................201 Balancing Game Economies ............................................................................................203 Dynamic Game Balancing ................................................................................................205 The Big Picture ......................................................................................................................205 12 Game Mechanics Support P uzzles 207 ......... The Puzzle of Puzzles ..........................................................................................................208 Aren’t Puzzles Dead? ...........................................................................................................209 Good Puzzles .........................................................................................................................211 A Final Piece ...........................................................................................................................219 13 Players Play Games Through an Interface 221 ............................................................................ Breaking it Down .................................................................................................................223 The Loop of Interaction .....................................................................................................228 Channels of Information ....................................................................................................234 Other Interface Tips .............................................................................................................240 14 Experiences Can be Judged by Their Interest Curves 245 ........................................... My First Lens ..........................................................................................................................246 Interest Curves ......................................................................................................................247 Patterns Inside Patterns .....................................................................................................250 What Comprises Interest? .................................................................................................253 Interest Factor Examples ...................................................................................................258 Putting It All Together ........................................................................................................259 x
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