Crossroads in game design

Often, when designing a game, we are presented with hard choices. Every part of our game can go in any direction, and each one is intertwined with the other. Every time you try to move one of your elements, it moves all the others and it may seem that there isn’t a right choice. Today I wanna share what I do in these situations.

The suitcase

The first thing you wanna do when you don’t know where to bring your game is to understand what is your core element. Imagine you are preparing a suitcase for a trip: first you have to decide what is the most important thing you wanna bring with you and put it in the suitcase. In this way, it doesn’t matter how much space it occupies or what strange shape it has. As long as it fits in the suitcase, you are sure you have what really matters. Then you can add what fits among the other less important things. Likewise, among the features in your game there is one thing that needs to shine more than the others and that needs to be created first.

What sets apart filling a suitcase with game design is that we don’t even know the shape and size of the things we are dealing with until we try and put them in our game. This makes it even more important to prioritize your mechanics: you may think everything fits, but then you discover your core mechanic needs to be changed in a certain way (changing shape) or needs more resources (changing size). Our ability to modify the objects of our game then comes in handy once your core gameplay is set. For all the other extra features, you can simply add what fits in the suitcase in the best way possible.

For example, when working on my board game “Broken” I knew the most important aspect was the ability to modify the cards in the game. All the other systems in the game, including how to actually win the game, are still constantly changing but they always lay on my desired core gameplay. I just need to find a way to make them fit.

The map

Sometimes, the most important and interesting feature in your game differs from the basis of your game. For example, in Deathloop, the time loop is what needs to shine, but at its core, the game is a First Person Shooter. Your game needs to be fun moment to moment, and the actions players make all the time need to be carefully designed to be entertaining and satisfying. Other times, you are in doubt among intertwined features that are equally important.

So, when there’s not a clear hierarchy among mechanics, what do I do? I usually create a visual board where every dynamic is divided in all its important mechanics, and connections among every mechanic is shown. As it’s not very clear what to do, you have to really understand your desired gameplay, and as you try to move your pieces in a direction, the map will show you the rippling effect of your changes. The goal here is to try to find a fit among all the interlocking features at the same time, so it helps to have them visualized in front of you, so as to not lose track of anything. There isn’t a single best way to create this map and you will find what works best for you and for a project as you go, but I suggest to detail even the obvious things as every little thing matters.. 

Just do it

Sometimes, nothing beats trying out something for yourself with a quick prototype. Fun is an elusive quality in video games, one that cannot be understood by simply reading a GDD. Therefore it’s important to learn how to prototype things for yourself and play other games with similar elements. Playing other games also helps you understand the effect that choices may have on all the other elements of the game.

Ciao!

That's all for today. Hope you can make the right choices. See you next week for another article.