What is a Game Designer (and why do you need one)?

1. What is a Game Designer (And Why Do You Need One)? What does a game designer really do. And, more importantly, how do they make the products better. How does a designer contribute and how do you work with them to solve your problem.

2. Perception of Game Design Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, particularly virtual ones. Game design creates goals, rules and challenges to define a board game, card game, dice game, casino game, role-playing game, sport, video game, war game or simulation that produces desirable interactions among its participants and, possibly, spectators. Academically, game design is part of game studies, while game theory studies strategic decision making (primarily in non-game situations). Games have historically inspired seminal research in the fields of probability, artificial intelligence, economics, and optimization theory. Applying game design to itself is a current research topic in metadesign. Wikipedia

3. Theme is not what you are teaching The most important design consideration is - What are the learning objectives?

4. Similar Mechanics  World Conquest  Territorial Control  Army Tokens  World Conquest  Territorial Control  Army Tokens

5. Different Mechanics  Simultaneous Turns  Deterministic Combat  Sequential Turns  Probabilistic Combat …is about Diplomacy! …is about Risk!

6. The player is impacted by the Game Mechanics Game mechanics are constructs of rules or methods designed for interaction with the game state, thus providing gameplay. All games use mechanics; however, theories and styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the game. In general, the process and study of game design, or ludology, are efforts to come up with game mechanics that allow for people playing a game to have an engaging, but not necessarily fun, experience. The interaction of various game mechanics in a game determines the complexity and level of player interaction in the game, and in conjunction with the game's environment and resources determine game balance. Some forms of game mechanics have been used in games for centuries, while others are relatively new, having been invented within the past decade Wikipedia

7. System “Fun” Rules Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics Mechanics describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms. Dynamics describes the run-time behavior of the mechanics action on player inputs and each others’ outputs over time. Aesthetics describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when they interact with the game. MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research Robin Hunicke, Mark LeBlanc, Robert Zubek

8. Twenty Questions Variant #1 Variant #2 One player is the questioner and selects a Noun. The Noun can be a person, a place, or a thing. It cannot be a proper noun. Players attempt to deduce the answer by asking yes/no questions All players win if they successfully deduce the Noun. Players have 20 yes/no questions, but unlimited time. One player is the questioner and selects a Noun. The Noun can be a person, a place, or a thing. It cannot be a proper noun. Players attempt to deduce the answer by asking yes/no questions All players win if they successfully deduce the Noun. Players have unlimited yes/no questions, but must answer in 90 seconds. •  •  •  •  •  Limited Questions – Unlimited Time Unlimited Questions – Limited Time Nick Fortuno – GDC Teaching Games with Games 3

9. How we learn while playing a game… The Gamer’s Brain Celia Hodent

10. Ok, Ok, I understand what a game designer does… How do I apply that to my ______?

11. The are two kinds of clients that are bad to work with: Those that play games, And, those that don’t play games

12. Applying Design to Interaction?? The psychometricians can design an ‘interactive’ test object that is validated for assessment… But, they can’t then give it to the game team and say “make this fun” (without making any changes that would invalidate the object)

13. What can we do to harness the power of games? - don’t let the computer have all the fun - Make an interesting decision every 60 seconds. An ‘interesting’ decision I said, not just a decision. - Don’t be afraid to let your players fail. They can feel achievement without some failure. - Make the mechanics drive learning. Not the theme. - If you are preparing people for an experience, what about the experience do you want them to learn? (environment, stress, time pressure, locations of objects, etc.) - Make it a game of skill

14. Types of Fun Sensation Game as sense-pleasure Fellowship Game as social framework Fantasy Game as make-believe Discovery Game as uncharted territory Narrative Game as unfolding story Expression Game as soap box Challenge Game as obstacle course Submission Game as mindless pastime Eight Kinds of Fun Marc LeBlanc

15. Example of what designers do and why you need them.

16. Art matters if the experience enlightens us

17. A game matters if the mechanics enlighten us

18. Douglas Whatley BreakAway Games