For aspiring Game Designers: Part 1
Tips and exercises to help you get going!?
Introduction
The purpose of this article is to give you a few basic tips that I have learned throughout my career that has helped me a lot to get into the correct mindset that is required to expand your knowledge in the craft of Game Design. These are generally things that I do in my everyday life that have helped me a lot during my career, and I think they can probably help you too, especially if you are just beginning your Game Design journey!
This will focus more on mindset and basic exercises rather than more technical knowledge or deep dives into specific topics, but I would argue that doing these will help you just as much, if not more, in your future career!
Let’s get to it, shall we?
Analyze everything you play
This is by far the most useful of the exercises and tips I will give in this article, and one that it is best to get going with as soon as possible until it becomes an instinct almost. Basically, it is just doing what we as humans do already, but taking it a step further and examining things more closely.
Why did I like that? Why didn’t I?
Any time we interact with some sort of entertainment, we will react to it in different ways - like, dislike, frustration, joy, sadness etc. This is just a basic function of humans that we have very little control over. For most people, that first step is more than enough - the important thing is whether or not I liked something, why I did it is not really important for me, except for if I want to recommend or warn someone else against partaking in something, but even then most people can get by with “you should totally play it, it was great!” and be done with it. Sometimes you can get more specific and say “the combat in that game was amazing!” or “the story was so good!”, which of course helps the other person better decide if they think this would be something they would also enjoy.
The habit I want to instill in you is to take it a few steps further; WHY did I like that? WHY did I get frustrated at that part of the game? WHY did I feel disappointed after that boss fight? Etc.
This can be harder than one would sometimes think, but it is basically what we as Game Designers do on a regular basis when we make games; quite often when we make a game mechanic and something doesn’t feel right, we have to find the correct knobs and levers to alter to make it feel and function as we intended, and what we think is wrong with it might not always be the thing that needs changing.
How would I improve this? What about this design was so spot-on?
Whenever you find something about a game that you don’t like, try to firstly figure out what about it felt off to you; did the controls feel sluggish or unintuitive? Did the mechanic feel out of place in the game or in the part of the story you are currently in? Did the challenge feel unfair, or maybe even like the game was cheating? There could be an endless amount of different reasons why something felt off to you, but the first step will always be to identify the problem - it will be impossible to fix it otherwise!
Once the problem has been identified, the next step is to put your designer hat on and start to think “what would I do to improve this?”. In the example with the controls I used above, here are some possible things that could be potentially done to solve that problem:
Controls feel sluggish and/or unintuitive!
As you can see, you can break down this analysis into as much granularity as you want, and sometimes it may be easier or harder, depending on the problem. Sometimes it is as simple as “The enemies feel like they take too long to beat” having the solution: lower their health.
Now, this thinking should also be used when you find mechanics and designs that you think are good - that is actually even more useful! The same method of analyzing can be used here; Why did the controls in this game feel so perfect? Why did this mechanic fit and support the atmosphere in this game so well? Why did the balancing in this game feel so spot-on throughout the entire length of the game? Etc.
When should I do this?
Always! Or, at the very least, as often as possible (it is OK to just enjoy games sometimes too!). Once you get into the habit of it, it becomes an automatic process - I barely ever do this consciously nowadays, but I still do it below the surface and file away the info in my memory banks for later use when I need it. And that is the true purpose behind this exercise: learning from what others have already learned, or learn from the mistakes that other have already made to avoid them yourselves!?
Make a list of ideas and keep adding to it
We have all probably had some sort of brilliant idea that we have mulled over in our heads, only for it to vanish from our memories before we manage to actually do something with it - it can be very frustrating to say the least! These ideas might also pop up at inconvenient times, such as when you are out and about, in the shower or when you have gone to be, ready for sleep.
Archive your ideas!
My main tip here is to find a solution that works for you that lets you somehow save this idea in a way that doesn’t rely on your brain to remember it - brains are fickle and might not think the same things are important to keep in memory as you do! Whatever solution you use should be one that you can have with you at (almost) all times so that you will never miss a chance to add your idea to it. Some people carry notebooks and a pen with them, others record voice messages to themselves on their phone or other recording devices. Personally, I like to use a form of cloud text editor that I can reach from wherever I am, like Google Docs or Notion for this. That way, I can add to it using my phone or any other device I happen to be around that I can use for it.
Find whatever works for you and then stick to it!
What should I write down?
This is very dependent on how your memory works, and I would say that you need to find what works best for you; some people write down or record very detailed versions of their ideas and thoughts, while others (me, for example) tend to use keywords whose main purpose is to jog the memory so that it remembers that thing again. Both ways have pros and cons in my opinion, but neither is better than the other overall. The best method is the one that is actually used, after all.
Give yourself design challenges
This is something I do quite often still, and I think it is quite fun in addition to a great exercise for your design mind! The basic idea is to come up with something that would be hard to design and then try to make a design for it!
Coming up with the challenge
This can be as simple or ambitious as you like, and you can spend as much or little time on it as you want to as well! Here are a few ways to go about it:
1: Simply come up with a challenge on your own from the top of your head! They can preferably be very silly - the idea is that they should be hard to make, after all! Here are a few examples I came up with just now:?
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2: Using various random generators that will mash up scenarios or genres for you into something like this:
This can create silly and often very challenging designs to make, but it can also be a lot of fun to actually put some thought into! Below are two examples of generators like this that you can use:
Game Idea Generator: https://letsmakeagame.net/game-idea-generator/
Game Genre Generator: https://letsmakeagame.net/game-genre-generator/
The same effect can be made analogue by writing a bunch of things on paper and mixing them in a bowl, bag or hat and pulling a number of them out if you are more into that!
3: Mashups between already existing games - is it possible to make something that would actually work by mashing two different IPs and genres together? Maybe, maybe not, but figuring it out is a great exercise! Some random examples:
You can of course pick games that are more or less compatible with each other, and you can also choose which elements from each you bring over and what you discard.
Level of ambition?
If treat this as a quick exercise that shouldn’t take too much time and work - it is mainly for getting the neurons firing and practicing problem-solving. That said, there are times when something cool comes out of the exercises, and I spend additional time on it to actually make a more fleshed out design. It has even led to fully developed game pitches sometimes!
I think there is value to actually write something down, though! I find that it is a very good exercise in design, as it can sometimes be very easy to come up with an idea that sounds fantastic in your head, but when you have to actually commit it to words in a document, it turns out that it doesn’t work and needs adjustments.
It’s okay to fail!
The very nature of this exercise is that it should be hard so that you will have to give your brain a workout! That said, sometimes it will just not be possible to turn a poor base into something of quality, and that is okay! Let it go and get a new challenge instead, no reason to bang your head against something that isn’t going anywhere. But, there is also value in not giving up too quickly - sometimes an epiphany will arrive when you least expect it that solves everything.
Also: even failed challenges and designs can have nuggets of goodness in them! Be careful to not discard them with the rest, and instead put them into your idea archive from the previous section for future use!
Learn an editor ASAP!
Knowing how to use an editor is a great advantage and, most of the time (in my experience), even a requirement in the industry! It is especially useful if you are actively trying to get into the business by trying to get a job. Even if you are applying to be a theoretical designer that mainly works with documentation (not very common in today’s industry though!), you will be way more attractive to companies if you also have some technical know how.
Prototyping is great!
Of course there are loads of advantages to knowing these things outside of searching for work - there is a reason why they see it as a plus after all, and so will you after putting in the time!
The main personal advantage for you is that you will not have to make your designs entirely on theory alone until it has been tested in the project - you can oftentimes make a prototype of it yourself so that you can play around with it in a very short span of time. This prototype can be extremely hacky and of low fidelity, as its one objective is to test out or show off a very specific thing. Oftentimes, any flaw the design might have will show up already at the implementation/hacking together stage, so you will have ample time to alter things as you make them, thus making your design better before you have even shown it to anyone else.
Selling your idea to others
Let’s say you have come up with what you think will be an amazing mechanic for a game, but it is something that hasn’t been done before or has a high production cost to make - how do you sell the idea to producers and stakeholders that your idea is worth taking a chance on? Well, I can tell you that it will be far, far easier if you have a prototype to show! That way, you can simply show it or let them test it out for themselves to prove that your idea will actually work out as you claim it will.
It will of course not be possible to make a prototype for every type of design you make - some mechanics or features are simply too large or complex for it or too esoteric or abstract, but when you can do it, it is an amazing tool to keep in your toolbox!
What to use, and how to get started?
This is up to personal preference, and what you want to use it for will also impact the choice here - some engines/editors are better suited to different types of projects if you want to not just use it for learning but also making something with it in the long term.
I would still recommend learning one of the big ones: Unreal Engine or Unity. They are both free to use for anyone looking to use it for personal projects, and will only ever cost anything if you release and start selling a game. They also have an almost limitless amount of tutorials and guides in all forms of media available, also for free most of the time! If one wants to take it a step further, there is also an abundance of courses, both online and in person, available.
They are also very powerful while being fairly user-friendly! I have more experience with UE than Unity, but there you can basically make an entire game without knowing any coding using the Blueprint logic/scripting editor.?
Another advantage with learning one of these two is that they are more or less the industry standard, so if you know them, you will have an advantage when looking for jobs. But, even if the studio uses another engine/editor or even a proprietary in-house one, they are many times inspired by the standards set by UE and Unity. Even if they aren’t, if you have learned one editor/scripting language/style, it will make things so much easier to learn another one - what you use it for will be similar, you will just have to re-learn where to find this functionality in the new one. It’s like if you are good at soccer/football and want to start playing another team sport - you already have the physique, skills to work in a team and probably an above average athletic ability already, which will make things far easier to just focus on learning the new rules and intricacies of the new sport without having to start entirely from scratch.
Conclusion
I hope you found some small nuggets of wisdom in this text and that it will be useful for you going forward! This is only a jumping-off point and I encourage you to search out more articles and other voices in the industry that can add their perspectives - I am only one person, and these are all things that are my opinions and things that work for me; it will not be a “one size fits all” situation.
If you found this useful, or you have some feedback for me about things to add or rephrase, feel free to reach out to me. Or even is you just have questions or would like clarification on anything, and I’ll try to get back as soon as I can. Also, if you like it, please feel free to share it with other people you think might like it if you want to.
Happy game making and good luck in the future!
//Jocke