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The idea
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Generate ideas from
▪ Areas of interest
▪ History
▪ Jobs/Businesses
▪ Genre
▪ Mechanics
▪ Others
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The core
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Core : The one thing the game is about.
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Core loop : What happens to the player over time as he interacts with the core?
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Feature set : The elements of the game's design that the team wants to achieve in its development (Wish fulfillment).
▪ Innovative
▪ Strengthen the core
▪ Player Expectations

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The Game Atoms
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Player in the game world
▪ Customizable Characters
▪ Designer Created
▪ Abstract
▪ None
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Game view : What the player sees at any given moment.
▪ Information : Who's winning, and by how much?
▪ Camera : What can the player see? What effect does this have on the game?
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Mechanics-Dynamics-Systems
▪ Game Mechanics : A particular rule or a set of rules which produces a particular outcome.
▪ Game Dynamics : The result (what happens) of game mechanics AND players interacting.
▪ Affordances : A player’s understanding of how things work in a game.
▪ Game Systems : A collection of mechanics which give rise to dynamics connected to a specific area of game play.
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The goal
▪ Objective : The condition to complete the goal.
▪ State : Whether a goal is known to the player.
▪ Achievements : Rewards for player actions, not always directly tied to the game narrative

Profession  Goal  Dynamics  Mechanics
Pizza delivery example
-Pizza delivery -Deliver 10 pizzas Receive order
-Pick order up at pizza place
-Drive pizza to customer
-Collect cash
-Repeat it 10 times
Get one pizza for delivery per turn automatically / roll a six-sided die
/ pull a card from a pizza deck
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Game Systems : Player-organized or designer-created collections of game mechanics which can be understood mostly in isolation from other systems and that controls a significant group of related, nontrivial behaviors of game play toward a specific outcome.
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Chance in games : When a part of an outcome is randomly determined.
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Mechanics of chance (some examples)
▪ Dice
▪ Items
▪ Combat outcomes
▪ Random component
▪ Spawn points
▪ Hidden information
▪ Other

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Strategy in games
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Mastering skills in game : Requires the player to know the game’s systems hence take better decisions and hence master the game.
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Type of Decisions
▪ Meaningful Decisions : Decisions where a player is invested in and responsible for the outcome, and knows their decision will make a difference.
▪ Obvious Decisions : Decisions where there is one clear choice to be made.
▪ Meaningless Decisions : Decisions that ultimately have no effect on the outcome.
▪ Blind Decisions : Decisions that must be made with no prior information.
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Strategy and Tactics: The play by play action of a game
▪ Strategy : A high level plan to reach a long-term goal.
▪ Tactics : A moment-to-moment decision to reach a short-term goal.
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Trade-offs : ask the player to choose between two things or both.
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Single resource trade-off : a player doesn’t have enough of a given resource to choose all the things they want.
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Multi-resource trade-off : a player must decide which resource(s) to use to acquire something.
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Dilemmas : players are forced to choose between two negative outcomes.
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Fun in games
-“Fun” occurs when tension is released.
-Check out elements of play: Role playing - Vertigo - Chance - Competition
Give player times for “Forecasting” to reach “Goal”.
-To keep player thinking, Use “Human habits” efficiently: Moving - Uniqueness -
Restriction.
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Human Habits

▪ Human's eye tend to pursue and follow moving objects (Especially if it draws lines)
● Ball Sports
● Car Drive Road
● Insect Animal
▪ Finding Differences
● People recognize unique things
● Compare and sort in order
● Finding same shapes
▪ Nervousness about being restricted
● Time limit
● Narrow area
● Forced uncontrolled automation
● Rain/Wind/Snow/Storm/Sea/Sky/Space
● Dark/Mist/Invisible
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Roger Caillois : 4 Categories of "Play/Games"
▪ Role Playing
● Imitation - Disguise - Mimicry - Dance - Parade of floats
● After getting sophisticated and sublimed it becomes performing arts
▪ Vertigo
● Speed - Falling - Rotation - Swing - Balance - Surf - Drunkenness
● Large-scale extraordinary (festival, amusement park) equipment

▪ Chance
● Roulette - Dice - Slot machine - Lottery - Card game -
Unforeseen/Unintended events
● After getting refined and sublimed it becomes gamble in general
▪ Competition
● Experience of comparing with others - Comparison with past records and strength and skills
● After getting refined and sublimed it becomes sports
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Human emotions
▪ Basic structure of game experience
Desire  Forecast  Practice  Result
When a forecast matches a result the tension is resolved, the emotions of excitement, security, and joy occur.
▪ Make a cycle to surely eliminate moderate tension
● Create distinct and clear “Target” objects, objectives
♦ Remarkable objects : Red button, shooting target, unique sharp tower, high castles, light
♦ Invitation : Entrance , buttons to push, stepping stones off pond, escape door, soccer goal
♦ Mandatory : time limit, enemy vehicle, escalator, story driven
● Easy to forecast (imagine), clear and absolute rules exist
♦ Presence of rules : Matching colors, collect same shapes, order numbers

♦ Various competitive sports : Simulation, records, activities that can score points
● It is possible to obtain results by practice and action, and it is possible to repeat challenge (learning)
♦ A world where certain physical law exists : On the earth, moon, underwater, simulatable environment
♦ Performance of practice : Instruments, individual sports, martial arts