Post on 26-Dec-2015
transcript
Of course you can design a game… but can you design a good one?
Dr. Lewis Dr. Lewis
PulsipherPulsipherCopyright 2011 Lewis Pulsipher
April 19, 2023
Outline of the session Who am I? Reality Check Who is the game for? What's a good game? Initial design process summarized Typical mistakes and quit points so far 80% vs. 100% The polishing process
(Show some of the awful patents)
April 19, 2023
Who am I Designed my own games while a
teenager Began playing commercial AH wargames
in 1963 Played the original Atari 2600 and have
played some PC games heavily, but rarely play any video games these days; never owned a game console
My favorite game is “the game design game”
April 19, 2023
Who am I
Designer of six commercially-published board wargames (most recently January 11), more games to come
Active designer of board and card games (playtesters solicited!)
My book “Get it Done: Designing Games from Start to Finish” is in late draft
Wikipedia: Lewis Pulsipher; Britannia (board game); Archomental
April 19, 2023
Reality Check Almost no one makes a living designing
games Most who do, work for a game
company, not freelance You probably could spend the same
time as profitably by picking up bottles and cans for deposits and recycling!
Most publishers don’t make a lot, either—and it’s risky
Many publishers exist largely to self-publish their own games
April 19, 2023
Reality Check 2 So if you design games, do it because
you like to, or because you must, not because you want to make money– Alan R. Moon, two German “Games of the
Year”, would have had to get part-time job if not for Ticket to Ride winning
Recognize that your “great idea” is probably not that great, not that original, and not that interesting to other people
Finally, it’s extra-hard to get into video game design
April 19, 2023
Is it for yourself, or for others? If the game is just for you, it’s a lot
easier– As long as you’re happy, you’re fine
For commercial game, you design for others, not for yourself– YOU ARE NOT THE AUDIENCE!
April 19, 2023
Summary, for commercial games, of the rest of the session: Are you willing to do the hard
work? What IS a good game? Initial design process The polishing process Learning to design You’ve got to DO IT!
April 19, 2023
Are you willing to do the work?
It’s easy to get to 80% of a game, hard to get to 100% (Knizia)
It is NOT about great ideas It is NOT about creativity If it will be a commercial game, it is
about work; fun work, but work If it’s just a game for yourself and
your buds, you don’t need to adhere to a high commercial standard
April 19, 2023
What IS a good game? Don’t talk about “fun”. Fun depends
almost entirely on a person’s preferences and who they’re playing with. Rather ask, why do people think this game is enjoyable.
You are not the audience You must know your audience You must playtest with your audience Ultimately, it’s what your audience
likes
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What about . . .
interaction interesting choices replayability balance/fairness visual appeal? hook/early play customization possibilities
April 19, 2023
And more . . .
Player interaction (as opposed to interaction with the system)
Memorability Player(s) able to control what
happens Fair/balanced Clear, easy-to-use interface Asymmetry
April 19, 2023
And this:
"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de Saint-Exup'ery
Or: it’s much better to reduce complexity than to increase it.
April 19, 2023
What does your audience think? So you have to playtest with your
intended audience, as many as possible
Guy who only playtests with “designers”– Good feedback– Relying on expert opinion rather than
on the audience itself
April 19, 2023
Initial design process Ideas are a dime a dozen. A good game
comes from good execution, not from “a great idea”
Write it all down! Play the game in your “mind’s eye” Have a checklist of structures and
questions When you think you know enough to
play, make a simple prototype Until you have a playable prototype, you
haven’t really done anything
April 19, 2023
The polishing process Change, change, change—embrace it The process is iterative and
incremental Playtest, recognize problems,
incorporate solutions, playtest some more
You’ll be sick and tired of it by the time you get “finished”
But you’re never truly finished
April 19, 2023
Learning to design Its easier to begin by modifying
existing games– E.g. Diplomacy variants, Risk variants,
D&D additions– Try “fixing” a poor game such as
Monopoly, or a weak game such as Risk
– Don’t forget to do the whole process, especially the polishing
April 19, 2023
Learning to Design
Even famous, successful designers design lots of not-so-good games; often they are never published
Ability to be productively self-critical is vital
Pay attention to feedback, but keep it at arm’s length. Criticism is about your game, not about YOU.
April 19, 2023
Constraints Limits lead to a conclusion:
– Characteristics of the audience (target market)• “People don’t do math any more”
– Genre limitations– Production-imposed limitations
• “Board cannot be larger than X by Y”
– Self-imposed limitations• “I want a one-hour trading game”
April 19, 2023
Do it!
Too many people like to think about designing so much, they never actually do it
Until you have a playable prototype, you have nothing– (Which is what makes video game
design so difficult)– It doesn’t have to be pretty, just
usable
April 19, 2023
Resources about the business Game Inventor’s Guidebook by
Brian Tinsman “All about publishing” thread on
ConsimWorld Lots of books about video game
publishing Sooner or later I’ll publish at least
one book about game design
Questions?Comments?
Pulsiphergames.comPulsiphergames.com
Pulsipher Boardgame Design on Pulsipher Boardgame Design on blogger (repeated on BGG)blogger (repeated on BGG)
April 19, 2023
Patents 4/30/2011 Game patents for a month.
– Most game patents are ridiculous
Conditional application of hit card – A blackjack variant, where you are dealt an optional card which you can exchange, along with a variable payout table if you do so.
21 to the river – A blackjack/poker combo, described in news article.
Educational game apparatus – Roll the dice, use math to figure out numbers to flip. The patent was written by someone with a loose grasp on English syntax and grammar. The game is called Funberz by Dane Compton, currently without a website.
April 19, 2023
The Euchre Cube The Euchre cube, designed by Patrick O’Donnell and self-published,
differs from your typical Euchre scoring pads and peg tracks in that it prominently indicates the dealer (the guy next to the cube) and trump. The inside has a recessed Euchre scoring track.
It’s patented, includes a bag to hold the cube (a deck of cards will also fit in there), and costs $45 (plus shipping).
Board game – The game “Enlightenment” by Norman Vail. Chakras, deadly sins, and spiritual enlightenment, etc.
Funny, but to me the game looks a lot like Hustler’s adult
7 Deadly Sins game, whose object is not enlightenment. Next we have seven design patents for card game tables from Marcus
Katz: Yes, 7 complete design patents, thousands of dollars each, for tables
that, to the untrained eye, all look nearly identical with each other and with all card tables that already exist.
Surfing board game – A board game, by Carlos Echecopar, a surfboard designer who lives in Peru, where the board actually curls and you have to surf (with magnets) your meeples down the wave.
April 19, 2023
Interactive game and method of play – From Rehco (aka Rehkemper), a toy and game design studio. A card game with cards that have oval portrait spaces for you to put in pictures; several games include versions of Indian Poker and Charades. Several games on BGG are cited as precedents.
Low/max card game method and apparatus – A gambling card game from NJ company New Fun Enterprises (casino supplies). Player and the dealer each get an odd number of cards, split them into two “half hands” (discarding one), and bet if their “low” hand is lower than the dealer’s AND their “high” hand is higher than the dealers. And the apparatus? A half table (like the above ones) with markings on which to place your high and low hands.
Strategic pattern building board game – From a little company called Hasbro. For the game Connect 4 x 4.
In order to point out the inadequacy of previous games (in order to promote the need for this patent), Hasbro had to diss its own game of Connect Four: “Connect Four.TM. is limited because only two players can play, because the suspended matrix only allows a player to insert the colored discs into a single plane, and because only one type of disc is used. Consequently, the difficulty and the enjoyment of the game are limited.”
Gaming devices and methods of playing card games with indicator of cards played from previous hands – Electronic assistance for card counting in Blackjack … which makes no sense, since casinos typically try to prevent that.
April 19, 2023
Pool billiard game with course thereof determined by cards – A set of cards with pictures of billiard balls, to be used to create a multi-player billiard game (pick a card, shoot that ball). may include additional random event cards, such as miss a turn, etc.
Poker game – Though the patent uses the terms “attack” and “combative”, it’s not a war game version of poker, sorry. Based on Texas Hold’em, players are dealt additional cards, and cards they discard will neutralize or cancel out center cards (and possibly cards in other players’ hands), causing them to be discarded and replaced.
Playing method and gaming machine for a card game including a plurality of card games – A Baccarat game where bets are made on both values and colors. I think this is primarily a gaming machine patent, but not exclusively.
Special multiplier bonus game in Pai Gow Poker variant – As stated. From Shuffle Master.
In Pai Gow Poker, each player is dealt seven cards and makes two hands: one of five cards, and one of two cards.
Integrated game system, method, and device – Inventerprise is back, for some reason.
Wobbling game system – From David Gray of Texas. A pirate-themed game of balancing coins on a wobbling surface, as well as other games using the objects. It’s pretty long.