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Building a Game that is Fun Amar Chitimalli Founder - FaunaFace, Inc The Life of a Video Game Designer
Building a Game that is Fun
Amar Chitimalli Founder - FaunaFace, Inc
The Life of a Video Game Designer
About me- I am Artist, Creator and Coder
- I studies computer science, and game development
- My Fav subjects are Math & Physics
- Building and designing games for past 15 years
- First game I worked was Texas Hold'Em for Microsoft Game studios
- Built online, social, casual and mobile games with Bigfish Games & Zynga
- Some of my favorite games are: Clash Royale, Boggle With Friends, and Guitar Hero
Games I worked on:- Building games for about 15 years.
- Digipen - Game Dev & Design
- Casual, Social, Mobile & CMO games
Fauna Sphere:
DroneRacing VR
- #SmashTillYouCrash- Endless Surfing Fun
Game Of Suits
- 1st PrizeWinner for 10K GDC-Next - 2014- Match 3 meets Poker- Casual, Mobile, Social
Math4ALL: Quoria Foundation
FaunaFace, Inc● Independent game development studios in San Francisco
● Started after winning 1st prize at a Game competition in 2014
● Won several awards, at Casual Connect, Global VR challenge
● Finalists at Google Indie Game Festival 2017
Now focused on using games for Education & Training, for Schools, Universities and Enterprises.
Because PLAY Is the highest Form of Research!
Takeaways for building a FUN game
● A FUN game has three key elements : Team, Game , Players
● A FUN game starts and ends with : Customer/Players
● A FUN game has two way traffic : Pyramid & Funnel
● A FUN game is a Iterative loop : Build, Share, Measure, Refine
What is a Fun Game pipeline? What does it consist ?
Building a Fun game is a process that has Three core elements
“Team+Tools” “Game” “Player/Mkt”
Team +
Tools
Fun Game
+
Retention Game
Market
+
Players
Launch the Game
Player acquired Monetize Retain
Use tools Build a Game
The Team to build a FUN game !!
Game Design
ART/Graphic
Director
Game Testing
General Manager
Product Manager
Game Dev
SoundDesigner
The Funnel - Operating GameThe Pyramid - Building Game
Core LoopFREE
Retention Game$
Super-Fan Game$$$
- Central point for engagement-Free & unrestricted access forever-Short, around (1 to 2) min
Ex:One Run in JetPack, Subway Surfer
-Encourages Players to Come back-Various Game play modes
Ex:Leveling up, New Content.. etc
Whales: Measure Time by Money
Post Launch, Multiplayer, &, Tournaments, Higher Level
Ex: Guilds in MMO, Community,
Acquisition
Retention
Monetization
Paid install, organic, PR, ad’s, virality, cross-promotion
Bad retention, leads waste of $$$ spent on acquisition
-Monetization, doesn’t limit players FUN.
-Goal is to identify super-fans and let them spend TIME == MONEY
Src: GamesBrief
The Game Designer (Core responsibilities)
- Design core features of video games
- Specify innovative game mechanics, story lines, and
character biographies
- Create and maintain design documentation
- Guide and collaborate with production staff to produce
games as designed
Types of Game Design
● Core Game Loop & Mechanics● Level Design (3D Levels etc..)● Content Designer (Dialogs and Story)● Technical designer (Part Development) - GamePlay● UI & UX Interface designers● System Designers (Boss levels etc..)
The Game Designer - (A Typical day)
● Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.
● Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.
● Guide design discussions between development teams.
Some may, manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.
A good place to start..
● Roblox - Roblox Studio is FREE
● Construct 3 - Browser based
● Play Canvas
● Unity 3D
● Game Maker
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