The Intricacies of Game Design.
Before we speak about game design, we must talk about the definition of design. We can go to a web browser and look up a plethora of definitions.
de·sign
/dəˈzīn/
noun a plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is built or made.
-Oxford Languages
transitive verb to conceive and plan out in the mind
-Merriam-Webster
These definitions are all well and good when it comes to learning how to grasp the word and use it properly. But it doesn’t fully capture the essence of design, this next quote does.
“Design is constraint. Design really is how you work around constraint. Without constraint, there is no design, just pure imagination” -Will Wright.
If you don’t know who Will Wright is, he is an American Video Game Designer. Wright designed and created Sims, SimCity, Spore, and a multitude of other games. The first three words of his quote are what we really care about in this article. He took on a challenge that very few have and done so successfully. But what makes game design so different from other types of design.
The Challenges of Game Design
The first step to any design process is to understand the deliverables, constraints, and resources available to you. For game design, the deliverables are the games. Resources will depend on the type of game you are trying to create and your situation. But constraints are hard to come up with for games.
There are a few easy constraints that come with game design. In video game design you have the technology, places willing to sell it, and coding skills. For board game design you have manufacturers, stores willing to sell it, and larger overhead costs. Both of them share a constraint, which is to make the game fun. But how do you do that?
Fun is such a vague and subjective constraint that makes it hard to workaround. This pushes designers to be more creative. That means more playtesting, lots of playtesting, since it is not objective, it requires trial and error. There is no program that you can put the model of the game in that will tell you it is fun.
Pride is another big item when designing games. Putting so much creative effort into something makes it feel like a part of you. That is true for all design but with game design’s subjectiveness, it can be tricky. Certain game elements may be fun for some and not for others. You can either choose the majority or the one you prefer but that means people will be unhappy. That is the simple truth with game design, not everyone will be happy.
Pride also can stall game development by making the creators feel that they are just copying mechanics. Designers don’t want to feel like they are stealing mechanics. That may cause them to create a new system that is worse but has the same result. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Think of the result first and then add the best mechanic whether you made it or not.
The Beauty of Game Design
Game design is trying to create something that will be fun for people to play. Not the most efficient, not the most beautiful, and not the most profitable. But just some good-hearted fun, that is a very wholesome goal. It is such a hardship to make a good game.
It requires studying human psychology, social ideas, and lots of trial and error. But many games go unrecognized for their efforts, even when they are wonderful.
A great game must strike a balance between mechanics and the story that it represents. When in equilibrium, a push and pull that will bring people together in raucous laughter or shared stress as a cold sweat goes down their spine.
Conclusion
The design process is working around constraints and creating optimal ways to solve a problem. Game design is much harder because the constraints are sometimes not well defined. It is wonderful to design something meant to make people happy. I urge you to try more games and support the creators that worked so hard on them. Thank you for reading.
