GAME DESIGN MERIT BADGE PART 1 Counselor Joshua Wolfsohn https://tinyurl.com/scoutingathomefallmb GOALS EXPECTATIONS REVIEW PREREQUISITES SPRINGBOARD HOUSE RULES BUILD ON WHAT WE KNOW HOMEWORK EXPECTATIONS (Be Respectful) Don’t Forget Design Notebooks PLEASE USE REAL NAMES TAKE TURNS AND SHARE THE AIR ENGAGE AND SHARE KEEP YOUR SCREEN ON RESPECT OTHER’S OPINIONS COLLABORATE AND CREATE REQ. 1A MY EXAMPLE Solitaire: card, single player, clear the Analyze four games you have played, field by making piles by suite, no theme each from a different medium. Identify Risk: board, multiplayer, occupy all 42 the medium, player format, objectives, territories by rolling dice, conquer the rules, resources, and theme (if relevant). world Discuss with your counselor the play Minecraft: electronic, open player, play experience, what you enjoy in each with blocks, use resources to … yeah, game, and what you dislike. square world Quidditch: sport, 2 teams 7 players each, score the most points and catch the snitch, no theme. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES? REQ. 1A MY EXAMPLE Solitaire: card, single player, clear the Analyze four games you have played, field by making piles by suite, no theme each from a different medium. Identify Risk: board, multiplayer, occupy all 42 the medium, player format, objectives, territories by rolling dice, conquer the rules, resources, and theme (if relevant). world Discuss with your counselor the play Minecraft: electronic, open player, play experience, what you enjoy in each with blocks, use resources to … yeah, game, and what you dislike. square world Quidditch: sport, 2 teams 7players each, score the most points and catch the snitch, no theme. WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES? REQ. 1B NOVELTY: EXAMPLE: Galaxy truckers Players get new or unexpected experiences. Game focuses on the senses. CHALLENGE: EXAMPLE: Carcassonne Players apply themselves to overcoming. Game focuses on reward for hard work. Describe four types of play value and STIMULATION: EXAMPLE: Forbidden Island provide an example of a game built Players get emotionally invested. Game around each concept. focuses on roles and pacing. HARMONY: EXAMPLE: Chess Player interactions. Game focuses on how players play together. THREAT: EXAMPLE: Fortnite Players get action and one up each other. Game focuses on conflict and resources BECAUSE THEY ARE FUN WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES? REQ. 1B NOVELTY: EXAMPLE: Galaxy truckers Players get new or unexpected experiences. Game focuses on the senses. CHALLENGE: EXAMPLE: Carcassonne Players apply themselves to overcoming. Game focuses on reward for hard work. Describe four types of play value and STIMULATION: EXAMPLE: Forbidden Island provide an example of a game built Players get emotionally invested. Game around each concept. focuses on roles and pacing. HARMONY: EXAMPLE: Chess Player interactions. Game focuses on how players play together. THREAT: EXAMPLE: Fortnite Players get action and one up each other. Game focuses on conflict and resources “A game is a way to play by a set of rules. Good rules help you find the fun. Bad rules obscure it. But the rules are not, themselves, the fun. It sounds obvious when you say it like that. But game designers of all skill levels fall into the trap of believing that the mechanics and the game are the same thing. A game is a whole package. It is not a collection of parts. A game can have a theme, and mechanic, a brand, a hook, a lifestyle. But these parts are not interchangeable with other games. It's only as a complete unit that the game resonates, draws attention, engages players, and becomes a part of their lives. If you want to invent a new game, you have to do better than just improving on existing rules. You need to consider why the game, as a whole, will get into players heads.” -James Earnest, Origins Award Winner, The Game is Not the Rules REQ. 2 Discuss with your counselor five of the following 17 game design terms. For each term that you pick, describe how it relates to a specific game STORY/THEME NARRATIVE STORY: Example: Pandemic The story created to attract players and keep them interested. The problem the game gives every player. Themes are often given by the artwork and title of the game. However mechanics should agree with the theme and give the players an actual picture of what is happening through the pieces and graphics. Stories are told in 3 parts a beginning, a middle, and an end. Game play should feel the same way. PLAYER-CREATED STORY: Example: RPG’S The story of each individual’s play experience: the actions and choices they made that led to victory or defeat. This will be unique every time you play a game, and if the game allows many choices: players will be involved in their own stories. This leads to high replay value. SETTING Example: Carcassonne VS Galaxy Truckers The setting is similar to the story/theme. The setting is a part of the story that will change the feel and flow of your game. The same mechanics in two different settings will have very different feels to the players. CHARACTERS Characters come in all types of strengths. Some are completely empty, allowing the player to BE the character they play in the game (Chell from Portals). Others are only defined by their art and the actions they can take (the countessa from Coup), while others are partially full, allowing the player to step into their shoes (Luke Skywalker from Star Wars). While others are so full that the player has no say in the character (Sergeant Calhoun from Hero’s duty in Wreck it Ralph). When making characters a useful tool I was taught in high school was the Hero’s Journey Cycle. Every main character follows it and modelling even supporting characters off it makes them stronger. The strength of characters, or their potency, is up to you as the designer. PLAYER FORMATS SINGLE PLAYER Example: ATARI When one player plays alone. MULTI PLAYER Example: Smallworld When many players get to play together. CO-OP Example: Pandemic When all the players work together to achieve one set of objectives (playing against the game). TEAMS Example: TF2 When many players get to play together AND AGAINST another group of players playing together. PLAY SEQUENCE TURN ORDER Example: Dutch Blitz The turn order tells everyone when each person gets to play whether that be turns for the players, turns for the characters, or everyone play at once. PHASES Example: Risk Phases tell when players do what on their turn (or lack there of). INTERUPTING COWMOO! Example: SmashUp It is completely OK to allow other layers to interrupt another player’s turn. LEVEL DESIGN/ENVIRONMENT DESIGN Example: LEGO Star Wars The process of making the game space agree with the theme and mechanics. This is separate from creating the rules, mechanics, and theme. The play space should be easy to use and well organized, so players don’t have to spend a lot of extra time learning how to navigate it. (non example: Egomania) The play space should be easy to understand so that players know what they need to do in order to win. INTERFACE DESIGN Example: Sushi Go Similar to the environment design, the interface design is how the game communicates with the players. “A game is an interactive mathematical system, made concrete, used to tell a story. just to clarify a bit: interactive mathematical system = mechanics and rules made concrete = pieces and graphics story = theme” -Rob Daviau, creator of Seafall The interface design is the way that the mathematical system (the mechanics) is cleverly hidden in the story and graphics without losing its ability to be understood and used. DIFFICULTY Example: Minecraft Difficulty is how easy or hard the game is to win and can be changed in many ways depending on the type of game you are making. Consider steps and parts to puzzles, number of resources or points that give better resources or victory points. Look at time, availability of resources, and player restrictions as well. Consider the strength of characters and their gear, and the strength of the enemies faced. BALANCE Example: SmashUp Balance is almost MORE important than difficulty. Balance relates to how different elements of the game effect the players. Perfectly balanced games don’t let any action, item, or resource decide which player will win. COMPLEXITY Example: Axis and Allies Complexity relates to the number of rules and parts as well as how easy it is to learn to play. The more complex the game, the harder it becomes to balance. Complicated games can become difficult, so it is important to find a “sweet spot.” Your games should be easy to learn, but interesting enough that you want to play again. DEPTH Example: Chess Depth often goes hand in hand with replay value. Depth talks about a game’s ability to allow someone to continually get better at playing great balance, appropriate difficulty, and matching complexity result In great depth STRATEGY, REFLEX, AND CHANCE Strategy Example: Pente When a player’s skill in making choices effects the game’s outcome in a predictable way. Reflex Example: Basketball When a player’s physical skills effect the game’s outcome in a predictable way. Chance Example: Yahtzee When a player’s skill has no effect on the game and the outcome is decided randomly. GOOD GAMES HAVE BOTH CHANCE AND SKILL PACE Example: Concentration Pace is how fast the game goes. More importantly it is how fast players receive information and how fast they can make decisions on that information. Pace can change during the game. Remember a story is told in 3 parts, a beginning a middle and an end.