Lenses for Game Design - Lenses

• The lenses allow us to listen to ourselves, the game, the player, the team, and the general culture better.

1. Emotion §

• Make sure the feelings you create are the right ones.

• But beware Observer bias and how that influences analysis.

• What emotions would I like my player to experience? Why

• What emotions are players (including me) having when they play now? Why?

• How can I bridge the gap between the emotions players are having and the emotions I’d like them to have?

2. Essential Experience §

• Stop thinking about your game and start thinking about the experience of the player.

• Remember that games do not fully capture real experiences. Real experiences can only serve as inspiration for essential experiences.

• What experience do I want the player to have?

• What is essential to that experience?

• How can my game capture that essence via the game’s mechanics and artwork?

3. Venue §

• The places that we play exert tremendous influence on the design of our games.

• What type of venue best suits the game I’m trying to create

• Does my venue have special properties that will influence my game?

• What elements of my game are in harmony with my venue? What elements are not?

4. Surprise §

• Surprise is a crucial part of entertainment.

• What will surprise players when they play my game?

• Does the story in my game have surprises? Do the game rules? Does the artwork? The technology?

• Do your rules give players ways to surprise each other?

• Do your rules give players ways to surprise themselves?

5. Fun §

• Sometimes fun defies analysis

• What parts of my game are fun? Why?

• What parts need to be more fun?

6. Curiosity §

• Think about the player’s true motivations — not just the goals set forth by the game, but the reason the player wants to achieve these goals.

• What questions does my game put into the player’s mind

• What am I doing to make them care about these questions

• What can I do to make them invent even more questions?

• Can I use the game’s artwork to evoke a sense of curiosity?

7. Endogenous Value §

• A game’s success hinges on the players’ willingness to pretend it is important, and by proxy how willing they are to succeed in the game.

• What is valuable to the players in my game?

• How can I make it more valuable to them?

• What is the relationship between value in the game and the players’ motivations?

8 . Problem Solving §

• Think about the problems your players must solve to succeed at the game.

• What problems does my game ask the player to solve?

• Are there hidden problems to solve that arise as part of gameplay?

• How can my game generate new problems so that players keep coming back?

9. Elemental Tetrad §

• Games consist of Mechanics, Story, Aesthetics, and Technology. Consider them separately and then together

• Is my game design using elements of all four types?

• Could my design be improved by enhancing elements in one or more of the categories?

• Are the four elements in harmony, reinforcing each other and working together toward a common theme?

10. Holographic Design §

• See everything in your game at once. The elements and the player experience and how they interrelate.

• What elements of the game make the experience enjoyable?

• What elements of the game detract from the experience?

• How can I change game elements to improve the experience?

11. Unification §

• Works well with 9. Elemental Tetrad for dissecting the game and identifying how to unify them with a common theme.

• What is my theme?

• Am I using every means possible to reinforce that theme?

12. Resonance §

• The best games are those that resonate with us deeply.

• What is it about my game that feels powerful and special?

• When I describe my game to people, what ideas get them really excited?

• If I had no constraints of any kind, what would this game be like?

• I have certain instincts about how this game should be. What is driving those instincts?

13. Infinite Inspiration §

• What is an experience I have had in my life that I would want to share with others?
• In what small way can I capture the essence of that experience and put it into my game?
• Synergizes with 2. Essential Experience.

14. The Problem Statement §

• Think of the game as the solution to a problem.

• Define the constraints and goals of the game.

• What problem, or problems, am I really trying to solve?

• Have I been making assumptions about this game that really have nothing to do with its true purpose?

• Is a game really the best solution? Why?

• How will I be able to tell if the problem is solved?

15. The Eight Filters §

• Think of the game design problem as a constraint satisfaction problem. We are done with our design when at the very least we can answer the following questions.

• Artistic Impulse Does this game feel right?

• Demographics Will the intended audience like this game enough?

• Experience Design Is this a well-designed game?

• Innovation Is this game novel enough?

• Business and Marketing Will this game sell?

• Engineering Is it technically possible to build this game?

• Social Community Does this game meet our social and community goals?

• Playtesting Do the playtesters enjoy this game enough?

16. Risk Mitigation §

• Stop thinking positively and start considering things that could go horribly wrong with the game.

• What could keep this game from being great?

• How can we stop that from happening?

17. The Toy §

• Stop thinking about whether your game is fun to play, and start thinking about whether it is fun to play with.

• If my game had no goal, would it be fun at all? If not, how can I change that?

• When people see my game, do they want to start interacting with it, even before they know what to do? If not, how can I change that?

• Use this lens to either:

  • Identify the toy-like qualities to the game.
  • Identify how to invent and create new toys before even making the game.
  • Identify what aesthetic qualities please the player.

18. Passion §

• At the end of each prototype, when you are carefully mitigating risks and planning what to do next, don’t forget to check how you feel about the game.

• Am I filled with blinding passion about how great this game will be?

• If I’ve lost the passion, can I find it again?

• If the passion isn’t coming back, shouldn’t I be doing something else?

19. The Player §

• Stop thinking about the game and start thinking about the player.

• In general, what do they like?

• What don’t they like? Why?

• What do they expect to see in a game?

• If I were in their place, what would I want to see in a game?

• What would they like or dislike about my game in particular?

• Synergizes with Holographic Design.

• Even more useful than thinking about the player, is watching them play — the more you observe, the more easily you’ll be able to predict what they are going to enjoy.

• You can apply this for aesthetics as well.

20. Pleasure §

• Think about the kinds of pleasure the game does and does not provide.

• The goal of a game is pleasure. Go through paradigms for pleasure and reflect on the game.

• Alternatively, take inspiration from unique, unclassified pleasures.

• What pleasures does your game give to players? Can these be improved?

• What pleasures are missing from your experience? Why? Can they be added?

21. Flow §

• From the Flow State Model.

• Does my game have clear goals? If not, how can I fix that?

• Are the goals of the player the same goals I intended?

• Are there parts of the game that distract players to the point they forget their goal? If so, can these distractions be reduced or tied into the game goals?

• Does my game provide a steady stream of not-too-easy, not-too-hard challenges, taking into account the fact that the player’s skills may be gradually improving?

• Are the player’s skills improving at the rate I had hoped? If not, how can I change that?

22. Needs §

• Stop thinking about the game and start thinking about what basic human needs it fulfills.

• On which levels of Maslow’s hierarchy is my game operating?

• Does it fill the needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness?

• How can I make my game fill more basic needs than it already does?

• For the needs my game is already filling, how can it fill those needs even better?

• The game cannot just promise the need, it must deliver fulfillment of the need.

23. Motivation §

• Every game is a complex ecosystem of motivations

• What motivations do players have to play my game?

• Which motivations are most internal? Which are most external?

• Which are pleasure seeking? Which are pain avoiding?

• Which motivations support each other?

• Which motivations are in conflict?

24. Novelty §

• What is novel about my game?
• Does my game have novelties throughout or just at the beginning?
• Do I have the right mix of the novel and the familiar?
• When the novelty wears off, will players still enjoy my game?

25. Judgment §

• The game is a good judge of the players.

• What does your game judge about the players?

• How does it communicate this judgment?

• Do players feel the judgment is fair?

• Do they care about the judgment?

• Does the judgment make them want to improve?

26. Functional Space §

• Think about the space in which the game really takes pace in when all surface elements are stripped away.

• Is the space of this game discrete or continuous?

• How many dimensions does it have?

• What are the boundaries of the space?

• Are there subspaces? How are they connected?

• Is there more than one useful way to abstractly model the space of this game?

• Works well with 10. Holographic Design since we can match the functional space with the aesthetic space the player will experience. Architecture principles apply.

27. Time §

• Experiences can be spoiled if they are too fast, too slow, too long or too short.

• What is it that determines the length of my gameplay activities?

• Are my players frustrated because the game ends too early? How can I change that?

• Are my players bored because the game goes on too long? How can I change that?

• Would clocks or races make my gameplay more exciting?

• Time limits can irritate players. Would I better off without time limits?

• Would a hierarchy of time structures help my game? That is, several short rounds that together comprise a larger round?

• Ask the above again, but for the aesthetic aspects of the game.

28. State Machine §

• More on state machines here.

• Think about what information changes during the game.

• What are the objects in my game?

• What are the attributes of the objects?

• What are the possible states for each attribute?

• What triggers the state changes for each attribute?

• States and attributes present information which is core to the mechanics of any game.

29. Secrets §

• Change who has what information and you change your game completely. Think about who knows what and why

• What is known by the game only?

• What is known by all players?

• What is known by some or only one player?

• Would changing who knows what information improve my game in some way?

• Who knows about what attributes can change over the course of the game.

30. Emergence §

• How many verbs do my players have?
• How many objects can each verb act on?
• How many ways can players achieve their goals?
• How many subjects do the players control?
• How do side effects change constraints?

31. Action §

• What can the player do and not do and why?

• What are the basic actions in my game?

• What are the strategic actions?

• What strategic actions would I like to see? How can I change my game in order to make those possible?

• Am I happy with the ratio of strategic to basic actions?

• What actions do players wish they could do in my game that they cannot?

• Can I somehow enable these, either as basic or strategic actions?

32. Goals §

• What is the ultimate goal of my game?

• Is that goal clear to players?

• If there is a series of goals, do the players understand that?

• Are the different goals related to each other in a meaningful way?

• Are my goals concrete, achievable, and rewarding?

• Do I have a good balance of short- and long-term goals?

• Do players have a chance to decide on their own goals?

• Synergizes well with 17. The Toy and 6. Curiosity.

33. Rules §

• What are the foundational rules of my game? How do these differ from the operational rules?

• Are there “laws” or “house rules” that are forming as the game develops? Should these be incorporated into my game directly?

• Are there different modes in my game? Do these modes make things simpler, or more complex? Would the game be better with fewer modes? More modes?

• Who enforces the rules?

• Are the rules easy to understand, or is there confusion about them? If there is confusion, should I fix it by changing the rules or by explaining them more clearly?

• Since games are defined by their rules, give them time and consideration.

• Experimentation is key.

34. Skill §

• Start looking at the skills you are asking of the players

• What skills does my game require from the player?

• Are there categories of skill that this game is missing?

• Which skills are dominant?

• Are these skills creating the experience I want?

• Are some players much better at these skills than others? Does this make the game feel unfair?

• Can players improve their skills with practice, leading to a feeling of mastery?

• Does this game demand the right level of skill?

• Use this as a window to define the player experience. The 2. Essential Experience.

35. Expected Value §

• See more here.

• Think about the chance of different events occurring and what those mean to the player.

• What is the actual chance of a certain event occurring?

• What is the perceived chance?

• What value does the outcome of that event have? Can the value be quantified? Are there intangible aspects of value that I am not considering?

• Each action a player can take has a different expected value when I add up all the possible outcomes. Am I happy with these values? Do they give the player interesting choices? Are they too rewarding, or too punishing?

• The challenge of using it is finding a way to numerically represent everything that can happen to a player.

36. Chance §

• Focus on the parts that involve randomness and risk, keeping in mind they are not the same.

• What in my game is truly random? What parts just feel random?

• Does the randomness give the players positive feelings of excitement and challenge, or does it give them negative feelings of hopelessness and lack of control?

• Would changing my probability distribution curves improve my game?

• Do players have the opportunity to take interesting risks in the game?

• What is the relationship between chance and skill in my game? Are there ways I can make random elements feel more like the exercise of a skill? Are there ways I can make exercising skills feel more like risk taking?

37. Fairness §

• Take into account the players’ skill level. Give each player a chance of winning each will consider fair.

• Should my game be symmetrical? Why?

• Should my game be asymmetrical? Why?

• Which is more important: that my game is a reliable measure of who has the most skill or that it provide an interesting challenge to all players?

• If I want players of different skill levels to play together, what means will I use to make the game interesting and challenging for everyone?

• There are some cases where one side has an advantage over the other and the game still seems fair. Sometimes this is so that players of unequal skill can play together, but there can be other reasons.

38. Challenge §

• A game is defined by its goals and challenges

• What are the challenges in my game?

• Are they too easy, too hard, or just right?

• Can my challenges accommodate a wide variety of skill levels?

• How does the level of challenge increase as the player succeeds?

• Is there enough variety in the challenges?

• What is the maximum level of challenge in my game?

39. Meaningful Choices §

• We should feel like the things we do matter.

• What choices am I asking the player to make?

• Are they meaningful? How?

• Am I giving the player the right number of choices? Would more make them feel more powerful? Would less make the game clearer?

• Are there any dominant strategies in my game?

40. Triangularity §

• Give safe choices a low reward. Give high risk choices a high reward.

• Do I have triangularity now? If not, how can I get it?

• Is my attempt at triangularity balanced? That is, are the rewards commensurate with the risks?

• We can make use of 35. Expected Value

41. Skill vs Chance §

• Consider the lens of 19. The Player when balancing between the two.

• Are my players here to be judged (skill) or to take risks (chance)?

• Skill tends to be more serious than chance: is my game serious or casual?

• Are parts of my game tedious? If so, will adding elements of chance enliven them?

• Do parts of my game feel too random? If so, will replacing elements of chance with elements of skill or strategy make the players feel more in control?

42. Heads and Hands §

• Are my players looking for mindless action or an intellectual challenge?

• Would adding more places that involve puzzle solving in my game make it more interesting?

• Are there places where the player can relax their brain and just play the game without thinking?

• Can I give the player a choice— succeed either by exercising a high level of dexterity or by finding a clever strategy that works with a minimum of physical skill?

• If “1” means all physical and “10” means all mental, what number would my game get?

• Use 34. Skill to understand the different skills of the game, and then this lens to balance the skills.

• Use 19. The Player for analyzing the player’s preferences.

43. Competition §

• Games satisfy the urge to see who is more skilled at something

• Does my game give a fair measurement of player skill?

• Do people want to win my game? Why?

• Is winning this game something people can be proud of? Why?

• Can novices meaningfully compete at my game?

• Can experts meaningfully compete at my game?

• Can experts generally be sure they will defeat novices?

44. Cooperation §

• Games satisfy the urge or collaborating and succeeding as a team.

• Cooperation requires communication. Do my players have enough opportunity to communicate? How could communication be enhanced?

• Are my players friends already, or are they strangers? If they are strangers, can I help them break the ice?

• Is there synergy (2 + 2 = 5) or antergy (2 + 2 = 3) when the players work together? Why?

• Do all the players have the same role, or do they have special jobs?

• Cooperation is greatly enhanced when there is no way an individual can do a task alone. Does my game have tasks like that?

• Tasks that force communication inspire cooperation. Do any of my tasks force communication?

45. Competition vs Cooperation §

• Balance between 43. Competition and 44. Cooperation

• If “1” is competition and “10” is cooperation, what number should my game get?

• Can I give players a choice whether to play cooperatively or competitively?

• Does my audience prefer competition, cooperation, or a mix?

• Is team competition something that makes sense for my game? Is my game more fun with team competition or with solo competition?

46. Reward §

• What rewards is my game giving out now? Can it give out others as well?
• Are players excited when they get rewards in my game, or are they bored by them? Why?
• Getting a reward you don’t understand is like getting no reward at all. Do my players understand the rewards they are getting?
• Are the rewards my game gives out too regular? Can they be given out in a more variable way?
• How are my rewards related to one another? Is there a way that they could be better connected?
• How are my rewards building? Too fast, too slow, or just right?
• Rewards can also be the aesthetic experience. Repeat the above question but for the aesthetics.

47. Punishment §

• Use punishment delicately.

• What are the punishments in my game?

• Why am I punishing the players? What do I hope to achieve by it?

• Do my punishments seem fair to the players? Why or why not?

• Is there a way to turn these punishments into rewards and get the same or a better effect?

• Are my strong punishments balanced against commensurately strong rewards?

48. Simplicity / Complexity §

• Strike a balance between simplicity and complexity.

• What elements of innate complexity do I have in my game?

• Is there a way this innate complexity could be turned into emergent complexity?

• Do elements of emergent complexity arise from my game? If not, why not?

• Are there elements of my game that are too simple?

• Synergizes with 30. Emergence.

• The principles above also apply to the game’s aesthetic.

49. Elegance §

• What are the elements (mechanical or aesthetic) of my game?

• What are the purposes of each element? Count these up to give the element an “elegance rating.”

• For elements with only one or two purposes, can some of these be combined into each other or removed altogether?

• For elements with several purposes, is it possible for them to take on even more?

• Opposes 50. Character

50. Character §

• Is there anything strange in my game that players talk about excitedly?

• Does my game have funny qualities that make it unique?

• Does my game have flaws that players like?

• Opposes 49. Elegance

51. Imagination §

• Balance between a connection to reality and imagination.

• What must the player understand to play my game?

• Can some element of imagination help them understand that better?

• What high-quality, realistic details can we provide in this game?

• What details would be low quality if we provided them? Can imagination fill the gap instead?

• Can I give details that the imagination will be able to reuse again and again?

• What details I provide inspire imagination?

• What details I provide stifle imagination?

• How does the aesthetics of the game influence the player’s imagination. Repeat the questions above but for the aesthetics

52. Economy §

• Economies give depth to the game.

• They apply not just to money but any resource.

• How can my players earn money? Should there be other ways?

• What can my players buy? Why?

• Is money too easy to get? Too hard? How can I change this?

• Are choices about earning and spending meaningful ones?

• Is a universal currency a good idea in my game, or should there be specialized currencies?

53. Balance §

• The simple lens that helps us balance the game in the big picture.

• Does my game feel right? Why or why not?

54. Accessibility §

• Players should be able to clearly visualize what the first few steps should be. The 32. Goals should be clear and the puzzle should be like 17. The Toy.

• How will players know how to begin solving my puzzle or playing my game? Do I need to explain it, or is it self-evident?

• Does my puzzle or game act like something they have seen before? If it does, how can I draw attention to that similarity. If it does not, how can I make them understand how it does behave? Can I use aesthetics or mechanics for this?

• Does my puzzle or game draw people in and make them want to touch it and manipulate it? If not, how I can I change it so that it does? Can I use aesthetics or mechanics to draw them in?

55. Visible Progress §

• Players need to see that they are making progress when solving a difficult problem

• What does it mean to make progress in my game or puzzle?

• Is there enough progress in my game? Is there a way I can add more interim steps of progressive success?

• What progress is visible, and what progress is hidden? Can I find a way to reveal what is hidden?

• Can I use aesthetics to show visible progress.

56. Parallelism §

• Parallelism pertains to the principle that players gravitate towards answering the questions that are easiest for them.

• Are there bottlenecks in my design where players are unable to proceed if they cannot solve a particular challenge? If so, can I add parallel challenges for a player to work on when this challenge stumps them?

• If parallel challenges are too similar, the parallelism offers little benefit. Are my parallel challenges different enough from each other to give players the benefit of variety?

• Can my parallel challenges be connected somehow? Is there a way that making progress on one can make it easier to solve the others?

57. The Pyramid §

• The Pyramid pertains to a series of small puzzles that give a clue to a larger puzzle .

• Is there a way all the pieces of my puzzle can feed into a singular challenge at the end?

• Big pyramids are often made of little pyramids—can I have a hierarchy of ever more challenging puzzle elements, gradually leading to a final challenge?

• Is the challenge at the top of my pyramid interesting, compelling, and clear? Does it make people want to work in order to get to it?

58. The Puzzle §

• What are the puzzles in my game?
• Should I have more puzzles, or less? Why?
• Which of the ten puzzle principles apply to each of my puzzles?
• Do I have any incongruous puzzles? How can I better integrate them into the game? (Use Lens #49: Elegance, to help do this).

59. Control §

• Meaningful control is essential for immersive interactivity.

• When players use the interface, does it do what is expected? If not, why not?

• Intuitive interfaces give a feeling of control. Is your interface easy to master or hard to master?

• Do your players feel they have a strong influence over the outcome of the game? If not, how can you change that?

• Feeling powerful = feeling in control. Do your players feel powerful? Can you make them feel more powerful somehow?

60. Physical Interface §

• The physical interface entails physical interaction with the game (i.e., buttons, touch controls)

• What does the player pick up and touch? Can this be made more pleasing (aesthetically or experientially)?

• How does this map to the actions in the game world? Can the mappings be more direct?

• If you can’t create a custom physical interface, what metaphor are you using when you map the inputs to the game world?

• How does the physical interface look under 17. The Toy?

• How does the player see, hear, and touch the world of the game? Is there a way to include a physical output device that will make the world become more real in the player’s imagination?

61. Virtual Interface §

• The virtual interface pertain to interfaces that allow for indirect control over the game world.

  • Done poorly, they become a wall between the player and the game world.
  • Done well, they amplify the power and control a player has in the game world.

• What information does a player need to receive that isn’t obvious just by looking at the game world?

• When does the player need this information? All the time? Only occasionally? Only at the end of a level?

• How can this information be delivered to the player in a way that won’t interfere with the player’s interactions with the game world?

• Are there elements of the game world that are easier to interact with using a virtual interface (like a pop-up menu, for instance) than they are to interact with directly?

• What kind of virtual interface is best suited to my physical interface?

• Can I consider the aesthetics of the virtual interface?

62. Transparency §

• The ideal interface becomes invisible to the player.

• What are the player’s desires? Does the interface let the players do what they want?

• Is the interface simple enough that with practice, players will be able to use it without thinking?

• Do new players find the interface intuitive? If not, can it be made more intuitive, somehow? Would allowing players to customize the controls help or hurt?

• Does the interface work well in all situations, or are there cases (near a corner, going very fast, etc.) when it behaves in ways that will confuse the player?

• Can players continue to use the interface well in stressful situations, or do they start fumbling with the controls or missing crucial information? If so, how can this be improved?

• Does anything confuse players about the interface? On which of the six interface arrows is it happening?

• Do players feel a sense of immersion when using the interface?

63. Feedback §

• The feedback a player gets from the game is many things — judgment, reward, instruction, encouragement, and challenge .

• Make sure the feedback loop in the game is creating the desired experience.

• What do players need to know at this moment?

• What do players want to know at this moment?

• What do you want players to feel at this moment? How can you give feedback that creates that feeling?

• What do the players want to feel at this moment? Is there an opportunity for them to create a situation where they will feel that?

• What is the player’s goal at this moment? What feedback will help them toward that goal?

64. Juiciness §

• Juicy interfaces are fun the moment they are picked up.
• Is my interface giving the player continuous feedback for their actions? If not, why not?
• Is second-order motion created by the actions of the player? Is this motion powerful and interesting?
• Juicy systems reward the player many ways at once. When I give the player a reward, how many ways am I simultaneously rewarding them? Can I find more ways?

65. Primality §

• Some actions and interfaces are so intuitive that animals were doing them hundreds of millions of years ago.

• What parts of my game are so primal an animal could play? Why?

• What parts of my game could be more primal?

66. Channels and Dimensions §

• What data need to travel to and from the player?
• Which data are most important?
• What channels do I have available to transmit these data?
• Which channels are most appropriate for which data? Why?
• Which dimensions are available on the different channels?
• How should I use those dimensions?
• How are the channels like, aesthetics wise?

67. Modes §

• Make sure your modes make the player feel powerful and in control, and do not confuse or overwhelm.

• What modes do I need in my game? Why?

• Can any modes be collapsed or combined?

• Are any of the modes overlapping? If so, can I put them on different input channels?

• When the game changes modes, how does the player know that? Can the game communicate the mode change in more than one way?

67.5 Metaphor §

• Game interfaces often mimic interfaces to things that are already familiar to players

• Is my interface already a metaphor for something else?

• If it is a metaphor, am I making the most of that metaphor? Or is the metaphor getting in the way?

• If it isn’t a metaphor, would it be more intuitive if it were?

68. Moments §

• Memorable moments are stars that make up the constellation of your interest curve.

• What are the key moments in my game?

• How can I make each moment as powerful as possible? Can I use aesthetics? Narrative? Mechanics? What else?

69. The Interest Curve §

• If I draw an interest curve of my experience, how is it generally shaped?

• Does it have a hook?

• Does it have gradually rising interest, punctuated by periods of rest?

• Is there a grand finale, more interesting than everything else?

• What changes would give me a better interest curve?

• Is there a fractal structure to my interest curve? Should there be?

• Do my intuitions about the interest curve match the observed interest of the players? If I ask playtesters to draw an interest curve, what does it look like?

• Augment with 19. The Player.

70. Inherent Interest §

• What aspects of my game will capture the interest of a player immediately?

• Does my game let the player see or do something they have never seen or done before?

• What base instincts does my game appeal to? Can it appeal to more of them?

• What higher instincts does my game appeal to? Can it appeal to more of those?

• Does dramatic change and anticipation of dramatic change happen in my game? How can it be more dramatic?

• Augment with 6. Curiosity.

71. Beauty §

• What elements make up my game? How can each one be more beautiful?
• Some things are not beautiful in themselves, but are beautiful in combination. How can the elements of my game be composed in a way that is poetic and beautiful?
• What does beauty mean within the context of my game?

72. Projection §

• One key indicator that someone is enjoying an experience is that they have projected their imaginations into it.

• What is there in my game that players can relate to? What else can I add?

• What is there in my game that will capture a player’s imagination? What else can I add? Are there places in the game that players have always wanted to visit?

• Does the player get to be a character they could imagine themselves to be?

• Are there other characters in the game that the players would be interested to meet (or to spy on)?

• Do the players get to do things that they would like to do in real life, but can’t?

• Is there an activity in the game that once a player starts doing, it is hard to stop?

• Ask the above questions but with a focus on the aesthetics of the game.

73. The Story Machine §

• A good game is a machine that generates stories when people play it.
• When players have different choices about how to achieve goals, new and different stories can arise. How can I add more of these choices?
• Different conflicts lead to different stories. How can I allow more types of conflict to arise from my game?
• When players can personalize the characters and setting, they will care more about story outcomes, and similar stories can start to feel very different. How can I let players personalize the story?
• Good stories have good interest curves. Do my rules lead to stories with good interest curves?
• A story is only good if you can tell it. Who can your players tell the story to that will actually care?

74. The Obstacle §

• 32. Goals with no obstacles are not worth pursuing.

• What is the relationship between the main character and the goal? Why does the character care about it?

• What are the obstacles between the character and the goal?

• Is there an antagonist who is behind the obstacles? What is the relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist?

• Do the obstacles gradually increase in difficulty?

• Some say “the bigger the obstacle, the better the story.” Are your obstacles big enough? Can they be bigger?

• Great stories often involve the protagonist transforming in order to overcome the obstacle. How does your protagonist transform?

75. Simplicity and Transcendence §

• How is my world simpler than the real world? Can it be simpler in other ways?
• What kind of transcendent power do I give to the player? How can I give even more without removing challenge from the game?
• Is my combination of simplicity and transcendence contrived, or does it provide my players with a special kind of wish fulfillment?
• The wish fulfillment can simply be living in an aesthetically pleasing world. How does my game fulfill that? Can I ask the above questions but with aesthetics in mind?

76. The Hero’s Journey §

• See here for more.

• Does my story have elements that qualify it as a heroic story?

• If so, how does it match up with the structure of the hero’s journey?

• Would my story be improved by including more archetypical elements?

• Does my story match this form so closely that it feels hackneyed?

77. The Weirdest Thing §

• Having weird things in your story can help give meaning to unusual game mechanics—it can capture the interest of the player, and it can make your world seem special.

• Too many things that are too weird, though, will render your story puzzling and inaccessible.

• What’s the weirdest thing in my story?

• How can I make sure that the weirdest thing doesn’t confuse or alienate the player?

• If there are multiple weird things, should I maybe get rid of, or coalesce, some of them?

• If there is nothing weird in my story, is the story still interesting?

78. Story §

• Does my game really need a story? Why?
• Why will players be interested in this story?
• How does the story support the other parts of the tetrad (aesthetics, technology, gameplay)? Can it do a better job?
• How do the other parts of the tetrad support the story? Can they do a better job?
• How can my story be better?

79. Freedom §

• A feeling of freedom is one of the things that separates games from other forms of entertainment.

• When do my players have freedom of action? Do they feel free at these times?

• When are they constrained? Do they feel constrained at these times?

• Are there any places I can let them feel freer than they do now

• Are there any places where they are overwhelmed by too much freedom?

80. Help §

• Within the context of the game, who is the player helping?
• Can I make the player feel more connected to the characters who need help?
• Can I better tell the story of how meeting game goals helps someone?
• How can the helped characters show their appreciation?

81. Indirect Control §

• Ideally, what would I like the players to do?
• Can constraints get players to do it?
• Can goals get players to do it?
• Can interface get players to do it?
• Can visual design get players to do it?
• Can game characters get players to do it?
• Can aesthetics get players to do it?
• Can music or sound get players to do it?
• Is there some other method I can use to coerce players toward ideal behavior without impinging on their feeling of freedom?
• Is my design inducing desires I’d rather the player not have?

82. Collusion §

• The principle of collusion is when characters have more than one goal, which is then used to exert indirect control on the player and make the experience more interesting.

• What do I want the player to experience?

• How can the characters help fulfill this experience, without compromising their goals in the game world?

83. Fantasy §

• What fantasy does my world fulfill?
• Who does the player fantasize about being?
• What does my player fantasize about doing there?
• How does aesthetics contribute to the fantasy?

84. The World §

• How is my world better than the real world?
• Can there be multiple gateways to my world? How do they differ? How do they support each other?
• Is my world centered on a single story, or could many stories happen here?
• Is my world aesthetically pleasing compared to the real world?

85. The Avatar §

• Is my avatar an ideal form likely to resonate with my players?
• Does my avatar have iconic qualities that let a player project themselves into the character?
• Can I analyze the avatar from the lens of aesthetics.

86. Character Function §

• What are the roles I need the characters to fill?
• What characters have I already imagined?
• Which characters map well to which roles?
• Can any characters fill more than one role?
• Do I need to change the characters to better fit the roles?
• Do I need any new characters?

87. Character Traits §

• What traits define my character?
• How do these traits manifest themselves in the words, actions, and appearance of my character?

88. The Interpersonal Circumplex §

• Pick a character and place them in the center of a graph. One axis is labeled hostile / friendly, the other as submissive / dominant.

• Plot where other characters lie in the graph and ask these questions

• Are there any gaps in the chart? Why are they there? Would it be better if the gaps were filled?

• Are there “extreme characters” on the graph? If not, would it be better if there were?

• Are the character’s friends in the same quadrant, or different quadrants? What if that were different?

89. Character Web §

• List all the characters and for each one, consider the following

• How, specifically, does each character feel about each of the others?

• Are there any connections unaccounted for? How can I use those?

• Are there too many similar connections? How can they be more different?

90. Status §

• When people interact, they take on different behaviors depending on their status levels

• What are the relative status levels of the characters in my game?

• How can they show appropriate status behaviors?

• Conflicts of status are interesting—how are my characters vying for status?

• Changes of status are interesting—where do they happen in my game? 69. The Interest Curve applies.

• How am I giving the player a chance to express status?

• Can we convey status using aesthetic elements within the game?

91. Character Transformation §

• We pay attention to character transformation, because we care about what might change us.

• How does each of my characters change throughout the game?

• How am I communicating those changes to the player? Can I communicate them more clearly, or more strongly?

• Is there enough change?

• Are the changes surprising and interesting?

• Are the changes believable?

92. Inner Contradiction §

• A good game cannot contain properties that defeat the game’s very purpose.

• What is the purpose of my game?

• What are the purposes of each subsystem in my game?

• Is there anything at all in my game that contradicts these purposes?

• If so, how can I change that?

• Repeat the above questions but for the aesthetics of the game.

93. The Nameless Quality §

• Does my design have a special feeling of life, or do parts of my design feel dead? What would make my design feel more alive?
• Refer to the list here. Which of these attributes does my design have?
• Could it have more of them, somehow?
• Where does my design feel like myself?
• Repeat the above questions but for the aesthetics of the game instead.

93.5 Presence §

• Supplements 62. Transparency especially in the context of VR / AR

• Is my player experiencing a sense of presence? Could it be stronger?

• What in my game is diminishing or breaking presence?

• What in my game is building or strengthening presence?

94. Atmosphere §

• Atmosphere is invisible and intangible. But somehow it envelops us, permeates us, and makes us part of the world.

• Without using words, how can I describe the atmosphere of my game?

• How can I use artistic content (both visual and audible) to deepen that atmosphere?

95. Spectation §

• Make the game spectator worthy

• Is my game interesting to watch? Why or why not?

• How can I make it more interesting to watch?

95.5. Cheatability §

• Can players cheat at my game? How?
• If players can cheat, will anyone notice?
• Do players trust my game?

96 Friendship §

• What kind of friendships are my players looking for?
• How do my players break the ice?
• Do my players have enough chance to talk to each other? Do they have enough to talk about?
• When is the moment they become friends?
• What tools do I give the players to maintain their friendships?

97. Expression §

• How am I letting players express themselves?

• What ways am I forgetting?

• Are players proud of their identity? Why or why not?

• Synergizes with 71. Beauty and 90. Status.

98. Community §

• What conflict is at the heart of my community?
• How does architecture shape my community?
• Does my game support three levels of experience?
• Are there community events?
• Why do players need each other?

99. Griefing §

• What systems in my game are easy to grief?
• How can I make my game boring to grief?
• Am I ignoring any loopholes?

100. Love §

• Do I love my project? If not, how can I change that?
• Does everyone on the team love the project? If not, how can that be changed?

101. The Team §

• Is this the right team for this project? Why?
• Is the team communicating objectively?
• Is the team communicating clearly?
• Is the team comfortable with each other?
• Is there an air of trust and respect among the team?
• Is the team ultimately able to unify around decisions?

102. Documentation §

• What do we need to remember while making this game?
• What needs to be communicated while making this game?

103. Playtesting §

• Why are we doing a playtest?
• Who should be there?
• When should we test?
• Where should we hold it?
• What will we look for?
• How will we get the information we need?

104. Technology §

• What technologies will help deliver the experience I want to create?
• Am I using these technologies in ways that are foundational or decorational?
• If I’m not using them foundationally, should I be using them at all?
• Is this technology as cool as I think it is?
• Is there a “disruptive technology” I should consider instead?

105. The Crystal Ball §

• If you would like to know the future of a particular game technology, ask yourself these questions, and make your answers as concrete as possible:

• What will ___ be like two years from now? Why?

• What will ___ be like four years from now? Why?

• What will ___ be like ten years from now? Why?

106. Utopia §

• Am I creating something that feels magical?
• Do people get excited just hearing about what I am making? Why or why not?
• Does my game advance the state of the art in a meaningful way?
• Does my game make the world a better place?

107. The Client §

• If you are making a game for someone else, you should know what they want

• What does the client say they want?

• What does the client think they want?

• What does the client really want, deep down in their heart?

108 . The Pitch §

• Why are you pitching this game to this client?
• What will you consider “a successful pitch”?
• What’s in it for the people you are pitching to?
• What do the people you are pitching to need to know about your game?

109. Profit §

• Where does the money go in my game’s business model? Why?
• How much will it cost to produce, market, distribute, and maintain this game? Why?
• How much money will this game make? Why do I think that?
• What are the barriers to entry in the market for this game?

110. Transformation §

• Games create experiences that can change people

• How can my game change players for the better?

• How can my game change players for the worse?

111. Responsibility §

• Does my game help people? How?

112. The Raven §

• To remember to only work on what is important, ask yourself: Is making this game worth my time?

. Your Secret Purpose §

• To make sure you are working toward your one true purpose, ask yourself the only question that matters: Why am I doing this?

Links §

• The Art of Game Design — A Book of Lenses by Schell