Principles of Game Design

Graded Course Project Game Information

Congratulations, you’re a game designer! Here is your first work assignment from an actual game publisher who is interested in publishing and marketing your product.

Victory Point Games is a small, desktop publishing outfit specializing in working with new game designers who have created quality game prototypes that have ‘sales potential’ when published and marketed. Specifically, they’re looking for fun games that appeal to either a wide general market or hit a niche market hard. Games that are tried-and-true with a new twist, games that are radically innovative and novel, games with a great story or graphics, brilliant ‘abstract’ or ‘crossover’ games – any game with a great Hook for selling it and player-appeal for enjoyment – they’re are all welcome.

Your final course project will be examined and graded by the developers at Victory Point Games and considered for a real life, honest-to-goodness publishing contract. (I kid you not.) You Course Project Game must fit in the following publishing format:

1) For this class, it must be an original (i.e., not a game based on an already existing idea, license, or franchise) analog (i.e., board, card, or paper) game. (In Advanced Game Prototyping, you will be asked to make an original digital game.)

2) The game board, if it has one, should fit on either one or two 8.5” x 11” sheets or a single 11” x 17” size sheet of paper. It can use a grid (e.g., hex or square) or be divided into areas, or whatever you want.

3) The game pieces can include 1 sheet of counters OR up to 3 sheets of cards; alternately, you can use ½ sheet of the smaller counters (1/2” or 5/8”) and up to 3 sheets of cards. Card and counter templates are available here.

          Class Support Material: Assorted blank grid sheets, cards, and counters

This free download is a .zip file with square- and hex-grid paper, blank card templates, and blank counter sheets. Each is presented in MSWord .doc files and is presented in various sizes in an 8.5" x 11" format. You can easily manipulate every file.

4) The game rules should be on the lower-complexity end and fit on either a single (two-sided) 8/5” x 11” sheet or a single (two-sided) 11” x 17” sheet (folded in half vertically to create a 4-page booklet). Typically, game rules have 2- or 3-columns of text on each page, a body font size of 10pt with slightly larger headers, and include color illustrated examples of game components and tricky rules.

5) You may also add one 8.5” x 11” full color cardstock insert (which can be cut down to two 8.5” x 5.5” half-page inserts).

6) You are responsible for creating a full, working game prototype, including solid, separated (i.e., ‘cut apart’) pieces featuring any necessary artwork (‘placeholder’ art is fine). Superior prototype components and artwork are highly recommended (and will be graded), but are not necessary (the rules, playability, and fun are the most important categories being considered).

7) Your game may ask players to provide their own common gaming items that are not included with it (e.g., dice, coins, pencils, etc.). It is not a problem to ask players to provide these common items.

8) Because of these physical limitations, your game should be on the lower end of the complexity scale (not much more complicated than Monopoly, if that can be worked into your design) and generally easy-to-learn.

9) Your game can be suitable for any number of players (even solitaire-play only).

10) A good playing time / game length would be between 15 minutes and 1 hour.

If you want to ‘bounce your idea’ off me to see if it would be worthy of your time to make for a grade, contact me by email this week at alanemrich@sbcglobal.net.

Project Production Schedule

It might help you to visualize what you need to accomplish, and by when, in order to successfully complete your Graded Course Project. Allow me to present this as a project schedule, similar to what you will be learning a great deal about in my Senior Project Planning class. Where you see a gray box, the listed item is taking place at that time. Where you see a star («), something is due for a grade.

Do Some Research! Start Here:

“The best way to learn games is to play games. The best way to make games is to work.” – Alan Emrich

Article: Design Considerations by Greg Aleknevicus

For some very useful help in avoiding the pitfalls of making an analog game, you must read this article. It will save you a lot of grief.

Article: What Makes a Good Game? by Wolfgang Kramer

This reinforces the list of "do" and "don't" elements for designing superior gameplay features. It's short and hits the nails right on the head.

Article: Andrew Looney's 11 Principles of Game Design by Andrew Looney

Independent board game designer and publisher Andrew Looney presents some very hard-learned and heart-felt lessons about what you'll be going through while making your Graded Course Project for this class. The best part is that he's an entertaining (as well as informative) read. We played his Fluxx game in class.

Article: Recurring Themes by Anthony Simons

If your stuck for an idea for a good game, this article may help you. The author looks at some of the most common themes in board gaming and discusses each.

Web Site: Cheapass Games

If you want some samples of what might make a good Graded Course Project Analog Game, go to the website for Cheapass Games; just about anything in their inventory would serve as a good example, but if you want a game that is well worth keeping, try Kill Dr. Lucky or Give Me the Brain.

Complete Game Example: The Pool by James V. West

The Pool is an amazingly brief set of rules to a role-playing system geared toward player / Game Master narrative collaboration (thus exploiting The Human Element in Game Design). It is so versatile that you can use it for any setting you like. You'll be fascinated about how quickly and simply you can create a role-playing game adventure with The Pool.

Web Site: The Forge: Articles

This is a fascinating site about role-playing games (of the 'classic' analog nature, but the lessons here may be broadly applied). The link to this sections features essays and thoughts by Forge members to help you design or publish your own indie role-playing game.

There are Three Project Milestones

þ Concept Document [up to 4 points]: Due at the beginning of class during Week 4, this written document is the culmination of your conceptualization work during Weeks 1 and 2.
 

þ Initial Draft of the Rules [up to 4 points]: Due at the beginning of class during Week 6, this written document should be a complete first draft of your game's rules (not an outline). It should be organized and structured using the Case System learned in class during Week 5.

þ Turn in Completed Game [up to 42 points]: Due at the beginning of class during Week 11, this is the Gamma version of your project game. A team of crack playtesters will be evaluating it, by category (see below), to determine your project's grade.

What You’re Expected to Hand In

þ A cover sheet with your name, phone number, and email address is the first thing you’ll need. Be sure to include the Project (Game) Title prominently on the cover sheet.
 

þ A Complete Analog Game: this includes a prototype (that can be crude, but the better quality it is the better it will be judged), with rules and other supporting materials. If any materials cannot be supplied with the prototype (i.e., you can’t access any special dice, pawns, etc. that you might envision the game requiring), then these must be described in some detail in an Appendix at the end of the rules.

Grading Criteria

Each game will be evaluated in six categories. The maximum number of points earned for each category are listed after that category's title. The maximum possible points for your Graded Course Project is 52 points.

• Concept [up to 4 points]: Is this a clever idea for a game? Will it appeal to a viable market? While it's okay for a game to be serious or silly, is it too serious or silly? It is offensive (that's bad)?
   

• Ergonomics [up to 4 points]: Does this game accommodate lazy players? Do players have to reach too far? Do they have to constantly fiddle with the pieces or are they easily and smoothly manipulated? Do they have to keep looking up information in the rules (that should have been provided on Play Aid sheets)? Has the designer avoided "player discomfort and irritation" factors such as these during play?
   

• Ease of Setup, Ease of Play, and Clarity of Victory Conditions [up to 6 points]: Does the game set up quickly and easily? Is the game's Sequence of Play clearly explained and easy to follow? Do the rules clearly explain how to win?
   

• Physical Quality [up to 8 points]: How do the components look and feel? Is the game physically attractive or repulsive? Is it sturdy? Are the components neat and legible or sloppy and hard to read? Has color and art been used properly and efficiently to improve the game's utility and better "tell its story?"
   

• Rules [up to 10 points]: The rules are the heart of the game. Do they follow the Case System for organization and structure [Week 5]? Specifically, do they:

  • Start with a description of what the game is about

  • Then introduce the various game components to the player (using illustrations and brief descriptions)

  • Then (because this is a simple game) give the game's Setup and Victory Conditions

  • Then outline the game's Sequence of Play

  • Then present the rules in Sequence of Play order

  • And finally included any additional information (such as the game's credits) at the end

  If the rules are long, do they include a Table of Contents at the beginning? Are necessary illustrations and examples of play included? What is the weight of the rules? How clear are they? [And, optionally, for added value, do the rules include any Designer's Notes, Optional Rules, Variants, and / or Additional Scenarios or Levels?]
   

• Fun Factor and Replayability [up to 20 points]: The fun factor is the personality of the game. The proof is in the playing and our crack team of game playtesters will break out your game prototype and try to play it from scratch, relying only on your rules and components to steer us. This is a subjective team evaluation based upon how much fun we had with the game and our overall estimation of how successfully it achieved the design goals that we perceived for it. Did it follow the principles of game design from all the lessons? Did the designer effectively communicate the game to us? Did it follow the first and second rules of game design? Were the game's engines, systems, and models thought through and playtested thoroughly? Does the game feel well developed and polished or like it still needs a lot of work?

Tools of the Trade

If you've got some money to invest in your game-making ventures and want to create game prototypes beyond the tight constraints of this graded course project, then here are some references that you might want to check out:

The Game Inventor's Handbook
by Steve Peek

This book is loaded with folksy wisdom from someone I pounded the hobby streets with since the 1970s. Steve Peek has a way of expressing ideas on subjects such as inventing board games, selling them to a publisher, the joys and perils of self-publishing, what board game marketing is like, how to get your game some additional exposure, the board game markets, plus additional information that will help you navigate through the minefield that is analog game publishing.

In addition to having this book as a resource for the Survey of the Game Industry section on the analog game business, much of the wisdom herein will help you with your graded course project in Game Design as well.

Web Site: Board Game Design . com

Need dice, cards, timers, blank boards, boxes, tokens, pawns, poker chips, etc.? Need information, inspiration, or a publisher for your Graded Course Project when it's done? Be sure to check out the links on this page for game pieces, fun stuff, and specials.

Web Site: Groovy Prototypes by Frank Branham

Ten great suggestions, including links to places where you can find some wild component parts for your game prototype, from a guy who has been there.

Web Site: ProtoParts

Blank-faced dice, game boxes, mounted game boards, wooden cubes, blank card sheets (poker-size, perforated) ,and 60-second sand timers are all available for sale individually at reasonable prices.

Web Site: Litko Aerosystems

The absolute coolest parts if your game is about conflict.

Web Site: The PiecePack

Flexible. Portable. Affordable. Public domain. The piecepack is a set of board game parts that can be used to design and play a wide variety of games. Anyone may design and publish a piecepack rule set. Any manufacturer or individual may produce piecepacks. Maybe these generic pieces are right for you and your game design?

Web Site: Arts & Crafts: Making Your Own Game Counters

The most daunting task in creating your Desktop Published (DTP) game is going to be the creation of the counters [i.e., its "units" or "game pieces"]. It's not simply a matter of glue and cut, even when all you have is the sheet of counter graphics and a cardboard backing to attach it to. It's amazing how hard the process can become if you get picky about the appearance and quality.

Web Site: Blank Cards

A frequent question I'm asked is where to get blank cards and/or be able to print your own professional quality cards. This link provides an excellent answer.

Web Site: Dundjinni

Dundjinni is a full-featured fantasy map creation program that allows users to create walls and floors, place objects, insert text, and more. It includes many different objects and textures (over 190 images) and there is a free demo available. This product will help you to print out compelling, playable game boards.

Web Sites: Board Game Supplies, The Game Store.Com, The Gamer's Guild

Pawns, tokens, dice, sand timers, play money, chips, and other accessories are sold through these links. Following them might show you to all kinds of inspirational goodies that can stimulate your game design creativity.

Web Site: Wargame Maps & Symbols

This site provides, for free, the official British Army approved military map marking symbol fonts. There are lots of cool downloads if you're making a military-type game.

Be Glad I Don't ask You to Do This

Web Site: Department of War Studies: Conflict Simulation

In September 2003 at King's College (London), Professor Philip Sabin began teaching a radical new course on Conflict Simulation where students attend classes on topics including understanding historical campaigns, modeling conflict, command dynamics, and writing simulation rules.

Each student must complete an individual project (analogous to a course dissertation) by designing their own complete mini-simulation of a historical battle or campaign of their choice. This involves researching the history, geography and orders of battle in the engagement concerned, studying existing simulations of the same or related engagements, and choosing simulation mechanisms which come together to create a realistic but playable representation of the actual events.