Principles of Game Design

Week 8: Character, Story, and Plot in Game Design; Cutting for Focus

In this lesson you'll learn about character, story, and plot in game designs to add verisimilitude [and if you don't know that word, look it up], player immersion, and tell the story that the game designer is trying to tell. You'll learn about the degrees of character, story, and plot used in games and the story elements that comprise good writing. Finally, you'll learn that less is more - that cutting, squeezing, and trimming are vital for keeping a game design in focus and how to achieve that.

This week also features the second exam. It is worth 30 points and focuses primarily on the material from weeks 4, 5, 6, and 7 (including the required reading sections for those weeks on this web site) along with some review questions from previous lessons.

The link below is the homework assignment due at the beginning of the next class session.

Required Reading:

These links feature the supplemental material that you are responsible for knowing before the final exam (that takes place at the beginning of Week 11). Be sure to click on every link in this section!

Article: Keeping it Simple by James Ernest

The designer of Kill Dr. Lucky takes a look and the thought process used in cutting game rules.

Article: Improving Player Choices by Tracy Fullerton, Christopher Swain, and Steven Hoffman

This is an excerpt from their fine book, Game Design Workshop. In particular, read the section on Player Rewards and Punishments, but the whole chapter is very good.

Optional Reading:

These supplemental link are worth investigating for more information on the subject. Adding evocative character, story, and plot to games is a highly prized design achievement worthy of your time to study further.

Industry Resource: IGDA Casual Games SIG

Lots of stuff to help you as you foray into the world of the casual gamer and the mass market they've created (that, in turn, has created the job awaiting you at the end of school). In particular, read the 2006 Casual Games White Paper to really discover what it's all about.

Article: Designing for the Market by Chris Bateman & Richard Boom

Defining the mass-market and the criteria for successful game design is the subject of this very thoughtful piece which forms Chapter 2 of their book 21st Century Game Design.

Article: Expectations, Values, and Groups by Russell Madden

This paper examines the nature and development of expectancy-value theories. The first section, which is historical in nature, has considerable application to understanding game player psychology and motivation.

Article: Mind of the Player: The Motivations for Video Game Use by Ethan Levy

Statistical data is analyzed and your own game design theories can be developed based on this data.

Article: The Importance of Risk in Basic Game Design by James A. Portnow

In this design article, Portnow looks at the fascinating concept of risk in video games, "one of the key factors in what makes a game too tedious to play or too easy to endure," from Ultima to Silent Hill.

Article: Rethinking Carrots: A New Method for Measuring What Players Find Most Rewarding and Motivating About Your Game by Dr. Scott Rigby and Dr. Richard Ryan

Why are we motivated to play games? Dr. Scott Rigby and Dr. Richard Ryan from think tank Immersyve deconstruct the 'carrot on stick' approach to game motivation, analyzing the basic psychological needs that games can satisfy. This is a bit 'heady' and academic, but well worth reading.

Article: Balancing Games with Positive Feedback by Ernest Adams

Positive feedback plays an important role in game design, although you don't hear many designers talking about it. It can gravely harm a game if improperly implemented, but it also has significant benefits. It's an element of game design that every designer needs to understand and learn to use.

Lab Game Examined This Week:

This is the game that we played and analyzed in class this week. If you want more information about it, see the links below:

KILL DOCTOR LUCKY (Director's Cut) is a pre-murder mystery game. Unlike Clue where one must solve the murder, in Kill Dr. Lucky everyone is trying to commit it! This game has been reprinted time and again and serves as a good example of a Graded Course Project game.

CITADELS from Fantasy Flight Games presents another case study in the ways that special powers that can liven up a game. The twist here is that you aren't assigned a special power and are then stuck with it for the rest of the game. Instead, you choose one each turn and can even build some!

Where can you get these games?