Game Design Foundations
Authors: Pedersen R.E.
 Published year: 2003
 Pages: 25-29/179
Buy this book on amazon.com >>

Lesson Six

In the late 1990s Southpeak Entertainment showed me a licensed game design involving the cartoon The Jetsons .

The Jetsons game was a standard space racing game using the characters as drivers. My response was “What a waste of a great license and a real disappointment for Jetsons’ fans.”

I suggested a Jetsons space road rally game where each player as either George Jetson, his wife Jane, his daughter Judy, his son Elroy, the dog Astro, or Rosie the robot housekeeper would navigate their space car throughout the Jetsons’ world, looking for clues leading to various objects to collect.

Licenses attract an audience who know the property, its characters, venues , storylines, and interactions. Licenses are valuable assets that need to be exploited as an advantage in your game.

Lesson: Use to your advantage your license and its fans.

Chapter 4: Game Concepts

Games Are NOT Linear

Books and movies are linear forms of storytelling. They have a straight path from the beginning to the end.

There have been numerous attempts in both mediums to allow the reader or viewer to select the next path leading to one of several endings, but I would say these attempts are trying to be more “gamelike” (nonlinear).

Games Have a Goal

The goal in chess is for one player to force a winning situation by “checkmate” or having the opponent resign (quit).

The goal in many sports games is to outscore the opponent.

The goal in Othello is to occupy the most spaces on the board.

The goal in a game where you oversee a city or a planet may be to restore balance to a chaotic environment.

Other noteworthy goals for future games might be based on “losing for a greater good.” Like in the film Brewster’s Millions , Richard Pryor must become penniless to inherit the family fortune . Each turn the player receives a set amount of money to invest unwisely, and after a set number of turns, the player must be broke.

Other altruistic goals could be the game’s goal, like “self sacrifice,” “helping the less fortunate,” or “giving up all worldly possessions for a cause.”

Games Must Be Winnable

Only a fool would agree to play the “Heads I win, tails you lose” game.

Almost as bad would be a game where you need to roll dice three times and get a twelve (two sixes) each time to win. Winnable? Yes. Worth playing this game? No (winning odds are 1 in 46,656).

Design the game to be winnable or winnable through multiple paths (easy to hard).

In a multiplayer game, give each player equal strengths and weaknesses at the start. A good game lets each player have an equal chance and ability to win. You should spend time and pay attention to designing balance in your game.

Let random events and the player’s decisions and actions determine the new game situation (player’s current position).

Start of the Game

All games have the players in some initial position or setup. In chess, it’s the opening position of the 16 white and 16 black pieces. In a world domination or strategy game, it’s each player’s currently occupied terrain. In a role-playing game (RPG), it’s the adventuring party consisting of various races, skills (magic, fighting, learned skills like locksmithing), and occupations (soldier, priest, blacksmith) preparing to start a quest.

In a sports game, it’s the team’s or player’s starting formation or position. In an adventure game, it might be a puzzle to solve or deciding which direction to initially explore. In a puzzle game, it’s the initial setup of the puzzle’s challenge.

Perhaps the game could be designed to have a random start position. Some games can be unbalanced, allowing the more skillful player to have a handicap in the initial position.

Game Design Foundations
Authors: Pedersen R.E.
 Published year: 2003
 Pages: 25-29/179
Buy this book on amazon.com >>

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