Gameplay Concept Tool Quest for a pratical game design framework Slide from the talk at Internet Festival 2016

2. GameplayConceptTool
Quest for a pratical game design framework
@vincenzosan@kopph3r
Vincenzo SantaluciaFrancesco Lanzo

3. Howthiscomeinourmind?
● We’re game studies enthusiast
● We cope with many game
concept
● Perhaps we’re fussy guys

4. TheQuest
We look for
1. A game design tool for brainstorming phase
2. Focus on tight game design
3. A tool we actually like to use
We don’t try to build
1. A full, detailed formalism to design or describe any game
2. A rigid mathematical recipe to create game experiences

5. Theprimarytool
● We design games with words
● We tell our games with words
● A word processor is our main design tool

6. Doesitwork?
It is never possible to completely predict the
experience of a game. [...] These questions can
never be answered by writing a design document
or crafting a set of game rules and materials.
They can only be answered by way of play.
(Salen and Zimmerman 2003).

7. Prototype:yes,but
● Take time and cost resources
● Not always under designers’ direct control
● Great for testing, wasteful for supposing

8. Beforeprototyping...
Define a game concept:
1. Goal
2. Conflict
3. Mechanics

9. Output
● In this game you core mechanic in order to goal
● Conflict is the problem you want to solve
● To master the game you have to be good at skill involved

10. Whatmakesagame
Agency: choices that matter
It requires
● Feedback
● Uncertainty
● Emergence

11. Complexsystems
● Emergence arises out of complexity
● It appears as unplanned patterns
● It leads the player to plan tactics and
strategies
Without complexity, the space of
possibility of a game is not large enough to
support meaningful play.
Salen-Zimmerman

12. Crossingcomplexitybarrier
In general, a game starts to exhibits emergent behavior when
somewhere between two and four feedback loops operate in
the game's internal economy
(Dormans, 2009).

13. Conceptpotentiality
Will my gameplay provide...
● Variety of challenges ?
● Space for tactics and strategies?
● Skills to be learnt?
How do I know?

14. Weneedaformalabstracttool
“god damn do design documents suck as a means of
communicating game design”
Ralph Koster - (Sheffield, 2007).
key game industry figures and game studies researchers
have sporadically but consistently identified this as a
problem.
They have argued that formal, abstract tools for
designing gameplay (...) must be developed if the craft of
video game design is to attain desired levels of
sophistication and creative expression.
Katharine Neil - Game design tools: Time to evaluate

15. MDA
Mechanics: describes the particular
components of the game
Dynamics: describes the run-time behavior
of the mechanics
Aesthetics: describes the desirable
emotional responses
Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek - (2004)

16. ConceptcreationwithMDA
PRO
● General and versatile
● Helps to define the game aesthetic
unambiguously
● Stresses the role of dynamics for aesthetic
activation
CONS
● Doesn’t provide a design method
● Doesn’t provide design tools

17. LAYERS
http://urustar.net/layers-game-design-tool/
Paolo Tajè, Federico Fasce - (2004)

18. ConceptcreationwithLAYERS
PRO
● Deck of cards is a great tool for
brainstorming
● Starts from MDA, goes a little deeper
CONS
● Doesn’t provide a design method

19. SkillAtoms
● Player: is driven to learn new skills high in
perceived value.
● Skill: is a behavior that the player uses to
manipulate the world.
● Perceived Value: Humans are not creatures of
pure logic
● Fun: “Aha!” moment
D. Cook - (2007)
“To accurately describe games, we need a
working psychological model of the player”

21. ConceptcreationwithSkillAtoms
PRO
● Is a tool for wireframing the player
experience
● Easy to write and to read
● Can describe the whole game
● Coder friendly
CONS
● Too advanced for the very initial phase of
design
● Doesn’t show the game as a system and the
connections between game elements

22. Machinations
● Games are state machines
● Designer builds the system
● Every game has an internal economy
● Dynamics emerge from the flow of game
resources
● Skills are resources
Joris Dormans - (2009)

24. ConceptcreationwithMachinations
PRO
● Focus on game as a system
● Shows a game economy in a very deep
detail
● Provide a powerful online tool
CONS
● High entry skill; requires study to be used.
● Difficult to apply with real time games
● Not very versatile

25. GAMEPLAY
CONCEPT
TOOL

26. GameDesignJumpStart
● A design tool really providing a method
● Focused on game concept
● No strict formalism (flexible)
● Very easy to use

27. Projectrequirements
1. A formal method for designing a gameplay concept
a. symbol language based
b. Focused on core elements and connections between them
c. Oriented on designing emergence through feedback loops
2. A formal method for communicating that design
a. Bounding the whole gameplay concept
b. Showing relations between things that make a game

28. VisualDictionary

29. OSMOS
http://www.osmos-game.com/

30. THREES
http://asherv.com/threes/

31. Readingthescheme1
1. What’s core mechanic?
2. What’s the conflict?
3. Why better player = better
outcome?

32. Readingthescheme2
1. What’s core mechanic?
2. What’s the conflict?
3. Why better player = better outcome?
4. Is the system complex?

33. Workingwiththescheme
1. Need more feedback loops?
2. Need more connections?
3. Can I cut something?

34. Nextstep
Filling the canvas
1. Recap the core elements
2. Resume main dynamics
3. Focus on the theme and the core aesthetic
4. Check the consistency overall

36. Whyusingacanvas?
1. It shows relationships between elements
2. Is a complete scheme
3. It forces you to be concise
4. All information within reach

37. Whatweobtained
1. A tool for designing game concept
a. Simple and easy to remember
b. Not very strict but quite agile
c. Not very detailed but good for defining main features
2. A easy and quick way to describe the designed gameplay

38. Startfromscratchexample
● Snowbattle - FPS Capture the flag for PC
● Fill it! - Casual puzzle game mobile

39. SnowBattle

48. SnowBattle-FeedbackLoops
+ Roll = + Ball Size
- Ball Mobility
+ Freeze = - Health
(other team)
+ Health = + Teammates
+ Move
+ Teammates = + Ball mobility
+ Freeze
+ Move
+ Roll
+ Freeze
= + Covering
+ Covering = - Freeze
(other team)
Memo: Skills generally optimize the outcome of
mechanics so the related f-loops are more
favorable for the player
+Agility = Move+

49. Fillit!

53. Fillit-FeedbackLoops
+ Place Shape = + Score
- Space
+ Scale Shape = + Score
₋ Space
+ Score = + Space (change
level)
Memo: In this game Risk/Reward dynamic is enhanced by rules

55. fine
@vincenzosan
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1524/the_chemistry_of_game_design.php
http://www.theoryoffun.com/grammar/gdc2005.htm
http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/atof/grammarofgameplay.pdf
http://www.raphkoster.com/games/presentations/teaching-to-fish/
http://www.raphkoster.com/tag/game-grammar/
http://www.raphkoster.com/games/presentations/
http://www.jorisdormans.nl/article.php?ref=machinations
http://fixnum.org/wim/Game%20Mechanics%20-%20Advanced%20Game%20Design%20-
%20E.%20Adams,%20J.%20Dormans%20(New%20Riders,%202012)%20BBS.pdf
http://www.jorisdormans.nl/article.php?ref=machinations
http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/12168.46494.pdf
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/187777/game_design_tools_for_collaboration.ph
p
http://tinygdtool.urustar.net/images/tinygdtool.pdf
http://www.jorisdormans.nl/machinations/
@kopph3r