The document discusses the key elements of game design: core mechanics, secondary mechanics, progression elements, and narrative. It defines core mechanics as the fundamental interaction that drives the game, such as running/jumping in platformers or shooting in FPS games. Secondary mechanics add variety to the core mechanic, while progression elements like levels and power-ups encourage continued play. Finally, narrative provides the context for why the player progresses through the game. The document stresses that the most effective games have these elements working together in a complementary way.

1. Elements of Play
How to make Game System

3. What makes a game good?

4. The Core Diagram

5. Core Mechanic

6. “The core mechanic in a game will
usually be the purposeful
interaction that occurs the most
frequently…. Another way to
determine the core mechanic is, if
without it, you wouldn’t be able to
play the game at all.”

7. “A core mechanic is the most basic
element of a game; it is the heart
of the system.”

8. What is the core mechanic for a:
●Platformer?
oRunning / jumping
●FPS?
oShooting
●Racing game?
oDriving

9. Why is the core mechanic so
important?
●“The best games usually have a very strong core
mechanic that is easy to grasp but provides room
to expand upon.”
●“If this action is boring or unfulfilling, it doesn’t
matter how many twists or extra features you add
to the game. They can’t save your game design.”

10. Important things to consider
●“The core game mechanic must be intuitive and
relatively easy to learn, because learning a
mechanic is never as interesting as utilizing it as a
means to completing your goal. In other words,
learning time should be minimized.”
●“Truly fresh experiences often result from
innovations at the core of the game.”

11. Secondary Mechanics

12. Secondary mechanics “provide
twists to the core gameplay
mechanic, forcing the player to use
it in a slightly different and more
challenging way.”

13. What are the secondary mechanics
for:
●Mario?
oUppercut
oStomp
oDash
oDash jump
oCrouch
oCrouch slide
oMushrooms
oEnemies
●Halo?
oDifferent weapons
oVehicles
oChallenges (stealth
missions vs. run and
gun missions)
oEnemies

14. Important things to consider
●Vary the secondary mechanics, but try to have
each one relate back to the core mechanic
●“Don’t spam your game with huge amounts of
[secondary] mechanics.”
●“The fewer game elements you have, the more
important each one becomes.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlBR1z-ue-I

15. Progression Elements

16. “Progression systems form the
mechanical envelope to the the
game, being the source of change
within the game.”

17. Progression helps players keep
playing
●Mario
oLevels
oLives
oPowerups
oKilling
enemies
●Halo
oLevels
oHealth
oSheilds
oKilling enemies
oCheckpoints

18. Important things to consider
●Know the difference between intrinsic progression
and extrinsic progression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h86g-XgUCA8

19. Narrative

20. “The Narrative is the outer most
layer that puts all the inner layers
within it into context.”

21. Narrative tells us why the player
should progress.
It brings together all the mechanics
and progression elements
●Mario
oSave the princess
●Halo
oSave the world
●Portal
oEscape death

22. Final thoughts
●“The most effective games are ones where each
layer compliments the other.”
●“Sometimes innovation comes from having an
unusual combination of layers.”
●“By crafting a smart set of a few core mechanics
that can be mixed and matched together and
allowing features and [secondary] mechanics to
support them rather than take the spotlight, you
have saved so much time developing your game.”

23. Credit
●http://www.funstormgames.com/blog/2012/06/des
igning-around-a-core-mechanic/
●http://gamasutra.com/blogs/ElendilCanete/201302
13/186529/CAKE_Core_analysis_knowledge_and_e
xecution.php
●http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/CharmieKim/201
20612/172238/
●http://www.redkeybluekey.com/2011/08/principle
s-of-good-game-design-part-8.html
●http://gamedesigntools.blogspot.com/2012/04/core
-progressive-game-mechanics.html

24. Additional Reading/Viewing
●Extra Credits: Differences in Scale vs Differences
in Kindhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlBR1z-
ue-I
●Extra Credits: Intrinsic vs.
Extrinsichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h86g-
XgUCA8
●Extra Credits: Narrative
Mechanicshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQJ
A5YjvHDU