The document discusses the Hero's Journey and Player's Journey frameworks and how they relate to storytelling and game structure. It provides an overview of the stages in the Hero's Journey (call to adventure, initiation, ordeal, return, etc.) and how it has been applied to stories like Star Wars. It then introduces the concept of a Player's Journey that focuses on the player's experience through a game's tutorial, levels/challenges, and final boss. The document argues game structure should align with both the Hero's Journey of the character and the Player's Journey to fully engage the player.
Armatage is a four player table top game based around the far future. This is an early version of the game so I'm looking for Beta testers and can't wait for feed back!
By getting involved, you will be added to our credits list!
Armatage is a four player table top game based around the far future. This is an early version of the game so I'm looking for Beta testers and can't wait for feed back!
By getting involved, you will be added to our credits list!
We think in stories. Narratives are tools we use to make sense of the world, both in life and in games. Seeing how all stories work in a similiar way, and how all gameplay loops share their structure with stories, we will explore the similarities and look for tools that will help us design better games. This talk, inspired by John Yorke's book "Into the Woods. How stories work and why we tell them", and based on over ten years of experience in the industry, aims to present a consistent narrative-driven approach to game design.
A talk from Digital Dragons 2018
Western Fantasy MMORPG,2.5D Graphic
Eight featured systems,Camps, Dual Talent Branches, Charge Skills, QTE Skills, Supreme Talisman, Adventure Instance, All Server Communication, Perfect Interaction
Grand Background Story,Complex and Fast-changing Force Relations
Tiger Style, the indie studio behind this year's Waking Mars and the 2009 IGF Best Mobile Game, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, is committed to creating innovative gameplay and meaningful artistic content with every project. Despite a strong background in design savvy titles such as Thief, Deus Ex, and Splinter Cell, the team learned that innovation is never easy or predictable. Numerous prototypes, several major revisions, and a series of crucial revelations were survived before the concepts "action gardening" and "ecosystem gameplay" evolved from catch phrases into new interactive experiences the team was proud of. Join creative director Randy Smith through a tour of their well-documented experiments, mistakes, theories, and victories to get a glimpse into what this award-winning studio has learned about the problem of inventing new gameplay.
Sarah Romoslawski and Marina Kobayashi presented this talk at the 1st Game Design Conference in San Francisco on September 17th, 2012. The talk defines Games User Research (GUR), and includes two perspectives on practicing GUR at different companies, using GUR with different platforms, genres, and with different target audiences.
In the previous chapter, we showed how a game’s internal economy is one important aspect of its mechanics. We used diagrams to visualize economic structures
and their effects. In this chapter, we introduce the Machinations framework, or
visual language, to formalize this perspective on game mechanics. Machinations
was devised by Joris Dormans to help designers and students of game design create,
document, simulate, and test the internal economy of a game. At the core of this
framework are Machinations diagrams, a way of representing the internal economy
of a game visually. The advantage of Machinations diagrams is that they have a
clearly defined syntax. This lets you use Machinations diagrams to record and communicate designs in a clear and consistent way.
Based on book Game Mechanics - Advanced Game Design - E. Adams and J. Dormans. All credited to them
This is a look at the lessons we have learned going from a layoff at Zynga to starting a new game studio. It covers everything from the first 6 months of our journey and it has a few cute sloths added on top.
We think in stories. Narratives are tools we use to make sense of the world, both in life and in games. Seeing how all stories work in a similiar way, and how all gameplay loops share their structure with stories, we will explore the similarities and look for tools that will help us design better games. This talk, inspired by John Yorke's book "Into the Woods. How stories work and why we tell them", and based on over ten years of experience in the industry, aims to present a consistent narrative-driven approach to game design.
A talk from Digital Dragons 2018
Western Fantasy MMORPG,2.5D Graphic
Eight featured systems,Camps, Dual Talent Branches, Charge Skills, QTE Skills, Supreme Talisman, Adventure Instance, All Server Communication, Perfect Interaction
Grand Background Story,Complex and Fast-changing Force Relations
Tiger Style, the indie studio behind this year's Waking Mars and the 2009 IGF Best Mobile Game, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, is committed to creating innovative gameplay and meaningful artistic content with every project. Despite a strong background in design savvy titles such as Thief, Deus Ex, and Splinter Cell, the team learned that innovation is never easy or predictable. Numerous prototypes, several major revisions, and a series of crucial revelations were survived before the concepts "action gardening" and "ecosystem gameplay" evolved from catch phrases into new interactive experiences the team was proud of. Join creative director Randy Smith through a tour of their well-documented experiments, mistakes, theories, and victories to get a glimpse into what this award-winning studio has learned about the problem of inventing new gameplay.
Sarah Romoslawski and Marina Kobayashi presented this talk at the 1st Game Design Conference in San Francisco on September 17th, 2012. The talk defines Games User Research (GUR), and includes two perspectives on practicing GUR at different companies, using GUR with different platforms, genres, and with different target audiences.
In the previous chapter, we showed how a game’s internal economy is one important aspect of its mechanics. We used diagrams to visualize economic structures
and their effects. In this chapter, we introduce the Machinations framework, or
visual language, to formalize this perspective on game mechanics. Machinations
was devised by Joris Dormans to help designers and students of game design create,
document, simulate, and test the internal economy of a game. At the core of this
framework are Machinations diagrams, a way of representing the internal economy
of a game visually. The advantage of Machinations diagrams is that they have a
clearly defined syntax. This lets you use Machinations diagrams to record and communicate designs in a clear and consistent way.
Based on book Game Mechanics - Advanced Game Design - E. Adams and J. Dormans. All credited to them
This is a look at the lessons we have learned going from a layoff at Zynga to starting a new game studio. It covers everything from the first 6 months of our journey and it has a few cute sloths added on top.
2. Summary
• Hero’s Journey
• What is the Hero’s Journey?
• How does the Hero’s Journey work?
• How is the Hero’s Journey used?
• How does the Hero’s Journey apply to game stories?
• Player’s Journey
• What is the Player’s Journey?
• How does the Player’s Journey apply to game structure?
• How can we use the Player’s Journey?
8. Hero’s Journey (Abridged)
The Call to Adventure
The Road of Trials
The Vision Quest
The Meeting with the Goddess
The Boon
The Magic Flight
The Return Threshold
The Master of Two Worlds
9. Three Act Structure Action Hero’s Journey
Setup Departure
Before the Action
(Inciting Incident) (Threshold)
Confrontation Initiation
During the Action
(Midpoint) (Ordeal)
Resolution Return
After the Action
(Climax) (Resurrection)
11. Act 2b Ordeal Act 2a
Overcome the Ordeal, Survive in
get the Reward the Wilderness
Crossing
Road Back
the Threshold
Return Home Escape the
to Safety Ordinary World
Act 3 Act 1
12. Four-ish Act
Action Hero’s Journey
Structure
Explaining the
Setup Departure
Action
Preparing for the
Confrontation Initiation
Action
Climax During the Action Ordeal
Resolution After the Action Return
14. Summary
• Hero’s Journey
• What is the Hero’s Journey?
• How does the Hero’s Journey work?
• How is the Hero’s Journey used?
• How does the Hero’s Journey apply to game stories?
• Player’s Journey
• What is the Player’s Journey?
• How does the Player’s Journey apply to game structure?
• How can we use the Player’s Journey?
16. Ocarina of Time
• Ordinary World
• Call to Adventure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbupiD5axgw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWilA49PwaI
• Refusal of the Call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge8zd1ZR-hc
• Meeting with the Mentor
• Crossing the Threshold
• Test, Allies, Enemies
• The Ordeal
• The Reward
• The Road Back/The Return
17. Super Mario Bros.
• One day, the kingdom of the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom people was invaded by
the Koopa, a tribe of turtles famous for their black magic. The quiet, peace-loving
Mushroom People were turned into mere stones, bricks, and even field horsehair
plants, and the Mushroom Kingdom fell into ruin.
• The only one who can undo the magic spell on the Mushroom People and return
them to their normal selves is the Princess Toadstool, the daughter of the Mushroom
King. Unfortunately, she is presently in the hands of the great Koopa turtle king.
• Mario, the hero of the story (maybe) hears about the Mushroom People's plight and
sets out on a quest to free the Mushroom Princess from the evil Koopa and restore
the fallen kingdom of the Mushroom People.
• You are Mario! It's up to you to save the Mushroom People from the black magic of
the Koopa!
YOU!
18. Summary
• Hero’s Journey
• What is the Hero’s Journey?
• How does the Hero’s Journey work?
• How is the Hero’s Journey used?
• How does the Hero’s Journey apply to game stories?
• Player’s Journey
• What is the Player’s Journey?
• How does the Player’s Journey apply to game structure?
• How can we use the Player’s Journey?
19. The Player’s Journey
Not about who the player is in the story
Not about what role the character has in the story
The player’s role in the game
22. Playing Tetris
Turn on your Gameboy
Enter a world with new rules and rewards
Challenge yourself and learn something new
You reach glorious victory or bitter defeat
Turn off you Gameboy
25. Four-ish Act
GAMES! Hero’s Journey
Structure
Setup Intro/Tutorial Departure
Confrontation Levels/Challenges Initiation
Climax Final Boss Ordeal
Resolution Ending Return
26. Ending Tutorial
Final Levels +
Battle Challenges
27. Games Player’s Journey Hero’s Journey
Tutorial Become the Player Departure
Levels / Challenges Master the Player Initiation
Final Boss Test the Player Ordeal
Ending Leave the Player Return
28. The Mechanic Cycle
Explain the Mechanic
Teach the Mechanic (practice make perfect)
Test the Mechanic
Reward
29. Games Player’s Journey Hero’s Journey
Tutorial Become the Player Departure
Levels / Challenges Master the Player Initiation
Final Boss Test the Player Ordeal
Ending Leave the Player Return
30. Become the Player
• Does the player have a mentor/help?
• Does the player understand their role/motivation?
• Does the player understand the gameplay?
• Does the player understand their goals?
• Is this fun?
31. Master the Player
• Is the player learning new skills/strategies?
• Is the player acquiring new items/tools/abilities?
• Does the player believe in the goals?
• Is the player ready for the Ordeal?
• Is this fun?
32. Test the Player
• Is the Player challenged with all they know and have
acquired?
• Are the stakes high enough?
• Has the player surpassed the mentor?
33. Leaving the Player
• Was the Player satisfied?
• Was it worth it?
• Will the Player remember it?
35. Send the Player on a Journey
Explain the rules and goals
Bring the player to a new place
Train them to survive in this world
Give them a chance to reach their goal
Send them back with a reward
36. Link the Hero and the
Player
Finds ways for them to share phases in the journey
Map the Player’s emotions to the Hero
Make the Hero as vulnerable as the Player
Allow the Hero to grow stronger with the Player
38. Fulfill the Player’s Needs
Explain the rules and goals (boundaries, structure)
Bring the player to a new place (the spice of life)
Train them to survive in this world (learn something)
Give them a chance to reach their goal (judgement)
Send them back with a reward (reward)
39. Voyage of the Hero
Miraculous conception and birth
Initiation of the hero-child
Withdrawal from family or community for meditation and
preparation
Trial and Quest
Death
Descent into the underworld
Resurrection and rebirth
Ascension, apotheosis, and atonement