The document discusses game mechanics, focusing on core mechanics that define a game's essence through the primary action and purpose. It also covers flow state and how to design challenges that keep players engaged as their skills improve. Additionally, the document defines puzzles as goal-oriented problems with solutions rather than opponents, and provides examples of puzzle mechanics and structures.

1. Level 2
David Mullich
Game Design 1
The Los Angeles Film School

3. Game Mechanic
 Action: The thing players actually do in the
game
 Purpose: The reason why players are
doing it

4. The Core Mechanic
A core mechanic encapsulates what the spirit of
a game is really about at its heart.
Usually it is the action that the player uses most
frequently in the game and the foundation upon
which the other game elements are built.
If this basic action is hard to perform, unintuitive,
or just not enjoyable, the player might stop
playing the game altogether.

5. The Core Mechanic
Game Core Action Core Purpose
Chess Position pieces to capture opponent’s pieces
Candy Crush Match 3 pieces to destroy them
Tetris Rotate pieces to create lines
Super Smash Bros Attack to knock opponent back
Doom Run and shoot to kill enemies
World of Warcraft Kill to earn experience

6.  Write down an activity of any kind – related
to work, school, fun, chores, anything.
 Come up with a verb, based on this activity,
that you think would make a good basis for
a game.
 Identify:
 Core Action
 Core Purpose

7. Designer Perspective: Peter Molyneux
G4 Icons Episode #43: Peter Molyneux

9. Flow Description
Flow is the mental state in which a person
performing an activity is fully immersed in a
feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and
enjoyment in the process of the activity.
When players experience flow, time stops,
nothing else matters and when they finally come
out of it, they have no concept of how long they
have been playing.

10. Flow Elements
 A challenging activity that requires skill
 The merging of actions and awareness
 Concentration on the task at hand
 The paradox of control
 The loss of self consciousness
 The transformation of time
 Experience becomes and end in itself

11. Getting In The Flow
 Clear Goals
 Evergreen Mechanics
 Immediate Feedback
 Difficulty Increasing At Player’s Skill Level

12. Flow and Challenge
 Start off with a
challenge that is
acceptable for a new
comer who is
starting in the game.
 Over time, increase
the challenge as the
player’s skills
increase.

14. Puzzles
What are puzzles?
 A puzzle is fun.
 And it has the right answer.
Unlike a game, a puzzle’s goal is to find a
solution, not for one player to win.

15. Puzzle Solving Steps
1. Player understands goal clearly
2. Player discovers pieces to solve puzzle
3. Player makes association between pieces
and works out solution
4. Player implements solution and solves
puzzle

16. Puzzle Example

17. Maze
A puzzle in which the
player attempts to reach a
goal by finding the correct
path within a complex,
branching network of
paths.

18. Logic Puzzle
A puzzle that requires
rational logic to solve.
Players must be able to
hold the system in their
heads and think a few
steps ahead of the
situation.

19. Puzzle Mechanics
1. Item Use: Use key to open lock
2. Item Combination: Use rope on hook to
create grappling hook
3. Environmental Puzzle: Use level to open door
4. Navigation: Navigate maze to reach exit
5. Diversion: Divert guard to sneak past
6. Order of Operations: Push blocks to open
passageway

20. Puzzle Mechanics, continued
7. Conversation: Choose dialog to elicit
response
8. Timing: Click a hotspot within a short period
of time to overcome obstacle
9. Riddle: Answer to solve riddle
10. Implausible Item: Identify correct item to take
11. Real-World Research: Use knowledge to
answer question
12. Teamwork: Coordinate two or more
characters to overcome obstacle

21. Parallelism
Two or more unrelated
puzzles.
Players can solve the
other puzzles if:
 One puzzle is too
challenging and they
need a rest.
 They want some
novelty.

22. Pyramid Structure
A series of small
puzzles that each
give some kind of
clue to a larger
puzzle.

23. Another Definition of Puzzle Games
An entertaining
interactive experience
with goals but no
purposeful opponents.

24. Pretty Simple, Right?
The game mechanics in puzzle games seem
pretty simple, so designing puzzle games
must be easy!

25. Let’s Test That Assumption!
Remember that one of a game designer’s roles is Scientist!
While players just want the fun of playing a game, game
designers are focused on how the game works:
 How do you make it, and how to you break it?
 What are the different elements and how do they fit
together?
 What skill level does a player need to successfully play and
win?
 Does each player have an equal chance of winning and a
fair chance of experiencing all that the game has to offer?

26. Extra Credits: Puzzle Games
Note: We’re going to play Bejeweled 2 through the first 6 levels and write
down our score at the end of each level.

27. Pro Tips
 Have clear goals
 Give a sense of progress
 Give a sense of solvability
 Increase difficulty gradually to keep player in a
pleasurable state of flow
 Give multiple choices
 Give hints when player is having difficulty
 Design both good levels and good rules
(generally, rule design is the harder of the
two).

28. 1. Download GD1 2 Resources from the
LAFS GD1 website Session 2 page
2. Create a Pyramid of Puzzles game