Presentation for Open Party Chengdu

1. Making A Game
by Matrix Bai

2. What is Game?
● The GAME is a interactive model with
competition mechanism.
○ Model
○ Interactive
○ Competition

3. What is Game?
● Model
○ Reflection of reality
○ Simplified reality

4. What is Game?
● Interactivity
○ Accept input and response to it
○ Human vs Human and Human vs AI

5. What is Game?
● Competition
○ Beating opponent
○ Beating rules
○ Beating yourself

6. Why making a game?
There are many
good reasons :
Study...
1.Teach us...
2.We can get...
3.etc...

7. Why making a game?
Or...Just have fun.

8. Our Goal in This PPT
● Making a game
○ About personal knowledge management
○ It's a board game (Pros & Cons).
○ It's a multiplayer game.

9. How to Make a Game?
● The genius way
1. Sitting there
2. Do nothing except thinking
3. Ta-da!
● The sad fact
○ Most of us are NOT genius
○ Or not game making genius

10. How to Make a Game?
● The mortal way
○ Break down problem
○ Research
○ Build a model
○ Test the model
○ Modify model
○ Repeat above steps several times
○ Maybe Ta-da!
● Some mature(?) method
○ MDA
○ Token
○ Machinations
○ etc...

11. Analyse the Problem
● Who play the game?
○ Is it an important question?
● High concept
○ Knowledge is good. (Of course)
○ Time is limited :-(
○ Players can help each other
○ Or hurt each other
○ etc...

12. Research
● Knowledge Management
○ Process
○ Methods
○ Tools
○ Input and output
○ etc...
● Human
○ Relationship
○ Human nature
○ etc...

13. Research : Board Game Utilities
● Token
○ Resource
○ Character
● Dice
○ Randomness
● Card
○ Resource
○ Event
● Map
○ Geographic information

14. An option : Narrative
● Every good game has a good story.
● Writing is relative cheap (?).
● Story help us design the game.
● Our story : A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away......

15. Main Elements : Time
● Attributes
○ Resource
○ Limited
○ Lose it if don't use it
○ Tradable
● In game
○ Player get same amount of time each turn
○ Exchange time for knowledge
○ Time is trading between players
○ All unused time lost at the end of each turn

16. Main Elements : Knowledge
● Attributes
○ Resource
○ Fragmented vs. Systematic
○ Tree structure
○ Tradable
○ Invest time to get knowledge at some odds
○ Pursuing process may across several turns
● In game
○ Winning resource
○ Start resource
○ Different types and layers
○ Trading between players

17. Main Elements : Player
● Attributes
○ Too many...
● In game
○ Trading time
○ Trading knowledge copy
○ Steal knowledge
○ Steal time
○ Sabotage long time knowledge pursuing
○ Send gift
○ etc.

18. Building Prototype
● The trick is following the verb.
● Key elements
○ Knowledge : Get, Copy, Lose
○ Time : Consume, Respawn
○ Player : Communicate, good and bad actions
● Events deck
○ Additional verb
○ Randomness
○ Narrative
○ Fun

19. The Prototype
Interact Get or Lose
Copy
Consume

20. How to Make It More Funny?
● The learners' path
Human like study new things and MASTER
it.
● Meaningful decision
○ Player always has choices
○ Each choice lead to different result
● Randomness
○ Avoid predictable future
○ Surprise the player
● Information asymmetries
○ Guessing is funny
● Involved human being

21. We Made a Game?
● Just first step, more work ahead.
○ Playtest - Feedback - Modify
○ Debug
○ Decorative
○ Long way to go...

22. Game Over