A Handy Toolbox for the Modern Game Designer. We'll talk about hacks, practices, approaches and ideas that help come up with design ideas and test their validity, based on the experience of working as an indie developer up to running large teams engaged in creative designs.

1. THE CRAFT OF GAME DESIGN JULY 2022

2. I'M HENRIQUE
HI THERE!

3. Bedroom coder MUD creator Multiplayer designer

4. Co-Founder & CEO Chairman Maker

5. Co-Founder & CEO Chairman Maker

7. BOSSA
AWARDS
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO
Our track record
From our very first game getting
a BAFTA nod to accumulating
European awards over our major
titles, the team has a sturdy track
record when it comes to awards
ceremonies.
BAFTA win, Online Game
BAFTA nomination, Debut Game
Develop nominated, Use of Online
Develop nominated, Technical Innovation
Develop nominated, New IP
BAFTA nomination, Online Game
TIGA win, Best Education Game
Serious Play win, Gold Winner
GLS win, Second Place
Pocket Gamer nomination, Most Innovative Game
Pocket Gamer nomination, Best Adventure/RPG
BAFTA nomination, Strategy and Simulation
ME nominated, Original Game
Develop win, New Studio
ME win, Best Studio
Europas win, Hottest Game Studio
Develop nominated, Independent Studio
ME nominated, Best Publisher
Develop nomination, Best New Game IP
UKIE nomination, Best of Show

8. PLAY GAMES
WHY DO WE

9. SENET
3100 BC
Playing games is an old habit of
ours. How old? Hard to say!
Games History

10. NOT JUST
HUMANS
Games and simulation is present
throughout the animal kingdom,
particularly amongst mammals.
Simulations teach us how to deal
with real situations.
And winning feels good…
Natural Games

11. IT'S ABOUT
ENERGY
While animals learn through play
(humans included), there's a
secondary effect: energy
optimisation.
Hardwired
A
B

12. TOOLS
ONTO THE

13. STRUCTURE
GAME DESIGN:

14. OLD MAN'S
ADVICE:
KEEP IT
SIMPLE!
Structure
02
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT
ONE SYSTEM AT A TIME
01
BEWARE OF THE SUNKEN
COST FALLACY
03 DON'T DESIGN A SYSTEM
TO FIX ANOTHER
04 GREATER FOOL: IT'S
GOING TO GET GOOD
WHEN…

15. GREAT
CONTROL
Fun with control
FEELING LIKE IT SHOULD
A character that does what you
want you to do, and reward the
player with every step. That's the
secret of Room of Doom's appeal.
PARAMETERS GALORE
From 'coyote time' to
'bounciness', the team tweaked
dozens of parameters that were
then networked for perfect online
gameplay.
PLAYER FEEDBACK
Endless rounds of feedback with
huge amounts of parameters
permutation yielded the perfect
formula for great control.

17. PILLARS
GAME DESIGN:

18. STICK TO
YOUR GUNS
Pillars
02
THERE'S NOTHING MORE
IMPORTANT THAN PILLARS
01
MECHANICS WITH
MULTIPLE USES ARE GREAT
03
THE ENDLESS POWER OF
EXPONENTIAL MECHANIC

20. BALANCE
GAME DESIGN:

21. SIMPLE,
POWERFUL
TIPS
Balance
02
MAKE IT HARD, NOT EASY
01
DOUBLE IT OR CUT IT IN
HALF
03 TIME AS THE BALANCE
PIVOT
04 SPREADSHEET IS YOUR
FRIEND

22. Total Combat Time (s) Player Health Player Armour Enemy Speed Hits / combat Enemy Dmg
30 100 10 3 10.0 20.0

23. DATA & TESTING
GAME DESIGN:

24. KNOWLEDGE
IS POWER
Data &
Testing
02
PAPER TESTING /
SPREADSHEET TESTING
01
FRESH PLAYERS
CONSTANT INTAKE
03 HEATMAPS AND EVENT
TRIGGERS

26. THE PPP TOOL
GAME DESIGN:

27. A SWISS
KNIFE FOR
DESIGNERS
PPP
MAP AND EVALUATE THE
VALUE OF EVERY SINGLE
FEATURE ON YOUR DESIGN
01

30. THANK YOU!
THAT'S ALL FOLKS

31. KEY CONTACTS
Got Questions?
HENRIQUE
OLIFIERS
Founder, CEO
olifiers@bossastudios.com
@Olifiers

32. BOSSASTUDIOS.COM