1. Game Polish
Making games with feeling

2. What is game polish?

3. Game Polish
●It turns out that no one has a definition of
the word
●It’s a vague term that is used to describe
any improvement made to the experience
of the game
●“Any effect that enhances the impression
of the game.”

4. Example
●Geometry Wars - Is this a polished game?
Why?

5. What makes a game great?
●It’s all about feeling
●Watch a few minutes
of this video and see if
you can identify what
makes Geometry
Wars feel great

6. What makes Geometry Wars
feel great?
● Music
● Particle Effects
● Neon Glow
● Big Explosions
● Controls
● Pace
● Level
transitions

7. Game Feel
Game feel is “the tactile, kinesthetic sense of
manipulating a virtual object. It’s the
sensation of control in a game.”

8. Game Feel
●It turns out that game feel is pretty intuitive
- we know what feels good and what
doesn’t feel good

9. Example: Mario 64

10. Mario 64 Felt Great
●Controls were superb
o why?
●Fun just to move
around and explore
o why?

11. Improving a Game with Feeling

12. Important Notes
●Game Feel does not change the
core mechanic or gameplay - it only
enhances it
●You can go overboard with too much
feeling

13. How to Add Feeling
●Music
●Aesthetics
●Words
●Controls
●Transitions / animations
●Context
●Polish

14. Adding Feeling with Music

15. Adding Feeling Through
Aesthetics

16. Adding Feeling by Words

17. Adding Feeling Through
Controls
●“Control, intent, and instructions flow into
the game as quickly as [you] can think.”
●“Feedback returns just as quickly, letting
[you] fine-tune [your] instructions.”

18. Adding Feeling Through Context
●The setting of your game plays a huge role
on the feeling of your game
●What you control also plays a role in
feeling:
o Controls are the same for a race car
and a running person, but each has a
different feel

19. Credit
●http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/13
0734/game_feel_the_secret_ingredient.ph
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