Games GDD

Controller - Pixabay

For this weeks readings I researched an article on Design Considerations by Greg Aleknevicus. I found the article really informative and I think that there are many things I can take away from the article that will help me as I develop my game. I have only chosen to mention the things that apply to my stealth game!

Components: 

The design of components is something that can make a game even more special. A good game doesn't require good components but they won't have any negative effects in the final outcome. Some examples of important components to consider are Rules, Goals and Conflict. These are all components that I will use in my game. Something I took from this part of the article is to avoid clutter. I don't want to end up trying to over-achieve and then ending up with one big clutter of a map that makes no sense, so I definitely found the advice of avoiding clutter very helpful!

The Box: 

Although this doesn't apply to my game for now, it may apply in the future. I definitely found this really intriguing as now that I think more about it, the box of the game you develop is so important. Your game could be amazing but if you have a terrible, boring design why would anyone even consider picking it up. It's really important to give a good first impression to the audience and potential buyers of your game.

Themes:

Have the theme work with the rules rather than against them. The way the item is themed reinforces the rules associated with it. Proper matching of a theme to the rules makes the game easier to understand. This is essential for every game and is something that I will make sure to keep in mind as I develop games in the future.

Rules:

The very first thing that is essential with rules when designing a game is to blind test them. Blind-testing is when a game is sent to a group who are forced to learn how to play by reading the rules alone. This is really important as it shows what the potential audiences might think of the game and how different they might perceive things that you initially thought were good ideas.

Never leave vague rules, this causes confusion and is just lazy from a developer. Every player knows that they can change the rules if they really want to. Always add examples of rules in your game and make sure they are fully accurate.

Summary: 

There are many other ideas and tricks involved in publishing a game, but this article is a start. Support your game online, Make replacement parts available and Include extra components as replacements.

Overall I found this article very helpful and I believe that there was a lot of information that could help any new game designer and can correct us all on early on mistakes that we all make. There are many design considerations to remember as I create a game and I look forward to adding them all as I go on!