Protospiel

A General Overview of the Game Design Process

This article is the third in a series of articles about designing and producing a game. The other three articles are:

Most books and articles I’ve read about game design focus on what to do once your game is nearly complete. I don’t think I’ve ever read much about how to actually develop a game. That’s probably because there is such variety in the skills of designers and the many types of games that they are creating. There’s just no way to give a few easy steps that will apply to everyone’s ideas. So, my goal in this article is simply to give some general guidelines and raise a few questions that I believe would have helped me greatly in my early days of game design. It will be your job to creatively take your game through the process from each point I leave off to the next step.

Before we begin, find a place to store all your ideas for this game you’re working on. Some prefer a document file on a computer and others choose a handwritten notebook. Either way, what matters is that you can add to this set of notes at any time when ideas may come and that you’ll be able to find any of these thoughts when needed. I’m going to list several questions below. Some are essential to the design process and some that are merely meant to get you thinking. Any answers to those questions, any ideas that might arise or any reflections on your game as it develops should end up in this file or notebook. Keep everything that you think of, even if you abandon it for a time.

Clarifying Your Goals

Most new designers are driven to develop a specific detail of their game. Maybe it’s a great layout for the board or a fascinating game mechanic they can’t wait to try. It’s usually the thing that drew them to their game idea in the first place. However, I encourage designers to set those thoughts aside for the time being and start with the big picture. Here are some key, fundamental questions that will guide you as you develop your game.

Why do I want to make this game?
Who will most likely be playing this game? In other words, define your target audience. Be specific! Your answers here will help you make decisions on almost all aspects of the game.
Why will those people play my game? Don’t think about why they might buy it. Consider why it will be pulled off the shelf to be played when so many other options (not to mention so many other forms of entertainment) are available?
As this game is developed, what are the key elements that must be present for me to be pleased with the final product?
How will I bring this game to the target audience? This last question relates to publishing and I will address that in the final article of this series. You may need to read that article to know your options and to fully answer this question. If you already have an idea of how you hope to bring your game to the masses, write it down. It will be sufficient to get started.

Fleshing Out the Initial Concept

The core ideas for games come from many places. Many designers get ideas while playing some other game. Often a game is born out of a clever rule, a tricky decision that might be posed to players, a fun activity witnessed at a party or an inspiring story. Regardless of where that initial spark comes from, it’s not long before ideas start to form about how the game is played, what’s needed to play it and how it will be won. Some aspiring designers, at this key moment between inspiration and a playable game, rush through. This results in more work and more wasted time in the end. Others linger too long here, dreaming of the great game that’s never played. I encourage designers to do neither extreme, but to take some time to plan before moving on to a prototype. Like a painter making a sketch before tackling a large painting, there are some concepts you need to work out before forging ahead. My guess is you’ve already seen this sketch in your mind. You just need to develop that vision a bit further.

Two Unavoidable Elements of Game Design
No matter where your idea came from or how far you’ve moved from that point, there are two elements that you’ll have to give much thought to. They are the theme and the mechanics of your game. The theme is the game’s subject matter or the story behind its action. The mechanics are the workings of the game that result from the game’s rules. Mechanics provide both challenges to the players and the means for the players to overcome those challenges during play. I’ll give plenty of examples below to clarify these concepts.

To compare this once again to another form of art, think of the lyrics and music of a song. Sometimes the music to a song comes first and lyrics are added. Sometimes it’s the other way around. Many songwriters can attest the two come along together and they’re often inseparable in the writing process. The same is true of themes and mechanics in the development of a game. Based on how you came up with your idea and how far along you are, though, I bet you’ve probably got a much better idea formed of one of these elements than the other. Ideas for games are like that. Some are closely tied to theme, others naturally give way to unique mechanics. As I elaborate on these two elements and address their inter-relations, think about how they relate to your game.

First, let’s think about theme. The theme of Clue is people solving a mystery. The theme of Monopoly is people selling and developing property. It’s very natural for games to develop from a theme. Just look at all those board and card games in the toy aisle based on the most recent movies. Also, just about any interest from cooking to your favorite holiday can provide a starting point for a new game.

If your game idea started this way, then it’s time to think about the mechanics. Start by considering which aspects of the theme you want to focus on and how closely your mechanics will simulate those actions. The more detail and accurate simulation that you include, the more rules you’ll require. For example, let’s imagine a simulation of a racing game. First, you might decide to focus only on the most exciting parts of racing—such things as speed, maneuvering around the track and collisions. A fairly accurate simulation of these things may allow players to set the speeds of their cars. This could determine how far a car token would move along spaces on the race track. Rules will have to be developed for changing lanes, turning through curves and passing cars. Damage from a crash might be determined by a dice roll and a chart which indicates several variables affected in the car’s performance. Those mechanics attempt to model the real-life actions of a race car in detailed, realistic ways.

On the other hand, you could take a very abstract approach to those same exciting elements to create a light card game. Perhaps on a player’s turn, he simply plays a card from his hand with actions on them like “Change Lanes” and “Pass”. No board is used and all action is imagined based on card play. If particular cards are played and there’s a crash, each player may have to discard a certain card to avoid wiping out. These rules are simpler, and most likely this approach will be less realistic representation of the theme.

So, in summary, if your theme is more clear in your mind than mechanics, start by asking yourself these questions:

Which aspects of the theme will be most appealing to your target audience? These are the ones you need model with your mechanics.
How realistically do you hope to model those aspects? Remember, in most cases more realism calls for more complex rules. Think of which end of this spectrum your target audience will prefer.
Will your players most appreciate familiar mechanics (for example, dice rolls and movement around board) or completely unique systems that model your theme?
What basic mechanics have you thought out so far? List any key rules you’ve imagined using in the game.

Now, if your game started with a fun activity, an interesting set of components or a business model, you’re coming from the other way around. You’ve probably got a picture in mind of the mechanics of the game. It’s time you consider possible themes for your game.

Of course, some designers will be quick to point out that many popular games have no theme at all. Look at checkers and Sorry!. Yes, it’s clear a game doesn’t need a theme to be a good game. In fact, for some target audiences theme may be a bad thing. Do you think Texas Hold ‘Em Poker would be as big right now if its theme required players to play the role of alien diplomats from across the galaxy? It’s a fact that some games probably do a lot better because they don’t have a theme.

As you try to decide if your game needs a theme, here are some things to think about:

A theme can be the game’s unspoken sales pitch. How many games have been sold over the years because of their theme alone?
A strong theme can help players remember rules or understand what they’re supposed to be doing while they play.
For your own sake, a theme can help you make decisions during development when it comes to rules and which direction to proceed when you’re stuck. This highlights that inseparable relationship of the theme and mechanics of most games.
A theme can breathe life into mechanics, since many people have more fun while imagining the action represented in the game.

To put it briefly, if you’ve got a core idea for a game, but haven’t decided on a theme yet, ask yourself these questions:

Will my game benefit from a theme? Some players will need the theme to enjoy the game. For others, a theme that requires a degree of pretending will be a turn off.
What are some possible themes that could apply to the mechanics I’ve chosen so far? Brainstorm any that might work.
Which themes might make this game appeal even more to the target audience?
How original does the theme need to be to satisfy potential players?
How strong does the theme need to be? In other words, does it merely support the mechanics or will many mechanics be introduced to model aspects of the theme?

I hope by presenting just two lists of questions I haven’t made this vital part of the design process seem too cut and dried. The theme and the core mechanics of your game will very likely be changed significantly as your game develops. New ideas will come along or maybe you’ll find out the target audience didn’t warm up to one or the other as you’d hoped. No theme or set of core mechanics is more important than the success of your game, so be flexible and expect change.

What Will We Need To Play?
So you’ve now considered your overall goals. You’ve also given some thought to the relationships between the mechanics and theme of your game. Now let’s add a little more detail to your sketch by answering some key questions applicable to games of any type.

Every game requires players to manage or manipulate resources. While most people imagine pawns, dice and game boards when they think of components, the resources of some games are not physical objects (consider a character’s inventory in a role playing game, for example). It’s important to identify the resources your game will require as, many times, these are the aspects that make your game very unique to potential players.

To further flesh out your idea, here are some questions you’ll want to answer.

What resources are gathered, created, controlled and exchanged in my game? List anything at a player’s disposal while he’s playing. This includes things that aren’t game components, but don’t confuse resources with skills. While it may ultimately be useful to identify some skills required, that’s not the focus at this time.
How will players acquire the resources they’ll use? Of course, not all resources are acquired. Some will probably be given out at the start and, in some cases, you’ll have to expect players will already have them. But for those resources that will be acquired during play, write down the rules and steps the players will use to get them.
What will players do with the resources? Note that the answer to this question will most likely include the victory conditions of your game. In other words, how do players use the resources of the game to win? You’ll see questions 2 and 3 are interrelated.
Based on the above answers, what physical components (boards, cards, pawns, etc.) will my game need? List everything in as much detail as you can at this point. Don’t worry about the materials they’ll be made from in their final form. Just think about them functionally.

If you just answered the questions above, you’ve got a general outline of how your game will be played. The more specific your answers are, the more complete the rules will be.

If you’re following along with your own game to this point—even if it’s still in a rough form—I imagine you’re excited, looking forward to what’s ahead. You’re on the edge of a dream that, when realized, may be enjoyed by many people. Let that excitement carry over to the following stage. See, so far you’ve only started the process of game design. The next step is where the work of game design really begins.

Playing the Game

As soon as that sketch you started is clear enough, it’s time to make a playable prototype. Don’t waste time on pretty graphics, nicely formatted rules or detailed background stories yet. Please don’t let it swirl around in dreamy forms of fun in your mind any longer than necessary. Bring the fantasy into reality and see if the thing works! Besides, what good is a game if it isn’t being played?

Your first prototype doesn’t have to look good. It only needs to be functional. If it contains those components you listed earlier, it’s sufficient. You may have to raid some games in your closet for pawns and dice. You can write up necessary cards with markers on blank index cards. The board might be just a few pages of paper taped together. Don’t take me wrong. There’s no value to being sloppy here. Laying out cards and boards on a computer might even be a great idea, but I don’t want to encourage needless attention to appearances. The key is to have something that’s useable and easy to change.

When you’ve got all the parts assembled, I wouldn’t suggest springing it on your game group just yet! Maybe you should just beg your spouse or kids to give it a try. If that’s not an option, you should run through a number of turns all by yourself. Whatever the case, don’t be surprised to find out by turn three there are several things you didn’t consider. That’s the value of initial testing! While some people can anticipate and work out many kinks in their design simply by pondering them, most new designers will benefit far more from seeing their game played out. Large changes may be necessary at this stage, but don’t be discouraged! This is why I suggest making a functional prototype as soon as possible. At least you haven’t wasted hours making fancy components that will now be unnecessary.

As you continue playing new versions of the game, keep notes and feel free to modify rules as necessary (even in mid-game) until you can get through several turns. This process of playing until problems surface, then coming up with creative fixes that fit the design goals of your game is where game design really happens. Your skill as a designer will be revealed as you come up with creative solutions to problems and, with your personal touch, you mold your initial concept into a playable game. You’ll find this is real work and only a select few will emerge from the process months and years later with something worthy of play.

Tips to Consider While Developing Your Game

What sort of things should you be focusing on in this cycle of play, tweak, play and tweak some more? Entire articles have been written on key aspects of the process such as noticing common design problems, balancing the game or trimming down unnecessary rules. It’s here that the variety of games and variety of goals make specific comments nearly impossible. So, rather than address the problems you’ll run into, I will list some tips below that I’ve found useful during playtest sessions. They will raise questions that, by your own answers, will guide you along.

Don’t fear or quickly reject feedback
This will be easier to do if you haven’t invested too much upfront. The way the players feel as they play and after the game are vital to its success. Encourage honest, objective comments from everyone who plays. Of course, in any playtest group you’ll get people who want to turn your game into their game, or at least the type of game they like. When this happens, just keep your target audience in mind. For your purposes, a “good game” will be defined by your own goals as the designer and by what your target audience is looking for. Comments that speak to these aspects should be valued above all else. Of course, remember to express those goals to your playtesters ahead of time. It makes a difference!

Watch for problems on many levels
First of all, the basic system of the game has to work. For example, if the players are always running out of money, there needs to be some adjustments to the rules. However, there are other things going on as well. Are the players enjoying the game or feeling frustrated? Is there something a player can do that always leads him to victory? Is the thing just too darn long? In other words, just because players can progress turn by turn from start to finish, it doesn’t mean you’re almost done.

Also, be aware of the learning process the players are going through as you teach them the game. The way you present it can make or break the testing session. And if players have questions about rules, write them down. Those may be the points you’ll have to work on the most when you write final copy of the rules for your game. They’ll certainly be things you can keep in mind to better explain the game in the future.

Keep it simple
If there’s one trend in new games today, it’s toward simplicity of rules. As you work on your game, every new rule you tack on is one more thing your prospective players will have to remember when they play. Think of every one of these extra rules cutting down the size of the audience that your game will appeal to.

New designers often fix every problem they encounter by making a new rule. While it’s tempting to do, rules concocted merely to fix problems are like an unsightly mess of duct tape, wood and wires rigged up to install some new appliance in your basement. It gets the job done, but it’s not the sort of thing you want to show off when you entertain guests.

Using tons of extra rules is the easy way to fix problems, but not many people like to play those clunky games with exceptions and fixes tacked onto each core concept. James Ernest is a successful game designer. Before adding a new rule to a game, he asks himself, is this rule going to carry its weight by offering strategic depth? A rule is carrying its own weight when it enhances gameplay by offering meaningful options to players.

After you work on a game for awhile, you’ll find the real trick is finding ways to remove as many rules as possible so the fun can come through. If you’re stuck with a tricky problem, search for a simple solution. Go back to your theme and design goals for inspiration and focus. Consider how similar problems are dealt with or avoided in games you already know. Sometimes you’ll be able to find simple solutions that fix a couple problems at once. Just be sure not to rush this process. It’s an art and it takes time to do it right. Your creativity in this department will give your game a character all its own.

Consider why players will keep playing
This is another very important point that entails far more than I could address in this article. Unconsciously your players will know the answers to the following questions. By consciously searching out these answers, you’ll be much more likely to create a game that will be played for years to come.

First off, what pulls a player through your game from turn to turn? The best games have compelling goals, innate to the game itself, that draw players along through each stage of play. They want to keep playing! In the most general sense, we stick with a game to figure out what will happen. So what are people looking forward to finding out during your game? What cards will I get this time? Will my strategy pay off? Will I be able to beat this guy? How is the unfolding story going to conclude? Think about the similar questions your players are asking while they play your game.

Secondly, what pulls a player along from game to game? Gamers call this replayability. What makes players want to play your game again when they’re done? How quickly do they want to play it again? The feelings the players experience after playing the game offers volumes of insight as to how successful it might be.

Of course, don’t just speculate about these questions. Ask the players about these things after their first time through your game. Depending on how your game is being tested and by whom, you might even use a questionnaire that allows players to address these issues anonymously and honestly.

Be aware of similarities to other games
As you make changes, some fixes may make your game start to look very much like some other game. Sometimes you may even consider a fix because of what you’ve seen in another game. When do similarities become a point of concern? That’s going to be up to you as the designer! Many designers don’t mind using the boards, cards or dice that look similar to the games that inspired them. Others want creations so unique that players have to learn a whole new way of thinking just to play.

If you have a strong, original core aspect of your game, you’ll find similarities to other games and even out-right borrowing is quite acceptable in the industry. As a general rule, if you’re afraid you’re taking too much from another game, you probably are. I suggest you head in another direction with the design or (if possible) ask the designer of the game that’s influencing you if it’s ok to continue in your current direction.

Also along these lines, it’s important to have someone playtest your game during development who is familiar with many games. Such a person may know right away if your new idea to handle combat, for example, is just like another game that already exists.

Change one thing at a time
At first you may actually have to ignore this advice, since many games start out quite rough. When you know the game’s getting close to being finished, though, try not to change many things at once. Otherwise you may introduce other problems and not know for sure which “fix” is responsible for it!

Stay focused on the project at hand
Your ability to stay focused will indicate whether you’re a dreamer or a designer. On one hand, some designers will become frustrated and lose patience with the process. As long as you still believe in that original idea, keep working on it—even if you’re on the tenth complete overhaul!

Also, some will lose focus because of distractions. As you continue this hard work of creating fun, you’ll probably be overwhelmed with the many other ideas that come along. If you stop mid-way through a game project to start working on another “great idea” you may never finish a game. Keep a document on your computer or a notebook where you write down all new game ideas. They’ll be there when it’s time to use them. Also, keep all your old versions of your rules for the current game. Knowing that they’re recorded somewhere will help you finish the game you’re working on. To illustrate, Reiner Knizia, the master game designer, stated once that he has five drawers where he keeps his five current projects. There are many other drawers full of undeveloped ideas, but he won’t go to those projects until one of the current five are either published or formally abandoned. That’s one way to do it. Just be sure to find your own way to see your project through until it’s the best it can be.

Keep going back to those initial goals you wrote down
If I haven’t mentioned this enough already, I want to make it very clear. The target audience and the ideas that came along with the initial concept for the game should guide you through each revision.

And here’s a thought that will seem contradictory at first. It was you who wrote those goals. Don’t be afraid to change them if you need to! Don’t do this thoughtlessly, but it’s entirely possible you’ll gain much insight as you progress and you’ll find some goals were misguided or unrealistic. Never let a good idea go by the wayside because you’re too hooked on a less important goal.

Form a regular playtest group
Nothing will move your designs ahead faster than this. Even two or three other people who will meet with you on a regular basis for the purpose of testing games will help you greatly. Preferably, these will be people who have experience with games aimed at the same target audience as yours. Even better, find some other game designers and help each other out.

Later stages of playtesting

After you’ve got a game that plays well from beginning to end, you should polish up that prototype. It should be appealing to the target audience. And while you’re at it, you might want to make more than one copy.

Also, write down the rules to the game in a clear, concise format. Writing rules is an art in itself and it will take you a very long time to write the rules to your first game. Many decent games have failed to reach a large audience due to poorly written rules. I suggest you read a number of well-written rulebooklets from other games. You’ll see there is a fairly standard flow to written rules that you should follow. If you’ve kept a file on your computer as I suggested, most of your work will be re-wording those notes, organizing the flow and adding examples. Be clear and remember that most people who learn your game will know nothing about it when they start reading your rules. If you try to think like they will think you’ll be more likely to notice ambiguities in your rules or you’ll be aware of the things you’ve left out.

So, armed with a better prototype and written rules, it’s now time to take the game beyond your circle of friends. Try to get it into the hands of people you don’t know. Most likely friends from a gaming group can help you with this. (If you’re not involved in a game group, this is a good reason to seek one out!) The point is you still need to get all the input you can. If you find out more people are playing your game, but some aren’t enjoying it, find out why. If they do want to play again, let them. Give them copies so they can pass it on to their friends.

In case it’s not obvious, these people should be learning the game strictly from your written rules. Your game has to deliver completely on its own, so make sure groups can play it from start to finish with no direct input from you. When groups playtest a game like this without the designer being there, it’s called blind playtesting. It’s an incredibly important part of the design process that is often overlooked by over-anxious designers.

Remember that people who you don’t know well will be more likely to play your game in ways you didn’t expect. They’ll likely encounter problems you never found before. Their feedback will be more objective than what you’ve received from friends in face-to-face test sessions.. Their comments may be painfully honest. Just use any negative comments you receive to improve the game and take the positive comments as encouragement to continue through the work ahead.

Finishing Up

All this testing and modification will raise some other questions you may never have dreamed of. Will the game ever be done? If so, how will I know when it is? Well, like almost everything ever created, it’s not really a matter of being done, but simply a matter of when you’ll stop working on it. That point where you stop developing the game and move toward publication will depend on how well the game works. And yes, once again, that will depend on those initial goals you outlined back at the start of the process.

In the end, only you as a designer can decide when it’s time to stop developing your game. Here are some guidelines, though, that I received from successful designers.

Tom Jolly said he knows he’s done with a game when he tests it and immediately wants to play it again.
Frank Branham said he knew one of his games was done only after every new idea he had to improve it actually made it worse.
James Ernest, who churns out about a dozen games a week (give or take a few), told me he stops working on a game when he feels it’s worth the price he plans to sell it for. In James’ case, this meant the price he’d expect to receive from a publisher and the price he’d expect a consumer to pay.

Well, if you have worked through all the challenges of creating a game and you have determined it’s time to stop developing it, congratulations! You are a game designer. You’ve experienced the hard work involved, but you also know the joy of seeing people play and have fun with your game. Of course, you probably didn’t embark on this journey to stop here! Almost every designer wants his game to reach beyond his friends and his playtest groups. And that brings us to the final part of this series of articles: Paths to Publishing.

For further information

Board Game Designers Forum
Many published and aspiring game designers discuss the craft at this site. You'll find loads of useful information on design, publishing and related topics at this site.

Game Designers Discussion Group on Yahoo! Groups
If you've got a question about making a game, chances are someone has asked it on this discussion list. Many successful designers have chimed in with practical answers. Membership on Yahoo! Groups is required to participate in discussion, but you can start here.

Designer interviews at Fair Play
From 2002 to 2004 I interviewed many successful game designers for the Fair Play Games website. You can find a list of all the interviews on this page.

Tom Vassel’s articles: Advice for Game Designers
Tom interviewed several game designers and industry leaders over the period of a couple years. In each interview he would ask what advice the person had for aspiring designers. He compiled those answers into two excellent articles:

The Protospiel Dream Panel
At the end of 2005 several Protospiel attendees compiled a list of questions we'd like to present to successful game designers ranging in style from Reiner Knizia to James Ernest. The result is a very interesting and informative read which you can find at our articles page.

this page last updated 4 Sept 2006