A Game Begins: Research and Design Lesson

Why do people make a game? Some might create a game just because they have a vision for a fun experience, with no plans for it other than their own enjoyment to develop their game. It could be they want to make a living developing a game others want, so they aren't necessarily creating their dream game, but a game they feel has the characteristics that people would enjoy. It could also be a request from another organization, like the classification of educational or serious games, with a fairly prescribed purpose.

Age of Game Players Image

Under 18 years: 27%
18-35 years: 29%
36-49 years: 18%
50+ years: 26% It's interesting to see who gamers are, and what kinds of games they like to play. Would you be surprised that only 27% of game players are under 18 years of age, which means 73% of game players are over 18? What about people over 50 years old are 26% of gamers? Also, women gamers who are 18 or older are almost double the gamers who are males 18 and under? Reports like the one from the Entertainment Software Association can reveal some interesting facts, text annotation indicator so you know your target audience's preferences about genres, platforms, and more, so you can make a game they would enjoy. Your audience is your intended game player, and there are clear statistics about what your audience prefers, so know that as your first step in design.

An additional characteristic that games may or may not have is a narrative, or story, that drives the game. These can also be referred to as narrative-driven or story-driven games. A narrative can be applied to any genre, any platform, where you are part of an evolving story that has to reach some type of conclusion involving characters, locations and relationships. Many games have characters and locations, but most do not have the relationships or story behind the main character. One of the more popular games that is narrative-driven is the Assassin's Creed series from the company Ubisoft, but there are so many more. A narrative is not necessary, but can be attractive to many players.

Once you decide if it's narrative-driven or not, game design and the "concept" begins. To be clear, game design does not really refer to something artistic, but the general ways that the game will be played, won, lost, rules, interactions, etc. There is no programming or other development other than an outline of characters, locations, transitions, and other decisions on the flow of the game for the player. This discussion will create the basis for the game, the plan for building it, and should also conclude with some sketches for concept art for all of the team to reference. Concept art is not the final art, but images that convey the general look of the game, characters and items, and can be a reference for final art in the game, advertising and other motivation.

You also need to decide how to make it fun to play, rewarding, intriguing, and integrate that with your game design. There is psychology behind a good game, factors that create what is called "cognitive flow", when it's clear when a player loves your game and can't stop playing it! Have you ever played a game that you liked, and then been completely surprised by the time that had passed? If so, you have experienced "cognitive flow".

Game Design is never really complete, but enough to begin development of art, programming and more, based on good research for what your audience will enjoy in the choice of genre, platform and other factors.

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS