Ebook The art of game design Part 1

The Art of Game Design


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The Art of Game Design
A Book of Lenses

Jesse Schell
Carnegie Mellon University

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON
NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO

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08 09 10 11 12

5 4 3 2 1


For Nyra
who always listens


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Lenses ...................................................................................................................... xvii
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................ xxi
Hello......................................................................................................................................... xxiii

1

In the Beginning, There Is the
Designer................................................................................... 1
Magic Words ............................................................................................................................... 1
What Skills Does a Game Designer Need? ....................................................................... 2
The Most Important Skill ........................................................................................................ 4
The Five Kinds of Listening .................................................................................................... 5
The Secret of the Gifted .......................................................................................................... 6

2

The Designer Creates an Experience.......... 9
The Game Is Not the Experience .......................................................................................10
Is This Unique to Games? .....................................................................................................11
Three Practical Approaches to Chasing Rainbows .....................................................12
Introspection: Powers, Perils, and Practice .....................................................................14
Dissect Your Feelings .............................................................................................................17
Defeating Heisenberg ...........................................................................................................18
Essential Experience ..............................................................................................................20
All That’s Real Is What You Feel ...........................................................................................21

3

The Experience Rises Out of a
Game .......................................................................................23
A Rant About Definitions .....................................................................................................24
So, What Is a Game? ................................................................................................................26

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Short History of Software Engineering .......................................................................81
Risk Assessment and Prototyping.....................................................................................83
Eight Tips for Productive Prototyping .............................................................................86
Closing the Loop .....................................................................................................................91
How Much is Enough?...........................................................................................................94

8

The Game is Made for a Player ...................97
Einstein’s Violin.........................................................................................................................98
Project Yourself ........................................................................................................................99
Demographics..........................................................................................................................99
The Medium is the Misogynist? ...................................................................................... 102
Psychographics ..................................................................................................................... 108

9

The Experience is in the Player’s
Mind ..................................................................................... 113
Modeling ................................................................................................................................. 115
Focus......................................................................................................................................... 118
Empathy .................................................................................................................................. 123
Imagination ............................................................................................................................ 124
Motivation .............................................................................................................................. 126
Judgment................................................................................................................................ 127

10 Some Elements are Game
Mechanics....................................................................... 129
Mechanic 1: Space ............................................................................................................... 130
Mechanic 2: Objects, Attributes, and States ................................................................ 136
Mechanic 3: Actions ............................................................................................................ 140
Mechanic 4: Rules ................................................................................................................. 144
Mechanic 5: Skill ................................................................................................................... 150
Mechanic 6: Chance ............................................................................................................ 153

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

11

Game Mechanics Must be in
Balance ..............................................................................171
The Twelve Most Common Types of Game Balance ................................................ 172
Game Balancing Methodologies .................................................................................... 201
Balancing Game Economies ............................................................................................ 203
Dynamic Game Balancing ................................................................................................ 205
The Big Picture ...................................................................................................................... 205

12 Game Mechanics Support Puzzles .........207
The Puzzle of Puzzles .......................................................................................................... 208
Aren’t Puzzles Dead?........................................................................................................... 209
Good Puzzles ......................................................................................................................... 211
A Final Piece ........................................................................................................................... 219

13 Players Play Games Through an
Interface ............................................................................ 221
Breaking it Down ................................................................................................................. 223
The Loop of Interaction ..................................................................................................... 228
Channels of Information.................................................................................................... 234
Other Interface Tips............................................................................................................. 240

14 Experiences Can be Judged by
Their Interest Curves ........................................... 245
My First Lens .......................................................................................................................... 246
Interest Curves ...................................................................................................................... 247
Patterns Inside Patterns ..................................................................................................... 250
What Comprises Interest? ................................................................................................. 253
Interest Factor Examples ................................................................................................... 258
Putting It All Together ........................................................................................................ 259

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

15 One Kind of Experience Is the Story ... 261
Story/Game Duality............................................................................................................. 262
The Myth of Passive Entertainment .............................................................................. 263
The Dream .............................................................................................................................. 264
The Reality .............................................................................................................................. 264
The Problems ......................................................................................................................... 266
The Dream Reborn .............................................................................................................. 270
Story Tips for Game Designers ........................................................................................ 270

16 Story and Game Structures can
be Artfully Merged with Indirect
Control ............................................................................... 283
The Feeling of Freedom ..................................................................................................... 284
Indirect Control Method #1: Constraints ..................................................................... 285
Indirect Control Method #2: Goals ................................................................................. 286
Indirect Control Method #3: Interface .......................................................................... 286
Indirect Control Method #4: Visual Design ................................................................. 287
Indirect Control Method #5: Characters....................................................................... 292
Indirect Control Method #6: Music ................................................................................ 292
Collusion ................................................................................................................................. 293

17 Stories and Games Take Place in
Worlds ................................................................................ 299
Transmedia Worlds .............................................................................................................. 300
The Power of Pokemon ...................................................................................................... 301
Properties of Transmedia Worlds.................................................................................... 303
What Successful Transmedia Worlds Have in Common ......................................... 305

18 Worlds Contain Characters ........................... 309
The Nature of Game Characters ..................................................................................... 310

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Avatars ..................................................................................................................................... 312
Creating Compelling Game Characters ....................................................................... 314

19 Worlds Contain Spaces ..................................... 329
The Purpose of Architecture ............................................................................................ 330
Organizing your Game Space .......................................................................................... 330
Christopher Alexander is a Genius ................................................................................ 334
Real vs. Virtual Architecture .............................................................................................. 338
Level Design........................................................................................................................... 343

20 The Look and Feel of a World Is
Defined by Its Aesthetics ................................. 345
Monet Refuses the Operation ......................................................................................... 346
The Value of Aesthetics ...................................................................................................... 347
Learning to See ..................................................................................................................... 348
How to Let Aesthetics Guide your Design .................................................................. 349
How Much Is Enough?........................................................................................................ 350
Use Audio................................................................................................................................ 351
Balancing Art and Technology ........................................................................................ 352

21 Some Games are Played with
Other Players............................................................... 353
We Are Not Alone ................................................................................................................. 354
Why We Play With Others .................................................................................................. 354

22 Other Players Sometimes Form
Communities ............................................................... 357
More than just Other Players ........................................................................................... 358
Ten Tips for Strong Communities ................................................................................... 359
The Challenge of Griefing ................................................................................................. 368
The Future of Game Communities................................................................................. 370

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

23 The Designer Usually Works
with a Team ..................................................................371
The Secret of Successful Teamwork .............................................................................. 372
Designing Together............................................................................................................. 375
Team Communication ........................................................................................................ 376

24 The Team Sometimes Communicates
Through Documents ............................................. 381
The Myth of the Game Design Document .................................................................. 382
The Purpose of Documents .............................................................................................. 382
Types of Game Documents .............................................................................................. 383
So, Where Do I Start? ........................................................................................................... 387

25 Good Games Are Created Through
Playtesting ..................................................................... 389
Playtesting .............................................................................................................................. 390
My Terrible Secret ................................................................................................................ 391
Playtest Question the First: Why? ................................................................................... 392
Playtest Question the Second: Who? ............................................................................ 393
Playtest Question the Third: Where? ............................................................................. 394
Playtest Question the Fourth: What?............................................................................. 396
Playtest Question the Fifth: How? .................................................................................. 396

26 The Team Builds a Game
with Technology ....................................................... 403

Technology, At Last.............................................................................................................. 404
Foundational vs. Decorational ......................................................................................... 405
The Hype Cycle ..................................................................................................................... 409
The Innovator’s Dilemma .................................................................................................. 410

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Singularity ...................................................................................................................... 411
Look Into Your Crystal Ball ................................................................................................ 412

27 Your Game Will Probably Have
a Client ...............................................................................415
Who Cares What the Client Thinks? ............................................................................... 416
Coping with Bad Suggestions ......................................................................................... 417
Not That Rock ........................................................................................................................ 418
The Three Layers of Desire ................................................................................................ 419
Firenza, 1498 .......................................................................................................................... 419

28 The Designer Gives the Client
a Pitch ................................................................................ 423
Why Me? .................................................................................................................................. 424
A Negotiation of Power ..................................................................................................... 424
The Hierarchy of Ideas ........................................................................................................ 425
Twelve Tips for a Successful Pitch .................................................................................. 425

29 The Designer and Client Want
the Game to Make a Profit ............................ 433

Love and Money ................................................................................................................... 434
Know Your Business Model............................................................................................... 435
Units Sold ................................................................................................................................ 436
Breakeven ............................................................................................................................... 436
Know the Top Sellers........................................................................................................... 437
Learn the Language ............................................................................................................ 437

30 Games Transform Their Players ...............441
How Do Games Change Us? ............................................................................................ 442
Can Games Be Good For You? ......................................................................................... 442

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Can Games Be Bad For You? ............................................................................................. 448
Experiences ............................................................................................................................ 451

31 Designers Have Certain
Responsibilities.......................................................... 453
The Danger of Obscurity ................................................................................................... 454
Being Accountable .............................................................................................................. 455
Your Hidden Agenda .......................................................................................................... 456
The Secret Hidden in Plain Sight .................................................................................... 456
The Ring................................................................................................................................... 457

32 Each Designer has a Motivation ............. 459
The Deepest Theming ........................................................................................................ 460

33 Goodbye ........................................................................... 463
All Good Things…................................................................................................................ 464
Endnotes ................................................................................................................................. 465

Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 477
Index ......................................................................................................................................... 481

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TABLE OF LENSES
Lens #1: The Lens of Essential Experience ....................................................................... 21
Lens #2: The Lens of Surprise................................................................................................ 26
Lens #3: The Lens of Fun......................................................................................................... 27
Lens #4: The Lens of Curiosity .............................................................................................. 30
Lens #5: The Lens of Endogenous Value ........................................................................... 32
Lens #6: The Lens of Problem Solving ............................................................................... 37
Lens #7: The Lens of the Elemental Tetrad ....................................................................... 43
Lens #8: The Lens of Holographic Design ........................................................................ 46
Lens #9: The Lens of Unification .......................................................................................... 53
Lens #10: The Lens of Resonance ........................................................................................ 56
Lens #11: The Lens of Infinite Inspirationm ..................................................................... 59
Lens #12: The Lens of the Problem Statement ............................................................... 62
Lens #13: The Lens of the Eight Filters............................................................................... 78
Lens #14: The Lens of Risk Mitigation ................................................................................86
Lens #15: The Lens of the Toy ............................................................................................... 90
Lens #16: The Lens of the Player ....................................................................................... 106

Lens #17: The Lens of Pleasure.......................................................................................... 112
Lens #18: The Lens of Flow ................................................................................................. 122
Lens #19: The Lens of Needs .............................................................................................. 127
Lens #20: The Lens of Judgment ...................................................................................... 128
Lens #21: The Lens of Functional Space ........................................................................ 135
Lens #22: The Lens of Dynamic State ............................................................................. 140
Lens #23: The Lens of Emergence .................................................................................... 143
Lens #24: The Lens of Action ............................................................................................. 144
Lens #25: The Lens of Goals ............................................................................................... 149
Lens #26: The Lens of Rules ................................................................................................ 150
Lens #27: The Lens of Skill................................................................................................... 153
Lens #28: The Lens of Expected Value ............................................................................ 167
Lens #29: The Lens of Chance............................................................................................ 169

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TABLE OF LENSES

Lens #30: The Lens of Fairness .......................................................................................... 176
Lens #31: The Lens of Challenge ...................................................................................... 179
Lens #32: The Lens of Meaningful Choices ................................................................... 181
Lens #33: The Lens of Triangularity ................................................................................. 182
Lens #34: The Lens of Skill vs. Chance............................................................................. 184
Lens #35: The Lens of Head and Hands ......................................................................... 185
Lens #36: The Lens of Competition ................................................................................. 186
Lens #37: The Lens of Cooperation ................................................................................. 187
Lens #38: The Lens of Competition vs. Cooperation ................................................. 187
Lens #39: The Lens of Time ................................................................................................. 189
Lens #40: The Lens of Reward ........................................................................................... 191

Lens #41: The Lens of Punishment .................................................................................. 194
Lens #42: The Lens of Simplicity/Complexity .............................................................. 196
Lens #43: The Lens of Elegance ........................................................................................ 198
Lens #44: The Lens of Character ....................................................................................... 199
Lens #45: The Lens of Imagination .................................................................................. 201
Lens #46: The Lens of Economy ........................................................................................ 204
Lens #47: The Lens of Balance ........................................................................................... 205
Lens #48: The Lens of Accessibility .................................................................................. 213
Lens #49: The Lens of Visible Progress ........................................................................... 214
Lens #50: The Lens of Parallelism ..................................................................................... 216
Lens #51: The Lens of the Pyramid .................................................................................. 217
Lens #52: The Lens of the Puzzle ...................................................................................... 219
Lens #53: The Lens of Control............................................................................................ 222
Lens #54: The Lens of Physical Interface........................................................................ 226
Lens #55: The Lens of Virtual Interface........................................................................... 226
Lens #56: The Lens of Transparency ................................................................................ 227
Lens #57: The Lens of Feedback ....................................................................................... 230
Lens #58: The Lens of Juiciness ......................................................................................... 233
Lens #59: The Lens of Channels and Dimensions ...................................................... 238
Lens #60: The Lens of Modes ............................................................................................. 240
Lens #61: The Lens of the Interest Curve ....................................................................... 252
Lens #62: The Lens of Inherent Interest ......................................................................... 254
Lens #63: The Lens of Beauty............................................................................................. 255
Lens #64: The Lens of Projection ...................................................................................... 257
Lens #65: The Lens of the Story Machine ...................................................................... 266

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TABLE OF LENSES

Lens #66: The Lens of the Obstacle ................................................................................. 271
Lens #67: The Lens of Simplicity and Transcendence ............................................... 272
Lens #68: The Lens of the Hero’s Journey...................................................................... 275
Lens #69: The Lens of the Weirdest Thing ..................................................................... 279
Lens #70: The Lens of Story ................................................................................................ 280
Lens #71: The Lens of Freedom......................................................................................... 284
Lens #72: The Lens of Indirect Control ........................................................................... 293
Lens #73: The Lens of Collusion ........................................................................................ 298
Lens #74: The Lens of the World ....................................................................................... 307
Lens #75: The Lens of the Avatar ...................................................................................... 314
Lens #76: The Lens of Character Function .................................................................... 316
Lens #77: The Lens of Character Traits............................................................................ 317
Lens #78: The Lens of the Interpersonal Circumplex ................................................ 319
Lens #79: The Lens of the Character Web ..................................................................... 321
Lens #80: The Lens of Status .............................................................................................. 323
Lens #81: The Lens of Character Transformation........................................................ 327
Lens #82: The Lens of Inner Contradiction ................................................................... 335
Lens #83: The Lens of The Nameless Quality ............................................................... 337
Lens #84: The Lens of Friendship ..................................................................................... 361
Lens #85: The Lens of Expression ..................................................................................... 363
Lens #86: The Lens of Community ................................................................................... 367
Lens #87: The Lens of Griefing .......................................................................................... 370
Lens #88: The Lens of Love ................................................................................................. 375
Lens #89: The Lens of the Team ........................................................................................ 380
Lens #90: The Lens of Documentation ........................................................................... 387
Lens #91: The Lens of Playtesting .................................................................................... 401
Lens #92: The Lens of Technology ................................................................................... 412
Lens #93: The Lens of the Crystal Ball ............................................................................. 413
Lens #94: The Lens of the Client ....................................................................................... 420

Lens #95: The Lens of the Pitch ......................................................................................... 432
Lens #96: The Lens of Profit ................................................................................................ 439
Lens #97: The Lens of Transformation ............................................................................ 452
Lens #98: The Lens of Responsibility .............................................................................. 457
Lens #99: The Lens of the Raven....................................................................................... 460
Lens #100: The Lens of Your Secret Purpose ................................................................ 461

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I will talk to you of art,
For there is nothing else to talk about,
For there is nothing else.
Life is an obscure hobo,
Bumming a ride on the omnibus of art.
—Maxwell H. Brock

xx


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This has been a long project, and so many people have been kind enough to help
make it come into being, I know I am going to miss some. A complete list can be
found in the acknowledgments section of , but I
mention people here who really did more than their share.
Nyra and Emma, the loves of my life, who always encouraged me, and put up
with years of me staring into space and jotting little notes when I should have been,
say, mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, or putting out that fire in the backyard.
My mother, Susanne Fahringer, who, when I was twelve, understood somehow
that Dungeons and Dragons was very, very important.

My brother, Ben, who taught me how to play Thunder, a card game he invented
in a dream when he was four years old.
Jeff McGinley, for putting that whole ice cream cone in his mouth. And for
putting up with me for three decades.
Reagan Heller, who worked with me for countless hours in countless restaurants, airplanes, and meeting rooms coming up with visualization ideas for the lens
images on the card deck, designed the card layouts, and did graphic design for several aspects of the book.
Emma Backer, who performed all the Cinderella tasks — typesetting the cards,
wrangling the card artists, cleaning up and organizing book images, tracking down
copyright holders, and cleaning the ashes from the fireplace.
The team at Elsevier/Morgan Kaufmann, who kindly let a two-year project take
five years: Tim Cox, Georgia Kennedy, Beth Millett, Paul Gottehrer, Chris Simpson,
Laura Lewin, and Kathryn Spencer.
Everyone at the Disney VR Studio who put up with my rambling theoretical nonsense conversations for all those years, especially Mike Goslin, Joe Shochet, Mark
Mine, David Rose, Bruce Woodside, Felipe Lara, Gary Daines, Mk Haley, Daniel
Aasheim and Jan Wallace.
The staff, faculty, and students of Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology
Center, who graciously let me teach Game Design and Building Virtual Worlds,
which forced me to figure all this out. Most especially Don Marinelli, Randy Pausch,

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Brenda Harger, Ralph Vituccio, Chris Klug, Charles Palmer, Ruth Comley, Josh
Yelon, and Drew Davidson.
Randy Pausch deserves a double thank you, for his magical lens that let him see
that I could do this when I didn’t believe that I could. Thanks, Randy.

xxii

HELLO
Hello there! Come in, come in! What a nice surprise — I had no idea you would
be visiting today. I’m sorry if it is a little messy in here, I’ve been writing. Please —
make yourself comfortable. Good, good. Now let’s see… where should we begin?
Oh — I should introduce myself!
My name is Jesse Schell, and I have always loved designing games. Here’s
picture of me:

I was shorter then. Since that picture was taken, I’ve done a lot of different things.
I’ve worked in circuses as a professional juggler. I’ve been a writer, comedian,
and magician’s apprentice. I’ve worked at IBM and Bell Communications Research
as a software engineer. I’ve designed and developed interactive theme park rides
and massively multiplayer games for the Walt Disney Company. I’ve started my
own game studio, and become a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. But when
people ask me what I do, I tell them that I am a game designer.
I mention all this only because at various times in this book, I will be drawing examples from these experiences, since every single one of them has taught me
valuable lessons about the art of game design. That might sound surprising now,
but hopefully, as you read this book, it will help you see the ways that game design
meaningfully connects to the many experiences in your own life.

xxiii


HELLO

One thing I should clarify — while the goal of this book is primarily to teach
you how to be a better videogame designer, many of the principles we explore will
have little to do with videogames specifically — you will find they are more broadly

applicable than that. The good news is that much of what you read here will work
equally well no matter what kind of game you are designing — digital, analog, or
otherwise.

What is Game Design?
As we begin, it is important for us to be absolutely clear about what is meant by
“game design.” After all, it is what the whole rest of the book is about, and some
people seem a bit confused about it.
Game design is the act of deciding what a game should be.
That’s it. On the surface, it sounds too simple.
“You mean you design a game by just making one decision?”
No. To decide what a game is, you must make hundreds, usually thousands of
decisions.
“Don’t I need special equipment to design a game?”
No. Since game design is simply decision making, you can actually design a
game in your head. Usually, though, you will want to write down these decisions,
because our memories are weak, and it is easy to miss something important if you
don’t write things down. Further, if you want other people to help you make decisions, or to help build the game, you need to communicate these decisions to them
somehow, and writing them down is a good way to do that.
“What about programming? Don’t game designers have to be computer
programmers?”
No, they don’t. First of all, many games can be played without the use of computers or technology; board games, card games, and athletic games, for example.
Secondly, even for computer games or videogames, it is possible to make the decisions about what those games should be without knowing all the technical details
of how those decisions are carried out. Of course, it can be a tremendous help if you
do know these details, just as being a skilled writer or artist can help. This allows
you to make better decisions more quickly, but it is not strictly necessary. It is like
the relationship between architects and carpenters: an architect does not need to
know everything the carpenter knows, but an architect must know everything the
carpenter is capable of.
“So, you mean that the game designer just comes up with the story for the

game?”
No. Story decisions are one aspect of a game design, but there are many, many
others. Decisions about rules, look and feel, timing, pacing, risk-taking, rewards,
punishments, and everything else the player experiences is the responsibility of the
game designer.

xxiv


WAITING FOR MENDELEEV

“So the game designer makes decisions about what the game should be, writes
them down, and moves on?”
Almost never. None of us has a perfect imagination, and the games we design in
our heads and on paper almost never come out quite the way we expected. Many
decisions are impossible to make until the designer has seen the game in action. For
this reason, the designer is usually involved in the development of a game from the
very beginning to the very end, making decisions about how the game should be all
along the way.
It is important to make the distinction between “game developer” and “game
designer.” A game developer is anyone who has any involvement with the creation
of the game at all. Engineers, animators, modelers, musicians, writers, producers
and designers who work on games are all game developers. Game designers are just
one species of game developer.
“So, the game designer is the only one allowed to make decisions about the
game?”
Let’s turn that around: Anyone who makes decisions about how the game should
be is a game designer. Designer is a role, not a person. Almost every developer on a
team makes some decisions about how the game will be, just through the act of creating content for the game. These decisions are game design decisions, and when
you make them, you are a game designer. For this reason, no matter what your role

on a game development team, an understanding of the principles of game design
will make you better at what you do.

Waiting for Mendeleev
The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new
eyes.
—Marcel Proust
The goal of this book is to make you the best game designer you can be.
Unfortunately, at present, there is no “unified theory of game design,” no simple
formula that shows us how to make good games. So what can we do?
We are in a position something like the ancient alchemists. In the time before
Mendeleev discovered the periodic table, showing how all the fundamental elements
were interrelated, alchemists relied on a patchwork quilt of rules of thumb about
how different chemicals could combine. These were necessarily incomplete, sometimes incorrect, and often semi-mystical, but by using these rules, the alchemists
were able to accomplish surprising things, and their pursuit of the truth eventually
led to modern chemistry.
Game designers await their Mendeleev. At this point we have no periodic table.
We have our own patchwork of principles and rules, which, less than perfect,
allows us to get the job done. I have tried to gather together the best of these into

xxv