Elements of Game Design

ISBN: 9780262363730 | Copyright 2020

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Contents (pg. vii)
Acknowledgments (pg. xiii)
Introduction (pg. xv)
Game Design and the Scope of This Text (pg. xv)
Classroom Use (pg. xvii)
Note on Exercises (pg. xviii)
Note on Style (pg. xviii)
Note on Definitions (pg. xix)
1. Elements (pg. 1)
Design Process (pg. 2)
Games as Machines (pg. 2)
Game Design Is User-Centered (pg. 3)
Motivating Example: Poker (pg. 3)
Model Description (pg. 5)
Designer’s Role (pg. 6)
Designer’s Process (pg. 6)
Player’s Experience (pg. 8)
Elements of Games Outside This Model (pg. 9)
The Practice of Game Design (pg. 10)
Game Design, Systems Design, Content Design (pg. 11)
Discipline Interactions (pg. 12)
Summary (pg. 13)
Further Reading (pg. 14)
Formal Tools (pg. 14)
MDA (pg. 15)
The Practice of Design (pg. 16)
Individual Exercises (pg. 16)
2. Player Experience (pg. 19)
Experience Is Relative (pg. 19)
What Do You Enjoy? (pg. 21)
Building a Naive Taxonomy (pg. 23)
Player Theories (pg. 24)
Designer Theories (pg. 24)
The Bartle Model (pg. 25)
The Koster Model (pg. 26)
User Personas (pg. 27)
Empirical Models (pg. 28)
The Big Five Personality Model (pg. 29)
Yee’s Gamer Motivation Profiles (pg. 30)
Player Motivations and the Big Five (pg. 33)
Experience Design (pg. 34)
Questions to Guide Experience Design (pg. 34)
Experience Archetypes and Genres (pg. 36)
Summary (pg. 37)
Further Reading (pg. 38)
Player Psychology (pg. 38)
Designer Theories (pg. 39)
Individual Exercises (pg. 39)
3. Mechanics (pg. 41)
Mechanics as Building Blocks (pg. 41)
Composition of Mechanics (pg. 42)
The Language Metaphor (pg. 44)
Example: Exploring Monopoly (pg. 45)
Games as State Spaces (pg. 46)
Game State (pg. 46)
State Spaces (pg. 47)
Action Spaces (pg. 49)
Perceived Action Spaces (pg. 50)
Explicit and Implicit Mechanics (pg. 51)
Examples of Families of Mechanics (pg. 53)
Control Mechanics (pg. 55)
Progression Mechanics (pg. 58)
Uncertainty Mechanics (pg. 60)
Resource Management Mechanics (pg. 63)
Beyond the Four Families (pg. 68)
Mechanics Design (pg. 68)
Design Heuristics (pg. 69)
Primary and Derived Mechanics (pg. 71)
Summary (pg. 72)
Further Reading (pg. 73)
History of Mechanics (pg. 73)
Taxonomies (pg. 74)
In-depth Explorations (pg. 74)
Individual Exercises (pg. 75)
Group Exercises (pg. 76)
4. Systems (pg. 79)
Motivating Example: Diablo (pg. 79)
Game Systems (pg. 81)
Setting and Systems (pg. 82)
Layering (pg. 83)
Thinking in Systems (pg. 84)
Mechanic Chains and Loops (pg. 85)
Conversion Chains (pg. 85)
Calculating Exchange Rates (pg. 86)
Conversion Loops (pg. 87)
Feedback Loops (pg. 91)
Positive Feedback (pg. 91)
Negative Feedback (pg. 93)
Effects of Positive Feedback (pg. 95)
Effects of Negative Feedback (pg. 99)
Emergence and Chaos (pg. 100)
Emergent Behavior (pg. 100)
Chaotic Systems (pg. 102)
Systems Design (pg. 104)
From User Stories to Systems (pg. 105)
System Tuning (pg. 108)
Approaches (pg. 109)
The Role of Tuning in the Production Process (pg. 111)
Summary (pg. 111)
Further Reading (pg. 113)
Individual Exercises (pg. 113)
Group Exercises (pg. 114)
5. Gameplay (pg. 117)
Motivating Example: The Sims (pg. 118)
Gameplay Loops (pg. 119)
Loop Frequencies (pg. 120)
Onion Diagrams (pg. 121)
The Core Loop (pg. 123)
Layering (pg. 123)
Loops and Systems (pg. 125)
Player Motivation (pg. 126)
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation (pg. 127)
Intrinsic Motivation: Flow and Learning (pg. 128)
Flow Theory (pg. 128)
Learning and Challenge Escalation (pg. 130)
Learning to Overcome Uncertainty (pg. 131)
Dominant Strategies and “Solving the Game” (pg. 135)
Loops and Challenges (pg. 136)
Extrinsic Motivation: Work and Rewards (pg. 137)
Progression and Rewards (pg. 137)
Reward Schedules (pg. 138)
Types of Schedules (pg. 139)
Game Examples (pg. 141)
Changing Workload (pg. 142)
Related Topic: Gamification (pg. 144)
Gameplay Loop Design Heuristics (pg. 145)
From User Stories to Gameplay Loops (pg. 145)
Playtesting Loops (pg. 146)
Summary (pg. 146)
Further Reading (pg. 148)
Gameplay Loops (pg. 148)
Motivation (pg. 148)
Individual Exercises (pg. 149)
Group Exercises (pg. 150)
6. Macrostructure (pg. 151)
Motivating Example: The Witcher (pg. 151)
Game Fiction (pg. 153)
Fantasy (pg. 154)
Story (pg. 155)
Story and Agency (pg. 156)
Consistency (pg. 157)
Macrostructure and Content Arcs (pg. 159)
The Three-Act Model (pg. 159)
Story Arc and Episodes (pg. 160)
Three-Act Model and Non-story Games (pg. 162)
Narrative Patterns (pg. 163)
Linear Narrative (pg. 164)
Branching Choices (pg. 165)
Branch and Merge (pg. 166)
Branching with State (pg. 167)
Hub and Spokes (pg. 168)
Narrative Composition and Quests (pg. 168)
Open Worlds (pg. 169)
Open Worlds and Quest Design (pg. 171)
Simulated Worlds (pg. 173)
Pacing (pg. 174)
Metagame (pg. 176)
Mastery Metagame (pg. 177)
Social Metagame (pg. 177)
Game Modding (pg. 179)
Benefits of Metagame (pg. 180)
Summary (pg. 180)
Further Reading (pg. 181)
Individual Exercises (pg. 182)
Group Exercises (pg. 183)
7. Prototyping and Playtesting (pg. 185)
Motivating Example: Project Highrise (pg. 186)
Production Stages (pg. 187)
Game Concept (pg. 188)
Understanding the Game Idea (pg. 189)
Understanding the Market (pg. 190)
Forming a Game Pitch (pg. 192)
From Concept to Prototyping: Kelly Guidelines (pg. 193)
Prototyping (pg. 196)
Playable Prototypes (pg. 197)
Iterative Process (pg. 198)
Playtesting (pg. 201)
Documenting Design (pg. 204)
Finishing Iteration (pg. 204)
Production and Beyond (pg. 205)
Ideas for Student Prototyping (pg. 207)
Shorter Production Cycle (pg. 208)
Scaling Prototyping Scope (pg. 208)
Supporting Portfolio Development (pg. 209)
Summary (pg. 210)
Further Reading (pg. 211)
Group Exercises (pg. 212)
Conclusion (pg. 213)
References (pg. 215)
Index (pg. 221)
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