Getting Stuck...

With the idea for the game set, all we had to do is build it... right? Well that's what I thought, but I struggled to think up gameplay that seemed interesting and fun. I hit brick wall after brick wall trying to imagine what you would do in this world. After a few weeks of stutter stepping through development, I decided to try something different. I bought a book called The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. It provides an in depth view into the mind of a game designer. Jesse Schell breaks down a video game into it's component parts to help aspiring designers to see each area in a new light. Jesse's main point is that making a game is all about examining it from as many different perspectives as possible. This will give your game depth in the player's mind and love in the gamer's heart.

Here are some of the favorite things I learned from the book.

1. A game designer doesn't care about the game, he cares about the experience of the person who plays it. A game is worthless until someone plays it (pg. 11).
2. When developing a game keep in mind the story stack. The story stack is the building block for the world you are creating. The stack is fantasy, action, economy, world, story. It is organized based on how easy or hard it is to change a component. Fantasy is the hardest to change and story is the easiest. For example, the fantasy of being a race car driver is completely incompatible with being a dog. This is a hard change to accommodate in your game after you start development. However, whether a race car driver wins or loses the race is easy to change and can be modified on a whim. Make the story work for you (pg. 325).
3. The rule of the loop: The more times you test and improve your design, the better your game will be (pg. 100).
4. Rapid prototyping tips such as, every prototype should be designed to answer a question and forget about quality (pg. 109).

After finishing this book, I felt inspired to continue work on our game. Up next, prototyping game ideas!

Here is a link to the author's website and his book.

https://www.jesseschell.com/

- Steven