When in doubt, go extreme There’s always at least two ways to go when designing: punish – reward, easy – hard, simple – complex, visible – invisible, big – small, casual – hardcore, and so on. If you’re not sure which one between the two would work, maybe try them both. Or if one side is not working, try the […]
Try out weird things that may even break with everything else This keeps motivation up, gives you lots of variation, keeps things fresh and lets you explore the game’s limits. It’s also useful to keep a record of these for later reference, you might just come back to them.
It won’t be done in 3 months Good things take time, and great things take even longer. Usually a great game won’t be finished in 3 months, at least 1 year is more likely. Of course it depends per title, but it’s something to keep in mind. It will probably take twice as long as you think. When the basic idea is […]
Finish your game At some point, you’ll have to decide the game is finished. This can be the hardest thing especially when you don’t have any hard deadlines (like most indies). But when you have the time and resources, I do believe it’s worthwhile to make the best game you can. If it’s emotion driven, make it as […]
Anticipation makes the reward even sweeter When something is not quite finished, but you could imagine it in its finished state, it holds quite an attractive force. You often see this in mobile game where you can win 3 stars each level. When you get 1, they will always show 2 other faded out stars you didn’t get. Not to put […]
Content follows form Form: the essential nature of a thing as distinguished from its matter For games, this would mean the context the game is in and the structure and rules (nature) that follow from it. For example, the free to play (F2P) model. It is a form of game that is obviously free and relies on ads […]
Form follows function Form: the shape and structure of something as distinguished from its material “Form follows function” is a principle that emerged from architecture and is now used pretty much everywhere, including game design. Games have a whole lot to communicate and as a game designer, you try to do it as well as you can. As […]
Function over visual Make your game work before making it look good. A good looking game can have its function too, but don’t rely on it keep players playing. It can pull players in, but to keep them there, the game needs to be fun. If something looks amazing, but it’s more functional with lesser art, it’s probably […]