The Meat and Potatoes

Learning Game Design: Designing a Game is Like Playing a Game

I came to the realization today that designing a game is a lot like *playing* a game. It often feels like the solution already exists, and it is simply my job is to uncover it. An infant game design is like a giant disassembled puzzle of disparate parts. The parts have to put together in the perfect combination to form a cohesive entity where each part logically relates to every other part, which in turn relates to a higher meta goal. Leave a critical part out, or add a superfluous part and the system risks collapse. This is very different from my experience creating web applications. While feature selection is critical, the overall app isn’t typically volatile enough to be that sensitive to single feature decisions.

My friend Yvette pointed me to this quote from L. Rust Hills about the process of creating literary fiction work…sounds familiar.

“Everything must work with everything else. Everything enhances everything else, interrelates with everything else, is inseparable from everything else — and all this is done with a necessary and perfect economy.”

  1. Dex Mission
    October 2nd, 2008

    Ran across your blog while searching about Iphone Game development. I’m looking forward to reading more as they come. Thanks for sharing :)

  2. Mike Gowen
    October 2nd, 2008

    Thanks Dex! No problem!

  3. Juan
    April 18th, 2009

    Mike thanks for sharing some very insightful info. I’m not a designer but I do have some game ideas. I have no experience but I would like to take those ideas and concepts to a company or freelance designer and try to develop those concepts. Can you offer any advice or point me in the right direction. These games would be for cell devices.

  4. Mike Gowen
    April 20th, 2009

    Um, not sure. If they are iPhone apps you might want to dig around Twitter a bit and see if you can find a developer. Are you a designer? If not, you’ll want to find a designer as well which could be a bit more difficult. Either way, I’d get the word out on Twitter.

  5. Kevin Zurawel
    October 8th, 2009

    Hi Mike, I didn’t realize you were into game design. I really liked this book, it focuses on board / card games but I think its lessons apply equally well to video games: http://www.amazon.com/dp/158450580X/

  6. Mike Gowen
    October 9th, 2009

    I actually have that book but I haven’t even opened it. My backlog is so huge that I don’t know when I’ll get around to it :/

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