Review: The Art of Game Design

“The Art of Game Design, A Book of Lenses,” by Jesse Schell is a solid primer on how game designers should think (or at least some questions game designers should ask themselves during the creative process) and conduct themselves. Game design is all about decision-making, but how does a designer come to the proper conclusion? While there is no fixed way of making a correct decision on everything, the author does an excellent job of isolating considerations relevant to specific topics into lenses, or high-level questions a designer should ask oneself. Will this book aide a seasoned designer? Maybe, but if you are like me then you’ll just be absent-mindedly nodding your head at the points Jesse Schell makes. Will this book aide a junior designer or someone looking to become a designer? Yes, but I have one caveat — the full meaning of these lessons can only be learned through experience. Anyone can be told, or taught, how a designer should think or behave, but many of these lessons won’t stick until after practical application (adrenaline, stress, and stomach ulcers certainly do a lot to cement certain lessons).

Being a good listener

I mentioned this in a previous post but it bears mentioning again. Listening is the most important skill a designer can have. I can’t tell you how many bad designs have been put forward because someone disappeared into a dark corner of the office for a time only to emerge with the most unrealistic, impractical, or unneeded of designs. Worse yet, due to the lack of feedback and advice some designs didn’t even seem intended for the game we were all making. At the heart of this issue was that the designer, artist or coder (whomever really) just didn’t want to listen. Listen to peers, testers, management, or really anyone until they were ‘done done’ with their concept, or all issues were solved (i.e., “no iteration needed”).  It doesn’t matter if you’ve done the same design a hundred times before, if you are a good listener and are receptive to feedback then not only will the design become stronger the next time, but in all likelihood the people needed to realize the design will become more engaged in the process. Game designers can’t implement many of their crazy ideas directly into the game, but a gang of Koolaide-sipping lunatics with art and coding skills can!

About the experience

What is a game Is it a set of rules governing interactions Is interactive entertainment about problem solving? Does it have to be fun, playful, challenging, thought-provoking, immersive? Jesse makes a convincing argument that game design is broadly about everything that influences the experience the player is having. Or, stripping away all preconceived notions of what a game is and should be, is the player having the intended experience in this game as described by their emotional or psychological condition? I have a somewhat mixed view on this. While I certainly understand the need to have someone provide a more comprehensive vision for the game, and a designer is a good fit for this role, there are certain designers that I have worked with in the past that have taken this view and interpreted it into very closed-minded practices. Prima dona designers do still exist and usually they are hard to work with because their ego causes them to not listen to, or really even care about, what another developer thinks. Sadly, a lot of these individuals are quite intelligent which makes them a tragic fit for any type of leadership position. Smart people in leadership positions who lack the ability to listen sink the Titanic every day. Everyone else gets to sink with the ship.

Iterative Loop

The Rule of the Loop: The more times you test and improve your design, the better your game will be.

Seems pretty simple, right WRONG! A game project is often besieged from day one with issues that will sabotage the iterative cycle. This has led to production methodologies such as Waterfall that on paper look good, but in reality become a mess and a huge waste of resources. In many cases game designs aren’t fully realized until very late in development and until the game design is known (i.e., “It is fun, looks good, and functions well with all major features represented”) any form of detailed long-term planning is futile because no one really knows what needs to be made. Fortunately it seems that most development houses have realized this and have adopted agile methodologies which emphasize more realistic short-term planning as opposed to relying on monstrous Gantt charts describing specific time allocations needed months (or even years) in advance for systems or levels that haven’t even been designed yet.

Iteration, at all levels, is important and the more any designer can iterate in a meaningful way (the design is actually being improved) then the better off a game will be. If you are on a team that can’t meaningfully iterate because of time, budget, technical or other constraints then what do you do My advice is:

• If the game looks good already — great, ship it! Happy times!
• If the game sucks and you can’t make it un-suck because you can’t iterate — consider leaving if it looks like the problem will persist.

Now, let it be known that I have never left a game project of my own accord. That was a mistake. If you can’t do your job as a designer, and iteration IS required to be a good designer, then you should consider heading off to greener pastures. I know this may sound drastic and leaving a team is something that shouldn’t be considered lightly, and hopefully you never have to, but don’t stake your career on a project that is stuck because of mismanagement (typically the root cause). Don’t let the captain of your Titanic say everything will be okay once you sail past this one last iceberg.

The Moral Issues

At the end of the book the author explores some of the moral or ethical implications of game design. Ironically, one section is labelled, “Your Hidden Agenda,” (not so hidden, when spelled out in black and white) which describes how a designer could or should carry out a secret agenda to make games that are not only good, but good for you! This one is a tough call for me, and I’m not sure I can fully endorse this idea. I’ve seen what happens when that same secret agenda becomes an overt series of actions that are incongruous with the game design. It isn’t pretty, puts that person up on a pedestal, and in some cases these moral platitudes contradict what the audience really wants. Sure, if there is a chance to insert some nuggety goodness into the fiber of the game that benefits the audience on a deeper level while not distracting them from having fun, I think I’m okay with that but unless the theme of the game is akin to bring peace to the middle east, or the intended audience are children, I’d just rather leave any moral considerations by the curb. Don’t get me wrong, I like Spielberg and Miyazaki movies as much as the next guy, but that doesn’t mean I want every movie to have some underlying moral, philosophical, or spiritual message. Too much sugar makes my belly ache.

What Else?

There are many more useful bits to this book that I am not going to cover here. It should be pretty obvious by now that I liked the book although it probably would have been more helpful to me when I was just getting into design. While I have never met Jesse Schell, I can see we have had many similar experiences shaping our opinions about game design, and it is somewhat comforting to know that there are other designers out their espousing similar views, if more eloquently. The last lens is actually my favorite, so I’ll end on it:

Lens #100: The Lens of Your Secret Purpose

To make sure you are working toward your one true purpose, ask yourself the only question that matters

Why am I doing this?

Links

• The Art of Game Design Website – http://artofgamedesign.com/