How this course works
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What you'll discover (5:39)
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Introducing the teacher (2:33)
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Interaction (2:52)
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Assessment (8:19)
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Game design is education, not rote learning (2:52)
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Course length - depends on how long your game takes (2:06)
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Student entry survey - voluntary
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The Main Assignment (3:39)
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Supplemental books and other materials (7:42)
What game design is - and isn't
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Yes, there are fundamental things to know to be a game designer (2:05)
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Definitions (5:22)
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Six words about what a game designer does
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Stay behind the curtain (2:22)
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Is game design about "mind control?" (3:02)
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Monopoly Exercise
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The fundamental difference is NOT video versus tabletop (4:43)
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Make Money? Maybe. Get Rich? Most unlikely. (11:37)
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Dreamers
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Typical illusions of aspiring game designers (14:12)
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Reasons to design games (3:45)
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Is it really work?! Fun as a hobby, work when it involves trying to make money (1:57)
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"Meaningfulness?" (3:24)
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My take on Monopoly's problems
The best ways to learn (other than this course!)
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Your goal: complete games! (2:28)
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The quickest way to learn game design (8:02)
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Gamemaker and other game engines (7:32)
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Creating levels and making mods (2:10)
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Traditional games are NOT a good guide (10:58)
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A Monopoly
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Gamemaker Demo (10:48)
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Formal education (a degree)? (6:26)
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Play lots of games? Maybe (4:52)
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When you first do any complicated thing, you won't be good at it (3:48)
Getting Started
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An Exercise in Awareness (3:38)
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The idea is NOT the game, part 1 (12:51)
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The idea is NOT the game, part 2 (6:36)
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Innovation is highly overrated (4:54)
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Origins of games (10:08)
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Making your first game (6:16)
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Using someone else's intellectual property (IP)? Avoid it! (2:46)
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Games, puzzles, and contests (6:39)
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Atoms and game loops (2:03)
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Games need simplicity, puzzles may benefit from complexity (3:26)
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Quotations related to game design
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Three kinds of games: math, people, story (7:59)
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"Rules emergent" versus "progressive" (4:49)
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Avoiding player elimination (12:47)
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The system and the psychological (3:53)
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Protecting your intellectual property (7:47)
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Designer diary: Dragon Rage tabletop game
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Example of additional voice notes for tabletop War of the Roses game
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Example of initial voice notes for tabletop War in the Abyss game
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Example of initial notes for fleet battle game resembling Spelljammer battles
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Where are you with your game design? (1:18)
The Process of Design
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Stratego Introduction (5:17)
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Talent versus technique (2:21)
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The artisan, engineer, and mimic (5:43)
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Game design documents and problems (3:45)
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Mind-mapping example (1:26)
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Game concepts, treatments, and other marketing documents (2:42)
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Sample video game concept: Fury of the Northmen
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Sample video game high concept: Dragons Rage
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Models, abstractions, simulations (4:54)
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The Nine Structures of any game (9:58)
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Some essential questions (13:50)
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Systems analysis of the design process (7:11)
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Other views of the process (2:07)
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Research (5:26)
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No room for perfectionism - a game is never really "done" (4:01)
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Conceiving a new game (4:22)
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Phases, three acts, or five, or nine, or Hero's journey (5:56)
What makes a game GOOD?
Making a playable prototype
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Theme and atmosphere (5:12)
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Pacing (3:32)
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World building and "realism" (5:59)
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Evaluating game qualities (5:27)
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Symmetry and asymmetry (4:25)
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The evolution of video games, part 1 (9:59)
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The evolution of video games, part 2 (11:47)
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The evolution of tabletop games (8:08)
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Evolution: How have things progressed/regressed in the past 14 months? (10:12)
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21st century game characteristics (16:42)
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All I needed to know about game design I learned from Dungeons & Dragons
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Risk Exercise
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Where are you with your game design (2) (0:42)
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Making a tabletop prototype (6:05)
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Making a software prototype (5:08)
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Some examples of prototype construction (3:48)
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Example of a mapping program - Campaign Cartographer (3:41)
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My take on problems with Risk
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Game interfaces (5:43)
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Feedback to the player (3:08)
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An example of interface improvement in a tabletop prototype
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Some Risk exercise "solutions"
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Are you ready to make your prototype?
Playtesting - the heart of game design
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What playtesting is NOT! (6:07)
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The process of playtesting and modification (4:50)
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Stages of playtesting (5:44)
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Have you playtested your prototype solo?
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What to watch for in a playtest session - part 1 (9:34)
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What to watch for in a playtest session - part 2 (9:41)
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Kinds of playtesters (4:17)
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What to do with the feedback (3:23)
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Emergent Behavior and Playtesting (8:43)
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Game balance (3:18)
Other considerations
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How are level design and game design related? (3:16)
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Marketing, Licensing. Agents, Consultants, Funding, Publishing (11:44)
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Marketing Yourself (13:33)
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Hits, virality, and (fan) toxicity (7:53)
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Free-to-play games (6:29)
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Six different goals for commercial games (5:47)
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Discoverability (4:39)
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Fallacies you won't want to fall into (7:27)
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Legislating against behavior versus changing gameplay (5:04)
Conclusion
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My Stratego "upgrades"
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Organized practice (2:19)
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Your game design portfolio (1:48)
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Coping with destructive criticism (4:03)
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One page "what's important in game design"
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Maxims of game design
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Where are you with your game design (3) (1:01)
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Conclusion (1:46)
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Monetization of F2P Games (8:15)
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Platforms (10:33)
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A trend in games: Avatars (9:04)
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Mobile Games (6:03)
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Gamification (really, "scorification") (3:09)
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Why Roguelike games are making a comeback (5:47)
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Nearly 500 slides used in the screencasts, downloadable
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Log of major additions to the class
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Student completion survey, voluntary, not anonymous
Bonus Materials
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Why I wrote my book "Game Design" (8:24)
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"A tax on people who are bad at math"
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Results from a game designer survey from late 2012
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Introduction to other bonus materials (2:48)
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Origins 2007 Process of Designing a Game
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Origins 2011 Business of Game Design
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Origins 2011 slides: Business of Game Design
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Origins 2011: Starting a Game Design
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Origins 2011 slides: Starting a Game Design
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Origins 2011 slides: Completing a Game Design
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Origins 2011 Completing a Game Design
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Origins 2011 slides: Of course you can design a game, but can you design a good one?
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What makes my game design book unusual or unique (4:40)
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World Boardgaming Championships annual game design talk 2013
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Example of designer trying to help potential players (Britannia)
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Origins 2008 talk about breaking into the tabletop game industry
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Strategic Wargame Design, talk at PrezCon 2014, Charlottesville, VA
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Are you a game designer or a fiction writer? (7:39)
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Lew's Games, as of October 2014 (11:39)
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UK Game Expo 2011: Of course you can design a game, but can you design a good one?
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ECGC slides: What video game developers can learn . . .
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East Coast Game Conference 2010: What video game developers can learn from 50 years of tabletop gms
