Vocab Part 1

Question 1

Brainstorming

Answer 1

A process to generate ideas, usually done in a group. Generally, par- ticipants in a brainstorming session are instructed to call out any idea that occurs to them, no matter how strange, silly, or crazy it seems. One participant writes all of these ideas down on a space where everyone can see them. Participants may elaborate on or play off of others’ ideas, but criticism or elimination of ideas is not allowed until after the session is over.

Question 2

Prototype

Answer 2

A prototype is a playable early version of the game or part of the game con- structed by the designer to assist in understanding and enhancing the player experi- ence. It may be done with software (“digital prototype”) or with physical materials as a tabletop game (“physical prototype” or “paper prototype”)

Question 3

Balance

Answer 3

A term used to describe the state of a game’s systems as either “balanced” or “unbalanced.” When the play is unbalanced, it is too easy, too difficult, or optimal for only certain groups of players. When play is balanced, it provides a consistent challenge for its target audience. For competitive multiplayer games, it also includes the idea that no single strategy should be inherently better than any other, and that no exploits exist that let a player bypass the challenge of the game. We also sometimes call individual game elements “balanced” with each other, meaning that the cost of obtaining it is pro- portional to its effect, as with cards in a CCG or weapons in an FPS or RPG.

Question 4

Mechanics

Answer 4

The rules of a game. Common non-digital mechanics include trick taking, turn taking, rolling a die, and moving. Examples of mechanics from video games are running, jumping, and shooting. Mechanics are covered extensively in Chapter 2.

Question 5

Dynamics

Answer 5

As popularized in Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek’s MDA (mechanics-dynamics-aesthetics) model,3 dynamics result when rules are put in mo- tion. The rules that allow players to attack each other might be a mechanic, but players actually using these rules to team up against the player in the lead is a dynamic. In some first-person shooter games, players always begin in certain locations (“spawn points”), which is a mechanic; standing next to a spawn point and killing players that come out of it (“spawn camping”) is a dynamic. In Chess, the moves of the pieces are mechanics, but “book openings” (well-known sequences of moves at the start of the game) are dy- namics.

Question 6

System

Answer 6

A collection of game mechanics that is responsible for producing a given outcome within a larger game such as character creation, combat, or casting spells

Question 7

Avatar

Answer 7

The direct representation of a player in a game. In Monopoly, the pieces moved around the board (shoe, dog, and so on) are avatars. In Tomb Raider, the main char- acter Lara Croft is the avatar. In non-digital games, these are often called “tokens.”

Question 8

Play testing

Answer 8

The systematic testing of gameplay, systems, balance, and interface to find all the errors, inconsistencies, or issues and report them to the design team.

Question 9

Platform

Answer 9

The console, device, or system upon which the game will be played.

Question 10

Concept Doc

Answer 10

A one- to three-page document that provides a high-level overview of a proposed game. It usually contains the following sections: an introductory paragraph explaining the theme of the game; demographic breakdown, including target audi- ence, genre, and intended platform(s); and a bullet-point feature-list and a feature list breakout that explains each of the features in more detail. An outline for a sample con- cept doc is also provided on the book’s Web site at http://designgames.wordpress.com.

Question 11

Proposal

Answer 11

A five- to 20-page document that provides a more in-depth view of the poten- tial game than a concept document. Like a concept document, it typically contains an in- troductory paragraph, a demographic breakdown, a gameplay summary, a feature list, and a feature-list breakout. It also contains budget and time estimations, competitive analysis (how it stacks up against the competition), and expansion plans (for example, sequels) be- yond the initial product release. Typically, it contains screen mockups or concept art. An outline for a proposal doc is also provided on the book’s Web site at http:// designgames.wordpress.com.

Question 12

Pitch

Answer 12

A brief “elevator speech” given to a game publisher or VC (venture capitalist) to solicit funding for the project. An elevator speech gets its name from the length of time that people have to present their ideas—the amount of time you’d spend riding with someone in an elevator before one of you had to get out.

Question 13

Design Document

Answer 13

A “living” document that is continuously undergoing revision, it contains the entire design vision for the game. It may be in a document file or in a wiki. Some teams use Agile development, which requires no design document at all. More information on Agile can be found at AgileManifesto.org. Game design documents (GDDs) are usually separate from the technical design document (TDD) for program- mers and the art style guide for the art team.

Question 14

Bugs

Answer 14

Errors in the games design, code, art, sound, or writing

Question 15

Engine

Answer 15

The core program that runs the game. Unreal and Gamebryo are popular en- gines used in the game industry. Developers will layer additional technology on top of the engine to achieve the exact design specifications of the product.

Question 16

Alpha

Answer 16

The milestone at which all systems have been implemented and all code is the- oretically complete. It is usually full of bugs, however, and not terribly balanced. Some companies also require that all content—art, sound, and narrative—be implemented for alpha, too. Therefore, alpha is content- and code-complete.

Question 17

Beta

Answer 17

The milestone at which all systems and content are in the game. It is significantly more stable than the alpha version, and many of the big bug and balancing issues have been addressed.

Question 18

Gold

Answer 18

The final version of the game that is released.

Question 19

Game jam

Answer 19

A timed period during which a group of individuals attempts to create a complete game while working around the clock. These events are usually 1–3 days in duration.

Question 20

Milestone

Answer 20

A point at which the developer is expected to deliver some type of prede- termined content. It may be a document, numerous art assets, or a complete game.

Question 21

Game Bits

Answer 21

The informal name given to the pieces and parts that ship with a game, in- cluding the game tiles, board, and cards (see Figure 1.8). These are more formally called “components” or “game objects.”

Question 22

Card game

Answer 22

A game that uses playing cards. They may be a standard deck of cards, Pokemon cards, Magic: The Gathering cards, or other cards.

Question 23

Board game

Answer 23

A game whose board serves as the playing field for the game

Question 24

Tile game

Answer 24

A type of game where the game “board” is made out of tiles, usually square or hexagonal (see Figure 1.9). The tiles may start in a predetermined configuration (as in Settlers of Catan or Hey, That’s My Fish!) or built during play (like Carcassonne).

Question 25

Dice game

Answer 25

A game that uses dice as the main bits, typically lacking a board, cards or tiles.

Question 26

Blue sky

Answer 26

Pure blue-sky design allows designers to consider lots of possibilities and ideas with a few exceptions imposed by time, money, interest, or all of the above. In some respects, game design is like treasure hunting without a map. Designers are al- ways looking for new ideas, because the experience of creating a game right from the inception is inherently pleasurable to the designer. For most designers, in fact, the game lies in creating the game. Most of the time, a professional designer is working under a particular constraint—an externally imposed restriction on the design. Blue- sky design, however, assumes no constraints other than the designer’s imagination.

Question 27

Slow boil

Answer 27

When given a theme and a setting—say, the Irish in 1880s Boston—game designers begin what can only be described as a massive research mission, but one that often has little direction as long as it encompasses the theme. As one designer noted, “I stuff my head full of everything I can get on the topic, and then I wait. A design will emerge.” Fortunately for most designers, they are expert generalists with a love for learning and a natural curiosity that leads them in this direction. Sometimes, that de- sign takes days, but other times, it may be weeks, months, or even years. Game designer Reiner Knizia regularly has 30 different designs on the go and has noted that he prefers to mull games over in his mind, playing them repeatedly, before moving to a prototype stage (see Figure 1.10). One common mistake new designers make is forcing a game out too early or not giving it enough time to develop. Periodically writing down the ideas in one’s head can help spur still more ideas, particularly if the ideas take the form of a potential design document or rule set.

Question 28

Mechanic design

Answer 28

Mechanic-driven design is more common than one might think. Consider the classic Super Mario Bros. game. Mario jumps onto things, over things, and into things. The strength of the game is based on the sheer strength of this mechanic, and nearly all games in the platformer genre have followed that game’s lead from long, long ago. Other more recent games, like those in the Katamari Damacy series, feature a mechanic in which a sticky ball rolls over something and picks it up. Again, that same mechanic is used over and over to great effect. Perhaps the largest mechanic-driven games feature the me- chanic right in the genre’s title: first-person shooters. The mechanic of firing a gun, a wand, or a something evidently never gets old. Even Mario could shoot fireballs.

Question 29

Mechanics dynamics aesthetics

Answer 29

Using the mechanics-dynamics-aesthetics model of game development, design- ers create aesthetic models for various types of gameplay. Aesthetics don’t refer to the looks of the game but rather the emotional response the designer and development team hope to evoke in the players through the game dynamics. If mechanics are the rules and dynamics are the play of the game, then aesthetics are typically the fun (or lack thereof) experienced by playing. Designers ask themselves which aesthetic they hope to achieve, define the dynamics that would lead to this feeling, and then create the mechanics to produce the desired dynamics. More information on MDA can be found at Marc’s homepage at http://mahk.8kindsoffun.com/.

Question 30

Intellectual property or IP

Answer 30

Standing for “intellectual property,” games based on IP are very common in the game industry, and most designers find themselves developing a game for a pre-existing IP at some point in their career. The term “IP” is used to refer to pretty much anything or anyone upon whose likeness a game is built. Examples of IPs include Spiderman, Halo, The Sims, and individuals like John Madden. Even non-digital games are covered in IP. Most popular television shows release board-game versions, and popular video games are often made into card and board games. Pokemon and World of Warcraft are just two examples of game IP that have gone “off the grid.” Game publishers like to use IP because it mitigates risk. The more people who already know about it and like it, the larger the potential market based on the strength of the license alone, which means the publisher has less risk of the game falling short of sales goals. As an example of the power of an IP, consider NFL football. Now, think of another professional football league. Though some have been tried in the real world and in video games, none ever came close to the strength of the true NFL.

Question 31

Story design

Answer 31

Developing a game based on a story is also a common design approach, but more common in video games than non-digital games. This is often done hand-in- hand with IP when the license holder wants the developer to stick closely to the story of the book, television show, or movie in question. The story can also represent the chronological timeline of a person or a company. Author Tom Clancy has licensed many of his books for games, and the epic The Lord of the Rings was turned into an ac- claimed board game by Reiner Knizia. More often than not, however, in non-digital games, the designer takes a thematic approach as Knizia did.

Question 32

Research design

Answer 32

Increasingly, games are being used to research a variety of topics or as the topic of research itself. For her MFA thesis, Savannah College of Art and Design student Michelle Menard created a production-grade board game, a documentary, and com- pleted a research paper which explored the idea of using emotion to create game me- chanics (see Figures 1.11 and 1.12). Likewise, USC’s Jenova Chen created flOw to explore the concept of flow and dynamic difficulty adjustment in games.

Question 33

Feature list

Answer 33

A list that details key features or selling points of the game. In published games, these are typically found on the back of the box.