Design Tips
(or, John’s theories on how to make games suck less)

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Here you’ll find a mixed bag of my game design rules and my opinions on design. I don’t proclaim to have the final word on game design or that my way is the right way. I’ve been making games professionally since 1992 and am constantly learning new stuff. Which is great, because I believe once you stop being challenged then it’s time to move on.

Some of these rules and opinions will probably change, while others will be expanded upon. Oh, and a lot of them are only relevant to the sort of games I make… which are primarily adventure and platform style games.

The Rules
Most of these rules are bloody obvious. But, I am constantly amazed at how often people just don’t seem to understand a lot of this stuff. I put it down to being too close to the trees in a forest of gaming goodness. Or something like that.

#1 Ramp Up The Game Play

Or, Don’t overwhelm the player

Start the game off simply and introduce new game play elements, enemies and skills/powers as the game progresses.

Train the player when a new skill is introduced.

If the new level of a platform game requires lots of long perilous jumps to make it to the end, add some areas at the start of the level that the player can practice those jumps safely. For example add a sand bank below so if the player falls they don’t die, but can climb up to the jump and try again. Later on you can have bottomless pits below the long jumps.

#2 Reward The Player

Or, Don’t show all your cards at once

This compliments the previous rule.

Players need a reason to keep coming back to the game. Obviously the great game play will have them hooked, but giving them something new to see and do is one sure way of keeping them coming back for more.

Here are some things to reward the player with:

1. New levels. Unlock new levels of the game by first successfully completing the easier levels. Make sure the new levels have new graphics.

2. Introduce newer enemies/obstacles.

3. New bonuses.

4. New challenges. If the player can double jump to get extra air – introduce elements that use this in later levels.

5. Introduce new skills. For sports games this isn’t always possible, but you can introduce new equipment that can enhance the existing player skill set (and result in higher scores)

Ramping up the Game Play and Rewarding the Player is something that has to be done during the entire game building process. Always remember that any design change can impact game play at a later level – look at the overall game design from start to finish and keep in mind the big picture.

GAME DESIGNER TIP#1

Always cite design rules as fact even if you’re making them up. If you sound like you know what you’re talking about then most people will believe you.

If you suck as a designer you’ll eventually be found out during game focus testing, but you can always blame the lack of fun on badly implemented code!

#3 The Solution Always Comes After The Obstacle

Or, Never leave the front door key in the mailbox

This is pretty obvious, but there are commercially released games that defy this law. If you come across an obstacle, be it a locked door or chest, or a high tech piece of machinery that needs something to get it going – make sure that the key is located somewhere beyond the obstacle in a place where the player has not yet been. This stops the player from solving the problem before they even realised that there was a problem.

If the obstacle requires more then one item to unlock it then you can let the player find one before reaching the obstacle. If it’s a story game then this can help foreshadow future events and can be a nice touch – plus it can get the player thinking (in a fun way) about future possibilities.

#4 A Game World is a Precious Thing to Waste

Or, Avoid dead ends with no rewards

If you have areas in your world that serve no purpose except to pad out the game then you need to redesign the level. Lose the dead areas or create a reason why they are there: you could add some bad guys, a bonus (even if it’s hidden) or an NPC with some back story or clues.

And remember, bigger is not always better.

A tightly packed Quake III Arena level is way more fun to play when there’s always some action.

#5 Be Consistent

Or, Don’t mess with the player’s mind!

This applies to all aspects of the game design from menu layout to character design.

1. Music. Game selection menus should always play the same music. In game music can be shuffled.

2. Clues. If a “Red Wall Tile with a Crack” can be smashed to reveal a secret cave, then all “Red Wall Tiles with a Cracks” should do the same thing.

3. Danger. If the player can swim in blue water then NEVER have blue colored water in a later level then can kill the player. For God’s sake change the color to Slime Green or Lava Red!

4. Obstacles. When replaying a level for the umpteenth time a player shouldn’t find a bomb in their path that wasn’t’ there on the last three attempts.

GAME DESIGNER TIP#2

Don’t waste time writing up detailed design documents. The team will never read them. Ever. It’s a complete waste of time. If your publisher or employer insists that you write huge design documents then simply paste random blocks of text into a Word file. You can find chunks of random text on most web sites. Try using text from this site!

#6 Lead The Player Through The Level

Or, Getting lost isn’t fun

All game levels have a start and an end. Players should be led through the level in an intuitive yet unobtrusive way.

Banjo Kazooie uses musical notes to plot a path through the levels. Crash Bandicoot uses crates and apples. Snow boarding games use slaloms and flags. Racing car games use time gates.

Use these paths pointers to take advantage of the lazy gamer! And yes, it’s okay to take advantage of lazy gamers as long as the astute and hard playing gamer can appreciate the design.

For example:

1. If the Apples that your game character has to collect lead down a certain fork in a path then place a special bonus item down the other path.

Place a time gate just after a sharp turn in a racing game so the player will automatically race toward it as soon as they turn the corner – but add a side road at the corner that can hold a special powerup

#7 Bad Guys Should Never Overwhelm The Player

Or, No one likes to be picked on…

This is a pretty straightforward design rule but some people tend to forget it. If the player has a gun, for example, don’t put them up against a horde of bad guys armed with rocket launchers. Try and balance the difficulty of the enemies with the experience and abilities of the player.

And, unless it’s absolutely necessary, make sure the player starts the level with a bit of breather – don’t drop them into a horde of enemies intent on killing them. If you want to have a horde of enemies then give them a chance to catch their breath first – then you can smash their false sense of security and unleash the horde.

You can ignore this rule if you’re making a game that’s all about killing loads of bloodthirsty aliens and/or goblins.