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- Michigan State University
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Three years after the publication of Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design (and six years after first we started writing that book), it’s time for another edition. But this version contains so much new material that Prentice-Hall gave it a new title as well, Fundamentals of Game Design. The earlier book caught on as a textbook, and we have added more features to help instructors and students. It now has multiple choice questions and exercises at the
end of every chapter. We’ve also kept the worksheets of questions to ask yourself about your design, which were a popular feature of the older work. In fact, we put in so much new stuff that we had to move two of the chapters from the old book (Online Games and The Future of Gaming) onto the new Companion Website at Prentice-Hall.Fundamentals is more rigorous than Rollings and Adams was, and more comprehensive. It now includes more formal
definitions of such important concepts as gameplay, core mechanics, interaction models, and the storytelling engine. We have also increased our emphasis on design process, with more how-to information than the earlier book had. We’ve written four new chapters, a glossary, and an appendix, and expanded our discussion in a number of places. Here are the names of the new chapters: Design Components and Processes.
We break the game into key components, and propose a process for doing game design based on current industry practice. Creative and Expressive Play. The previous book only touched upon these important aspects of video gaming in the context of other things. We now give them a chapter to themselves. Core Mechanics. In Rollings and Adams we had one chapter on mechanics, called The Internal
Economy of Games and Game Balancing. We’ve split it into two: one called Core Mechanics and one called Game Balancing. This time we go into much more detail about what mechanics are and how to design them. The balancing chapter is also longer. General Principles of Level Design. This was an area that we just didn’t have time to address in the previous book. Level design is a critically important part of the job, and though we can’t cover
everything, we now provide a solid grounding in the basics. Appendix: Designing to Appeal to Particular Groups. We added this to cover a number of issues that designers ought to know about choosing a target audience: men and women, adults and children, girls and boys, and how to make your game more accessible to people with impairments of various kinds.
Part I Table of Contents
(Part II is devoted to the genres of games. Its table will be added shortly.) Chapter 1: Games and Video GamesWhat is a Game? Toys, Puzzles, and Games The Definition of a Game The Essential Elements of a Game Play Pretending A Goal The Rules Things That a Game is Not Gameplay Challenges Actions The Definition of Gameplay
Fairness Symmetry and Asymmetry Competition and Cooperation Conventional Games versus Video Games Hiding the Rules Setting the Pace Presenting a Game World Artificial Intelligence
How Video Games Entertain Gameplay Aesthetics The Graphics versus Gameplay Debate The Importance of Harmony Storytelling Risks and Rewards
Novelty Learning Creative and Expressive Play Immersion Socializing Chapter 2: Design Components and ProcessesA Note on Terminology Approaching the Task Art, Engineering, or Craft? The Player-Centric Approach Misconception 1: I Am My Own Typical Player Misconception 2: The Player Is My Opponent Other Motivations That Influence Design Integrating for Entertainment The Key Components of Video Games Core Mechanics User Interface Interaction Models Perspectives The Structure of a Video Game Gameplay Modes
Shell Menus and Screens Forming the Structure Stages of the Design Process The Concept Stage Getting a Concept Defining an Audience Determining the Player's Role
Fulfilling the Dream The Elaboration Stage Defining the Primary Gameplay Mode Designing the Protagonist Defining the Game World Designing the Core Mechanics Creating Additional Modes
Level Design Writing the Story Build, Test, and Iterate The Tuning Stage Game Design Teams Documenting the Design Why Do We Need Documents? Types of Design Documents High Concept Document Game Treatment Document Character Design Document World Design Document Flowboard Story and Level Progression Document The Game Script Document Anatomy of a Game Designer Imagination Technical Awareness Analytical Competence Mathematical Competence Aesthetic Competence General Knowledge and the Ability to Research Writing Skills Drawing Skills The Ability to Compromise Chapter 3: Game ConceptsGetting an Idea Dreaming the Dream Game Ideas from Other Media Game Ideas from Other Games
Communicating Your Dream to Others From Idea to Game Concept The Player's Role What Is the Player Going to Do? Defining the Role Choosing a Genre The Classic Game Genres Hybrid Games Defining Your Target Audience The Dangers of Binary Thinking Reasoning Statistically about Player Groups Strive for Inclusiveness, not Universality Core Versus Casual
Other Distinctions Progression Considerations Types of Game Machines Home Game Consoles Personal Computers Handheld Game Machines Mobile Phones and Wireless Devices Other Devices
Chapter 4: Game WorldsWhat Is a Game World? The Purposes of a Game World The Dimensions of a Game World The Physical Dimension Spatial Dimensionality Scale Boundaries The Temporal Dimension Variable Time Anomalous Time Letting the Player Adjust Time The Environmental Dimension Cultural Context Physical Surroundings
Detail Defining a Style Overused Settings Sources of Inspiration The Emotional Dimension Influencing the Player's Feelings The Limitations of Fun You Can't Paint Emotion by Numbers The Ethical Dimension Moral Decision-Making A Word about Game Violence Realism Chapter 5: Creative and Expressive PlaySelf-Defining Play Functional Attributes Cosmetic Attributes Creative Play Constrained Creative Play Play Limited by an Economy Creating to Physical Standards Creating to Aesthetic Standards Freeform Creative Play and Sandbox Mode Storytelling Play Game Modifications Level Editors Bots Dangers of Allowing Mods Chapter 6: Character Development
The Goals of Character Design The Relationship Between Player and Avatar Player-Designed Avatar Characters Specific and Nonspecific Avatars The Effects of Different Control Mechanisms Male and Female Players and Characters
Designing Your Avatar Character Visual Appearances Character Physical Types Humanoids, Nonhumanoids, and Hybrids Cartoon-Like Qualities Hypersexualized Characters Clothing, Weapons, Symbolic Objects, and Names Color Palette Sidekicks Creating Character Depth Role, Attitudes, and Values Attributes Character Dimensionality Character Growth Character Archetypes Audio Design Sound Effects Voice and Language Chapter 7: Storytelling and NarrativeWhy Put Stories in Games? Key Concepts Story
Requirements of Good Stories Interactive Stories Narrative The Role of Narrative Commonly Used Narrative Blocks Forms of Narrative Balancing Narrative and Gameplay
Dramatic Tension and Gameplay Tension Dramatic Tension Gameplay Tension The False Analogy The Storytelling Engine Linear Stories Nonlinear Stories Branching Stories Immediate, Deferred, and Cumulative Influence The Branching Story Structure Disadvantages of the Branching Story Foldback Stories Emergent Narrative Endings Challenges and Choices When to Use Multiple Endings Granularity Mechanisms for Advancing the Plot The Story as a Series of Challenges or Choices The Story as a Journey The Story as a Drama
Emotional Limits of Interactive Stories Emotional Limits of Nonlinear Stories Emotional Limits of Avatar-Based Games Scripted Conversations and Dialog Trees Structure of a Dialog Tree Benefits of Scripted Conversations
When to Write the Story Other Considerations Avoid the Frustrated Author Syndrome Episodic Delivery Unlimited Series Serials Limited Series Potential and Limits of Episodic Delivery
Chapter 8: Creating the User ExperienceWhat Is the User Experience? Player-Centric Interface Design About Innovation Some General Principles What the Player Needs to Know
What the Player Wants to Do The Design Process Define the Gameplay Modes First Choosing a Screen Layout Telling the Player What He Needs to Know Letting the Player Do What She Wants to Do Shell Menus Managing Complexity Simplify the Game Abstraction Automation Depth Versus Breadth Context-Sensitive Interfaces Avoiding Obscurity
Interaction Models Perspectives The 3D Versus 2D Question First-Person Perspective Advantages of the First-Person Perspective Disadvantages of the First-Person Perspective Third-Person Perspective Camera Behavior When the Avatar Turns Intruding Landscape Objects Player Adjustments to the Camera Aerial Perspectives Top-Down Perspective Isometric Perspective
Free-Roaming Camera Context-Sensitive Perspectives Other 2D Display Options Visual Elements Main View Windowed Views Opaque Overlays Semitransparent Overlays Feedback Elements Indicators Mini-Maps Use of Color Character Portraits Screen Buttons and Menus Text Localization
Typefaces and Formatting Audio Elements Sound Effects Ambient Sounds Music Dialog and Voiceover Narration Input Devices Terminology
Two-Dimensional Input Devices Directional Pads (D-Pads) Joysticks The Mouse (or Trackball) Touch-Sensitive Devices One-Dimensional Input Devices Controller Buttons and Keys
Knobs, Sliders, and Pressure-Sensitive Buttons Navigation Mechanisms Terminology Screen-Oriented Steering Top-Down and Isometric Perspectives 2D Side-Scrolling Games 3D Games
Avatar-Oriented Steering Joystick and D-Pad Controls Mouse-Based Control Flying Fixed-Wing Aircraft Helicopters Spacecraft Point-and-Click Navigation Allowing for Customization Chapter 9: GameplayMaking Games Fun Execution Matters More Than Innovation Finding the Fun Factor The Hierarchy of Challenges Informing the Player about Challenges The Intermediate Challenges Simultaneous Atomic Challenges Skill, Stress, and Difficulty Intrinsic Skill Required Stress Difficulty Commonly Used Challenges
Physical Coordination Challenges Speed and Reaction Time Accuracy and Precision Intuitive Understanding of Physics Timing and Rhythm Combination Moves Logic and Mathematical Challenges
Formal Logic Puzzles Mathematical Challenges Races and Time Pressure Factual Knowledge Challenges Memory Challenges Pattern Recognition Challenges Exploration Challenges
Spatial Awareness Challenges Locked Doors Traps Mazes and Illogical Spaces Teleporters Conflict Strategy Tactics Logistics Survival and Reduction of Enemy Forces Defending Vulnerable Items or Units Stealth Economic Challenges Accumulating Resources Achieving Balance Caring for Living Things Conceptual Reasoning and Lateral Thinking Puzzles Conceptual Reasoning Lateral Thinking Actions Actions for Gameplay Defining Your Actions Actions That Serve Other Functions Saving the Game Reasons for Saving a Game Consequences for Immersion and Storytelling Ways of Saving a Game Passwords Save to a File or "Save Slot" Quick-Save Automatic Save and Checkpoints To Save or Not to Save Chapter 10: Core MechanicsWhat Are the Core Mechanics? Turning Rules into Core Mechanics Where Are the Core Mechanics? The Core Mechanics as Processes Functions of the Core Mechanics in Operation Real-Time Games versus Turn-Based Games Core Mechanics and Level Design Key Concepts Resources Entities Simple Entities Compound Entities Unique Entities Defining Entities for Your Game Mechanics Relationships Among Entities Events and Processes Conditions
Entities with Their Own Mechanics Numeric and Symbolic Relationships Numeric Relationships Symbolic Relationships Integrating Symbolic and Numeric Relationships The Internal Economy Sources Drains Converters Traders Production Mechanisms Tangible and Intangible Resources Feedback Loops, Mutual Dependencies, and Deadlocks Static and Dynamic Equilibrium
Core Mechanics and Gameplay Challenges and the Core Mechanics Passive Challenges Active Challenges Actions and the Core Mechanics Player Actions Trigger Mechanics Actions Accompanied by Data Designing the Core Mechanics Goals of Core Mechanics Design Strive for Simplicity and Elegance Look for Patterns, Then Generalize Don't Try to Get Everything Perfect on Paper A Note about Level of Detail
Revisit Your Earlier Design Work List Your Entities and Resources Add the Mechanics Think about Your Resources Study Your Entities Analyze Challenges and Actions Look for Global Mechanics Random Numbers and the Gaussian Curve Pseudo-Random Numbers Uniform Distribution Nonuniform Distribution The Gaussian Curve Chapter 11: Game BalancingWhat Is a Balanced Game?
Avoiding Dominant Strategies Dominant Strategies in Video Games Handling Transitive Relationships Among Player Options Intransitive Relationships (Rock-Paper-Scissors) Orthogonal Unit Differentiation Dominant Strategies in PvE Games The Role of Chance Making PvP Games Fair Balancing Games with Symmetry Balancing Asymmetric Games The Point Assignment System The Example of StarCraft
Balance Issues for Persistent Worlds Making PvE Games Fair Managing Difficulty Factors Outside the Designer's Control Types of Difficulty Absolute Difficulty Relative Difficulty and Power Provided Perceived Difficulty and In-Game Experience Creating a Difficulty Progression Establishing Difficulty Modes Understanding Positive Feedback Benefits of Positive Feedback Controlling Positive Feedback
Positive Feedback in Action Other Balance Considerations Avoiding Stagnation Avoiding Trivialities Design to Make Tuning Easy Chapter 12: General Principles of Level DesignWhat Is Level Design?
Key Design Principles Universal Level Design Principles Genre-Specific Level Design Principles Action Games Strategy Games Role-Playing Games Sports Games Vehicle Simulations Construction and Management Simulations Adventure Games Artificial Life Games Puzzle Games Layouts Open Layouts Linear Layouts Parallel Layouts
Ring Layouts Network Layouts Hub-and-Spoke Layouts Combinations of Layouts Expanding on the Principles Atmosphere Pacing
Pacing in Different Genres Vary the Pacing Overall Pacing Tutorial Levels The Level Design Process A Note on Duties and Terminology Design to Level Design Handoff Planning Phase Gameplay Art Performance Code Prototyping Level Review Level Refinement and Lock-Down Level Design to Art Handoff First Art and Rigging Pass Art to Level Design Handoff and Review Content Integration Bug Fixing User Testing and Tuning Pitfalls of Level Design Get the Scope Right Avoid Conceptual Non Sequiturs Make Atypical Levels Optional Don't Show the Player Everything at Once Never Lose Sight of Your Audience | 
