One, the blue frame
There are only game prototypes with rough graphics or even borrowed graphics; or use paper, pens, cards, and dice. Artistic means can be strengthened, doubled, and improved, but it will not replace the lack of fun in games. If you can make interesting things with the least means of expression, it will be more interesting when you have better means of expression.
2. Metaphor
Deciding what the game is "about" can help you cut out irrelevant content. Think of the game simpler, such as board games, if it can help you quickly recognize the essence of the game. "A game of imperative", "A game of turfgrass", "A game of precise timing".
Three, division
If you are making a large game, it may help you a lot to realize that your large game is actually a combination of a bunch of small games in the same context. And the content that is too independent between each system will make a game difficult to balance.
Four, summary
You should be able to extract some key verbs and sentences from your game design philosophy to describe your creativity. If you can't, you must have made a mistake somewhere.
Five, unique stylization
The best game should be a perfect combination of themes, systems and expressions. This will make your game more stylish. Don't underestimate the stylized production.
6. Lengthy meetings are useless
Especially for creative seminars, you want people to be complacent when they leave, not exhausted and cynical. Lengthy meetings will lead to collective consideration and overcomplication. Keep the creative seminars tight and short.
Seven, use herbal map
Sketching is a very powerful tool for game design. So much information can be transmitted through the screen or drawing board, and it is extremely useful to draw the player's game experience in the early stage. Draw a sketch of what the player will see and do, and make important markings.
8. Creativity is not limited to paper
Planning on a bicycle while riding down the street; or while taking a shower; or on a canoe. Plan it in any other place. Don't worry too much about what you lose because you can't write it down. Focus on the core essence that excites you. Changes in the environment stimulate creativity.
Nine, speaking and listening
Fresh ideas collide with each other, and even old ideas collide with each other in unpredictable ways, resulting in creation. You acquire these new things by "listening" and exchange them with "speaking". Ideas are cheap, don't hide them.
10. Every snowflake is different
If you assign 12 people to create "a space game about galactic trade", you will get 12 different games-it doesn't matter what these ideas are.
11. Assets
Consider asset issues early; for example, calculations about how many sounds, pictures, etc., are needed for a game or system will often surprise you.
12. Steal and borrow
The system is not sacred. They are just tools to realize the final game. If a system is useful, use it, even if you have seen it in other games. No one but you noticed the life bar that you feel sick.
13. Try it early and often
If your first system is fun even before the game comes out, it’s great; if not, beware. It is fun and cool to arrange things on the cardboard if the rules are fixed; if not, be careful.
14. Thousands of people and thousands of faces
Don't try to play with the same group of people all the time, then you will always get the same result and disrupt them.
15. The spectator's thinking
Don't talk when watching others try it out. Just watch and write down all their stupid behaviors, because your design is stupid enough to not make things more obvious. This is worth noting.
16. Learn from each other
You don't have to pass the popular game that people are talking about. But you should go play it, 10 minutes is usually enough, but playing the first boss is better.
17. System design and goals
If you have many systems, use simple data to make each system simple. If you have one system, spend some time on the data.
18. Algorithms, not fixed data
The best games are infinitely variable in terms of algorithms, and therefore diverse in gameplay; the negative example is a game that relies on the fixed puzzles you provide. Strive for the former-you may not be able to achieve (this is understandable), but you will always become smarter.
19. Keep everything
Sketches, early documents, old prototypes, paper game versions, fallback rules. You never know when you will use them.
20. Art is not fixed
When the game is interesting, try one art form, then another, and then another.
21. Don't use lossy data
The layer of Photoshop is your friend, and High res is your friend. The link to the free structure, the screencap you saved. Save the prototype!
22. Find an editor
Those who can remind you when you do a pile of rubbish, even if they are just amateurs.
Twenty-three, notes
After 6 months, you won't remember why the magic number is 37.5. Write a comment next to the code and explain the logic in the plan.
Twenty-four. Huge plans are useless
They are all daydreams that no one will execute, too detailed. A list of important items would be much more useful.
Twenty-five, back to the beginning
Every time you reach a milestone, look back and compare your original version, original theme, and original goal. You say that you want to change them is okay-if you really want to change them; you say that you want to change them is not okay-if you don't realize that you have deviated from them.
26. Know when to stop
Adding too much can easily destroy some things. One more system, one more variable, or even one more row on the game board, may crash it.
27. Taste for yourself
Play the game you made yourself. If you think it is a kind of enjoyment, then you have really made something.
Twenty-eight, learn to extract
Learn to see the underlying mathematics from your design, not the exterior decoration. To see the source power of the launch, the range of influence, the hidden changes and the number of keystrokes per second. This way you will have a deeper understanding of the actual game process.
Twenty-nine, study art. And programming. And marketing.
The more you know about other related disciplines, the better things you design. You don't need to be proficient at them-just acquire basic abilities.
30. Don't quarrel with players
They will always know their experience best. Tell them that they shouldn't actually play that way, because it's a waste of time. The question is, why do they play like that?
31. Details determine success or failure
Detailed elements are simply left there because of "coolness", which can often make a game stand out. They can allow players to enjoy happiness and passion to further the game.
Thirty-two. Storytelling
Whether it is a potential player or a potential investor, you need to sell the game to them by telling a story.
Thirty-three, limited double-edged sword
A lot of creativity comes from limitations. If you get stuck, try to give yourself more restrictions and see if there are any ideas you can come up with.
34. How to play this game?
Once the game is made, it is not yours. Discard any thoughts about "how to play this game".
Thirty-five, action is above everything
More people are talking about how to make a game, rather than actually doing it. Anyone can make a game with a few sheets of paper and a few crayons. No matter what excuses you have, they are bad excuses. You just have to take one step more than others until you reach the end. If you finish one, do another one, and then another one. Keep doing it.
36. Relocation is the biggest failure
If you feel tired and frustrated, it's easy to lower your standards to accommodate something. This will have a huge impact on the final product. This is different from compromise, which is inevitable and can often bring benefits to the product. And accommodation is generally fatal.
Thirty-seven, empathy with the player
When you are working on a system, describe the actions of the players and imagine the methods they use. Practice the steps to reach the goal, and imagine the player's route to reach this goal. Think about it from the player's perspective, not from the perspective of "40 techniques should be used to reach the next level." You design games for them, not yourself.
38. Feedback
When players do one thing right, reward them. A light, a cheer, an obvious feedback.
Thirty-nine, use the list
Check the important content required for the fun of the game: preparation for the challenge; environmental problems; multiple options to solve the problem; changes in challenges; risk of failure; execution skills; and a variety of optional achievements. You may have your own list, but this is a useful set for me.
Forty, remove the burden
Anything you "have to" do in the game should be deleted or put at the end. Boredom is the enemy of fun. Bloatedness is bored undercover.