This is just a very short blog post to remind you that game design is not hard. There is no right way to design a game. There is no magical success formula or machine to master. If you have played a game you can design a game. Off course it won’t be a good game design, yet.

You don’t have to learn game design and you can’t master it. You can only improve.

The first tip I can give you is to know how a game is made. Start creating a very small game yourself (the click me challenge) or participate in an other game development project.

The second tip is to stop reading about game design. You know what is or isn’t possible because you know the process of developing a game. Design a game by not following any rules. Don’t read any articles on what game design is, what you should or should not do, or take any other advice. You’ll only get better by doing it yourself.

The last tip for today is “don’t stop”. Don’t stop designing games. Try different ideas and write them down. You don’t have to turn every design into a game, just keep the ideas coming. Criticise your own designs but don’t question your own skills, because you know you can only get better in game design. Try play testing your games on paper, if possible.

“What is a good game?”

Obviously the question itself is vague already. What does “good” mean? It doesn’t matter. Like I said, the answer to this question defines you as a game designer, the vagueness of the question doesn’t matter. Just don’t get involved in a discussion about what a good game is.

My answer

Personally I think having a good game has nothing to do with how much money it makes or how many players play it. It has nothing to do with how big or small a game may be. It has nothing to do with how many people are working on it or how much content there is, neither is it the graphics or special effects.

For me the one single thing that defines a good game is the feeling of excitement and happiness it can give to a player. This feeling is very rare though, but sometimes, in some games, I can feel it. That’s the only reason why I play games. I will be very happy if I can only capture a glimpse of this feeling in my game. Even if it’s only for one player to feel this, it will be a good game.

Everything else: game mechanics, aesthetics, content, money, community, … is just there to create that feeling. How the designer handles those things depends on how good his game will be. Designing a game is taking all that in account. That is my answer for the endless “mechanics vs aesthetics vs whateverelse” discussion.

Besides the good games that cause this hard to describe feeling of excitement and happiness there’s also a lot of cool stuff out there. I won’t define this “cool stuff” as a good game but I think it’s still great that it’s being created. The road to a good game is a long one — and much experiments need to be done to take your skills to the next level. That may be by your own creations or by observing other people’s “cool stuff”.

Your answer?

Now, what answer will define you as a game designer? Maybe it is money that you think is important. Maybe it is the community — maybe it is something else and probably you need to add some nuances to your final answer.

Maybe over time your idea of a good game will change? One of the most awesome things of being an adult is being allowed to change your opinion. If your answer changes you will probably have changed as a game designer. If it hasn’t you may have been right from the beginning. The important part is that you can answer this question any time. I’ll say it once again: “it defines you as a game designer”.

If you want to share your idea of a good game please leave a comment!