Reddit Reddit reviews Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games

We found 10 Reddit comments about Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games
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10 Reddit comments about Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games:

u/testudoaubreii · 7 pointsr/gamedesign

You want to be a game designer, right? As opposed to a game programmer? They're very different.

And just to get this said up front, playing a lot of video games does not necessarily make you game designer material. Playing and designing are two entirely different things.

Okay, that said, here are some of the things you need:

  • basic programming
  • perceptual, cognitive, and social psychology
  • basic statistics
  • calculus and linear algebra are a really good idea too
  • anthropology
  • theater and/or film studies
  • creative and technical writing
  • public speaking
  • at least one drawing/art class
  • a game design class (or minor, or major) if you can get it

    Oh, and watch this video for anything I might have missed.

    Then read this paper to give yourself an idea of some of the depth involved in game design. Check out some of the better game design books too (Art of Game Design, Game Design Workshop and others).

    Finally, go make a game. Don't wait. Copy someone else's game if you have to while you're learning the ropes, but then make your own game. Make a small, crappy game. Then make it better. If it's any good, then make it bigger -- but not until then.

    And then, get ready to either be a starving indie, or to get a job in QA, or if you're really lucky, to get a job as a very junior designer. Then you're off to the races.

    Good luck!
u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/gamedev

In that case, I recommend:

  • A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
  • Game Design Workshop
  • Don't Make Me Think! by Steve Krug

    That last one is technically a book about website usability, but a lot of the things in there carry over (in addition to some advice on e.g. user testing).

    As you don't have much programming experience, I highly recommend GameMaker (There's a free version if you scroll down and find the 'Lite' version download). It's a surprisingly powerful tool, and also has a scripting language.
u/MITGameLab · 3 pointsr/IAmA

This course is just intended to be introductory, so yes, there's plenty of things to learn after this first step.

The most important goal is to figure out how you can keep practicing, and for that you need to be able to share and discuss your work with others. If you manage to find local game designers while taking this course (e.g. fellow participants of 11.126x) the next step might be to start a project with them. I also love game jams, which are like game hackathons. The Global Game Jam happens every year in late January, and if making a game in 48 hours sounds appealing to you, it's a good challenge.

There are quite a lot of good books I'd recommend. Challenges for Game Designers (Brathwaite/Romero & Schrieber) is probably a good second step after our class, especially if you're focusing on card/board game design. If you're looking for reading that's focused on more digital design, look at Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton.

Also, I have a whole lot of classes on MIT's other online courseware site, OpenCourseWare! Just search for "Philip Tan".

u/ZeitlosEisen · 2 pointsr/gaming

This is coming from a student in the game design program at DigiPen, a game development college where the teams behind Portal and Portal 2 both graduated.

Start by introducing yourself to game history. Learn about the different types of game families: racetrack games, war games, positional games, mancala games, dice games, card games. There are thousands of different non-digital games and you should start getting to know them.

I recommend Board and Table Games by R.C. Bell as a handy guide. http://www.amazon.com/Board-Table-Games-Many-Civilizations/dp/0486238555

Learn the mechanics of paper games. A board game is essentially a level in a digital game. Card games are about information. Learn about the probability curves used in dice games. And above all, design games. When you design games, ask yourself WTF: What's this for? If it's useless or adds nothing, scrap it. Never be afraid to kill a rule or even an entire idea if it's not working right. In the industry, they refer to this as being able to kill your baby.

Some great books on design:

Challenges for Game Designers

An excellent read and it has a ton of great exercises for non-digital design.
http://www.amazon.com/Challenges-Game-Designers-Brenda-Brathwaite/dp/158450580X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300163628&sr=1-1

Game Design Workshop

Another great read.
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Workshop-Second-Playcentric/dp/0240809742/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300163687&sr=1-1

If you're young enough to be in public school, why not try out DigiPen's K-12 Game Design summer program?
https://projectfun.digipen.edu/workshops/courses/game-design/

RPG Maker is a good start, but don't get stuck with it. Try out GameMaker, Unreal Engine, Unity3D, Flash and ActionScript 3.0. You'll need to be able to code or at least script if you want any chance in the industry.

WATCH THIS VIDEO! http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2443-So-You-Want-to-be-a-Game-Designer It is paramount to what it means to be a designer.

u/megazver · 2 pointsr/gamedev

Buy Challenges for Game Designers or Game Design Workshop, Second Edition. Or both. Do the stuff in them. Basically, both of these books teach you to actually design games, instead of programming, by designing in pen&paper first. It's a good approach.

A few other books there are also a good read for you guys.

u/TJ_McWeaksauce · 2 pointsr/Games

I wasn't expecting to get into an argument about what is and what isn't a game. But sure, I'll bite.

There are a ton of different definitions of what makes a game. My personal favorite definition can be found in The Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton. Tracy Fullerton explains that there are "Formal Elements" that define a game.

These Formal Elements are:

  • The Player
  • Objective
  • Rules
  • Procedures
  • Boundaries
  • Resources
  • Conflict
  • Outcome

    Let's break down Dance Central using these Formal Elements:

  • The Player: person in front of the Kinect sensor. Check.
  • Objective: Depends on the game mode. In the Perform It mode, the objective is to complete certain dance moves and routines as displayed on the screen. In Dance Battle Mode, two players perform the same routine side-by-side to try and beat each other's scores. Check.
  • Rules: Examples of rules include "if you make too many mistakes during a dance routine, it's Game Over". And "in the event of a tie score in Dance Battle mode, the player who passed the most moves wins". Check.
  • Procedures: Basically, players stand in front of the Kinect, perform dance moves as indicated by on-screen prompts, and perform these moves as closely as they can to accumulate as many points as possible. Check.
  • Boundaries: Players need to stand within the Kinect sensors' range in order for their dance moves to be registered. Check.
  • Resources: Points are used to keep track of player scores. Gold stars are used to indicate how close you are to mastering each song. Check.
  • Conflict: In single-player mode the conflict is between the player and the game. If you fail to perform the dance moves as indicated, it's Game Over. In addition to that, your score at the end of every successfully-completed dance routine is compared to the current high score. So there is conflict between a player's current score and the high score. In multiplayer, the conflict is between Player 1 and Player 2. Check.
  • Outcome: If you successfully complete a single-player dance routine, you receive a score. In multiplayer games, the outcome is determined by who has the highest score.

    Dance Central has every Formal Element of a game, and is thus a game.
u/cislunar · 1 pointr/gamedesign

Yeah, I saw that in your post.

Now that I read it again, perhaps you could try you hand at writing? There's lots of copy and story required for games nowadays and someone has to write them.

If your heart is set on design and you want to break into the industry, getting a minor in game design isn't going to help you; It's the work you'll be doing for the classes, in the form of a portfolio, that will help the most.

So, on that note, here's a very good starting place for an academic look at game design:
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Workshop-Playcentric-Innovative/dp/0240809742

Tracy Fullerton wrote the book and she's had a strong hand in directing the industry via her USC alumni (e.g. thatgamecompany). Follow the lessons and you'll pick up a good understanding of how to approach game design.

I feel like I should also state that game design isn't like math or programming where you can insert XYZ component and have it work. Game design is art, aesthetic, math, psychology, design, organization, writing. You can learn and memorize methodologies for development but they don't guarantee anything. When educational institutions offer to teach you game design... caveat emptor.