Hi! Today I talk about some of my ideas on Game Design.

First off, I feel there is something that separates the good game designers from the great game designers.

Suppose there is a game with a shopping cart on the moon. A good game designer will look at it and ask, "Why is there a shopping cart on the moon?"

A great game designer will say, "Man, is it fun to have a shopping cart on the moon!"

A good game designer will think up a storyline, and base their game around the story.

A great game designer will think up a story, but put an emphasis on prototyping gameplay also. And try not to let the strictness that can come with storytelling shape the entire experience alone.

A good game designer will listen to constructive criticism, and either get a little bit offended, or really take the feedback to heart and work on all changes.

A great game designer will see things in three separate categories - themselves and their preferences and capabilities, the product itself, and the other person and their preferences. And ask questions. If the feedback is extensive, they'll likely take a 50-50 approach, following some key points, but not losing their creative vision in the process.

A good game designer might tell you that you must listen to every piece of feedback, and with a smile.

A great game designer will ask themselves questions in their head, as they attentively listen, knowing that things like mood, etc can affect a person's perception, and carefully consider why the other person feels the way they do about the experience of the game.

I wanted to close this post by saying that there are both game studios that might follow some of my approaches, and game studios that clearly don't. And either can technically be successful. However, if you're following all the traditional rules when it comes to Game Design, and your products still aren't succeeding the way you want them to... perhaps it's time to "look outside the box", keeping in mind that even programmer art can technically be called "precise" or "straight" sometimes - it just may lack some artistic vision and flair.

Anyways, this is just some experiences from someone who's been from the depths of the bottom, to the middle-ground. I'm just telling the secrets that some of my peers might not really be sharing.

To me, it's kind of like biology, really... a basic understanding of biology will give you a black and white perspective. An advanced understanding of biology will really open a person's mind and expand it, causing them to ask additional questions.

Well, these are my thoughts. I also don't want to discourage you if you have different ideas about things, or want to follow a different approach. Learning is part of the process. So if you want to seek out your own answers, I encourage that too.

...Til next time!