Things I Learned in Game Design

This past semester I took a game design course with the Film and Media Arts Department at the University of Utah. Even though I am a PhD  student with the Communication Department, I wanted to understand gaming from a development standpoint to enhance and give more depth to my research. This course has opened my eyes to video games and the complexities that are inherent in production. Since my perspective has been limited to seeing video games from a cultural perspective, it has been enlightening to see video games from a production and technical aspect. Therefore, I would like to discuss some of the ideas I learned from taking this amazing course.

Now, before I go on you may be wondering: What does the comic above have to do with game design and what you learned? Well the person at the center of this comic happens to be the instructor for this class. Roger Altizer was immortalized by the popular webcomic Penny Arcade. His photograph from a gaming convention was coincidentally spotted by the Penny Arcade folks and it resulted in this comic. Nevertheless, Roger is a wonderful instructor with deep insights on gaming, narrative, and game mechanics. Now, Roger is best known for this caricature than anything else. Nonetheless, his perspective and the curriculum for the course has enabled me see outside of the closed doors of the Communication Department and see games in a new light.

Well for one, I learned about the depth and breadth of design. It isn't just having an idea and then merely running with it. However, there are steps to developing an idea and moving it to the production stage. It is a complex process that takes much thought. At the end of the semester, for example, we had to create a game design document for a game we could realistically create. For me, coming from a humanities background, envisioning a game was a challenge. But through creating the document, I came to appreciate the meticulous details that come with designing a game. As Roger noted, you need to walk through the game from its opening screen so you can understand how the game will look and how it will feel. Thus, designing a game is more complicated then a game commercial would indicate.

I also came to understand the importance of game mechanics and gameplay over narrative and thematic elements. As Roger pointed out throughout the semester, gameplay is what makes a game fun and playable. For instance, he pointed out the narrative of Angry Birds. Even though we may have an understanding of the overall story, it is the game play that made it such a resounding success. Another example used was World of Warcraft. Despite the game's lore and history, most people quickly click through the quest text and merely go out and complete quests. They are more focus on playing the game rather than focusing exclusively on the narrative. Taking this understanding into account, video game designers need to focus on gameplay elements before focusing on narrative and theme. Gameplay  hence is what keeps a person consuming the game.

Lastly, what I found interesting, especially from a cultural perspective, is that gaming is becoming a universal language. In the course, we had people from all over the world. I had classmates from India, Japan, China, in addition to people from all over this country. Gaming is becoming a way for people to identify across cultures. I may not exactly share the same cultural background as my Indian friends, but when we're playing FIFA on the Xbox 360 all our cultural differences go out the window and we just have a great time together. This is an important perspective to understand because people who make games today are not limited to just people from a homogenized culture. Instead, the gaming industry is growing to include people from many different cultures, this therefore may expand how we create games. In the future, I believe that video games will become more diverse in their art and thematic elements.

The game design course taught me so much. I thank everyone for such a wonderful experience, one I know I'll never forget. Now I know that my work will not come from an ivory tower perspective, but instead in a way that accounts for the complexities behind game creation.