Game Design & Development Strategies For Beginners

If you are a beginner who’s interested in designing games, it’s a good idea to understand the basics. Here’s a brief summary of the top 4 strategies of game design & development.

1. Games Must Serve Their Purpose

Though games are also meant to be educational, you’re likely talking about games that entertain. Hence, the game you design must serve that purpose: entertain the gamers. Your game shouldn’t be so full of knowledge or extreme challenges that gamers simply can’t have fun.

One of the most common ways of ensuring that your gamers can have fun is to have varying degrees of difficulty across levels. ‘You win some, you lose some’ approach keeps the excitement level optimum. Winning all games is boring and losing all of them is frustrating.

2. Graphics Must Contribute, Not Obstruct

All game design studios understand that imagery is a critical component of a game. But experts will also tell you that graphics, images, scenery and all other visual assets must follow two basic principles.

A. Graphics must fit the overall structure. Look at the following screenshot of one of our games Sniper Rust VR. Notice that the surroundings are natural: trees, mountains and all that. Now you see the wooden building on your right – it fits naturally. An all-wood building, on the other hand, in the middle of Manhattan wouldn’t look right.

B. Graphics must help build, not obstruct the story. The key here is to have a balance. Even if you can design hundreds of elements, don’t stuff them simply to show off your awesome design skills. Excessive imagery obstructs gameplay.

3. Strike A Balance Between Randomness and Predictability

Gamers are looking for a great experience when they play a game. As in life, all great games have elements of randomness and predictability balanced.

Let’s say you’re designing a combat game. The enemy attacking from any direction is the random element here – gamers can never be sure where the next attack may come from. Against that, the accuracy, reach and power of the weapons you give gamers is the part they can be sure of. Only a good balance between the two can make the game more meaningful.

4. The Game Should Be Intuitive, Not Instructions-Driven

Gamers shouldn’t need to read pages and pages of instructions before they can begin playing. Rules, do’s and don’ts, objectives and hurdles in the game should be self-evident. If a gamer can’t immediately jump right in, they will most likely not try your game at all.

Additionally, make sure the functionalities aren’t widely different from, or opposite of, conventional games. For example, if most games have swipe left as a Cancel option, don’t use swipe up as a Cancel option in your game. Making gamers learn too many new things quickly drives them away. Such features have most likely emerged after a lot of study by companies offering game development service and there’s no point rocking the boat.

Conclusion

Designing a great game takes a good deal of understanding and experience. As a beginner, you’ll want to study the works of a good game development studio and learn from their experience. Start with basics and as you develop insights and skills, you can keep growing.