Every game developer follows a set of game design principles while developing games that will be acceptable and worth appreciation. The video game market is highly competitive and it can reward you with the most lucrative career options if you have the passion and zeal to be a game designer. Designing a high-end and user-friendly game is an art. It involves enormous dedication and research. At the same it, it also requires certain principles to be followed so that the games once developed can win the heart of millions. There can be moments of frustration and contradictions when designing a game. But, when the final product is launched, the feeling is surreal. To make your designed game stand out in the crowd, follow the 5 major principles of game designing:
1. Study and play other games and build around a core game mechanic:
Analysing a game and playing it time and again help game designers narrow down a game to a few key core mechanics. It is important to build a game around a few core mechanics because any game tends to change during development. Therefore, focusing on a few ideas or mechanics will help developers develop a game that is more fun to play and a phenomenal one.
2. Design games that are easy to learn but hard to master:
In today’s time, this is one of the most important principles a game designer should follow while designing a game. This is because lots of casual video games are entering the market and making it difficult for the most engaging and high-end games to attract the audience. So, design a game that is accessible by all game lovers and easy to start playing, but gets hard to master as it progresses and reaches the end. This will keep the player engaged, increase his interest, and he may also invite his friends to play along until the game is over.
3. Reward players with innovative items:
Powerful rewards associated with a game contributes to a game’s success. Rewards can be embedded in the game itself or there can be a feature like external rewards where the winner can get an opportunity to redeem his rewards at a restaurant or shopping mall. Recognizing and rewarding winners motivate them to play again and again and also invite friends and other game enthusiasts to play. This contributes to a game’s success in the long run.
4. Set concrete goals and objectives:
As a game developer, one should set a concrete goal or an objective with every game. The more concrete the goals and objectives are, the more convenient it is for the player to play the game.
5. Set clear success criteria:
Setting clear and well-laid out success criteria makes a game more structured and comparatively easier to master. Setting clear success criteria also enables a player to bring in more participants, explore the gaming environment in intricate details and in turn contributes to the game’s reach and user acceptability.
Abiding by these game design principles makes a game designer’s job to design a game easier. Following these principles improves a game’s quality and its consequent outcome. Rules in a game constantly change and as a game designer, one should always stay updated with the latest rules 0of the gaming industry and design or develop games as per the new trends. Game Design courses in India train students on these basic principles of game designing so that they understand the industry better and design games as an expert.