Game Design

What is a Game, Anyway?

After reading the paper What is a Game, Anyway? by Ian Schreiber, it is evident that he identifies many interesting points throughout the paper including the definition of a game, the weakness of the definition of a game and how simple it is to actually make a game. In this blog, I aim to address these points in greater detail.

To begin Schreiber highlights how similar some games are, yet they have different names and look rather different. It is when actually looking at them that you realise that they are similar. Schreiber states in response to being asked if these two games are the same, “The answer is, it depends on what you mean... which is why it is important to define what a “game” is!”.

Schreiber goes on to say that vocabulary may not be fun to or seem necessary to your game but it is, he states “because it gives us the means to talk about games”. Further on in the paper, it states that there are common elements to the majority of games. Of course, there are exceptions. most games have elements which include, rules, conflict, goals and are voluntary.

Schreiber states that some of the exceptions include puzzles, role-playing games and choose-your-own-adventure books. By definition, these wouldn’t come under the game umbrella. This would be the weakness of defining a game highlighting how it can be quite difficult to fit them all under one umbrella.

He then asks the reader “if you have never made a game before, it is time to get over your fear. You are going to make a game now. Take out a pencil and paper”. He describes different steps of how someone can. create a simple game. It is an activity that shows the simplicity of creating a  game and not a person should never fear creating a game or believe you can’t make one simply because you never have.

Link to this paper.

Four Basic Methods for Generating Ideas:

After reading the article Four Basic Methods for Generating Ideas, it is evident that the author identifies many critical points throughout the paper. These include Concentration, Brainstorming, Scamper and Ramsey. In this blog, I aim to address these points in greater detail.

To begin the author goes into detail about each different method of generating an idea. They start off with, he discusses concentration. He states “This method is the most common, and we are all able to use it, without any training. You merely think until you have an idea.”. Of course, this is true, it is the most basic way to come up with an idea. He then states that by changing your surrounding environment will help generate more ideas. It is as simple as working from a new room or even taking a different route when walking.

He then goes on to say that brainstorming “is the most common and well-known method in the industry.”. This is an interesting fact as many people would have already used this method throughout their time in education. There are three stages of brainstorming; statement of task, generation of ideas and grouping and selection. The three stages all have different tasks in each and involve groups of people in them.

Scamper is next on the topic of discussion. The author says that “It is a straightforward and convenient method”. It is a good method to use when you are don’t enjoy the genre or it is unknown to you. This method is broken down into seven different methods, substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put, eliminate and reverse. These are all about changing a small factor in the game.

Finally, the last thing discussed is the Ramsey method. This is the most difficult method. The author states that the theory is “if you take a significant amount of information and start looking at it closely and manically, you can find new information or find inconspicuous links.”. The aim of this method is to get the maximum information available on said topic needed. You then analysis it and look for “hidden connotations and imperceptible connections in it until the concept of the game is collected from these pieces.”. You will only get this right if you collect enough information about the topic and if you spend enough time studying the information.

Link to this paper.

Image link
Caption: hands holding a piece of paper with 3 light bulbs with "Idea" written on it.

A final paper that might be an interesting read!