- What is the difference between a game designer and a game developer? What commonly occurs during the game development process?
A game designer is the person that comes up with the idea or inspiration for the game and the developer is the person that takes these ideas and creates a finished product. Usually the developer will play test the game and write down any questions they may have to fully grasp the game. They would then break down the game and look further into the mechanics that the game uses and makes sure that each are necessary so the players dont get to confused. Then they would go more into depth with the rules, title and theming of the game.
- what are the challenges of balancing a game? What should every player of your game believe? Why? How can you avoid stealing players’ fun?
One chanllage can be number, meaning to have multiple components to keep the game fun and interesting, However if you have to many components the game can be confusing and also introduce a number if different possible interactions with other players. Each player should feel that they have an equale chance to win the game when given a rule set. As well as having the players believe they can win before the game ends. This also goes into how to avoid stealing a players fun. You can avoid this by not kicking the player out of the game before its over. Some games you can already tell your gonna lose before the game is even over and that isnt fun at all. Also to avoid a kingmaking, which is a player that can choose someone to win but not choose themselves. Another rule is not reward the leader, someone shouldnt have the best position just because they went first.
- What 10 maxims should you follow when writing rules?
Use real words, Make no more extra work than necessary, Add flavor, Make your text no smarter than your readers, Discard rules that cant be written, Take a breath, Go easy on the eyes, Get your final version playtested and Fix it in the FAQ
- How has play testing changed your game? Who from class would you like to playtest your next game or version 2 of your first game? who is the audience for your game?
Play testing has changed the game I had a ton. I remember making my dad read my rule set and had him set it up and explain it back to me. Right from the start I could already tell stuff is wrong. I had to go back and rewrite rules and make things a little more clear. I even ended up scapping an entire mechanic by having him play a couple of rounds. I got a version I was happy with and I had my classmates test it and even still there were issues that needed to be fixed. Like some how everyone kept ruling evens which had them fight “boss” cards which had a higher health bar and most of the players didnt have a weapon in time to even have a chance of beating it. Two players ended up getting out rather quickly while the other two had a slow end, in which they didnt even win and they both ended up getting out too. The people I would like to test for my next game is, Ronan, River, Clay, Delany and Max. Ive tested with this group before and they all give good feed back on the game play as well as ways to change it if needed. For my next game, the audience im targeting is mainly 12+, its going to be a trivia/memory game.
5. Who should playtest your game outside of class?
I would have my brother who is 15, my dad who is 46 and my sister who is 29. I feel that they would be honest about stuff that wouldn’t work in my game as well as they all are in different age groups.