Following is good set design principles to follow. Of course, you don't need to apply them all.
But before you go forward, think to yourself, what could these be?

GOOD DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Following is good set design principles to follow. Of course, you don't need to apply them all.
But before you go forward, think to yourself, what could these be?

VIDEO - GOOD DESIGN PRINCIPLES & GUIDELINES

You may find the Good Design Principles and Game Design Guidelines explained here in these Elements for Excellent Game -videos. They also handle topics related to monetisation and production.

VIDEO - GOOD DESIGN PRINCIPLES & GUIDELINES

You may find the Good Design Principles and Game Design Guidelines explained here in these Elements for Excellent Game -videos. They also handle topics related to monetisation and production.

AVOID FRUSTATION

Don't hide information from the player
If player fails in one location several times, provide a hint
What's clear to you, can be very unclear for the player
Don't make the game artificially difficult - Quake got difficult so that the jumps got longer and longer. In the end it ones up to like one pixel to make the jump to continue...
Don't make dead ends where player can't survive because there's something they don't know
Don't try to be clever with your player
No mistakes = game passed
Why make the player frustrated?

AVOID FRUSTATION

Don't hide information from the player
If player fails in one location several times, provide a hint
What's clear to you, can be very unclear for the player
Don't make the game artificially difficult - Quake got difficult so that the jumps got longer and longer. In the end it ones up to like one pixel to make the jump to continue...
Don't make dead ends where player can't survive because there's something they don't know
Don't try to be clever with your player
No mistakes = game passed
Why make the player frustrated?

BE CONSISTENT

Use same names for same things - Don't mix like Car to Vehicle and to Automobile all the time
Create characters, power-ups and all items to fit the game world - Visually and story wise
Don't create a similar looking power-up that all of a sudden has a very different behaviour
Have an unified visual style
A break in this, can break the Atmosphere

BE CONSISTENT

Use same names for same things - Don't mix like Car to Vehicle and to Automobile all the time
Create characters, power-ups and all items to fit the game world - Visually and story wise
Don't create a similar looking power-up that all of a sudden has a very different behaviour
Have an unified visual style
A break in this, can break the Atmosphere

LESS CAN BE MORE

Quantity does not always equal quality
Rather a few good items that work well together than several bad ones
Less is easier to explain and easier for player to understand
Player can easily lose focus if there's too much "noise"
When the feature becomes clear and obvious and when you cut it down, it cuts down lots of ”inaccurate” things, then you're on the right track!
If you have an overload of possible power-ups, pick the ones that can used together to create new possibilities!

LESS CAN BE MORE

Quantity does not always equal quality
Rather a few good items that work well together than several bad ones
Less is easier to explain and easier for player to understand
Player can easily lose focus if there's too much "noise"
When the feature becomes clear and obvious and when you cut it down, it cuts down lots of ”inaccurate” things, then you're on the right track!
If you have an overload of possible power-ups, pick the ones that can used together to create new possibilities!

DON'T PUNISH

Don't punish the player - Rather be supportive
Game should work logically
If something happens, player should understand why in order to accept it
Shame or Blame = no Game
Consider saying - You didn't do that well vs - You almost did it! I know you'll do it the next time!

DON'T PUNISH

Don't punish the player - Rather be supportive
Game should work logically
If something happens, player should understand why in order to accept it
Shame or Blame = no Game
Consider saying - You didn't do that well vs - You almost did it! I know you'll do it the next time!

BE ON THE PLAYER'S SIDE

Don't leave the player alone
Don't hide the obvious
Help the player - Show help when player might be stuck
Explain how a thing works and don't keep it to yourself
Guide the player - Tutorial - Level design can help with only one way to go
Keep the player happy
Give reward for accomplishing things

BE ON THE PLAYER'S SIDE

Don't leave the player alone
Don't hide the obvious
Help the player - Show help when player might be stuck
Explain how a thing works and don't keep it to yourself
Guide the player - Tutorial - Level design can help with only one way to go
Keep the player happy
Give reward for accomplishing things

KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID - THE KISS RULE

If you can't explain the things easily in just a sentence or two, do you think the player will understand it?
One purpose per one thing - One power-up = one functionality - One button = one function
Simple rules: “Easy to learn, Hard to master“
In the beginning you often have a lot of extra stuff (hopefully) - Find your way between it all and nail the core! - Complex things confuse the player - Complex things are hard to explain and take space
If your teammates have trouble understanding, simplify it!
If it starts to feel complicated, simplify it! - But not too simple :)

KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID - THE KISS RULE

If you can't explain the things easily in just a sentence or two, do you think the player will understand it?
One purpose per one thing - One power-up = one functionality - One button = one function
Simple rules: “Easy to learn, Hard to master“
In the beginning you often have a lot of extra stuff (hopefully) - Find your way between it all and nail the core! - Complex things confuse the player - Complex things are hard to explain and take space
If your teammates have trouble understanding, simplify it!
If it starts to feel complicated, simplify it! - But not too simple :)

WOW EFFECT

Stun your player with something awesome during the first 15 seconds!
Create your WOW effect!
Intro, video or what!

WOW EFFECT

Stun your player with something awesome during the first 15 seconds!
Create your WOW effect!
Intro, video or what!

REMEMBER THAT PLAYERS

Get easily frustrated
Have short patience
Like to explore and try everything
Do everything you didn't think of
Use focus group testing - If not available have your teammates play it ...otherwise even the programmer might not have time to play it at all!

REMEMBER THAT PLAYERS

Get easily frustrated
Have short patience
Like to explore and try everything
Do everything you didn't think of
Use focus group testing - If not available have your teammates play it ...otherwise even the programmer might not have time to play it at all!

MAINTAIN VARIETY

Provide choices for the player
Provide many ways to do things
Be innovative! Be even more innovative!
Power-ups - Create good items that give a lot of possibilities - Use the existing components by joining them in new ways
Level design - Create new kind of levels - Come up with an idea / theme for each level - Less can be much more!
Objectives - Making new, simple kind of game objectives can be really cost-efficient and powerful - Like in a FPS we used have advancing all the time. But with a simple change we can get "defend building" from just turning the objective around

MAINTAIN VARIETY

Provide choices for the player
Provide many ways to do things
Be innovative! Be even more innovative!
Power-ups - Create good items that give a lot of possibilities - Use the existing components by joining them in new ways
Level design - Create new kind of levels - Come up with an idea / theme for each level - Less can be much more!
Objectives - Making new, simple kind of game objectives can be really cost-efficient and powerful - Like in a FPS we used have advancing all the time. But with a simple change we can get "defend building" from just turning the objective around

HAVE REPLAY VALUE

Keep the Fun Factor
The core of the game has to be fun and proven to work (casual approach)
Games are fun! - Sad games? - Even the sad games give satisfaction

AND... GIVE POSITIVE FEEDBACK!!!

If I haven't mentioned enough of this, I'll do it once more. You can't do too much of it!
If player accomplishes given tasks and is not noted, player might not continue...
Give positive feedback
Be supportive and rather say "You almost did it! I know you can do it the next time" rather than "You failed and you are no good" - which of these too games would you play?
Rather overdo than underdo
I once saw in a student game that they had a wonderful animation when the player's ship exploded and the player lost. They complained their game felt dull and people didn't like it. I told them to put the same animation to where player wins and enemies die. With this small change it made a huge difference - even they liked their game much more after this simple change towards more rewarding!

HAVE REPLAY VALUE

Keep the Fun Factor
The core of the game has to be fun and proven to work (casual approach)
Games are fun! - Sad games? - Even the sad games give satisfaction

AND... GIVE POSITIVE FEEDBACK!!!

If I haven't mentioned enough of this, I'll do it once more. You can't do too much of it!
If player accomplishes given tasks and is not noted, player might not continue...
Give positive feedback
Be supportive and rather say "You almost did it! I know you can do it the next time" rather than "You failed and you are no good" - which of these too games would you play?
Rather overdo than underdo
I once saw in a student game that they had a wonderful animation when the player's ship exploded and the player lost. They complained their game felt dull and people didn't like it. I told them to put the same animation to where player wins and enemies die. With this small change it made a huge difference - even they liked their game much more after this simple change towards more rewarding!

EXERCISE: THE POWER OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK

Easy - 1 hour

Start Learning

EXERCISE: THE POWER OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK

Easy - 1 hour

Start Learning