[Dr. CKeymaster Rupees: 1,000 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

This week, you read Chapter 2 (“The Structure of Games”) of Fullerton’s Game Design Workshop, and Chapters 1 & 2 (“In the Beginning, There Is the Designer” & “The Designer Creates an Experience”) of Schell’s The Art of Game Design.

Discuss, analyze, and reflect on the readings in this discussion forum.

You must post at least once by 11:59 pm on Friday, and you must respond to at least three of your classmates’ posts by 11:59 pm on Monday.

Keep in mind that this is NOT a prescriptive post. The point here is to have a conversation and to learn more about game design together. So, to that end, here are some things you might discuss in your post:

– Quotes that you found to be especially insightful, along with explanations of why you selected these quotes.
– Questions that the readings raised for you — about your own experiences playing games, or about the way you previously thought about game design.
– Any “AHA!” moments you might have experienced, if the readings prompted you to suddenly see or understand something in a different light.
– Connections to your experience playing a game as part of this week’s quest.
– Questions you might have for your classmates (“Did anyone else think ___ about the part where Schell says ___…?”)
– Anything else, really, that’s notable, interesting, and discussion-worthy.

Have fun with this discussion!

[ErinParticipant Rupees: 1,235 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

In Schell’s reading I found it very notable that he discusses how “daunting” it is to master all of the skills a game designer needs. Some of these skills included psychology, music, public speaking and many more. This then discusses that it might be difficult to master all of these skills but the becoming familiar with all of them will allow for growth to occur. I found this very empowering to read because this can be a motto for so many different aspects in life. For example, at the gym if I want to build muscle I have to do progressive overload so I have to be lifting more weight than I have in the past. If I am doing the same weight over and over again very easily then I am making no change and not having any growth. I might be uncomfortable doing a heavier weight but that is the only way to grow muscle so I just have to do it. Schell later says that this is the “…reason that game designers must be confident and fearless,” (Schell 4). Before reading this I did not realize how many skills go into game designing but it was very important to learn since I can learn through this and do the same with many other aspects of my life.

In Fullerton’s reading he touches very briefly on characters in games and shows the evolution of Mario over the course of years. I felt like this should have been a topic that is very important to games and especially video games. When I was younger and I would play games I would always be so excited to choose which character I was going to be and to see who everyone else was going to choose. For example, in Monopoly I would always choose the thimble and my grandpa would always choose the hat. Characters allow for so much expression to occur and it is even “…a useful tool for dramatic engagement in games…” (Fullerton 40). I always chose the thimble because when I would play I was really into sewing so that was my expression through a game piece. For a different game on Wii, I loved making the Mii characters and would choose which character I was going to play as depending on my mood. I feel like the character you choose sets your mood on how you are going to play that game and I think they are a very important of a game.

[JoeunParticipant Rupees: 1,090 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

I agree with the amazement that comes with learning the many things involved in game design. The author’s outlook on how one can improve game design made the whole process easier to digest. I like how you further related this concept to becoming stronger in the gym.

I remember when I played Monopoly I would always choose the shoe, and this game design carried over to affect my experience with the game. Whenever the game would begin, I would immediately be saved the shoe, which brought me joy.

[KangweiParticipant Rupees: 370 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Erin! I totally agree that some sentences in Schell’s article could be the motto of our life. I found this: “The truth is that no one can. But the more of these things you are comfortable working with, however imperfectly, the better off you will be, for growth only happens when we exceed our limits.”(Schell 4). This sentence is used to “comfort” the readers who have read the article and feel discouraged about game design.

I also agree that The characters in the game will determine whether players are interested in the game or not. This is true for any game. Playing a character you like can indeed make the whole game experience more enjoyable.

[MeganParticipant Rupees: 965 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hello Erin! Your response is very detailed, well-written, and easy to understand. I completely agree with the point you bring up about not realizing just how much time, effort, and dedication go into creating a game. I can definitely see how it can be “daunting.” I am so happy you brought up the Wii, I forgot all about it! I remember that game, you could personalize your “me” to look like you. You also bring up a good point about the characters we choose, sometimes it isn’t even a character that resembles us physically, but a character or item that is symbolic to us personally, which is why we may pick a different color or game piece that is meaningful in some way to us.

[ChristopherParticipant Rupees: 865 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Erin!
I liked your comparison between lifting weights and growing as a game developer/person. You need to constantly challenge yourself, and I liked how Schell mentioned this right at the beginning so we knew what we were getting ourselves into. I also liked your examples for characters, since these are very memorable and nostalgic processes that likely have even greater connections that in a sense basically define the game.

[IzabellaParticipant Rupees: 400 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Erin! I agree with your point about how it can be very empowering to see how many different skill sets can be beneficial for a game designer. So many people have different skills and it can be scary for those who think that their skills in music cant be also beneficial for their career as a game designer. In addition, I also agree with you in your second paragraph where you discussed Fullerton’s reading and your point where you said that characters allow for expression to occur in a person and I completely agree. I love to express myself when playing games and I really enjoy building and naming my character model. When I was younger I played Wizard101 and I always had so much fun creating each unique profile I had and it definitely allowed me to have a sense of expression. I thin your response is great and very well thought-out!

[PragyaParticipant Rupees: 195 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hi Erin, I bet you could find a way to actually apply your weightlifting skills to games as well as all those other fields, haha. I also never even thought of Monopoly pieces as characters but when you think about it they really are, huh! And the beginning of the game when everyone is calling what characters they want is pretty fun. Which in the case of Monopoly doesn’t even make a difference since it’s not like the pieces have different stats or abilities or anything. We just like to have our signature pieces! This setup is in contrast to games where you can design your whole character. Like, a level of specificity where you can tweak your character’s eyebrows in a video game is in fact very cool and I’ll probably spend half and hour designing my very cool character, but at the end of the day I’ll also get similar satisfaction from chosing among a few Monopoly pieces.

[DestinyParticipant Rupees: 475 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hello Erin, I like your analogy between weightlifting and Schells ideas. It is insightful and can be applied to many different situations in life. With time comes perfection and pressure makes diamonds those are the quotes that I am reminded of when I read your post. I think that Schells introduction paragraph was perfect for a beginner game designer like myself who was initially intimidated by the idea of creating a game.

[AhishaParticipant Rupees: 410 RupeesRank: Wooden Sword]

I like how you used Schells analogy with an example of the gym. I think that the example you gave is very accurate and if we want to see change then we have to do things progressively better or different. Even though the article was about gaming, it is interesting how the concepts detailed in them can be used in real life as well.

[ShamarParticipant Rupees: 280 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hey Erin, I thought your post was very insightful, especially how you used your gym experience to compare Schell’s words of encouraging the reader to overcome the odds as a way of “growth,” which is the “motto” of life. At some point in our lives, we have to overcome our odds, fears, and risks to move on with our lives and become stronger and more confident. He also touches on how failures can be a good thing, in which failures can provide a lesson that you can learn from and become stronger in the future. I also agree that characters are an essential topic in video games because not only are they considered their “favorites” by players, but they also build a connection with the characters based on their story, actions, and personality.

[JoeunParticipant Rupees: 1,090 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Regarding Fullerton’s text, It was interesting to see the parallel when he was explaining the importance of engagement as he, himself was engaging readers through the mini exercises and including the segment about puzzles to engage the readers. In a way the exercises are mini games itself in our game of “winning” by finishing the text. He extended the definition and mechanics of games and associated it to an disparate concept. The most notable quote of this text is when he concludes his meticulous explanations of the multiple aspects of game structure with, “we have come to no grand conclusion on the absolute nature of games” (Fullerton 44). This highlights the ambiguity and creativity of a game, and how no matter how much one can try to apply a set definition to game, the concept of a game has a subjective manner, as even some terms of game design are not universal. This allows the vast variety of games available for our enjoyment.

“The game is not the experience. The game enables the experience, but it is not the experience” (Schell 11).
This quote stood out to me the most because I haven’t thought about it this way. The game ENABLES an experience rather than being the experience itself. As the experience for each player is unique and the creation of experience itself would in a way take away the meaning of the game. The experience of a game can be holistically from the moment you mention the game to your friends, opening the packaging, figuring out the rules, making mistakes and creating your own rules, and cleaning up the game.

Schell extends this concept of creating an experience to medias other than games, to further grasp at the concept of reality and imaginary experience. He highlights the importance of the creation of experience along with the difficulty for game designers to create a certain, fixed type of experience for every player, and how there are multiple but not established parts of designing an experience. In a way Schell backs up Fullerton’s claim of the vagueness when it comes to game design and structure.

After reading these text, I gained an understanding from the game designer’s perspective of League of Legends. It made me realize the complexity of the PC game and allowed me to gain a greater appreciation. Through the lens of a game designer, the story and unique abilities associated with each champion, the different game modes, and multiple sub-objectives applies so many concepts of personal emotion, psychology, and more mentioned by Schell and Fullerton, in creating the experience for a player. The idea of the holistic experience and emotions mentioned by Schell were prevalent as I can understand the difference of playing the game with friends and alone. As with friends the experience begins from the voice call and the bickering during the game to finally closing the application at 2AM in the morning, having to wake up in 4 hours.

[ErinParticipant Rupees: 1,235 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hi Joeun,

When I was reading Schell’s text that was also a quote that really stuck out to me. Before reading that I just assumed that a game was the experience itself that someone gets to experience the game themselves. With this being said, after reading this it made clear sense that there are so many different parts of the game that will enable an experience and not just playing the game being an experience. I find this very interesting because in your case something that is enabling your experience is the voice call with your friends while playing League of Legends. In my case, with the game I was talking about seeing everyone else’s drawings and hearing them explain themselves is enabling an experience as well!

[AniParticipant Rupees: 715 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi, I agree! I feel like it is so natural to overlook game design as something that may seem so simple. But after reading Fullerton and Schell’s reading we saw that it is actually quite the opposite! You really get to see each and every aspect that goes into designing the perfect game. I liked how you mentioned the idea of Holistic experience in Schell’s reading. Game design is really a psychological task where “the similarities and differences between the various peoples of the world, not just today, but throughout history” matter. It takes the analysis of these differences as well as human nature and a number of other important things to really be able to find insightful data about the players.

[MeganParticipant Rupees: 965 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hello Joeun, I love the quote you used: “The game is not the experience. The game enables the experience, but it is not the experience.” Prior to reading, I would’ve said that the game is the experience. I think the main idea is needing to look at the game from all different lenses, and seeing that a game is truly not one aspect or part, but many aspects or parts brought together to create this experience for the player! Very nicely written response!

[KangweiParticipant Rupees: 370 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hey Joeun, I totally agree with your analyze of Schell’s artcile. Game are not just about winning or losing, but also about the experience and engamement that players have with the game. I also like your analyze about league of legend game desigining. The game designer’s perspective could add so much depth and complexity to the game and totally change the player’s experience in that game.

[AlexisParticipant Rupees: 735 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Joeun! In terms of your response to the readings, what really stuck out to me was your analysis of the game experience. It is so common for people to play a game and expect to get the same experience as other, whether that be from hearing friends discuss the game, reading reviews f a game, watching podcasts/twitch of games, etc. However it is the user that controls the experience and what they get out of the game and every person has a different perspective/experience. This is extremely important to keep in mind when trying a new game. Users need to go in with an open mind and no expectation, as their experience ay be the complete opposite of someone else’s and therefore could cloud your judgement on the game and cause users to have false expectations. As for game writers, it is important to make a game that could be interpreted and enjoyed by all users, meaning that the game should not have one singular experience or function that everyone perceives the exact same, as diversity and that surprise factor is what make games so enjoyable.

[RachelParticipant Rupees: 385 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Joeun, I thought the same thing regarding the quote from Schell. The game itself is not the experience, but the game enables us to get an experience that is memorable. When I play games such as League of Legends with my friends, its usually the games we lose where we have the most fun, joking around and bantering with each other. In other games such as Final Fantasy XIV, some of the people I met in this game I actually ended up meeting in real life and became best friends with. Each player is able to find a unique experience even in the same game, which is why games are so mesmerizing and interesting.

[AhishaParticipant Rupees: 410 RupeesRank: Wooden Sword]

Hi Joeun,
After reading the articles I also felt that I got some insight about the games from the perspective of a designer and not only a player, and I agree with what you mentioned about there being so much effort that goes into games, especially video games that the player does not realize. Regrading what you said in the end about playing the game for so long even if you should be doing something else, I think that is exactly what the creators of the games have in mind as well.

[RobertParticipant Rupees: 300 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Joeun, I used the same quote that you used as well. I just think that quote summarizes what games are really supposed to mean. I really enjoyed your breakdown of both of the readings. At least when I play games they are supposed to distract me and become an experience. however, after reading this article I realized that I should take a step back and enjoy the time I get to spend with my friends and have the game increase that experience. Loved You’re post!

[Aaliyah WitherspoonParticipant Rupees: 315 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Joen! You mentioned a quote from Schnell that also really stuck out to me. I would’ve never thought a designer cares that much about what kind of experience I have. Like I thought they’d care up to a certain extent, and that how nice their game design is was their overall goal. But I didn’t expect for their goal to be about my experience.

[MeganParticipant Rupees: 965 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Schell’s text describes many of the essential skills a game designer utilizes. For instance, “animation, anthropology, architecture, brainstorming…” are but a few of the long list of skills. He states that the most important skill of all for a game designer is listening. The way in which he describes this skill of listening is NOT surface listening, but a deeper listening, a deeper understanding of both ours and others subtle body language, tone of voice, etc. Schell states, “when you listen thoughtfully, you observe everything and constantly ask yourself questions: ‘is that right?’ ‘why is it that way?'” (Schell, 6). In terms of game design, Schell also points out the five things to keep in mind in order to listen, which is to your team, audience, game, client, and self. Schell also states, “Game designers only care about what seems to exist. The player and the game are real. The experience is imaginary—but game designers are judged by the quality of this imaginary thing because it is the reason people play games” (Schell, 11). This quote is especially insightful to me, because I feel it is so apparent, but kind of forgotten about. A game and player are real, but the experience is imaginary! I do feel that games are in a category of their own, because this certain level of creativity along with listening to the audience and creating a game that your audience will enjoy is definitely a challenging task. In Fullerton’s text, when he compared Go Fish and Quake, I realized similarities between the two that I had not thought of prior. I also love how Fullerton put a lot of emphasis on the game experience through the players. At the end of the day, a game is only fun when there’s a challenge or some level of competition involved between the players!

[ErinParticipant Rupees: 1,235 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hi Megan,

I totally agree, games need to have a challenge to them for them to be fun. If there is no challenge to the player then what is the point of that game. It can be done again and again at no difficulty which will make the game boring to the player. Bringing up the point of there being a challenge for the game designer as well for coming up with the game and listening to the audience. That is a very important challenge to overcome and listen to.

[Aaliyah WitherspoonParticipant Rupees: 315 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi! I also agree with this fully. It makes me think of how Schnell said about how game designers even throw in random experiences. This not only challenges people but also gives more control to the person which in turn also adds to the excitement of a game.

[AlexisParticipant Rupees: 735 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Megan! I completely agree with all of the points you made, however what stuck out most to me from your analysis was your point that a game is only fun when there is the component of it being a challenge. I have never thought of it that way but it does make a lot of sense how a game would become very boring and repetitive quite quickly if there was no aspect of challenge in it that made users think, strategize, and work towards their end goal. I think this is something that makes game writing so challenging as they have to take this into consideration when writing the game and find a balance between making the gaming challenging and also fun, while avoiding making the game too challenging that people are unable to enjoy themselves while playing.

[JoeunParticipant Rupees: 1,090 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Megan, your analysis of Schell’s writing are insightful, as it allows me to gain a better understanding as well. The five types of listening and I also found the imaginary aspect of game design quite interesting as I have never thought of it that way.

[PragyaParticipant Rupees: 195 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Schell lists the various skills that help in designing a game. Having tried to create a game myself, I can attest to this with my own experiences – as soon as an idea crops up, you start to realize how many skills and resources will be required to actually make it a reality. Even within a field there are countless smaller fields – I’m good at digital painting, but drawing pixel art was an entirely new hurdle. So do I make everything in a painting style, which is hard, or teach myself pixel art, which is also hard, or use free resources, which would make my game less unique and also, still be hard, since they weren’t made for my game… etc.
This experience gives you some perspective into the parts of games you play yourself that aren’t as great as you’d like – perhaps the designer(s) had a vision that simply wasn’t able to be realized with what they had at hand.
Another interesting thing I found is the commentary about the emotions games evoke and which audience games are made for, since having seen some comments on my post I can see that even before playing the game people have entirely different expectations from my description, as well as the common description of the game you get from searching it up. This isn’t a judgement on what those guys were saying – I was just surprised since I hadn’t even thought of it that way. For example, people brought up true crime, which is actually a genre I don’t like at all. Yet from my description someone who’s interested in that found a spark of interest. Which is wild, because this is important to someone who’s trying to design and market the game. Additionally someone said it was a horror game, which I also never thought while playing, but looking back I guess it could be pretty horrifying to the audience, and some parts to me as well – it just wasn’t created in the typical style of horror games, or even horror games deliberately trying to break genre conventions by being different. So asking people to classify a game based on just the basic elements can lead to a lot of different answers.

[JoeunParticipant Rupees: 1,090 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hi Pragya! I find it amazing that you have tried to create a game. You were able to have the first hand experience of what Schell and Fullerton explained in their texts. How was it like to try and predict your audience’s experience to your game while designing your game? What type of game did you create?
This is a great take on Schell’s take on the game experience. I personally love true crime, so my interests do peak in that area, but each person finds enjoyment in different things, which also creates the beauty of the diversity of game. However, to an extent I wonder if audience feedback is the most reliable to “experience” before actually experiencing, as I often look at reviews when watching movies, playing games, or shopping.

[KangweiParticipant Rupees: 370 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hey Pragya! Creating a game by yourself is awesome! As Schell described, being a qualified game designer is very daunting. It’s normal to encounter difficulties in the process of making a game. Don’t lose heart! I agree that players’ experience is also crucial in game experience. And this requires the game designer to have a high understanding of the players of that game and the players’ needs. Every player’s expectations for the game will also be different. I think this could be a difficulty that game designers face.

[MeganParticipant Rupees: 965 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hello Pragya! I also think it is so interesting that you designed a game. I also like how you point out that each genre kind of caters to a different audience, which is so true. I personally love true crime and I think I would love to play a true crime game, but I could see how for someone who doesn’t have that prior interest in true crime wouldn’t enjoy the game. I think you probably understand firsthand the “daunting” task that it is to create a game and just how many things need to be taken into account. I wish you the best of luck!!

[KangweiParticipant Rupees: 370 RupeesRank: White Sword]

After reading the first two chapters of Schell’s article, I learned what abilities a game designer needs to have and how we should use these abilities. For me, I think communication and public speaking are particularly challenging. As an international student who has just come to the United States for a year and a half, I can relate my personal experience to the example Schell gave of discussing Caferia. Like Schell described, “he knew he didn’t like it but was unable to (or didn’t bother to) analyze the experience to the point where he could make useful suggestions about how the pizza might improve.” (Schell 18). In my native language, I can easily express my feelings. However, using English, because of the lack of vocabulary and daily language reserves, whether oral or written, expressing my feelings accurately to others is a difficult task. This has caused me many difficulties and I think the inability to accurately express feelings will lead to frustration for both the audience and oneself.Therefore, I think that having good expression abilities is especially important for a game designer.

After reading Fuellerton’s article, I have the same feeling for some of the key concepts he described, such as Boundaries. Nowadays, no mattter it’s online or offline games, the concept of boundaries, whether conceptual or physical, is everywhere. Although we are interested in the world outside the boundaries, we cannot break through the boundaries due to the game settings. In addition, as a player of League of Legends, I also have a lot of feelings about Challenge, Character, and Story. For competitive games, I think Challenge is a very important element that leads players to persist in this game. Winning or losing a game can “create varying levels of achievement or frustration” (Fuellerton 34). Therefore, I think that when making or designing a game, it is very important to balance the win-loss situation for the player’s experience. I think Character and Story are also very important in the design or game phase, because an engaging story or a very likable character can attract or consolidate many customers (players). In addition, I also have doubts about Conflict. As Fuellerton analyzed, for the games Go Fish and Quake, although from our cognition, it is actually possible to win these games with shortcuts, but players must give up these shortcuts and follow the game rules. My question is: Fuellerton seems to emphasize that if game players do not follow the rules, the game will not be able to proceed or pass through (Fuellerton 31). But in many games, cheaters have destroyed the game rules, but this has not affected the game’s operation and the game’s result. Is this also considered a kind of Conflict?

[AniParticipant Rupees: 715 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Kangwei! To answer your question, I would consider that a kind of conflict. According to Fullerton, conflict happens when “procedures and rules of games tend to deter [players] from accomplishing goals directly” (Fullerton 31). So cheating in a way is kind of like a loophole of the actual path that was designed for the players. Like Fullerton mentions at the end of that paragraph, it is important players work to resolve in “their own favor.”

[IzabellaParticipant Rupees: 400 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Kangwei! I really like how you connected an experience that you have to the reading and I think you have made amazing accomplishments by taking that step to be an international student. What matters is that you are learning and growing and I think it is an amazing accomplishment! I find myself lacking in creativity in areas such as music and the arts and I always struggle to express a vision or express myself in a creative manner. In addition, I agree with your point where you said that it is important to balance the win-lose ratio to make a player’s experience good because if someone is losing too much then it can impact them negatively and make them not want to play at all. This is why it is important to make the game user-friendly where it is not impossible to win, but possibly adding different levels of difficulty so players who are not as good can still enjoy the game. I think your response is great and you did a great job discussing the readings! It was very interesting to read your perspective.

[AhishaParticipant Rupees: 410 RupeesRank: Wooden Sword]

Hi Kangwei,
I think that it was cool how you were able to connect the reading to your own experience. I did not realize the challenges that can be faced when you are not able to speak a language as good as someone else might since it is not your native language. However I liked how you mentioned being able to express yourself and being able to read other’s expressions as something important as well because the good thing about this is that everyone can understand expressions and they help connect us.

[AniParticipant Rupees: 715 RupeesRank: White Sword]

In Fullerton’s reading, “The Structure of Games,” he highlights the common themes and ambiguities of popular games. Throughout his reading, Fullerton poses questions to the readers. For example, amongst the various components of a game that Fullerton mentions, the paragraph about outcomes strikes me the most. On page 32, it states, “The aspect of uncertainty in outcome is an important one for our playcentric process because it is a key motivator for the players.” He says that it is the uncertainty of the possible outcome that keeps the players playing. And I agree! I can’t imagine how boring it would be to continue playing a game if you already knew who was going to win. Can you imagine a game of tag where the tagger announced the person he was going to tag next? It would not be fun! It makes me wonder how difficult the job of a game designer must be. They would have to effectively be able to appeal to everyone’s needs and see what the population is liking right now.
In the first two chapters of Schell’s reading, “In the Beginning, There Is the Designer,” Schell talks about the principles and skills game designers must employ in their practice. It makes me think about how difficult it is to actually designa a game because of all the aspects you must consider. I had an “Aha!” moment on page 18, when Schell was discussing dissecting feelings and its importance to game design. It made me realize that to be a designer you have to be certain of the emotions you feel, because if your not sure what feelings your game enlists how will anyone else? On page 22 Schell states, “you need to clearly state the essential experience you desire and find as many ways as possible to instill this essense into your game.” I found this quote to be very insightful. It makes me wonder about popular games that I play and how the Lens of Essential Experience works from the perspective of the player.

[ChristianaParticipant Rupees: 425 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Ani!

I like what you said about uncertainty, and even your analogy about tag. Uncertainty is definitely a valued part of a game. In horror games, especially, or even in games like Temple Run, the possibility of getting caught and not knowing when it could happen fuels the player’s actions to keep playing. However, it could also be very hard to do, as when it comes to specific genres, certain things become expected and cliche, but the game developers do not want to bore their players.

[ChristopherParticipant Rupees: 865 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Schell’s text really redefined the way I thought about game development and games in general. The idea that “on their own, games are just artifacts—clumps of cardboard or bags of bits” made me realize that all of the concrete and logistical aspects of games are merely tools to unlock the game’s true intention, which is the experience. Schell goes on to say that “as tricky as experiences can be, creating them is all a game designer really cares about. We cannot shy away from them, retreating into the concreteness of our material game.” Game design can seem like such an all-encompassing and overwhelming topic, but Schell’s words here are very helpful in that they define our goal. Even if it is abstract, at least it puts us in the right direction so we know what to think about. For example, I always thought of game design as a way to simply come up with rules and make sure it is fun. I’ve never really thought about starting from the experience.
One quote that stood out to me is “Every memorable experience has some key features that define it and make it special.” I really liked this quote because it relates to something I learned in my writing class, which is that you shouldn’t describe a whole scene, but rather select certain details, magnify them, and then let the reader fill in the rest. I think the concept is very similar here in that you need to make sure you properly situate the player within the world so that they feel like they are truly in a different environment, but you also don’t have to go overboard because that may overwhelm them and take away from the key details. I think that Schell’s example of the snowball fight also worked. He chose a nostalgic scene and nitpicked certain elements that really had a strong connotation to them, and I could really visualize the snowball game being played with all of its effects. Schell’s insight on having “two minds: one moving, engaged in an experience, and one still, silently observing the other,” and how this could be associated with a state of zen, was an aha moment for me. It’s a concept that can be applied not only to games, but to life in general, as we too often seem to be robotically performing tasks without thinking about ourselves doing that task.
In Fullerton’s text, one line that really stood out to me was “[games] guide player behavior, creating interactions that would probably never take place outside the authority of the game.” I thought it was a really insightful point, and it reinforces the need for creativity in designing games, since you have to come up with new concepts and ideas that, when combined with Schell’s ideas, should create a memorable experience.
I guess a question I would have after reading both of these texts is what they would say about games that are just trying to be addictive. Are they still trying to create an “experience” if their rules and design are so simple?

[EthanParticipant Rupees: 885 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hey Chris! I really liked the quote you found Schell’s text. One of the biggest things that I took away from Schell’s game design text was its explanation on experience. My original understanding of the game experience was similar to yours at first as you said that you thought game design was simply creating rules and making it fun. This perception of game design almost seems one dimensional and I think the quote you chose added that new dimension and made the experience a starting point. I also chose the same quote as you for Fullerton’s text where it talks about how the game is in charge of guiding the player’s behavior and creates events that would never take place outside the authority of the game. It really shows how every experience is different in their own unique ways and makes it memorable for each player. In response to your question, I think that in order for a game to be addictive, it must have a goal that is further than what the player has already achieved. So overall, I do think they are still trying to create an experience because the motivation and urge to keep going and achieving that next step creates new experiences for every milestone that is hit.

[RobertParticipant Rupees: 300 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hey Christopher, I really enjoyed your writing in your post. I like how you kind of related the works of the two authors to what real life and creating something is all about. It was a super cool way of connecting things. I forgot where I heard this quote but it went something like to become happier do not look at tasks as a task but look at a task like something that is being done to improve your life. In other words take control of it and embrace the things you are doing in order to become happier.

[Aaliyah WitherspoonParticipant Rupees: 315 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Chris! I really liked how you mentioned the point about how games create interactions that would never happen in authority. It was something that also stuck out to me. Games really take you out of your own world and put you into another. It really takes a certain creativity to build those interactions in order to create memorable experiences. I’m even wondering if I have such creativity to do that.

[AhishaParticipant Rupees: 410 RupeesRank: Wooden Sword]

In the article “In the Beginning, There Is the Designer” & “The Designer Creates an Experience,” by Schell, I found the first page of the article to be one of the most interesting because it did a good job of getting my attention. The quote “Just say these magic words: I am a game designer.,” (Schell 1). I thought that this quote was inspirational because it proved to the reader that they can become a game designer if they want and that all they have to do is make the first step. I think that this quote can apply to other things as well and that is why I stood out to me. In the second article, “The Structure of Games,” by Fullerton, the quote that most interested me was, “But characters in games can also be vessels for our own participation, entry points for us to experience situations and conflicts through the guise of a mask we create and direct,” (Fullerton 40). This quote was interesting to me because it made me realize how we as players connect to the characters in games. If something bad happens to a character that we have bonded with then it is upsetting for us, and if something good happens then we are happy because in a way we live vicariously through them. A question that arises for me in the second article was, the author mentions the notion of “dramatic elements.” This is when the player connects to the character and has an emotional attachment to them of sorts. My question is to the author and to anyone else, do you feel like forming an emotional connection to a character makes you inclined to play the game more, or do people prefer games where you are not connected to the character so it doesn’t matter to you if something happens to them? I can also connect this to my game of the week that I played for the other discussion. In the game Animal Crossing that I played there are characters in the game as well as the character that you play as. I would not say that I am very connected to those side characters, although I do have somewhat of a connection because I do not want them to leave the game, and they occasionally ask to leave and go to another island.

[ChristianaParticipant Rupees: 425 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Ahisha!

I really like the quote you chose from the second reading. A lot of people see characters, especially the protagonist, as reflections of themselves. For better or worse, this enables us to do things that we would and would never do before in real life. Consequently, being in an environment where one is usually, or for the most part, in control, gives people the possibilities to try new things that they may never have encountered in the real world.

To answer your question, I think forming an emotional connection to a character makes me more inclined to play a game. At least, in terms of games that are not played physically with other people, for if I am not interacting with the friends or family that I am playing with, then I need to form some connection with the character. For me, I think games are about connections first and foremost. Even if the game is good on a technical level, if I am not invested by the characters or by playing with other people, then I cannot enjoy it wholeheartedly.

[RachelParticipant Rupees: 385 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Starting off with Schell’s reading, I found it especially interesting that a game designer needs ALL the skills that Schell needs – not just a single aspect of it. Originally, I thought that animators need to know animation, architects need to know architecture, economists need to know economy, etc. However, the reading taught me that while a team of people with these skills might work together to create a game, everyone needs to understand the other people’s work in order to successfully collaborate together. I thought that this first reading, in some way, relates back to the essence of the course itself and what we’ll be learning how to do – collaborating. Personally I am an artist – however, I realized that in order to create art for a game, I must understand the game itself to create art that complements the “artifact” that delivers an “experience” as Schell puts it. He states, “We create an artifact that a player interacts with and cross our fingers that the experience that takes place during that interaction is something they will enjoy (Schell 12).

In Fullerton’s text, he states, “Games challenge players to accomplish their objectives while following rules and procedures that make it difficult to do so” (Fullerton 42). I think that this in essence relates back to Schell’s reading in a sense. Games present to the players an objective and a set of boundaries. The player’s ultimate goal is not to finish and accomplish the goal objective, but personally in my opinion, I believe that the true gain from games is the emotions and feelings that the player gets from the games in the process. A game necessarily does not need to be complete or finished for the purpose to be served. Fullerton gives us some examples; “… if you are playing a game like World of Warcraft that goes on and on ad infinitum, or a game like The Sims, which has no specified objective, these games find ways to provide both moments of resolution and measurable achievement to their players” (Fullerton 43). I think that these two readings gave us a clear direction of our first steps as game designers, by giving us the thought process behind game designing. As Schell stated, I am a game designer, and these texts placed me in the right direction to start thinking this way.

[ErinParticipant Rupees: 1,235 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hi Rachel,

I really like your point of the point of a game to be the emotions and feelings the player gets from the process. When playing a game, I rarely ever remember the end of it but the actual playing of the game is what I always remember. The emotions that come from my friends and I are something that I will never forget and you brought up a very important point. It is crucial to think about the players journey and not the actual destination of winning and losing. The destination is definitely more impactful when someone thinks about the game instead of who won and who lost. Great interpretation!

[ZiyangParticipant Rupees: 45 RupeesRank: White Sword]

What impressed me most about Schell’s article is he mentions the importance of listening in game design. Most game developer or all people who devoted into creative careers are talented and they insist their own ideas to be unique and special. This could benefit the overall intelligence of the design team but also reduce the possibility to create something even more interesting since people are too urging to defend themselves. “To listen with a silent heart, with a waiting, open soul. Without passion, without desire, without judgment, without rebuke.” (Schell 6) This is an ideal situation of communication and cooperation since this is based on respect and equality between designers.

Another interesting point he made is how to make your players feel what designers are feeling. Schell makes several ways to practice such a skill, but it might require time to develop. It is obvious that we can only partially feel what others are feeling. Our thoughts are so different and unique and the language we use seems so flat and lack of emotions, which makes bigger misunderstanding. “We filter reality through our senses and through our minds, and the consciousness we actually experience is a kind of illusion—not really reality at all.” (Schell 23) Schell made a point that as a designer, it is important to realize that the reality we thought to be real is just for us, it is just a projection of a multiple possible explanation of the true reality. So, it is not wise to force the audiences or players to accept your explanation of reality, or even to take them into your own world. It might turn out to be wasting time since they might not be able to understand your thoughts and how you build your own world. So, step back, be humble, and truly thinking that what kinds of design can make most people to have fun.

[EthanParticipant Rupees: 885 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Ziyang! I liked how you emphasized the importance of listening in game design. This is one of the concepts from Schell’s text that really gave me that mind opening aha moment. Listening with “a silent heart” and “without judgement” is something that game designers must practice when creating a game that appeals to many different factors. I also like how you said “it is just a projection of a multiple possible explanation of the true reality” because it shows the multiple dimensions of a game and how many things one really needs to consider when creating a game.

[RobertParticipant Rupees: 300 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Fullerton’s text emphasizes the importance of engagement in game design and how it can be applied to other areas, such as reading. He uses mini exercises and puzzles to engage readers, and highlights the subjectivity and ambiguity of the concept of a game, which allows for a wide variety of games to exist. He concludes by stating that there is no grand conclusion on the absolute nature of games, emphasizing the creativity and subjectivity of the concept.

Schell’s quote “The game is not the experience. The game enables the experience, but it is not the experience” stands out as it emphasizes that the game itself is not the experience, but rather it enables the person playing the game to change their reality of what their knowledge of gaming was. He expands on this concept by discussing how the experience of a game can be holistic and unique to each player, and how game designers have difficulty creating a fixed experience for every player. He also extends this concept of creating an experience to other media, not just games, to further grasp the concept of reality and imaginary experience, emphasizing the importance of creating unique and engaging experiences for players. Schell’s ideas complement Fullerton’s by highlighting the vagueness and subjectivity of game design and structure.
When reading both of these articles I was taken aback by how much I have missed from just mindlessly playing games. There, is so much that goes into game making and design that it sometimes will go over my head. I rarely sit down and take in the experience of the game that the designer is trying to build. Instead, I take it at my discretion and change the meaning altogether making it more unenjoyable for myself.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Robert.

[JasmineParticipant Rupees: 320 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Robert,

I enjoyed reading your post. I too found the same quote, “The game is not the experience. The game enables the experience, but it is not the experience” insightful. I agree that the game enables the person playing to alter their thinking to reach the goal of the game.

[RachelParticipant Rupees: 385 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Robert, I was also enlightened by alot of the stuff that was in the readings. It made me realize that games are more than just games. However, I don’t think that you missed out anything from mindlessly playing games. The fact that the designers are able to get us to come back to the game is proof that they have successfully in some way get the player’s attention. Although the experience might not be pleasurable at some times, it is still an experience nonetheless. Personally, I believe that a successful game, in essence, is a game that when you recall the experience in the future it is a positive one despite the negative experiences within the game.

[ZiyangParticipant Rupees: 45 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi,Robert. I also found it interesting that different players will end up having totally different game experience. Not like any other physical object, game is a journey, an experience that players can only have after playing the game. However, different players may have totally different experiences as the designers might expect. Players will interpret the story based on their memory and their past experience. So, it is impossible for designers to find a way to standardize the experience of game. You might standardize a dish, a computer, a book and any physical object. But experiences cannot be standardized, which makes it almost impossible to anticipate how players will react after playing the game.But still there are something most people are in common, people enjoy taking adventures, prefer all stories have a good ending and etc. Also, different groups of people may have different preferences. So, your player is the first thing that needs to be considered in a game. Who is gonna playing your game, and what are the characteristics they like about the game. And in the end, made the game they would enjoy.

[ScottParticipant Rupees: 600 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Robert, the quote “The game is not the experience. The game enables the experience, but it is not the experience” truly helped change my view on video-game designing. Designers value the experience that the player gets from playing their game higher than anything else, and this was something that I failed to realize until now. Everybody ultimately cannot have the same experiences, but the game designer can do his or her best to design their game in the best way possible that evokes the feelings they want their players to experience.

[AlexisParticipant Rupees: 735 RupeesRank: White Sword]

In Fullerton’s reading, what really stood out to me was his emphasis on the importance of engaging the player in games. He states in the reading, “Certainly, some players are attracted to pure abstract challenges, but for most players, there needs to be something else that draws them in and allows them to connect emotionally with the experience.Games are, after all, a form of entertainment, and good entertainment moves us both intellectually and emotionally” (Fullerton, 33). This resonated with me as a sort of AHA! moment in that we often think that games are so enjoyable to people because they are seen as a break from reality and a fun aspect of life, but I have never stopped to consider that what truly makes games interesting and fun is the emotional appeal that they give players. They make players care and thus the emotions of excitement and joy, and the adrenaline all stems from that emotional attachment. Therefore, as gamemakers, the most important aspect to consider when designing a game is how they will draw players in and connect emotionally to the game in order to keep them interested and engaged. In Schell’s reading, something new that I learned is that, “The most important skill for a game designer is listening.Game designers must listen to many things. These can be grouped into five major categories: team, audience, game, client, and self” (Schell, 5). This is something that I did not know and would not think of first if I were to try to guess what the most important factor of game design were to be. However in reflecting on this, and the supporting reasoning provided throughout the text, I came to the realization that listening is what allows all ideas to be brought to light, and for collaboration on game designs to truly works as it is supposed to. By listening to your peers, everyone is able to share their thoughts and creativity and thus everyone collaborating on the game design is able to be heard and all possible options are able to be considered. This provides the team with all possibilities for the game and ultimately results in the best possible game design because all strategies and ideas were spoken and listened to.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Alexis.

[ZiyangParticipant Rupees: 45 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi, Alexis. I found that useful too since comparing to other art forms(Paintings, fictions, movies and etc), games to be one of the most interactive form to its audiences. It is so interactive that it turns its audiences turn into players. It is necessary to consider the players’ reaction if game designers are trying to make a good game. Game designers have to put themselves in their players’ position, to feel what their players are feeling. Such a process exists in creations of fiction and movies too, but they are not as important as it to making a good game. Game is first to be an entertainment, then on a higher level, could be art. It likes the difference between TV series and films. Films are sometime less popular than Tv series, while having a higher art value. If designers want to put more thoughts of their own instead pleasing the players, it might risk the chance to lose lots of potential players.

[ChristianaParticipant Rupees: 425 RupeesRank: White Sword]

“The major gift is love of the work. If you have the major gift, the love of designing games, you will design games using whatever limited skills you have. And you will keep doing it. And your love for the work will shine through, infusing your work with an indescribable glow that only comes from the love of doing it” (Schell 7).

I selected this quote because it’s a line people hear a lot, but do not really believe. I think it is a good piece of advice and most definitely true, because passion enables one to keep trying and push one’s self beyond their capabilities. It is something I would like to keep in mind not only for this class, but in other future projects/activities.

Of the whole list of skills anthropology stands to me the most because of my initial surprise when I saw it there.I usually think of anthropology in relation to archaeology, and I could not see how that related to game design. However, the more I thought about anthropology in its literal sense, the more I could see how it related to games, as people are perhaps the most important part of games.

The section about conflict made me think of the game I played, Subway Surfers, which has a pretty simple conflict but the obstructions the game places on the player causes it to become much more difficult in reaching this objective. I have realized that compared to multiplayer games, where players are pitted against each other, single-player games need to actively work against the player by placing challenges so as to keep them engaged and to prevent them from obtaining success too quickly.

[RachelParticipant Rupees: 385 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hey Christina, Its really interesting to see your quote that you chose. I glanced over it while I was reading it the first time around, but now, looking at it again, it really has a deeper meaning into it. Passion and love towards a topic is what truly drives people forward. Without love, you can get close, but it is difficult to reach the level where the work “glows” with the love and effort put in. Talent and love are two different things, and while talent may have the upper hand at first, love has the higher cap.

[ShamarParticipant Rupees: 280 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Schell provides us with essential ways of developing our desired video game. At the beginning of his article, he encourages the reader to say, “I am a game designer,” to create confusion for the reader, which engages the reader in why they would be considered a game designer with little knowledge. He also emphasizes that the important skill in game design is “good listening,” in which designers must engage in good listening with their “team, audience, game, client, and self” (Schell, pg.5). I found this to be very insightful because I used to think that game designers only listen to their team and their client rather than the audience to create a good-quality game. In the modern day, some game designers develop games where they focus mainly on the appearance of the game instead listening to the game to see if they’re no errors/glitches that occurred within the game and listening to their audience to see what could be done to make the game more satisfying and engaging. I also liked where it said that games are artifacts that are used to not only experiences but also a “dream of “artificial reality”—to be able to create experiences that are in no way limited by the constraints of the medium that delivers the experiences” (Schell, pg. 11). I also found this quote to be very insightful because it breaks away from the misconception that games create experiences for individuals to be engaged in gaming where games are used as artifacts that serve as a dream world for people to explore, and an escape from reality. This is one of the reasons I was interested in game development is not only creating a desired game but also creating an exciting story, characters, graphics, and functions that have those engaged in the game.

Fullerton’s article describes the main components that should be included when developing a game that will evoke emotions and engage the players in resolving the uncertainty of the outcome of a story. When it comes to story, he states that ” some games engage players emotionally by using the power of story within or surrounding their formal elements”(Fullerton, pg. 16). I find that story is crucial to have the players engage because it is not only encouraging the players to fill in the odds of an outcome, it also forms a connection between the player and the character they’re playing in which their story may relate to one another. Therefore, the player works with the character in piecing the puzzle together to determine their story’s outcome. A character is essential in any game because they not only build a connection with the player but also provide “a way for us to empathize with the situation and live vicariously through their efforts” (Fullerton, pg. 15). I found this to be insightful because there are some players that will empathize with characters, such as dying characters, in which evokes emotion that their situation may relate to something that happened to them or someone they knew in real life. Therefore, characters are crucial in finding out the outcomes of a story as a way to engage the player.

[ChristopherParticipant Rupees: 865 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Shamar,
I agree that I found the listening part to be really insightful. I guess that’s why a lot of games look for feedback and reviews, and a big part of marketing the game is knowing how to reach your target audience. Also, I agree that the story is crucial and I liked your example with the characters dying evoking an emotion from the viewer. People are naturally engaged in stories, and so they function as a good way to get someone involved in the game itself.

[PragyaParticipant Rupees: 195 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hi Shamar, I also think that empathizing with characters is what draws a lot of people to different games. In addition to this, I think Fullerton is also talking about characters who are different from the player, since if they are written carefully and respectfully it can be a good way to walk in other people’s shoes for a little bit, without being too stressful as it’s still a game.

[DestinyParticipant Rupees: 475 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hello Shamar, Great post I had a similar thoughts when I read the beginning of Schells chapter one, “In the beginning, there is a designer,” It was insightful, considering the different important facets that are a part of the game development process.

[ScottParticipant Rupees: 600 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Shamar, I also found importance in the quote “some games engage players emotionally by using the power of story within or surrounding their formal elements” (Fullerton, 16). I think the story of a game is one of the most important part of it. If a game does not have a good story, what is the player working toward or for if they keep playing? Having a well-thought out story encourages a player to keep playing one’s game.

[DestinyParticipant Rupees: 475 RupeesRank: White Sword]

When I read through chapter one, “what skills do I need to become a game writer?” One of the skills I came across was Technical writing skills. The author states,” You need to create documents that clearly describe your complex designs without leaving any holes or gaps” (Pg 4). My minor is in technical writing and when I was required to take this course I was excited but I wondered what skills I would gain from this course that would add to my technical

[DestinyParticipant Rupees: 475 RupeesRank: White Sword]

(adding a reply because the rest of my post did not attach, not sure why)

But I was curious to see what skills from game writing would add to my experience learning about technical writing. I think that an essential skill that is carried into both game design and technical writing is collaboration which in chapter one is listed as arguably, one of the most important skills.

[EthanParticipant Rupees: 885 RupeesRank: White Sword]

In this week’s readings, they both introduced us to the elements of game design, and taught us on what makes up a game as well as the structure that backs the games that we all love. In Schell’s first two chapters of “The Art of Game Design, it talked a lot about the door to becoming a game designer, which I found very interesting. There were many sections within these two chapters that opened my eyes to the various aspects of game design describing concepts such as the game experience, different kinds of listening, and the perils of game design. One quote that I found very interesting was a quote from Saddhartha in the chapter. “To listen with a silent heart, with a waiting, open soul. Without passion, without desire, without judgment, without rebuke.” This really opened my eyes into the word listen in general. Before I read this, I perceived the word listen as something where I would just hear an auditory sound like the text said. I always thought that terms such as active listening would define the deeper meanings of listening. This quote defines how a game designer must listen with passion and observe using context clues and engage in the game itself. This was also an aha moment for me because I had a changed perception on the concept of listening. Another quote that stood out to me was “We must use every means we can muster to comprehend, understand, and master the nature of human experience.” I liked this quote because it really summed up a large part of game design as it describes how you must understand how humans experience various stimuli. When players play games, they experience different things and have control of their own story. So the designers must account for each one of these experiences. While I was reading this and comparing it to my game experience from this week. I thought about the design of Pokemon GO and how the designers really put a lot of thought and effort into reading into the audience’s interests. The creators really listened to the audience and knew what would make them happy.

In “The Structure of Games”, it describes the various components of the games and tells the reader various elements one must implement in order to create a good game. This reading made me think a lot about the structure of Pokemon GO as it has many objectives, procedures, and rules. A quote that I really enjoyed was “games guide player behavior, creating interactions that would probably never take place outside the authority of the game.” I thought this quote was great because when I was playing Pokemong GO throughout the week, I found myself experiencing interactions with people and gaming experiences I never felt before.

[JasmineParticipant Rupees: 320 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Ethan,

Great post! i agree that the quote “To listen with a silent heart, with a waiting, open soul. Without passion, without desire, without judgment, without rebuke.”, was an attention grabbing quote. Explaining that one has to be focused on the broader intention of the goal in order to navigate the game efficiently.

[JasmineParticipant Rupees: 320 RupeesRank: White Sword]

In Schell’s first two chapters of “The Art of Game Design, one quote that was insightful, “The game is not the experience. The game enables the experience, but it is not the experience.” I thought this quote was insightful in game designers focus of creating an experience that will make user return to play again and again. Another quote that stood out to me from “The Structure of Games” was, “Balancing these emotional responses to the amount of challenge in a game is a key consideration for keeping the player engaged with the game”. This quote stood out to me in that when playing games like candy crush when one plays a level until they run out of lives or until they win is what keeps players engaged as explained when experiencing challenges within the game. A question that arises for me is, if candy crush simply let players win each level on the first try would the game still be played for years as some have been? In, “The Structure of Games”, a “AHA” moment for myself was finding out the game I’ve always heard and called “Gold Fish” is actually named “Go Fish”. Which is why when I ask people have they’ve played the game the respond no lol.

[AlexisParticipant Rupees: 735 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Jasmine, I like how you pointed out the concept of challenge in games and how if there were a lack of this aspect, the game would be too easy and repetitive and therefore boring. By creating a game to have challenges, it causes users to become more engaged in the game and to set goals for themselves. This creates emotion towards the game which makes users come back and keep playing over and over again. However, what is important for game writing in this situation is to make sure they are making the game challenging enough that the user is eventually able to complete their goal, but not too challenging to the point where they are unable to do the task asked of them because this will cause the user to stop playing all together. The challenge of the game in my opinion is one of the most important parts of the game as a whole as that is what allows the user to be drawn in and feel engaged with the game.

[DestinyParticipant Rupees: 475 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hello Jasmine, Your AHA moment is hysterical, it sounds like something that would happen to me. Also, in terms of creating a game that will make a player want more. I have played games with no level up experience, and I was still hooked, I think it’s also about what the game user is looking for.

[IzabellaParticipant Rupees: 400 RupeesRank: White Sword]

When reading the first two chapters of Schell’s The Art of Game Design, I really enjoyed the way that Schell reached out to the reader and raised their confidence. For example, right in the beginning, he discussed the magic words of being a game designer and the importance of having confidence in your decisions, even if you fail over and over again. The inspiring words that Schell brought to this text were amazing and I think he did a great job of reaching out to the reader. When I was reading it I smiled because it was inspiring and I liked the way it felt like anything was okay and everyone started somewhere, but what was important is that you believed in yourself. I also thought it was interesting when he discussed how anything and everything can become helpful when you are a game designer. Even unexpected topics such as business, history, and even anthropology can be helpful when becoming a game designer. I never thought about it that way and I thought that was very interesting. One quote that resonated with me was “And your love for the work will shine through, infusing your work with an indescribable glow that only comes from the love of doing it.” (Schell, 7). I think that is an amazing quote because it shows that it does not matter how naturally talented you may be or how well you think you can do something, if you hate doing it then it will amount to nothing because you will be miserable. Only when you love doing something, regardless of how good you are at it, is when that passion shines through and makes you and your game unique. I love that because I sometimes think I have no natural talents because I can’t easily do many things such as play an instrument, sports, drawing or crafts, or poetry. I may be able to do them if I tried really hard, but not many, if anything, comes to me very easily. However, when I do have a passion for something I give it my all even if I am terrible at it and I think that is beauty itself. Lastly, in chapter 2 Schell discusses why game designers do what they do and he says “There are certain feelings: feelings of choice, feelings of freedom, feelings of responsibility, feelings of accomplishment, feelings of friendship, and many others, which only game-based experiences seem to offer.” (Schell, 12). I think this quote is amazing because I have grown up playing video games my entire life and I wish I could thank the creators of these games personally as they have sparked such great feelings of freedom and friendship in my life. I can only imagine how the game designers must feel knowing their games have brought such happiness and other feelings to so many people.

The second reading by Fullerton was very interesting. I had never stopped to think about what really makes a game, a game. Even when asked now, after reading it, I still have a vague answer and it still makes me critically think as to how I would explain it as well as he did and illustrate such comparisons. That was an “AHA” moment for me because I had never stopped to think about what makes a game what it is and why we all just silently agree that certain things are games and others are not. As discussed in the reading, there are different components and similarities between the things that we see as games, such as players, objectives, resources, conflict, and much more. Now when looking at games I play and other games in general, I see these key similarities even if the games are completely different. This point was also discussed in the reading where Fullerton created a scenario comparing a game of Go Fish using a deck of playing cards to a game of Quake which is a single player in a 3D environment. He discusses how these are both games, but yet require very different circumstances, as one is a single-player that requires software and a computer, and the other is a multiplayer game that requires only a deck of cards and players, but yet both are still considered games due to their similarities. I loved reading this text by Fullerton as it was very insightful and it definitely made me think about the different mechanics and components of games.

[PragyaParticipant Rupees: 195 RupeesRank: Magic Sword]

Hi Izabella, I think that point about how your passion will carry over to your work is really significant, too. Not exactly games but often when I’m reading books I’ll find out that the author has some job or hobby, and it really shows in their writing in what they focus on because that’s what they’re most passionate about or most involved in. So it makes sense that the same idea carries over to other types of media.

[ScottParticipant Rupees: 600 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hi Izabella, I am pretty sure that we both had an “aha” moment while reading the chapter by Fullerton. More specifically, at when Fullerton described to us what makes a game a “game”. There are multiple components that all games share, and the comparison between go fish and quake was able to help me see just how these components are shared among different types of games.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Scott.

[ShamarParticipant Rupees: 280 RupeesRank: White Sword]

Hello Izabella. I enjoyed reading your post. I felt the same way when Schell inspired me to chant, “I’m a game designer.” At first, I was a little puzzled because I didn’t know his point and didn’t have any experience in game development. As I continued reading, however, I was very inspired by his words because I was interested in becoming a game developer, especially in creating a story. After reading both Schell’s and Fullerton’s articles, they may provide an answer to your question: “what makes a game a game.” While Fullerton addressed the components, he also pointed out how the characters and the story are the main components of a game. They create engagement and evoke emotion among the players to play the game to figure out the odds of the story. Like Schell, he emphasized that the essential skills in game development are listening and experience, where if you listen to your team, yourself, the audience, and the game, you will make a perfect game. With experience, the game doesn’t provide experience but serves as an artifact for the players to escape from reality and enter their utopian world.

[ScottParticipant Rupees: 600 RupeesRank: White Sword]

After reading the first two chapters of “The Art of game Design”, one thing that I noticed from the start was how encouraging the reading actually was. I myself am not personally dreaming to become a game designer, but if I was, reading these two chapters would really boost self-esteem if I was having any doubts about my future in game design. For example, the quote “If your confidence wavers, just repeat the magic words again: I am a game designer” (Schell, 2) perfectly encapsulates the encouraging nature of this reading. What surprised me when reading these chapters was just how many skills that game designer need to focus on to be a great game designer. Of course, I know that it would be impossible to be good at every skill listed in the reading, but the more you’re familiar with, the better. Some examples of these skills were animation, anthropology, architecture, brainstorming, business, and communication, just to name a few. An idea that the reading truly got across to me that I was not expecting beforehand, was the idea that listening is the most important skill that a game designer could have. Looking back in hindsight, it’s now clear to me why this is the case, but it was not always so clear. The only way to truly make a great game is to listen to your team, audience, game, client, and yourself (Schell, 7). Something that helped change my limited ideas about what a game designer actually does was the idea that a game designer really does not care about games. The designer cares about the experience that the game creates for the player. “When people play games, they have an experience. It is this experience that the
designer cares about. Without the experience, the game is worthless. (Schell, 10). This quote effectively led me to look back at all of my past experiences playing games, and it made me realize that all the games that I have ever truly enjoyed provided unique experiences while playing. The experience that a game gives a player is different for everyone, but it is the most important part of designing a game.

After reading “The Structure of Games”, I had a much better understanding at what makes a game a “game”. The reading used two examples of games that at first seemed totally dissimilar: quake and go fish. However, upon further examination, these two games shared much more in common than one might think. Each game involves players, objectives, procedures, rules, resources, boundaries, and outcomes. Both of these games all have these features, albeit in completely different types of implementation. This comparison made between these two games helped me form an understanding of the things that I would have to consider when creating any type of game. Even though these two games seemed like they could not be more different at first glance, they share many things in common. A quote from this reading that I particularly agreed with was “some games engage players emotionally by using the power of story within or surrounding their formal elements” (Fullerton, 16) – having a well-thought out story that is properly fleshed out throughout the course of a game is crucial in making players want to keep playing your game. Without a good story, what is your player working towards or for?

[Aaliyah WitherspoonParticipant Rupees: 315 RupeesRank: White Sword]

“Game designers don’t have it so easy. We give the player a
great deal of control over the pacing and sequence of events in the experience. We
even throw in random events!” (Schell 12).

This quote was really interesting because I never realized how true it was. The author mentions how the game designers’ goal is the experience that it gives people, which is something that also made me think a lot because I never looked at it that way, Then, it made sense because creators in all different aspects, like writers and musicians, want their audience to experience something new and great from then, so, of course, game designers would also feel the same. However, when he started comparing them to other creators, he made the point that they actually don’t have it easy because they give away the most control, which is so true. I never really realized it, but players have control over many aspects of the game, unlike a writer who states word for word in detail what they want their audience to perceive to ensure their experience, a game designer relinquishes so much control that it’s hard to discern what kind or experience their player will have.

“What we did not mention is the emotional boundary between the rest of life and a game. When you play a game, you set the rules of life aside and take up the rules of the game instead. Conversely, when you finish playing a game, you set aside the incidents and outcome of that game and return to the trappings of the outside world. Within the game, you might have slaughtered your best friend, or she might have slaughtered you. But that was within the game. Outside the game, these actions have no real consequences” (Fullerton 42).

This stood out to me because of how true it is. When you play a game, it’s like an escape from your world into a completely new one. There are new rules that you abide by, and as soon as you’re done, you’re back into your own world with no consequences, and that’s a common theme for all games which makes sense as to why it’s part of the working definition of what a game is.

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