the human element in game design

8/12/2019 The Human Element in Game Design

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Topics

Designing for players

When players play

Critics


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Who is he?Why he play the violin?


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To create a great experience, you must do thesame.

You must know what your audience will andwill not like, and you must know it even betterthan they do.

You would think that finding out what peoplewant would be easy, but it isnt, because inmany cases, they dont really know.

They might think they know, but often there isa big difference between what they think theywant, and what it is they will actually enjoy.


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As with everything else in game design, the

key here is a kind of listening.

You must learn to listen to your players,

thoroughly and deeply.

You must become intimate with their

thoughts, their emotions, their fears, and

their desires.


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Demographics

We know that all individuals are each unique,

but when creating something meant to beenjoyed by vast numbers of people, we have to

consider ways that groups of people are thesame.

We call these groups demographics, or

sometimes market segments.

There is no official means of establishingthese groups different professions have

different reasons for grouping them differently.


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Demographics

For game designers, the two most

significant demographic variables are age

and gender.

We all play differently as we get older, and

males and females play differently than one

another at all ages.

What follows is an analysis of some of the

that a game designer has to consider.


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Age and gender

03: Infant/Toddler.

46: Preschooler.

79: Kids.

1013: Preteen or Tween . 1318: Teen.

1824: Young Adult.

2535: Twenties and Thirties.

3550: Thirties and Forties.

50 : Fifties and Up.


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Five Things Males Like to See in

Games

1. Mastery. Males enjoy mastering things.

2. Competition. Males really enjoy competingagainst others to prove that they are the best.

3. Destruction. Males like destroying things. Alot.

4. Spatial Puzzles. Studies have shown thatmales generally have stronger skills of spatialreasoning.

5. Trial and Error. Males tend to have apreference for learning things through trialand error.


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Five Things Females Like to See in

Games

1. Emotion. Females like experiences that explore therichness of human emotion.

2. Real World. Females tend to prefer entertainmentthat connects meaningfully to the real world.

3. Nurturing. Females enjoy nurturing. Girls enjoytaking care of baby dolls, toy pets, and childrenyounger than themselves.

4. Dialog and Verbal Puzzles. It is often said that what

females lack in spatial skills they make up for inincreased verbal skills.

5. Learning by Example. Females tend to preferlearning by example.


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Psychographics

When we group people by these external

factors, we are trying to get at something

internal: what each group finds pleasurable.

A more direct approach is to focus less on

how players appear on the outside and

more on how they think on the inside.

This is calledpsychographics .


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Psychographics

Some psychographic breakdowns have to do

with lifestyle choices, such as dog lover,

baseball fan, or hardcore FPS player.

These are easy to understand, since they are

tied to concrete activities. If you are creating a

game about dogs, baseball, or shooting people

in tunnels, you will naturally want to pay closeattention to the preferences of each of these

lifestyle groups.


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LeBlancs Taxonomy of Game

Pleasures

1. Sensation.

2. Fantasy

3. Narrative

4. Challenge

5. Fellowship

6. Discovery

7. Expression

8. Submission


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Bartles Taxonomy of Player Types

1. Achievers want to achieve the goals of the

game. Their primary pleasure is Challenge.

2. Explorers want to get to know the breadth of

the game. Their primary pleasure is Discovery.3. Socializers are interested in relationships with

other people. They primarily seek the pleasures

of Fellowship.

4. Killers are interested in competing with and

defeating others.


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shows how the four types neatly cover a sort of space:that is, Achievers are interested in acting on the world,Explorers are interested in interacting with the world,Socializers are interested in interacting with players, andKillers are interested in acting on players.


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Consider this pattern:

How did you reach that conclusion?


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Try this experiment

Find a friend, and ask them to do these three

things:

1. Say the word boast five times. Boast,

boast, boast, boast, boast.

2. Spell the word boast out loud. B-O-A-S-T.

3. Answer this question: What do you put in

a toaster?


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Four principal mental abilities

There are four principal mental abilities that

make gameplay possible.

These are:

modeling,

focus,

imagination,

empathy.

the human element in game design

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