If I am good enough to teach others how to make games, why do I not just make them? I do make games; most are designed to illustrate a concept or to play with my friends. While I do have some trepidation with sending out my work into public view, I have not really seen a lot of interest in what I have to offer from others as much from my own reticence to show my work as it is from not hearing of any real desire for work not based on someone else’s game systems. On some level, it is also difficult to explain my own games since I developed them using the principles detailed throughout Learning by Design. Having that academic approach bleeds into my descriptions of the game, especially in conversations or rapid social media exchanges.
Not having access to more than just ink and paper supplies, there also is not much one can move beyond the prototyping phase that will look attractive to potential players. Packaging, advertising, and durability of components matter, especially if the game in question is meant to be replayed time and again. Before the publishing revolution—to include 3-D printing—there were not many options available for designers without access to the assets of game companies to move to larger scales in the prototyping and beta testing processes. I have created pieces for games when cannibalizing my own collection was not enough to capture the experience due to discrepancies in sizes, color schemes clashing, pieces not fitting due to genre, etc. Most of these are abstracts and usually involve glue and pony beads.
Commercial game creation is expensive, prototyping is not. It is this experience from which I drew in creating the initial program and continue to use to explore various academic facets of game design to use in teaching others how to be better designers. When a paper prototype can all but leap off the page to show potential players how the game works and makes them want to play the game repeatedly, then the designer has learned how to create great games and demonstrates a full understanding of design principles for interactive experiences. Like most designers, I could spend all my time on my own games, but none of those creations will help others learn how to create works that the current crop of professionals would think of because of one crucial difference between all of us: the influence of our experiences.
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Learning by Design – Introduction, Part 3
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Learning by Design – Introduction, Part 5