Game Design

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Game Design is the art[1] of crafting rules that drive motivations. Similar to Language Design, there should be some basic principles in Game Design:

  1. Abstraction: By definition of being a game, the events don't all need to be real.
  2. Symmetry-breaking: There must be a way to make a decision or difference between alternative actions, so that motivation could take hold.
  3. Occam's Razor: The rules should be as simple as possible, but not simpler. This rule implies a way to ensure unity and consistency or the avoidance of contradictions.

All of the above statements have to do with information compression, but more importantly, they can be finitely stated as a set of rules, at the same time, it could be played out infinitely given enough time and resources.

Psychological Effects of Games

Jane McGonigal has a few books[2][3] on game design.


References

  1. Schell, Jesse (2008). The Art of Game Design:A Book of Lenses. local page: Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 9780123694966. 
  2. McGonigal, Jane (2015). SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games. local page: Penguin Press. ISBN 9781594206368. 
  3. McGonigal, Jane (2011). Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. local page: Penguin Press. ISBN 9781101475492. 

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