Learning to identify and serve core engagement is relatively recent in my journey as a designer. For the first several years, I didn’t even know what it was. I pushed game bits around and fiddled around with rule systems like most freshman designers do, hoping to “find the fun.” I took detailed notes at every […]
In our last column, we looked at several categories of core engagement. Now we begin examining how to apply these principles to streamlining your design process. Case Study: duck! duck! GO! Core engagement in duck! duck! GO! comes from mechanism and tactics. Players must plot their movement across the map. To do so, they […]
In the last column, I defined core engagement as “the activities players carry out and the sensations these activities provide.” I also challenged you to look at several games and identify their core engagement. Today’s column focuses on identifying the core engagement in your own work. When you know it, you’ll be well-positioned to answer […]
You had a game idea. You threw some bits together to make a prototype. You shoved these bits onto the table in front of your victims (i.e. playtesters) and ran a test play. Because you’re lucky, they identified a number of good aspects in the game. Because they’re honest, they identified a number of weak […]
My annual pilgrimage to Gen Con harvests bushel upon bushel of ideas. I generally meet with at least six publishers and shoot for ten. Each is looking for games to fit certain needs and I want to supply as many of those as possible. We do a large amount of brainstorming, looking for the best […]
It’s a cliche but true nonetheless; gaming has brought a lot to my life. In an effort to give back, I give talks and participate in panels at a number of conventions. These sessions tend to have titles like Networking in the Game Industry, Curating Licensed Properties, and Finding and Serving Your Core Engagement. With […]
The Story So Far… Deep games are cool. Complex games can be awesome. Many excellent games are excellent because they are complex and deep. But when these elements aren’t well conveyed, good games get glanced over. They get a single play but little more. Rules complexity or obtuse play become an impediment, preventing the game […]
Protospiel Houston (March 13 – 15) is only is five weeks away and Protospiel Milwaukee is just one little month behind it. Designers–aspiring or otherwise–five hundred miles in every direction are scrambling to prep that game that just almost ALMOST works and get it in front of the crowd with the skill to push it through. […]
Protospiel events are big game design parties. Most of the attendees are authors, carrying work that varies in completion from “heading to the printer” to “thought of it this morning.” Playtesters–people who attend to play and nothing else–will be milling about. Publishers will be scouting for the jewels among the mass. No matter what your […]
Adapting other media into tabletop games can be quite rewarding if done well. Trying to do it well has its pitfalls as well: Carl Klutzke related this story in the comments section: “Several years ago when I went to the Game Developers Conference, I met some folks from Disney Interactive who were tasked with making computer […]
Kevin G Nunn 