It's Called Game Design, and What is being Designed is a Game

In this article we will be talking about the topic of Game design, though more accurately Video game design. Starting from what it is and all the way to what it encompasses. Hopefully, this will provide to you (and Me), a fresh and clearer perspective toward game design in general. Let us not waste any more time, and get on to it!

$\triangledown$ Table of contents $\triangledown$

The definition of game design

<aside> ❔ Kicking things off, what is game design in the first place?

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Game design is the process of concocting the content and rules for a game. Whereas a good game design is that very same process, but one that results in goals that players are driven to achieve and rules that they will have to abide by as they make important decisions in progressing toward those goals. These definitions are in accordance with what Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber wrote in their book, Challenges for Game Designers (2008). This would also be a good opportunity to say that the content of this article would borrow some underlying statements from that book.

<aside> ⁉️ But hold on a sec, that was game design, what about video game design? Are they any different?

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One would argue that the aforementioned definitions do apply to video game as well, because let's be honest, a video game is just a game that is presented and played involving a video screen. And so, when I use the phrase game design, know that even if I am specifically referring to its usage in video game, it is still a very broad term, so it doesn't really matter that much.

Digital or non-digital, the underlying fundamentals of a game and therefore of game design are all the same. Though technology may advance, modern video game designers use the same core skills today that were used when designing games on paper.

Brathwaite & Schreiber (2008)

Now that it's out of the way, there is a fat chance you might still be grasping and wondering as to what truly follow a game design. Fret not, for this article will give you a (somewhat) comprehensive explanation of (almost) everything pertaining game design as a whole.

(Almost) All things game design

To begin with, the term itself is often misused and misunderstood nowadays as some people seek to learn game design, but they immerse in game art instead. This is not accurate of course. Yet, it too isn't entirely incorrect, as artistic design/direction is also a part of the overall game design. But as I just said, it's only part of it. It is not the complete picture. There is more to game design than what the average gamer is able to draw in their mind when prompted about it, but I digress. We'll get to it later.