Games GDD

I thought Greg Aleknevicus' article "Design Considerations" was quite informative. I thought the section on component's was very interesting as there are features I would have known of but I wouldn't have always been conscious of their purpose. I have now been enlightened about the various benefits of choosing appropriate sized game pieces, having distinguishable colour and shape for game pieces as well as having contrasting colours for game pieces. This is allows the game pieces to be easily differentiated, identifiable as well having no clutter on the game.

I also read the article "A Look At Negative Game Mechanics" by Josh Bycer which was an interesting read. The section on anti-gameplay talks about negative mechanics which are game mechanics whose purpose is to stop a player from continuing a game. I found it fascinating how negative mechanics first appeared in the arcade as they were designed to make players lose. This was so that people would spend more money in an attempt to win a game. I find it crazy that negative mechanics are allowed to be still implemented in games today. I think making people invest money into a game through applying such features in your game is unfair and unrewarding. I lose interest in "pay to win" games as I don't like to invest a lot of money in a game I may have already spent a lot to purchase already. I find these unsatisfying features of a game from a players perspective.

I also read the article "When digital versions of board games surpass the originals" by Soren Johnson. The section on "When digital beats physical" talks about improvements of board games when they transition to digital which I found interesting. This led to digital board games requiring no set-up time or record-keeping, which meant that games can be played much faster and in new environments as people didn't need to carry the board game around and could instead play it on a gaming device. I found that from playing physical board games when I was younger that it took the enjoyment factor of games out because you had to keep tallying up scores while trying to play the game. I find it great to see that digital games are very much aimed at the player having fun and not having to worry about record-keeping.

I also read the article "A Model of Player Motivations" by Nick Yee. Nick talks about how he was able to immerse himself into a game and be able to relate to other players which he found interesting. He also talks about how some players thrive on competition. These players enjoy the rush and experience of competing with other players in game. These players enjoy the feeling of beating or dominating other players. I found it interesting to see a wide array of player motivations when it comes to games. I think it's hilarious to think some people enjoy listening to what other people might talk about in a game over actually playing it themselves. I personally always loved hearing funny conversations or other players raging in game chat in games such as Modern Warfare 2 growing up. I always got a good laugh out of it. I think it's important to have various different motivation features within a game to widen the audience of potential players.

"Can't beat a good old fashioned board game"
Created by: Ya-Chin Kate Chuang
Source: creativecommons
Changes were not made to this image.
License