Make a Nerdy Living

by Alex Langley

  While it would be great to be a Shigeru Miyamoto or Gary Gygax—a creative genius grandfathered in at the inception of a new gaming medium—you don’t have to be Miyamoto or Gygax to become an accomplished game designer. Cawthon, Persson, Fox, Barone, Inman, and countless others have all achieved great success by forging their own paths and reshaping the world of games through their singular determination. If you want to make the next great game, get to learning and get to making.

  STARTING POINT: GAME DESIGN

  Before you start playtesting, before you’ve picked out a catchy and thematically appropriate name for your game, before you’ve decided whether you’re going to try your hand at developing video games, tabletop games, or something else altogether, there are a few tenets of game design all game designers need to understand.

  PATTERNS OF REINFORCEMENT

  Most behavioral psychologists hold firmly to the belief that living creatures operate based on patterns of reinforcement. We repeat behaviors that receive reinforcement (i.e., rewards), and we do not repeat behaviors for which we are punished. While punishment plays some part in game design, reinforcement is at the very core of the machine.

  From a game-design standpoint, schedules of reinforcement are patterns that determine how frequently you reward your players. Continuous schedules of reinforcement reward players after every instance of a predetermined action, such as the set number of experience points you get for slaying a set type of monster. Fixed-interval patterns of reinforcement reward players after a specific amount of time has elapsed, like when a game requires an hour of in-game time to pass in order to craft a specific item. Variable-interval patterns of reinforcement reward players after variable amounts of time have passed; random rewards for periodically checking with an NPC (non-player character) or logging into a game, for example. Fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement reward players after they take a fixed number of actions—e.g., quests that reward you for helping ten kobolds with their taxes or saving ten screaming babies from watching Boss Baby on repeat. Variable-ratio schedules of reinforcement reward players for variable numbers of actions taken, like when a player has the chance to get treasure at the end of a dungeon or a loot chest upon reaching an account milestone. Of the various schedules of reinforcement, variable-ratio is the most potent and the most addictive; it is the guiding principle around which Las Vegas and all gambling facilities build their businesses. Larger video games such as MMOs (massively multiplayer online games) will often combine numerous schedules of reinforcement to keep players multidirectionally engaged.

  UNDERSTANDING THE TYPES OF PLAYERS

  In order to figure out what sort of a schedule of reinforcement (or schedules of reinforcement) your game will operate on, you’ll need to figure out what, exactly, the reinforcing element (or elements) of your game should be. Do you want to give players a triumphant feeling of accomplishment after completing a hard-won challenge? Do you want to grant a sense of status with powerful treasure for those who put in the hours to earn it? Is your game more about interacting with others than it is the raw game mechanics themselves? Whatever the case may be, you will need to examine the reinforcement patterns behind it to build the best game possible. If you can understand why players want to play your game, you will understand why they’ll want to keep playing your game, and telling their friends about it, and buying add-ons and expansion packs.*

  According to the Bartle taxonomy of player types,25 game players fall into four multi-dimensional categories:

  Achievers play for prestige. These players want recognition for their achievements; they crave the status that comes along with conquering a game and the knowledge that they have something to be admired. Elements such as rare in-game costumes, leaderboards for displaying high scores, and achievement points appeal to the achievers. Those who push their skills to the limit to conquer hard-earned single-player challenges such as toppling Spelunky’s super-secret final boss King Yama are achievers.

  Socializers play games for the interaction with other players. These folks use a game as a means of hanging out; the actual game experience is secondary to their enjoyment of the engagement they get from other people. The folks you see standing around in Destiny’s social hubs break-dancing are, among other things, socializers.

  Explorers play games for the immersive experience. They enjoy the feeling of wandering, scouring the nooks and crannies of a game, stumbling across secrets and Easter eggs, fully losing themselves in these virtual worlds. Those of us who’ve lost countless hours in the winter wonderland of Skyrim are explorers.

  Killers play games for the competition. To put it succinctly, they want to show others they’re better than them by defeating them. Competitive multiplayer games are of particular interest to killers, as it gives a platform through which they can show off their skills in the spirit of (hopefully) friendly competition. Those who play fighting games such as Street Fighter are killers.

  Board games, by their very nature, have a heavy element of socialization to them, with an emphasis on Killer elements and a secondary emphasis on Achiever elements. Video games, on the other hand, are more complex and free-form. While creating your game, consider the type of games you enjoy, and what you enjoy about them, to acquire deeper insight into the types of gamers you want your game to appeal to.

  Note that few players are going to be a singular type of player at all times. Sometimes you might be in the mood to smash some heads in Tekken. Sometimes you might be in the mood to make some friends in Animal Crossing. Sometimes you feel like swinging around on a grappling hook in Just Cause. The trick as a game designer is to find a way to satisfy the players drawn to your type of game while also to entice new players who might not ordinarily play your game.

  CHOOSING A STYLE OF GAME

  As with any type of creative expression, knowing the genre you wish to express yourself in is less about constraining your creativity and more about understanding the type of reaction you wish to elicit from your audience. With games, we have a massive diversity of genres because there’s such a diversity of potential audience reactions and interactions.

  Action games, which are about giving players fast-paced interactions and pulse-pounding excitement, usually by challenging their reflexes and manual dexterity.

  Video game examples: Uncharted, Devil May Cry, Bayonetta

  Tabletop game examples: Jenga, Dungeon Fighter, Terror in Meeple City

  Adventure Games, which are about providing players with a thrilling world to explore.

  Video game examples: Metal Gear Solid, Monkey Island, Thimbleweed Park, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Assassin’s Creed

  Tabletop game examples: Betrayal at House on the Hill, Hero Quest

  Role-playing games, which are about immersing players in the role of a character, emphasize story and narrative over minute-to-minute action.

  Video game examples: Persona, Mass Effect, Fallout, Divinity

  TABLETOP GAME EXAMPLES: Dungeons & Dragons, Vampire: The Masquerade, Shadowrun, Fiasco

  Simulation games, which are about providing a fun, gamified version of some aspect of reality.

  Video game examples: Pretty much any game with the word simulator in it, like Flight Simulator, Farm Simulator, or Simulation Game Simulator

  Tabletop game examples: Settlers of Catan, Alhambra

  Puzzle games are about challenging the dexterity of the mind, and not the fingers, with carefully constructed enigmas to be solved.

  Video game examples: Toki Tori, Portal, The Talos Principle, Rush

  Tabletop game examples: jigsaw puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, Sudoku

  Strategy games are about mentally surpassing your opponents by thinking long-term.

  Video game examples: Starcraft, Civilization, X-Com

  Tabletop game examples: Warhammer, Ticket to Ride, Risk, Chess

  Social/party games are about fostering interaction between players using the game world.

  Video game examples: Mario Kart, Mario Party, Keep Ta
lking and No One Explodes, You Don’t Know Jack

  Tabletop game examples: The Resistance, Werewolf, Cranium

  As always, genre is a mutable concept open to interpretation and cross-pollination. The Legend of Zelda games have a lot of adventure to them, but they also have elements of action and puzzle-solving, too. Your game can be more than one thing, so long as you don’t lose sight of the experience you want your players to have.

  MAKING MODS AND HOME-BREWED RULES: GETTING YOUR FEET WET IN THE BIG-ASS POOL OF GAME DESIGN

  Most game designers don’t start their careers by jumping into making a professional game on a triple-A budget on day one; instead, they make games at home or modify their favorite games to better understand them.

  The team behind the retro-fueled delight Sonic Mania got its start making mods of old Sonic the Hedgehog games, tweaking the graphics, gameplay, and levels into something new. Sega got wind of these talented cats and let them use what they’d learned making mods to work on ports of the Sonic games they’d been modding for years. From there, the team then got the chance to create their own Sonic game with Sonic Mania.

  Warcraft 3 player Icefrog famously created and polished a Warcraft 3 mod called Defense of the Ancients. This mod became so popular it grew into its own licensed game and became the forefather for an all-new type of game, the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena). Today Dota 2, League of Legends, and Heroes of the Storm are among the most popular games on the planet, with hundreds of millions of players and an unfathomable number of hours sunken into them.

  Countless tabletop game designers grew up playing their own homebrewed versions of games, creating house rules they felt sanded off some of the rougher edges of their favorite games. If you’ve ever modified Monopoly by either making custom deals with other players or by putting money from tax fines into the Free Parking square, you’ve played by house rules.

  Game designer Kim Pittman grew up home-brewing and DM’ing (dungeonmastering) Dungeons & Dragons with her brother, something she states gave her invaluable experience when it came to both designing games and playing them.26 Dungeons & Dragons’s free-form nature encourages creativity, which makes for both better players and better game-makers. Making mods and home-brewing rules and game types is a natural way for young designers to get their feet wet in the deep ocean of game design.

  PLAYING GAMES PROFESSIONALLY

  Now, some of you have read the basic principles of game design and are drooling to get more in-depth about the philosophies and psychology behind the games we play. Others of you have felt less interested in the behind-the-scenes stuff and are more interested in diving in and playing games that are already made. If that’s the case, you may want to try your hand at playing games professionally or streaming games as entertainment.

  Today there are thousands of professional gamers whose livelihood is tied directly to their skills with a controller. These pros win tournaments, earn sponsorships, have coaches, and get recruited to teams exactly like their more conventional sporting contemporaries. To be a professional gamer requires you to find a game (or games) you’re passionate about—that you don’t mind studying exhaustively, obsessively, and academically. You’ll have to take training seriously and study to stay up to date on the latest technology and techniques.

  To do this, you’ll need to be both unsociable and sociable. The former because it takes an extraordinary amount of practice to get competitive at a game; the latter because you’re going to play harder, and play longer, if you’ve got friends to play with. One of the reasons Venus and Serena Williams are such legendarily skilled tennis players is that the twin sisters have always had each other to train with. If you’re constantly butting heads against opponents of similar skill, you’ll constantly find improvement. If all you do is stomp the poots out of your real-life friends who don’t really know how to play your game, you’re not going to get any better. The online environment makes it easier than ever to find nice folks to play with. Scour chat channels and random matches for people with good skills and good attitudes.

  Finally, if you’d rather just entertain people by streaming games, well, we covered that pretty thoroughly back in chapter two (page 31).

  THE NEXT STEP: GAME DESIGN

  What do we want? Satisfying games! When do we want them? Two weeks ago, we’re seriously behind schedule, like, holy cow there’s a lot of work that goes into making games.

  To make the right games, you’re going to need the right tools, such as:

  A COMPUTER

  Whether your games are digital or pen-and-paper, you’re not likely to get very far without the processing and planning power of a computer.

  PROGRAMS

  There are countless computer programs you can use; ultimately, it depends on your skill, preference, and the type of game you’re making.

  Twine® is a very straightforward, easy-to-understand program that eschews complex programming language to give creators a good starting point for building their games. There are limited options as far as what you can make without doing some serious programming of your own, and action-y games are completely out of the question, but if you’re looking to make something slower and textier, you’ll be sure to have a nice, clean, functional product once you’re finished.

  Stencyl’s interface is a bit more complex than Twine’s; with that complexity comes an increased versatility of game design. Stencyl will allow you to easily export your games to smart phones and PCs alike.

  If you want to make a retro RPG (role-playing game), RPG Maker® is a powerful program to let you do so. It’s easy to import your own files, like music and art, and the game engine is powerful enough to let you add in your own systems to the code. Just make sure you (mostly) use original art and music instead of the generic placeholders that come with RPG Maker—RPG fans can spot them a mile away, and they’re a huge turnoff.

  Game Maker Studio is incredibly powerful, can make nearly anything you can imagine, and comes with a built-in tutorial. Spelunky, Hyper Light Drifter, and Undertale were all built using Game Maker Studio.

  ART

  Unless you’re going to make a text adventure, you’ll need some art. Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator® are commonly used, high-power programs that come with a variably high price. Free programs like Manga Studio® can fit the bill, depending on what you’re looking for, but ultimately you should use whatever program you feel most comfortable with. I mean, for cryin’ out loud, Toby Fox used Microsoft Paint to make the art for Undertale!

  If you’re a bit lacking on the artistic side, websites like Freesound.org and OpenGameArt.org provide quality audio/visual resources you can use without cost. I would recommend that if you don’t know how to make music you consider paying someone to create a few tunes for your game. Just having a good title theme, game-over theme, and level complete/victory theme can go a long way toward giving your game a memorable, unique feel.

  If you’re making a board/tabletop game, you’ll need boards, figurines, dice, etc. While playtesting in small groups, you can probably cobble together something from the dice and figurines you already own. As you progress, you’ll want to ditch the placeholders to have something that better fits your game, which will require you to either learn to make such items yourself or to hire someone you can count on to deliver the art you need.

  PLAYTESTERS

  All right, #realtalk, being a video game playtester is not an especially fun job. You’re not sitting around playing games all day, you’re running a character into walls for nine hours to see if you can clip through them. As an indie game developer, your playtesters are most likely going to be your friends and family. Be nice to them, and listen when they tell you that something doesn’t make sense or isn’t fun.

  Playtesting board games, on the other hand, will require a lot of work out of you to keep an eye on your players to see when they get bored and confused by the rules. It also means you’re going to spend a lot of time playing your game with people or trying t
o get them to play it (come on, guys, we fixed the resource overflow problem, it’ll be fun this time, I swear!).

  BE REALISTIC, START SMALL, AND FIGHT TO KEEP THE FOCUS SMALL

  When I was in junior high, a friend of mine was so inspired by Ultima Online that he said he too was going to make an MMO. His game was going to be even bigger than Ultima Online, with more world to explore, more skills to master, more monsters to fight, and more game systems to make it even gamier. We talked endlessly, excitedly about this game, but in the back of my mind I kept wondering where he would find the time to finish such a gargantuan project. The kind of scope he was talking about was insane, especially for a kid with next to no programming experience under his belt. He’d become Feature Creep* personified, and for all his dreaming he ended up with exactly nothing in the way of a playable game.

  Meanwhile, I plugged away at RPG Maker 2003, the free game-making program that lets you build Super Nintendo–esque role-playing games. I planned modestly, kept the focus small, and tried to tell an intimate story with a limited cast of characters. As I went along, the game and its cast expanded beyond what I’d initially planned. Thankfully, since I’d planned ahead, I was able to finish my game—a short, not especially good, but very heartfelt RPG that clocks in at a hair over ten hours of playtime.

  When designing your game, keep your focus small, as the game will inevitably expand. A massive, unfinished game is a pile of badly coded crap. A small, finished game, however, is a finished game.