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Game designing is an art

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Triktrak
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Joined: 12/31/1969

The Art of designing boardgames

As with any other art, whether it be painting, sculpting, writing or composing, board game authorship is an art because it retains those same illusive qualities, which make it “good” or even “great”. A good game contains something immeasurable that is apparent when experienced, but never fully explainable. It fits the phrase typically applied to art “I know what I like when I see it”.

If a game could be derived from some sort of mathematical formula or manual, where we could plug in our ideas and create a game, we would be disappointed at the results; as those who find themselves coloring by numbers from an art book, we would find our wonderful idea would be a mere mockery of what we hoped to accomplish.

A board game is also so much a matter of taste. It is readily apparent when bad science or mathematics fails to accomplish it’s goals, but again something intangible draws us to some games over others, that pull their own audience.

Dralius
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Game designing is an art

Well stated. This has come up before and there are some that belong to the camp that game design is simply a mechanical thing with all parts measurable & quantifiable. I am sure we will hear from them before this topic dies out.

Although I do apply a little math to balance probability I approach design with the experience in mind. I might be trying to build a real mind bender for hard core strategy players or a light quick game with some humor for those times you want to have fun without thinking too much about it. I may seek to produce a game that keeps you on the edge of your seat with tension and constant uncertainty or I may go with a atmospheric game that is as much about the theme as the mechanics. In the end none of these things can be accurately measured. That’s why we play test so we can see how people will react to the experience we provide them and fine tune it reach as many people as possible.

Anonymous
The art of designing

This is how I speak in terms of designing or creating. I only speak something that is pefered to the subject at hand, depending if I know the subject at hand. But when I design or go into the world of illusion or reality to show others how they to can open up their minds eye and visit the world I have created I want that person to feel excited, Depressed, Anger, Love, Rage, Thinking on his or her feet, Disgusted, worried, amazed, Inspired.

Alot of emotions go toward the games we design and yet when we speak or do an action out side of that world we forget that we are still human and we still love or hurt people in a way that makes us think more of our conscienceness.

When I speak about this subject to others its hard for them to keep the subject going. They would tell you no it needs to be this way or they would say this is how I would do it or the person would say if I had created a game it needs to be in a situation that makes sense to them or some one they know. It all depends on the person which makes it a unique topic about how each person has his or her own idea about life or the life they would like others to take venture into either it be a trading card game, board game, trivia game, puzzle game, adventure, mystery, thriller, fantasy, or horror.

I enjoy designing and creating. Its an awesome feeling to experience something you havent been able to conjure up while doing something else at the same time. I have an extreme wild imagination that can feel and taste the other world by doing something else or not doing anything at all.

BullDog

jwarrend
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Joined: 08/03/2008
Game designing is an art

Dralius wrote:
Well stated. This has come up before and there are some that belong to the camp that game design is simply a mechanical thing with all parts measurable & quantifiable. I am sure we will hear from them before this topic dies out.

Well, since I feel instigated now, I'll chime in! Mainly, though, I want to clarify the actual position of the opposite camp.

In my view, game design is a craft, not an art -- more akin to making a chair than making a painting. The reason is that game design has, as its primary concern, functionality: the game must "work". Art, on the other hand, has, as its primary concern, the aesthetic quality of the work itself.

There are, of course, many analogies between the role of a game designer and an artist, and I think this is what causes people to conflate the two. The most commonly advanced point of analogy, and all three of the respondents thus far have said this, is that the game designer seeks to create an emotional impact on his audience, and since artists do the same thing, therefore game design is an art. It's correct that an artist may be one whose work produces an emotional reaction, but this doesn't exhaustively specify what it means to be an artist. If it did, then anything that produced an emotional reaction could be considered art -- for example. extreme political speech can produce an emotional reaction, but no one considers political pundits to be artists!

This is one of those debates that doesn't really matter, and I feel silly for wading into it (and, as is probably inevitable, for continuing it when my position is rebutted!). But I think it may impact the way one approaches design. The "artists" who seek to use game design to communicate something to their audience will likely find this to be a horrible medium for such a purpose. At a minimum, they will likely find their audience resistant to receive such messages. If, for example, I played one of Bulldog's games, and it somehow succeeded in his goal of provoking emotions like anger or rage in me or the other players, I'd stop playing almost immediately! I come to gaming for fun, not for a deep emotional experience, and particularly not negative emotions like these. I suspect this is overwhelmingly true of game players: they want the fun of playing a good game, they don't want to have the designer's message rammed down their throat in the process. So if art is about communication, games are a tough medium to work in, because communication is not only very difficult through a game, but it may be actively resisted by the audience!

For that reason, I think the aim of the "artisan", who seeks to create a functional product, is much more appropriate for this type of creative endeavor, or at least, much more likely to find satisfaction from this medium.

Just my thoughts,

Jeff

Boisegamer2001
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Game designing is an art

I think anything that answers the question "what if?" is worthy of creation may it be art, music, a story, or a game. What really matters is the continuation of the creative spirit.

Quote:
I enjoy designing and creating. Its an awesome feeling to experience something you havent been able to conjure up while doing something else at the same time. I have an extreme wild imagination that can feel and taste the other world by doing something else or not doing anything at all.

Games (personally) are the best medium to explore this phenomenon, they inspire, foster interaction, and make us think. I would say that games are more than just art, they are drama, and interactive, interpersonal drama at that. I believe people play games for the same reason they see plays or films (good though provoking ones).

Yes, as in all art or crafts, there are techniques to learn (and break) and skills to develop, but all in all the creator, artisan, or crafter has to undergo a personal journey of change and risk. “Will the player’s like my game” “Why is this mechanic not working the way I wanted” “Is the way I want things the best way?” etc... And the players undergo a similar process “Why do I keep losing” (I don’t think they ask that question when their winning) “What choice should I make next?” “Is this unfair, should I make a big deal if it is or is the problem my style of play?) etc…

A game is a microcosmic story in which the players have fun in a world the creator has made for them and continuous to refine but a game is more than that it is a product that functions the same every time you play it (The players make the game different) and so it must work under the most scrutinized situations.

I know, this is an idealized assumption, but it works for me.

This strand has got me thinking...has anyone combined Aristotle and his theories of drama or theatre to games?

BG2001

Infernal
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Game designing is an art

I think that game design has both the aspecs of Art and Craft. I have liked the analogy of an Architect for the game designer. An architect definitly has a craft (designing functional buildings), but they also need atristic qualities (look at some of the architectual styles and ho they can elisit emotional responses from people).

Take for exapmle the Sydney Opera House here in Australia. It has to be functional (not fall down, have spaces for seating, etc), but it is also a work of art. Infact when it was first built a lot of people though it was an eyesore, but now most people would think Sydney would not be Sydney with out it.

As game designers I think our job is to create an athseticaly pleasing work of art with a functionaly crafted form.

Quote:
If a game could be derived from some sort of mathematical formula or manual, where we could plug in our ideas and create a game, we would be disappointed at the results; as those who find themselves coloring by numbers from an art book, we would find our wonderful idea would be a mere mockery of what we hoped to accomplish.

Yes if you just design based off the functionality of a game then you will not have a great game, but the oposite is also true. If you just go for just an aesthetic or artistic game then you will have a game wher the mechanics are broken and therefor, not a good game.

It is the merging of these two diciplines that make a good game. Different people do like different "ratios" between them, and so you get games that match what people want (party games VS Tabletop wargames for example). However it is this difference in the players and designers that gives us the variety of games out there.

Anonymous
Continuing the art of design

Okay I have reread my message. Okay maybe I have used some words about rage, voilence etc. What I was trying to conjure up was a way to make the character feel these emotions while the player can see the actions percieved in the storyline. Like I said I get excited and go from one direction to an exact opposite while I ramble on about how I enjoy creating or designing or what have you. I understand what you ment about you may stop immediately on playing any game I may have designed. But what I ment was to have fun and also feel something about your character you are pertraying as. I don't want people to stop playing games. I love playing video games, board games and ccg's, and tcg's. Yesterday I was in a rush to speak and type at the same time. But when I do get my own computer and scanner and digital camera everyone here will then understand why I am so much into my design other then speaking to people.

BullDog

Qundar
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Game designing is an art

Hi,

I agree with Infernal, with board game designing being both an art and a craft. I think the same way about writing: the story needs to work, have good spelling and grammar, and flow correctly. But, if you can pull all that off and have artistic qualities as well, then you've done great (think Shakespeare here, as a quick example). Or cooking (I'm both a writer and a cook, so these are my examples). You want the food to work, be nutritious, the flavors to work right with eachother, and all that sorta stuff. But, you also want it to look nice (we eat with our eyes first), and you want the person to have a pleasurable experinece eating it (not much is better than to take a bite of something that the taste of it makes you moan with pleasure). All these things are arts and crafts. Personally, I think there are few things out there that are all art, or all craft. All such things have a little bit of both, but, as Infernal said, in different amounts (depending on the artisan/crafter).

Live long and prosper, Qundar out.

P.S. Hi bulldog!

IngredientX
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Joined: 07/26/2008
Game designing is an art

I can't believe I'm this late to the party!

There have been quite a few threads about this interesting topic, and I have pretty strong views on the matter. Check out these discussions...

Suspension of Disbelief... and themes that might break it

Controversial Themes... How Much Is Too Much?

Ludosophy? Art? A dissenting opinion...

I think this is a great topic. It fosters plenty of interesting discussion and forces people to look at game design in a new light.

At the same time, I don't think this is a "hot-button issue" in which everyone (myself included) should be trying to get everyone else to agree with him/her. I found it productive to go through the process of establishing an opinion on the matter. What the final opinion actually is really isn't as important; it's the journey that counts.

FastLearner
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Game designing is an art

I was in the art camp, but am now in the art + craft camp, and can even see the possibility of moving into the craft camp. Experience designing games and reading about design concepts has made me see more and more of the craft side.

I think it's key to separate the graphic design of a game from overall game design. There is certainly art at work in deciding how the game looks, which also has an effect on how it feels, but that's not game design.

I think the biggest reason game design feels like art is because the psychological factors behind what makes a good game are not well known. That doesn't mean, however, that they're unknowable, the way we tend to feel about art ("I know it when I see it, it's art to me").

There has been a fair bit of writing about the psychological aspects of games, and -- at least for me -- the more I understand those aspects, the more creating a fun game seems like a craft. The craftsman's job is to come up with interesting combinations of elements that produce a pleasing game, and it's certain creative work, but creativity is not the same as artistry.

This page has links to the PDF Why We Play Games: 4 Keys to More Emotion, on emotions and why we play games, doing a nice job of summarizing some of the elements that we normally think of as the mysterious artistic part1, as does that company's PDF Why We Play Games Together: The People Factor. While neither is comprehensive, and while there are a lot of other good sources available, both shine a pretty good light into that mysterious darkness we see as art.

-- Matthew

markmist
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Game designing is an art

FastLearner wrote:
I think it's key to separate the graphic design of a game from overall game design. There is certainly art at work in deciding how the game looks, which also has an effect on how it feels, but that's not game design.

I don't completely agree with this statement. The very best games will have a graphic design that will match the game design and in some cases enhance the design. The choice of components is both a game design and graphic design decision.

So, I don't think you can separate the two, as I feel that graphic design is an integral part of the game design process. You can have brilliant mechanics in a game, but if the presentation is poor, players will not likely invest time into something that has mismatched components, poor asthetics, or is not functional.

I think graphic design is very important! But, I don't think I would call it Art either.

FastLearner
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Game designing is an art

I certainly agree that the best games have excellent graphic design that not only complements the game, but actually makes it better.

But I don't think graphic design is inherently part of game design. They are both necessary for a good game, just as writing clear rules with good examples is necessary for a good game, as is reasonable quality printing and components. But game design is, to me, its own thing, separate from the graphics, the copyediting of the rules, and the printing.

Graphic design -- and I say this as a designer, so I'm biased -- is most definitely part art. The representational and intellectual communication aspects of it are craft, and utilizing the tools correctly is craft, but the beauty is art. The way colors and shapes come together, the contrast and association, commisioning or using appropriate illustrations to evoke emotion and the imagination, these are all art, as are many other aspects.

The difference between a poor graphic designer and one of moderate talent usually comes down to craft. The difference between moderate quality and mastery is almost always the artistic aspect.

-- Matthew

Axe
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Game designing is an art

Fast learner wrote: "I was in the art camp, but am now in the art + craft camp".

I am a complete outsider to this profession, and am only now attempting my first game, but this topic has re-ignitied an ongoing debate I have been having with my wife for 10 years. That is the difference between an illustrator and a fine artist. Although this is not the same as game board design (craft vs. art) this great debate has some similarities. To sum it up, I'd say that an illustrator's main focus (think working for magazines etc.) is to sell something in a way that is clear and understandable to a buyer. The layout is slick (sometimes trendy) and the target audiance is thought of in rendering first and formost. An illustrators work fails if the work does not sell the product (if it misses its mark, is jumbled or confusing etc.). The Fine Artist, on the other hand, is a person who's main goal is to express something (if they realize it or not) that is first and foremost for themselves (though they hope to sell thier creations to others who appreciate it. for example, a game board designer might prefer a look for a game but passes it up for something he or she feels will help the game be more clear, or fun to play.

IMO, game board design would have to fall into the catagory of craft more closely linked to what an illustrator does. It must be clear, simple, slick, and be designed with some group in mind. Although the game board maker (or illustrator) may have the skill an artist, the primary goal is not to express, it is to sell. So, I guess I'm in the craft camp.

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