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Starting a design from the perspective of imagining what watching your game would feel like

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Thu, 03/11/2021 - 18:52
NomadArtisan
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I've had a nebulous concept for a card game I want to design where I started envisioning how I wanted playing the game to feel.
I imagined it as if I were watching a short movie or reading a graphic novel about people playing this card game.

From that I've tried developing mechanics that give me the feel of this "vision" that could create some of the moments of excitement I'm imagining.

I'm normally a mechanics first designer so this has been a very different approach for me.
Has anybody else ever tried developing a game starting from this type of perspective?
If so, did you develop or use any framework for doing so?

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Fri, 03/12/2021 - 08:43
#1
let-off studios
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Plotting Out A Game Session

NomadArtisan wrote:
I imagined it as if I were watching a short movie or reading a graphic novel about people playing this card game.

From that I've tried developing mechanics that give me the feel of this "vision" that could create some of the moments of excitement I'm imagining.

You bring up an interesting notion with this. Personally I've been looking into story-writing for quite some time, and over the past year or so I've definitely increased my comic book and graphic novel reading habits. I think envisioning your game being played as a feature of its own graphic novel is an interesting approach to game design.

Stories Within Stories
It seems to me that essentially, you're talking about two different stories:

  • The story within the game being played.
  • The story about a game play session -featuring- the game.

An engaging game can be a strict simulation of something in the real world, an abstract challenge, or something in-between. The bad news is that very often simulation and abstraction don't always follow the traditional beginning-middle-end "three-act structure" that most audiences are familiar with. Uneven pacing of a game can result in a mixed through-line or plot to be followed, which generally doesn't make for good story-telling.

In other words: a graphic novel about a game session featuring your game will often have more layers than -just- the game itself and how it plays out, who wins and loses, etc.

Story Structure is Transferable
The good news is that there are several different plot formulae one can follow in terms of writing a good story, regardless of genre or topic - or game. Earlier this week I uncovered a web page by the author Jerry Jenkins (who has apparently written the "Left Behind" series, but I confess I've not read any of them). It identifies several different structures that have worked for story-writing beyond the typical beginning-middle-end:

https://jerryjenkins.com/story-structures/#story-structures

With more of these frameworks available, it may be easier for you to structure your game - not necessarily in terms of strict mechanics, but in evoking this feeling you want and the narrative structure that lends the qualities of an actual story, not "just a game session."

Narrative Game Podcasts (YMMV)
As an off-hand suggestion (again, because I've only heard about them second-hand), you may want to check out the Critical Role podcast, which features dramatic re-tellings of RPG adventures. I'd say that RPGs have a lot of advantages in terms of converting the game experience to a story, and that very often story is central to an RPGs progression, but there still may be some interesting and useful observations you can draw if you listen to a few episodes.

Your question has given me a lot to think about, personally. It's a good one. :)

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Fri, 03/12/2021 - 10:24
#2
KC
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Create the narrative then choose the mechanics

I have never started from the 'Mechanics' perspective, and think that I would find this very difficult.

I always try and build a narrative and a description of the game from a player's viewpoint. When I have a coherent story, one that is bounded so the limits are clear, I then think about different mechanics that may help me achieve the narrative.

Basically I write things down (mind maps, examples of how different phases of the game might feel when played, pros-cons, etc) and then I write it all again and try and remove the superfluous and get it tighter and closer to the version I am looking for.

I might then try specific mechanics, adjusting them until I feel that a player would feel tension, or have to make difficult choices, etc. When I finally have the phases (narrative and mechanic) as I want them I move to limited prototyping.

So, for me it's a long process, but I find that writing the narrative gives me a much clearer vision of the whole.

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Fri, 03/12/2021 - 11:47
#3
NomadArtisan
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Thank you both for your

Thank you both for your replies.
@let-off studios:
I've read a bit of the left behind series, but lost interest during maybe book 2 or 3.
I'm a big fan of his son Dallas Jenkin's movie/TV series, The Chosen though.

I hadn't thought about mapping out the game using a typical story telling arc, but I really like that idea. I wasn't even imaging my game in this meta type of way. I was just envisioning what it might feel like if it were being described by such media, but I like the idea of working at it from that story arc perspective.
I think that would definitely help get the 'feel' just right.

@KC:
When you talk about writing the narrative I'm imaging something like how you would hope a player would describe the game after they've played it. Is that what you're describing?
I like this idea, it also fits well with developing a story arc.

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Sat, 03/13/2021 - 00:41
#4
questccg
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I agree with you 100%

NomadArtisan wrote:
I've had a nebulous concept for a card game I want to design where I started envisioning how I wanted playing the game to feel.
I imagined it as if I were watching a short movie or reading a graphic novel about people playing this card game...

This reminds me about some "awesome" dreams that I've had with Kids Toys ... of some kind that were smashing successes and selling like HOT CAKES. For the life of me, in that dream, I wish I could remember the details to the toys ... But I cannot.

All I can remember is how POPULAR they were... Everyone was saying WOW these toys are so cool and freaken amazing.

Aside from that one dream, I can say that usually my game "ideas" start from how I want the game to be PLAYED. Sort of what you are saying... I also choose mechanics that go along with the game and what I want to accomplish from it.

So not much more different than your own thoughts. I would says that the WAY the game plays may CHANGE during the prototype phase and I do make a LOT of compromises.

For example: For the life of me, I have the urge and need to CREATE a game in which PLAYERS KEEP the cards... And I wanted that game to be called "Monster Keep". So the idea is that the opponent KEEPS the monsters he defeats.

Again I LIKE the CONCEPT/IDEA. But designing anything AROUND that just doesn't work.

Another example: I wanted RPS-3 to decide the winner of partial information battles. The idea that you need to out-think your opponent and luck out with the stronger of the colors ... Seems to make so much sense. But in the end, I decided to make it a Bonus/Penalty system rather than be the "core" victory mechanic.

This was another EXAMPLE of really LIKING the RPS-3 concept... Just made more sense to go with a Victory Point (VPs) system which is much more tighter in design and allows for combos and more card play.

That shows that OFTEN I TRY to steer the ship with a THEME or STYLE OF PLAY and not only mechanics... But that in many cases the compromises that I have to make to "crystallize" a concept are required to make for a REAL GAME not just a concept and/or idea.

So I think I understand where you are coming from... I just think that playtesting just "streamlines" the design and forces you to make compromises to ensure a more "flowing" game.

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Sun, 03/14/2021 - 07:28
#5
KC
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As a player would describe the game

Exactly, It is how you think a player would describe your game.

The story arc is my starting point, as Questccg says in his reply, the theme should 'steer the ship'. I often find that a particular implementation of a mechanic doesn't fit the theme and has to be changed, this in itself can provide input to the story arc.

I would say that despite the continual shaping and revision as you strive to reach the 'perfect' narrative, that first version of the game seldom survives play testing unscathed - I think that it is the exposure to other peoples bias, expectation and unique thought processes that actually shapes the final game.

It is this period where as the designer it is so difficult (and important) to stay true to your vison of the theme and narrative.

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