Video (Screencast): 7 ways to learn game design

This is primarily for beginners, not for experienced pros, of course.

Here is the text of the slides.  The video includes much more than this text, of course.
7 Ways to Learn Game Design
Dr. Lewis Pulsipher
Pulsiphergames.com
“Game Design” channel on YouTube

It’s not Game Production
Game design isn’t about programming or art or sound
It’s about specifying how the game works, how it plays, which has to be enjoyable for players in your target market
Video games are software, but nothing in game design requires software
See “10 ‘Need to Knows’ about Game Design” on my Game Design YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/LewGameDesign )

Preliminary Considerations
You won’t be good at it, when you start out
Just as with most anything else that’s complicated
Just as with most big games you might play!
If you think it’s simple, you’ve got a big problem to overcome
What makes you a good game player, isn’t what makes you a good game designer
So forget about your gaming prowess
It’s not about “getting ideas”, it’s about execution

It’s a list, but not either/or – do several at once
Start with tabletop games
Start with Gamemaker
Start with the combination of Unity and Playmaker
Make small modifications to existing games
Read - a lot (and listen)
Take online classes
Earn a degree
Start with Tabletop Design
You don’t need programming skills to make tabletop games – you do need such skills (which have nothing to do with game DESIGN) to make software
You can’t “hide behind the computer” in tabletop
You can make quick changes and see how gameplay changes
Much harder to do with software games
I discuss this at greater length in my “Learning Game Design” online course

Start with Gamemaker: Studio
Originally created for learning (on PCs), but there are some commercial games made using this engine
Free version (though there’s a “pro” as well): https://www.yoyogames.com/studio/download
Drag and drop interface, no coding required
But it has coding built in
Excellent tutorial books available

Start with Unity and Playmaker
This is a favorite combination of university instructors
Unity is a professional, but inexpensive (free just for learning) development system
Used now by many developers for commercial games
Can be converted to many platforms

Make Small Modifications to Existing Games
For video games, this would be levels, using a level editor included in the game
More extensive modding requires extensive programming skills
For tabletop, make variants of well-known games such as Risk, Settlers of Catan, Diplomacy, even chess

Read - a Lot - and Listen, Too
Read about game design
Books, magazines, blogs
But also, read about how the world works, good history, good economics, good literature, etc.
Challenge yourself in your reading
Listen to podcasts, watch videos
Take online classes
But lots of classes with “game design” in the title are actually about game development, especially programming
In fact, aside from my own classes, there are just one or two MOOCs that are very basic
I recommend my own classes (of course!)

Take a degree in games
Be very careful
Lots of private, for-profit schools take advantage of student dreams
Many “colleges” are not regionally-accredited colleges, so the degree generally doesn’t count as a real degree
National accreditation, oddly enough, doesn’t count
Many “game degrees”, even when called game design, teach almost no game design, or the instructors have no clue
Often because the degree is offered to provide students for programming instructors to teach
Even not-for-profit degrees are very expensive (exception: community colleges)

In the end, you must Complete games
There is no substitute for completing games
Who cares about half-completed (half-baked?) games?
No one who counts in game development
You have to show you can do it if you want to be hired
Intention counts for little, it’s ACTION that counts
You have to submit a complete game to a publisher, not something partly finished, certainly not just an idea
More detail?
I discuss this topic at greater length in my online courses “Brief Introduction to Game Design” and “Learning Game Design, as a job or a hobby”
More info (and discount URLs (coupons)) at PulsipherGames.Com

Video/screencast: What Attracts backers to Kickstarter Board and Card Games?

13+ minutes
Dr. Lewis Pulsipher
Pulsiphergames.com
“Game Design” channel on YouTube

Notes
I’m going to use the abbreviation KS for Kickstarter at times
I’m only talking about KS for board and card games – board games seem to fare better than card - not for video games or anything else

It’s Different – a “Dream machine”
I recently realized, “[Board and card] Games are works of and for the mind, not for the eyes.“
Traditional-style games are about thinking, not about looks
But that’s not how KS works
KS is a “dream system”, not a pre-order system (though sometimes it’s used for that, usually for an established franchise)
People go “all-in” for dreams, even others’ dreams; they don’t go all-in for pre-ordering, or for “pros”
They want to feel like they’re part of something new and cool

Selling “Dreams”
I received this tweet out of the blue one day: “ @lewpuls Soccer & design lovers should have this board game! RT and help making our dream come true!” [sic]
[RT = retweet, send to your followers]
Make our dream come true
People want to be something more than a “consumer”
And some people value intentions as much as actions
Young people value intention much more than in the past, I think.  Older people tend to remember “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Feeling “in at the beginning” (or “part of the process”)
So expressing the intention to publish a game, is good enough for many younger people, not enough for many older people
Backers want to feel part of a creation
They want to see their name as a contributor
Backers love polls and votes about features to include in a game
They love reaching stretch goals that change the game
Consider the popularity of paid betas in video games (especially on Steam).  People want to be part of something that isn’t yet complete, hoping to influence it!

Eye-candy Sells, Especially on KS
Especially, miniature figures, but also lots of “cool” art
The quality of the actual gameplay is secondary with many backers
Or perhaps, they assume the gameplay will match the minis and art
Of course, there’s little or no correlation
Cool dice, even
And I’ll admit, I’ve supported three dice projects – but no board or card game projects

Lower than MSRP?
Getting a “deal” seems to be secondary
James Mathe suggests a five dollar discount is sufficient
Read everything James Mathe has to say about KS
Now when KS is acting as a pre-order/”P500” system, a larger discount may be expected, as is typical for P500

“Pre-reviews”
Maybe it’s my age, but I see “pre-reviews” as a call to “shenanigans”
And paying someone to do a review for you?  Good heavens!
Why would anyone trust such things?
But this comes back to intentions, I think.  Younger people don’t seem to be suspicious of what might be happening with these “pre-reviews”
If a large company did this, though, I’ll bet there would be far more suspicion
It’s a matter of “the little guy’s dream” and trust in that dream

“Momentum”
It’s not just in sports
There’s a bandwagon effect in KS, and reverse bandwagon
This is one reason why you “go low” with your goal and then push the stretch goals, to help encourage momentum
If you haven’t made the goal as the project winds down, Kicktraq.com will predict failure, and potential backers just won’t bother
Or will pull out!

Oddball Pledge Offers
These seem to work often enough to be worth trying, since a lot of $$$$ is involved
Autographed games, play a game with the designer, get a lengthy phone call from the designer, and so forth
I’ve seen offers taken where the designer of an RPG flies to the backer’s location and GMs a game for him/her and friends
(Sea Kings example)

Highly professional can be a barrier
A highly professional presentation may be a detriment!
Backers think, “they’re pros, they don’t need help”
Pros are often using KS as a pre-order system, not a “dream system”
Newbies, or “little guys”, elicit sympathy if not empathy
For example, “Lew Pulsipher” as designer does little for a KS; does more for normal marketing and sales
I’m not only established/have a track record, I’m OLD!

The Exception
When the game is a new edition or special reprint (e.g. Ogre, Age of Conan), then the audience already exists, will hear about it, and will support it
And a game with lots of eye-candy (especially miniatures) will work regardless of origin
Age of Conan has lots of minis; so did the special edition Ogre

Separate categories of publishers
Traditional publishers – self-fund and use traditional distribution (FFG especially)
P500 publishers – direct sales and distribution (GMT)
“Kickstarter” publishers – direct via KS, a little distribution (Minion, etc.)
Gamesalute may be unique in doing more KS than any game company, but then their own direct sales and distribution

Is Kickstarter a good gauge of how popular a game will be (how well it will sell)?
I doubt it greatly
The games don’t sell the KS to backers, dreams and intentions sell to backers
But that’s not how games sell in a shop, nor online
Stores and KS have different clienteles

Typical?
Matt Green recently described the audience of Dice Tower as: “chrome-obsessed 21-40 years olds with short attention spans.”
This might describe the largest portion of Kickstarter board and card game backers, as well
As one publisher said, “The sense of entitlement that pervades KS is a difficult thing to combat.”
This fits with Matt’s description, and with the Millennial generation

I don’t think we apply these generalizations to people who buy games via traditional distribution

So to succeed on KS, it helps to:
Sell a dream
Seem like a “little guy” even if you’re not
Offer participation in the form and content of the final product
Appear to need help, even if you don’t
Offer eye candy
Or, go to an established clientele . . .

An Addendum
Do card games do less well than board games on KS?
So I’ve read
If so, why?
There are no miniatures
Card games seem simpler, less a “big deal”, and so less worthy of the all-in excitement typical of very successful KS project funding

Resources
http://www.jamesmathe.com/dead-men-tell-no-tales/
Anything by Jamey Stegmeier (Stonemeier Games)
In RPGs, Fred Hicks

4,438 games successfully funded on KS (11/13/14)