Game Design Basics
Every lesson opens on a short narrated video, then takes apart how real games work: rules, loops, challenge, feel and rewards, until you make a small game of your own on paper.
For anyone who plays games and wants to know why some are hard to put down, or who wants to make one. No coding and no drawing needed. Each of the twelve lessons starts with a short narrated video, then works through examples from well-known games like Tetris, Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart. By the end you can describe any game by its goals, rules, feedback and core loop, shape its difficulty and rewards, and build, playtest and improve a tiny game with paper, dice and cards.
By the end you can
- Break any game down into its goal, rules, feedback, challenge and core loop
- Shape difficulty, levels and game feel so players stay in the flow between boredom and frustration
- Balance choices and design rewards and story that keep players coming back for the right reasons
- Prototype a tiny game on paper, playtest it with real people and improve it one change at a time
What makes a game
- What makes a game
Find the goal, rules, feedback and challenge inside any game, and see why an obstacle nobody needs is the whole point.
- The core loop
Find the few actions a player repeats every few seconds, and the bigger loops that wrap around them.
- Why players play
Meet the three needs games feed, the different kinds of players, and how one game can serve several.
Challenge and feel
- Difficulty and flow
Keep challenge rising with skill so players stay between boredom and frustration, using a sawtooth curve.
- Levels that teach
Teach a new idea safely, test it, twist it and finish it, all through the layout instead of text.
- Game feel and juice
Make controls responsive and forgiving, then layer sound, motion and effects so every action feels satisfying.
Keep them playing
- Balancing choices
Spot dominant strategies, use costs and counters so every option is worth choosing, and tame runaway leaders.
- Rewards that work
Choose what to reward and when, see why random rewards are so gripping, and keep rewards from replacing the fun.
- Telling stories through play
Tell a story with the world, the rules and the player's own choices, not only with cutscenes.
Make your first game
- Playtesting
Watch real people play without helping, collect what they do more than what they say, and turn it into changes.
- Prototype on paper
Test a game idea in an hour with paper, dice and cards, and improve it one rule change at a time.
- Your first paper game
Put it all together: start from a classic dice game, change its rules with purpose, playtest it and write it up.
Keep it, don't just read it
Pathwise brings each idea back just before you'd forget it, with a quick question. Free on Android and on the web, in English and Persian.