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How to write a game design document (with examples)

In Project Management by John French Published 6 May 2022 Updated 28 May 2024

When you’re making your game there’s a good chance that, at some point, you’re going to need to write down how it works.

This might be because you’ve got plans and ideas for your project that you don’t want to forget.

Or it might be because other people are going to work on your game with you, and you need a way to show them what the game should or should not be like.

Or maybe you need to pitch your project in some way, to a publisher, as a part of a crowdfunding campaign, or as an early access project, and you need a way to show others what the game is going to be like when it’s finished.

So how can you do that?

One solution is to write a Game Design Document , which is typically a detailed guide that describes what your game is and how it will work.

However, while the general idea of a game design document is fairly straightforward, actually writing one can be tricky and time-consuming.

How long should a game design document be?

What should you put in it?

And does anyone even read them anyway?

Whether you even need a game design document or not can be a surprisingly divisive issue.

Some people love them, while others insist that they are obsolete and have been for some time.

However, while long written documents, that describe every detail of your game, may be considered old-fashioned, at some point, you are going need to communicate your game’s details and ideas to another person.

To a publisher or an investor,

To developers or artists working on your game,

Or even just to your future self, so that you can keep track of what it is you’re making.

So, what’s the best way to make a game design document?

Should it be one page long, or 100 pages?

And is a game design document the right option for you?

In this article, you’ll learn what a game design document is, what it can be used for and how you can write one of your own, so that you can decide if a game design document, or something like it, is the right design tool for your project.

Here’s what you’ll learn on this page:

What is a game design document?

How to write a game design document, game design document formats, how to make a one-page game design document.

Let’s get started.

A Game Design Document, or GDD for short, is typically a detailed guide that can be used to keep track of the core themes, styles, features, mechanics and ideas of your game project.

The main purpose of a game design document is to communicate the details of your project to either yourself, as you work on your game over time, or to other people, such as team members, publishers, stakeholders or people who will be playing your game, as part of a crowdfunding campaign or early access product.

Put simply, it’s the tool that you’ll use to manage and develop the concept of what your game is, how it’s supposed to work and how it will be built.

Meaning that it can be an extremely important part of your game’s development.

However, there’s no set standard for what a game design document should be, what it should look like or what it should actually do.

So why should you even use one?

Should you use a game design document?

Generally speaking, the decision to use a game design document or not depends on how you like to work.

However, if your project is large, complex or involves multiple people, then you should probably consider some kind of design document that can help you to communicate core ideas and information to other people involved with your game.

Even if it’s just you, a GDD can act as a place where the main concepts, ideas, features and the specific mechanics of your project are written out in detail.

Which can be extremely useful, as the process of writing down and describing part of your game can force you to decide exactly how it’s going to work. 

Put simply, the process of documenting your design can be an important part of the design process itself.

But, how do you write one?

Are game design documents obsolete?

Game design documents can be a surprisingly controversial subject.

Some people love them, while some developers claim that they don’t use them at all and haven’t for some time now.

Or at least they don’t use the kind of large single-document design guides that you might imagine when picturing the traditional game design document.

Large and overly detailed game design documents generally require a lot of upfront work, are almost always out of date and can be restrictive, particularly if the design of your game is likely to change over time.

So it’s little surprise that many people have moved away from large written documents in favour of design processes that are more flexible.

However, a design guide by a different name is still a design guide and, even if the format has changed, whatever you use to communicate design ideas from one person to another can still be considered a game design document of sorts.

So yes, game design documents are dead, long live game design documents.

So, how do you write a game design document?

How do you decide what should be in it?

And what type of format or structure should you use?

How to decide what should be in your game design document

When you write your game design document, it can help to think about why you actually need one in the first place.

Otherwise, it can be extremely difficult to know what should be in it, how detailed it should be or what it should even look like.

For example, do you want a simple overview page that you can use to keep track of your game’s high-level concepts, or do you want a marketing focussed summary that you can give to publishers or investors?

Do you want to be able to keep track of your game’s story, lore or items?

Or do you want to be able to show a developer exactly how a feature works or what a level should look like?

Your design document might do one of these things or it might do all of them but, what’s important is that you understand what information your design document is supposed to provide and who it’s going to provide it to.

Knowing that will help you to decide what needs to be included.

For example, a basic one-page game design document can help you to keep track of high-level concepts and the broad details of your game.

For example…

What to include in a basic game design document

An example structure of a basic game design document might include the core concept of the game , which is typically a high-level description of what the player will do, and the game’s design pillars, which are the design goals that every other decision you make about the game will be compared against.

It might also include a couple of the game’s main mechanics or controls, so that someone could easily understand what the game is going to be like to play. 

You might add any early ideas you have for the game’s visual style, what it might sound like, or what kind of music might end up being used.

Or, if the narrative of the game is important, this is where you might outline the basic story.

Or, you could add a rough timeline with some milestones that you’re hoping to hit during development.

A basic game design document might include:

• Core concept
• Design pillars
• Main features & mechanics
• Target platform & target audience
• Interface & controls
• Basic story
• Visual style
• Music & sound
• Similar games & genres
• Development timeline & major milestones

Which might look something like this:

A basic example of a simple game design document (click for the  full-size version ).

The point of a basic game design document like this is that it’s simple and easy to use. As a result, you would typically try to keep it to a single page.

To do that, you may not be able to include all of the above points.

Instead, it can help to focus on the most important elements of the game that you want to get across without worrying too much about the detail.

The idea is that a basic one-sheet game design document can be used to quickly communicate what your game is about in a concise way, and it’s typically what you’d give to anyone involved in the early stages of your project.

However, while providing a general idea about what the game will be like is, usually, always useful, if your design document has a more specific purpose, such as for marketing or as a part of a project pitch, then you may need to also include marketing-specific information in your GDD.

Marketing & pitch document example structure

A game design document that’s marketing focussed might include information that a potential investor or publisher might want to know before considering your project for investment.

Exactly how you secure an agreement with a publisher is beyond the scope of this article and I’m not going to pretend that it’s as simple as only writing a marketing focussed game design document.

However, while the process of building a relationship with a publisher or with an investor may take more than a simple pitch document, you can still use your GDD to present the information that someone who’s funding your game may want to know.

• MCV – What publishers want from developers

Typically, someone who’s willing to consider funding part of your game’s development will probably want to be able to understand how much of a risk investing in that project will be.

Investing in a project

While I’m not an expert on investing in a project, as a games composer I have occassionally been offered royalty-share opportunities in return for working on a game in the past.

And, when considering if I can invest my time into the project or not, I usually have the same questions about what the project is like or if I think it’s going to be successful.

A publisher or an investor of any kind may have similar questions about your project, what they feel they can bring to it and how much of a risk it’s likely to be for them.

Considering what a potential publisher might want to know about your project can help you to make your design or pitch documents much more effective.

As a result, you may want to use your GDD to explain who the product will be for, how it will make money, how well other games you’ve made have done and importantly, what level of social interest this project is already getting.

A project that already has a degree of interest from potential customers is likely to be a more attractive proposition than an untested concept and your GDD can be used to show that.

For example, you could include:

• Monetisation & price point
• Social engagement & wishlist adds
• Competition and how the game will compare
• Unique selling points
• New experiences & technologies
• Previous games and their performance
• Cost breakdown, salaries, assets, tools etc. (what will the game cost to make)
• Future opportunities for the game
• Market analysis

In this scenario, it can help to think of your GDD as more of a project pitch or business proposal, as that’s pretty much what it’d be. For that reason, it’s generally a good idea to focus on what you know you can deliver, based on your experience, your skills and what you’ve managed to do in the past.

However, while the details of your game’s production are going to be important in a business-focussed proposal, if you’re trying to communicate something much less tangible, such as the feel of a game, what it looks like and sounds like, using your GDD as a style guide can help you to do that as well.

Design & style focussed design document example

You might choose to use your game design document as the place to refine and share the story and the style of your game.

For example, if you need to keep track of the game’s narrative, keeping a reference to your game’s characters and how the story will unfold can be useful as you develop it.

Or, if your game has multiple endings or paths that the player can follow, having a place to keep track of them can help to avoid confusion later.

Or maybe you want to use the GDD as a kind of concept document, where the general style and feel of each level is set out, but isn’t specifically described.

A style-focussed game design document might include:

• World & areas
• Graphics & visuals
• Audio & music
• Sound effects

Or, for a more practical approach, your design document might explain exactly how each of the systems, mechanics and features of your game are supposed to work.

Game mechanics & feature design document example

Writing down the details of how something is supposed to work can be extremely useful, as it gets the idea out of your head and forces you to describe exactly how it’s supposed to function.

Which, when you’re working with other people, and you want them to build part of your game in the way you imagined it would be, can be important.

Typically, a game design document that is this detailed would act as a point of reference for how everything works in the game, what each level should look like and which controls the player will use to actually play it.

A mechanics-focussed GDD might include:

• The core gameplay loop
• UI & HUD

A large game design document might include all of the above.

Which can be useful, as it allows you to keep every detail of your game in a single location.

However, it’s up to you to decide how long your game design document should be.

A long, in-depth design document can be useful.

If you’re working on a detailed project and you need a place to keep track of all of your ideas for new mechanics items and features then writing them down in a single document seems like a good idea and, if it’s how you like to work, then go for it.

However, this approach can also work against you.

Trying to get started with such a detailed overview of your project is, in most cases, going to be extremely difficult.

Untested ideas, unless you really know that they’re going to work in the way that you expect, will often change as soon as you start to build them or as soon as people try them for the first time.

Which means that writing a long and overly-specific document upfront, before testing and validating your ideas, can be difficult, restrictive or, at the very least, a waste of time, as much of what you write now may end up changing later.

Instead, it can sometimes be better to use different length design documents at different stages of your project.

For example, in the early stages of your project, you probably won’t know exactly how each mechanic is going to work or what everything will look like or what the name of the level 2 shopkeeper’s dog will be.

And that’s fine…

However, you will probably have a working title, you’ll know what the gameplay or the story might involve and you’ll know what your design pillars, the cornerstones of how your game feels to play, will be.

For that reason it can often help to start with a simple one-page document and build on it as your project grows:

• Start with a one-page design document that focuses on high-level concepts
• Next, write a ten-page design document as the game starts to take shape, that includes core mechanics & story beats
• Lastly, write a full game design document that includes all of the game’s content & detail

Staging your design document to match the phases of your game’s development can make writing your GDD more efficient.

However, even when it’s split up like this, a long written document can be difficult to organise, difficult to manage and difficult to use.

Which is why the format of your design document can make a huge difference to how helpful it is.

When thinking of a game design document, you might picture a giant 100-page word file, neatly organised into sections with links to chapters on marketing, mechanics, characters and the game’s story.

And there are many games that were designed exactly in that way.

However, there are more ways than one to manage the design of your game, and you may find that some methods work better for you and your project than others.

There are many different ways to design something and one method isn’t necessarily better than another.

However, a design document will usually have a specific purpose, such as to communicate information, to explain how something is supposed to work or to act as a design tool itself, where an idea is developed at the time it’s written down.

In which case, the best format for your design document will depend on what you’re doing with it.

So what are your options?

Written game design documents

When you picture a game design document, you might imagine a written file, such as a word document or a Google doc, that sets out all of your game’s design details in one, or more, pages.

And while large written design guides have, reportedly, fallen out of fashion in recent years, there’s a lot to be said for having all of your game’s information organised and stored in a single place.

However…

While writing down your game’s design can be useful, a written document can only really be understood in one way, word after word, chapter after chapter.

If your design document is small, this might not be a problem for you,

But, if your GDD includes multiple sections and information, organising it in a single file can be tricky and, even with linked section headings, can be difficult to navigate.

As a result, if you need to manage a large amount of content that’s split across many different subjects, such as item descriptions, enemy stats, weapon profiles or level maps, for example, it can sometimes make sense to use a design wiki instead.

Using a game design wiki

A wiki is an online database of information that can be managed and edited by multiple users.

Compared to a written design document, a wiki is useful in that it’s easy to access, easy to update and provides information in smaller, bite-sized chunks.

Which can be helpful if you want to build a database of information about items, weapons, pickups and locations in your game.

However, while a design wiki can be useful for managing a large database of information, separating data into categories and entries can hide the relationships between the different parts of your game.

In the same way that reading a dictionary is different to learning a language, separating the different parts of your game’s design can make it difficult to understand how it’s supposed to work as a whole.

Which is why, while written guides and wiki databases can be useful for documenting data, they’re not always the best option for explaining an idea.

And while you might assume that all you need to do to communicate the design of your game is to write it all down in one place, the reality is that most people, yourself included, probably won’t read it.

So what’s the answer?

Instead of thinking of your design document as a database, it can be better to think of it as a communication tool.

A way for you to translate the ideas you have about your game for someone else in the best way possible.

Collaborative design tools

A wiki is, essentially, an online collaborative tool, that allows multiple people to access and edit the same information.

However, there are a huge number of other services that provide similar functionality but in different structures and formats.

For example, Trello can be great for managing multiple tasks at different stages of development, where each task’s description is detailed on a card that can be assigned to one or more people.

Slack splits up areas of work into different channels and encourages communication using instant messaging.

While Notion is highly customisable, allowing you to create document templates that suit whatever it is you’re doing.

However, what you use doesn’t really matter, what’s important is that it’s a good fit for you and whoever you’re working with.

The one-page game design document

The one-page design document approach is a method of creating engaging design documents by focussing on how well they communicate a particular idea.

This particular method was described by Stone Librande in his one-page design GDC talk and typically involves using illustrations, charts or maps along with callout information to describe how a feature, a mechanic or a level of your game is going to actually work in a visual way, and limited to a single page.

As a result, the one-page method can be significantly more effective at working through ideas than a written text document or wiki.

For example, imagine trying to describe to a builder what you want your house to be like using a word document.

Even if your description of where every wall window and door should go was perfectly described and incredibly detailed, it still wouldn’t be as effective as a blueprint drawing, which shows the builder where everything should go, to scale, along with all of the more detailed pieces of information that they might need in callouts and information boxes.

It would be extremely difficult to explain the information in this image using written text.

A blueprint works because it’s easy to understand, easy to modify and troubleshoot and is the most appropriate method of communication for that type of information.

The one-page design methodology explained

At this point, you might be thinking that the one-page approach simply involves using images and diagrams to communicate ideas because they usually work better than written text.

And while that’s true, it’s not the whole story.

While the one-page method does encourage you to present information in the most appropriate way, this is often a beneficial side effect of limiting your design to a single page.

Why only one page?

Using only a single page to communicate your design can work well for a few reasons.

• One page is often as much as anyone is willing to read of your design (yourself included)
• It forces you to think of the most effective way to explain what you mean, without relying on other pages or resources
• It keeps your design concise, saving you time upfront

As a result, using one-page designs can help you to communicate your ideas more easily, in a better way and, when you do, people are much more likely to actually read them.

Even this basic design can show how an idea is supposed to work relatively effectively.

Even if you’re working on your game on your own, the one-page approach can be an extremely useful design tool.

This is because trying to teach someone else how your design works, even if it’s just you that will read it, can often be the fastest way to find out what’s not going to work, what’s missing and what doesn’t make sense.

So while one-page documents are helpful because of their often visual focus, their one-page limit generally encourages a more useful and more efficient design process as well.

So how do you make a one-page game design document and what should go in it?

Generally speaking, there are two steps to making a one-page game design document.

• Decide what the document is supposed to do
• Choose the most effective format to explain the design

First, decide what your one-page design document is supposed to do

One of the most important parts of writing any kind of design document is making a decision about what its purpose is.

If you don’t know know what your design document is supposed to explain, it can be extremely difficult to make anything that’s actually useful.

So, to give your design document an objective, decide what it’s for and give it a descriptive title before you do anything else.

While this may sound simple, it can be surprisingly tricky.

For example, let’s say that you want to understand how the combat system is going to work in your game.

What do I mean by that?

Do I mean how much damage a particular move will do, or do I mean the different controls that a player might input to perform them?

Do I mean how a player’s attacks might compare to enemy attacks or do I mean the balance of weapons in the game?

Or would it actually be better if I included all of those things on one page?

Deciding exactly what it is you’re trying to design can be difficult however, to make it a little easier, try to think specifically about the problem you’re trying to solve.

It can be a specific problem or it can be a broad problem, but try to make it one thing, not several, by giving it a primary focus.

For example, if you’re trying to balance the stats of different weapons in your game then designing them all on one “weapon balance” page makes a lot of sense, as you’ll be able to see how they compare at a glance.

One-page design documents are useful for seeing how parts of your game compare.

However, if you’re trying to choose what kinds of attacks should be available to the player and how they will trigger them then a “Combat controls” page could work for that.

This is a basic example, but just seeing the controller when considering a control scheme can make working out control combinations much easier.

Or, if you make your page bigger, there’s no reason you can’t combine multiple elements into a single design, so long as the design document still solves a single problem and has a primary focus.

One-page designs are great for showing the relationships between different parts of your game and, by simply using bigger and bigger pages, it’s possible to show broader, more high-level concepts on a single sheet. However, it’s important to identify what is the focus of the design document and what is the detail.

One-page designs work well because, just like the builder’s blueprint, they allow you to communicate an entire idea on a single page.

However, it may not be possible to design your entire game on one page.

Instead, chances are the different parts of your design, such as the problems you want to solve, the high-level concepts that will run throughout your project or the ideas and information you want to be able to explain to other people, will be delivered using multiple one-page designs.

Which is fine…

What’s important is that each individual design doesn’t rely on other pages to do its job, which would simply be a large design guide by a different name.

Once you’ve decided what you want your design to do, you’ll need to decide the best way to demonstrate it.

Decide the best way to explain your design

There are a lot of different ways to show information and, a lot of the time, different types of data can be easier to understand and easier to work with when it’s presented in a particular way.

For example, UI design is often shown using flowcharts, as it’s a good way to demonstrate the flow of a user interface from screen to screen but also allows you to dig into the details of each panel and what it’s supposed to look like.

Whereas game levels are usually clearest when using a map, as this provides a high-level understanding of how the layout is going to work, even though it’s from a point of view that the player will probably never see.

A basic example of a map showing alternative routes through a level.

One-page designs can also be used as an organisational tool.

For example, Gantt charts can be useful for explaining when the different stages of a project are expected to start and end, who will work on them and how long they will take.

This basic example shows how you could use a Gantt chart to keep track of who will do what and when.

Picking the right design medium

When you’re deciding on the best way to present your design, it can often help to think about what you will do with it once it’s finished.

For example, if you’re building a world map, but you’re not sure where everything is going to go yet, the first version of your design should probably be one that allows you to easily move things around. 

There are a lot of ways you could do this but don’t assume that a digital method is going to be the most convenient.

Sometimes using real paper, drawing a quick sketch, and then cutting it up and moving it around until it looks right can be the quickest and easiest way to get the results you want.

You can always make a better-looking version later, after some early design decisions have been made.

Exactly which format you should use for your design document depends on what you’re trying to show.

But, there is a general approach that you can follow.

Typically, there are two elements that are common to many one-page designs.

• A main illustration that explains the core idea of the design
• Optional details that expand on the core idea for those that need to know more

To avoid your page from becoming multiple pages in one place, it’s important to choose what the main focus will be.

The important thing is that, whatever you do choose, it should be as easy as possible to understand.

The one-page approach isn’t a challenge to fit as much information as you possibly can into one space.

Which, if you do that, can make your design harder to understand, not easier.

Instead, try to think of the one-page approach, and game design documents in general, as an exercise in communication.

If someone else can easily understand your game by reading your GDD then, even if you’re working alone, your design document will be much easier to work with and much more helpful to you as you build your project.

From the experts

Hopefully, this article has helped you to think about how a game design document is, essentially, a communication tool for your ideas.

Which means that it can only be a useful tool if how you use it suits the type of information you want to explain and who you’re explaining it to.

However, I’m not a game designer, and while I can show how you might like to keep track of your design, I would recommend some of the following expert resources for how to actually approach the design process itself.

• Brackeys – Basic Principles of Game Design
• Stone Librande – One-Page Designs
• Game Maker’s Toolkit – Design focussed YouTube videos

Now it’s your turn

Now I want to hear from you.

How are you designing your game?

Are you using design documents or something else?

And what have you learned about game design documents that you know others will find useful?

Whatever it is, let me know by leaving a comment below.

Please note: Comments are currently disabled on this article, if you’d like to share your feedback, get in touch with me directly , I’d love to hear your thoughts.

by John French

Game audio professional and a keen amateur developer.

• johnlfrench
• johnleonardfrench.com

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How I Teach Game Design. (Lesson 1: The Game Design Process) How I Teach Game Design. (Lesson 1: The Game Design Process)

A series about what and how I teach. In this lesson: thoughts on how and why to iterate when making a game, plus an exercise in game modification.

October 19, 2013

How I Teach Game Design.  Lesson 1: The Game Design Process

how and why to iterate + a game modification exercise

Iterative design

In the syllabus I shared in my last How I Teach Game Design   post , graded assignments are given out on one week, and then one or two or three weeks later, they are due. So what happens in-between, during the actual work time? The answer is: the iterative design process.

Iterative design means a process focused on playtesting. You produce a playable prototype of a game as quickly as possible, then playtest the prototype, and you decide how to evolve the game based on the experience of the playtest. One way of understanding iterative design would be its opposite: a designer who works out all of the details of a game in advance, and creates a final set of rules and other materials without ever actually playing the game.

Of course, this caricature is absurd: no game designer I know has ever released a game without playtesting it. But I do have a particularly strong emphasis on iterative design in my teaching and my creative practice as a designer. The game designer Kevin Cancienne once called me a “playtesting fundamentalist’ – and perhaps he’s right. (So much for my stance against fundamentalism.)

What’s the big deal about iteration? The behavior of complex, interactive systems – like games – is incredibly difficult to predict. You generally cannot know exactly what players are going to do once they start playing your game. The only way to find out is to actually build some primitive version of your game, have people play it, and see what happens. Each time you playtest, you find out what does and doesn’t work, make some adjustments, and then play again. That’s why it is called the iterative process – you create successive versions, or iterations , of your game as you go.

The process of iteration consists of these steps:

1. design a prototype 2. playtest your prototype 3. analyze what happened      (then it’s back to step 1 - modifying your game to create a new prototype)

In a game design class, most of the playtesting will be done by the designers themselves, especially for short assignments. But of course it is always good for other people to play the games and give feedback – such as designers playing each others’ games in a class. For commercial game development, of course, a more rigorous playtesting process is highly recommended. (More details about playtesting methodology are coming in future posts.)

Principles of iteration

Below are a few ideas to keep in mind about the iterative process.

Ideas are cheap. People often romanticize the creative process, assuming that the hardest part of doing anything is to come up with a “good idea.” I could not disagree more. Ideas in and of themselves – by which I mean a concept you might have for a game – are not that important. Game design ideas gain value, sophistication, and meaning only when they are playtested. The hard work of the process, the actual game design itself, happens during the iterative process, not the concepting process that proceeds it.

Stop brainstorming and start prototyping. When a group begins discussing a game project, the tendency is for everyone to discuss their ideas ad infinitum. Whose idea is better or more interesting? Whose idea will make a better game? The truth is that it doesn’t really matter – any place is a good starting point for a design process. The challenge of iteration is to get a playable prototype happening as soon as possible. The art of iteration is to decisively pick one idea – any idea – that can quickly be playtested.

Embrace failure. One of the hardest things about iteration is seeing your ideas fail. But it’s really important to experience failure – most ideas will not work the way you expected them to play out. That’s why it is important to iterate like mad, trying out ideas, seeing what works and doesn’t work, evolving your design forward as you learn from your mistakes. Failure is like spicy food – it hurts at first... but then you acquire a taste for it – and soon you just can’t get enough. You never completely lose the hurt, but you also learn to enjoy the pain.

Be critical. As we iterate, we practice our ability to be rigorously critical with each other and with ourselves. The study of game design can provide a language and set of concepts to help designers see why a game design might or might not be working. But ultimately it is up to you to learn how to be critical with your own design.

More experimental? More iteration. The more weird or unusual an idea is, the more important it is to iterate. If you are doing an exact copy of an existing game, just changing a few superficial elements, you probably don’t need to playtest as much. But if you are doing anything at all original or experimental then you absolutely need to playtest throughout the entire process.

Keep it ugly. As a game design prototype, you should not worry if your game has gorgeous visual aesthetics. Initial prototypes should be down-and-dirty, skeletal versions of a game. Don’t design beautiful illustrated playing cards – just grab some index cards and handwrite what you need. Perhaps later on you’ll end up with a beautiful looking game, but at first, keep things fast and loose so that you can quickly try out different ideas.

Sidebar: the pitfalls of playtesting

Just so that I don’t come off as too fundamentalist about playtesting and iteration, I want to be sure and acknowledge that iteration is not a cure-all for every designer and every game, and that it can be dangerous to playtest your design uncritically.

At the Different Games conference in New York City last year, I saw a great talk by game designer Mattie Brice who presented a corrective to the idea of playtesting. Her point was that playtesting can sometimes dilute the personal, expressive quirkiness of a game design – that if you playtest with outsiders, and create a game to please them instead of yourself, you could end up killing what is most unique about your game.

This is a very valid point. It’s important to be critical of playtesting, and of the reactions your playtesters might have to your game. Like any design concept or methodological tool, playtesting is not universally valid or true, and there are many ways to playtest well or poorly.

New rules for an old game

I like to get my students making something as quickly as possible – even during the first class. Because creating a game from scratch is often a daunting challenge, one way to kickstart the design process is to give designers an exercise where they are modifying an existing game, rather than making a new one.

The Tic-Tac-Toe exercise usually takes place during the very first class meeting. It serves as a good introduction to understanding game rules, as well as an “icebreaker” design activity.

MODIFYING TIC-TAC-TOE in-class exercise

Summary Analyze Tic-Tac-Toe and then redesign the game by changing a few rules.

Goals • understanding how changing game rules changes the system of a game • introduction to the iterative process • icebreaker game design exercise

Before the exercise Through class discussion, make a general list of the rules of Tic-Tac-Toe. For example:

1. play takes places on a 3x3 grid 2. two players alternate turns placing an X or an O in an empty square 3. three of the same symbols in a row wins 4. if no one can play, the game ends in a draw

Then discuss why Tic-Tac-Toe always ends in a draw for most players. Have the class brainstorm what they might modify in order to change the game: the grid size and shape, the number of players, the winning conditions, the things you can do on a turn, etc.

Modify! Pairs of students try to redesign the game in order to increase the space of possibility of the game – to make it more interesting to play than the “solved problem” of classic Tic-Tac-Toe.

As they design, have them change as little as possible – one, two, or three rules at the most. They should follow the iterative process of making small changes, playing their modified version, analyzing how they affected the game, and then redesigning again.

Finally, groups can share their modifications with the class, and what did and didn’t work. If there are too many groups for everyone to share, then pairs of groups can play each others’ games and discuss.

At this point, I’ve seen my students create hundreds of variations of Tic-Tac-Toe. My favorite was an exceptionally elegant variation where nothing was changed – except the winning condition. If you got 3-in-a-row, you lost . Playing this version of Tic-Tac-Toe means trying to force your opponent to make what we normally consider a “winning move.” As a minimal rule-change that turns the “solved” game of Tic-Tac-Toe into a brain-twisting puzzle, I loved that modification.

Further Reading

For a great case study on iterative design, I often have my students read The Design Evolution of Magic: The Gathering , an essay by Richard Garfield that appears in The Rules of Play Reader , an anthology I co-edited with Katie Salen.

I also wrote a chapter in Brenda Laurel’s book Design Research about the iterative design process called Play as Research: The Iterative Design Process which is available to read at ericzimmerman.com .

The Tic-Tac-Toe exercise is directly inspired by one of my game design heroes, Bernie DeKoven. In his classic game design book The Well-Played Game , there is a whole chapter devoted to modifying games, including Tic-Tac-Toe. MIT Press just published a new edition of the book . (Full disclosure: the new edition’s *awesomely brilliant* foreword was written by me.)

This series is dedicated to my co-teaching collaborators and other game design instructors who have taught me so much, including Frank Lantz, Katie Salen, Nathalie Pozzi, Naomi Clark, Colleen Macklin, John Sharp, Tracy Fullerton, Jesper Juul, Nick Fortugno, Marc LeBlanc, Stone Librande, and Steve Swink.

I also want to thank some of the many many teachers that have inspired me throughout my life, including Gilbert Clark, Enid Zimmerman, Weezie Smith, Susan Leites, Gwynn Roberts, Pat Gleeson, Janice Bizarri, Sensei Robert Hodes, and Sifu Shi Yan Ming.

Special thanks to Frank Lantz, Nathalie Pozzi, John Sharp, and Gamasutra editor Christian Nutt for their input on this essay series.

Read more about:

About the Author

Eric Zimmerman

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Video Game Design and Development

Encouragement, advice, and support for aspiring game designers.

Learn to Design Video Games with GameDesigning.org

Video Game Design demystified–Learn everything you need to become a game designer (professional or indie).

Welcome to the one-stop shop for all things game design (we’re happy you made it). This page is the central hub–it’s where we unpack the craft and touch on the majority of the info you can find throughout the site.

If this is your first time here, this is a great place to start.

First things first — What is Video Game Design?

Game Design refers to the complete process of generating an idea for a game and taking it all the way to a final, playable product.

Many people think exclusively of video games, but game design covers all kinds of games (board games, card games, video games, etc).

• Game mechanics
• Core game concept
• Character design
• Narrative and plot
• Level design

And that’s just the obvious stuff. Video games need to be coded, tested, and debugged (and tested again, debugged again, tested again, debugged aga–you get the point).

Ultimately, your goal as a game designer is to create a game that’s fun. A game that players can enjoy, revisit often and lose themselves in. After all, a great video game can actually be good for you 🙂

It doesn’t take a Skyrim-caliber game for players to get hooked. You could make a text-based game right now on Twine that could transport people to a different world (but you’ll probably need to hone your skills before you create a real winner–so let’s keep going, shall we?).

How to Become a Game Designer

But, becoming a good game designer will take much more time .

The simplest path is by designing games. The simple path is not the easy path (unless mom and dad have serious connections, there is no “easy path” to game design). But you wouldn’t be here if you were on the easy path (the “simple” path is far more rewarding, anyway). As you continue your research into game design, you will see this sentiment echoed over and over–Want to be a game designer? Then design games. This advice might seem daunting. It might not sound sexy. It might not be the “secret tips and tricks” you were looking for. But it’s the only way to do what you’re trying to do.

And you can start right now. We have lists of great tutorials and guides for beginners, covering more than enough topics for you to get started.

Interested in learning more about game programming languages, or Java, Flash, Unity , or Blender?

We have you covered (and then some!).

Or, if you’re looking for formal education, you can head to a different corner of our site.

Getting a Game Design Education

If the world of online game design courses still isn’t “formal” enough for you, there are colleges that offer game design courses.

How to Find the Best Game Design Schools

The number of schools offering game design programs continues to grow–so check out our convenient lists of popular game design schools or digital animation schools for a good place to start your search.

You’ll also find some programs that are in between the freedom of a self-paced online course and the rigid and expensive education of a college program.

CG Spectrum and Animation Mentor are a couple of programs we recommend.

The point is, you have options. Whatever your other life commitments are, there is a workable solution for learning game design.

But remember, a program certificate or a game design degree are not the only ways to enter the field (and they’re far from a guarantee):

• It’s a competitive field
• Game design programs are growing in number
• The supply of game design graduates has grown beyond the demand for them

Not to mention the majority of industry veterans broke into the industry without getting a game design degree–the game design degree is a fairly new phenomenon.

The degree likely won’t be the differentiator… No, your portfolio is the key.

Building Your Portfolio

Prove to the hiring managers that you actually have some talent in your craft. Show your character design skills. Show your creativity in level design. And definitely show off your ability to design a fun, polished game. Hiring managers aren’t expecting AAA projects on your portfolio–your games can be simple and clever. Shoot for fun, different, unique, and well-executed.

P.S. If you get a college degree in game design, you still need to put some extra-curricular time into your portfolio.

If your portfolio only has projects you completed at school, it will look like thousands of other game design students’ portfolios, who completed similar projects in similar programs.

You need to differentiate yourself. The only way to do that is to create your own games. Create in your free time. Create with your friends. Create create create!

Getting a Job

So your portfolio is the differentiator.

The next step is to figure out where you want to work .

Some cities, like Vancouver, are game design and animation studio hotbeds.

There are entry-level video game jobs you can get that could eventually lead to advancement opportunities.

When you find promising game development studios, see if you can invite an employee out to coffee and pick their brain about how they got where they did.

Find ways to network that work for you. Build up your contact list as you make projects, interact in online game design forums, or attend classes.

Talk to people. Work on projects and collaborate with other aspiring game designers. Stay in touch with like-minded individuals. Surround yourself with motivated people. Offer feedback on their projects. Solicit feedback on your own projects.

If a paid gig isn’t on the cards, do your best to land a game development internship. These are great ways to learn the business, get some experience, and grow your portfolio. Do a good job, and you can turn that internship into a paid job.

If a big studio doesn’t call you, there’s always the possibility of starting your own studio. Technology makes it easy to start an indie game company (but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to succeed).

Wherever you want to go with game design, you’ve taken a great first step in the right direction–you’ve started researching.

Good luck with your journey (and let us know how we can help)!

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Make Your Own Video Game for Kids!

• How to Teach Variables to Kids
• Python for Kids: A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Programming with Python

Kids love to play video games. That much is obvious. But wouldn’t it be cool if they could make their screen time less passive and more productive? With Tynker, they can. By learning to code their own games, kids become creators instead of just consumers. And not only will they be having fun, but programming video games has proven to accelerate kids’ academics in math, science and reading, while giving them a skill that will open up countless future job opportunities.

At Tynker, kids and teens of all ages and skill levels can video game development with programming activities, built-in tutorials, online support, coding puzzles , mini-games, and more. So let’s learn more about making your own games for kids.

How to Make Easy Games for Kids?

Kids can make their own video games with coding platforms designed for kids! Children can use user-friendly game development tools like Scratch , Tynker , and GameMaker to build their own video games. These platforms are designed to be accessible and suitable for all skill levels, making it easy for kids to learn programming and game design without feeling overwhelmed

Children can develop their creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills through engaging tutorials and interactive interfaces as they make games. As they gain experience, kids can graduate into more advanced video game coding tools like Unity or Unreal Engine to create increasingly sophisticated games.

Collaborating with others, either online or in-person, can further enhance their learning and foster teamwork. When encouraged to “build your own video game,” children have fun and develop a valuable skill set that can translate into future opportunities within the growing gaming industry. Plus they experience the pride that goeas along with being able to say, “I know how to create my own video game.”

Where to Begin When Your Child Wants to Create a Video Game?

If your child is interested in creating a video game, start by researching age-appropriate game maker online platforms like Scratch , Tynker , or Kodu , which are designed to be accessible and engaging for young learners. Please encourage your child to explore tutorials, examples, and community projects to familiarize themselves with the platform and gather inspiration. Next, help them brainstorm and plan their game concept, including characters, storyline, and game mechanics. As they develop their game, provide support and encouragement and celebrate their progress. Encourage collaboration with friends or online communities to enhance learning and teamwork.

What is the Easiest Game to Code for Kids?

One of the easiest games for kids to code is a block coding game using Tynker. Tynker is a fantastic platform designed specifically for young learners who are new to coding. It utilizes a block-based coding system, which means that instead of typing out complex code, kids can use colorful blocks that snap together like puzzle pieces. This makes coding accessible and fun for children, as they can drag and drop blocks to create their own games, characters, and interactive stories. With Tynker, kids can explore their creativity, learn coding fundamentals, and see their ideas come to life in the form of fun and engaging games. Whether it’s designing a maze, creating a character that jumps, or making a simple storytelling game, Tynker provides a supportive environment for kids to embark on their coding journey while having a blast along the way.

5 Great Reasons to Make Video Games with Tynker

Empower your kids to make their own games paving the way for endless creativity and fun. Experience the thrill of making your own video games for free, and watch as your children unlock their true potential with Tynker.

• Award-Winning Platform – Over 600 hours of unique content.
• Self-Guided – Your child will make games on their own, at their own pace.
• Support – Step-by-step instructions, how-to video guides, and online classes.
• All Ages – From block coding to text coding like Python and JavaScript.
• Mobile Apps – take Tynker Junior, Tynker, and Mod Creator on-the-go.

*All for a fantastic price! Our annual plan breaks down to just 33 cents per day .

Game Design Courses on Tynker

Intro to coding:.

Glitch Manor – (Ages 7+) Explore a haunted mansion, fight off zombies, solve mysteries, and more with 80 programming activities and 16 coding puzzles.

Turing’s Tower – (Ages 9+) Scour the globe and repair a flying tower to fight off a giant robotic dragon in this steampunk-styled platformer game with 56 programming activities and 16 coding puzzles.

Intermediate Game Design: Ages 8-13

Star Runner – Build 8 fun arcade games to advance your coding skills and learn 2D motion, pen drawing, and animation.

Goblin Quest – Use code to explore secret worlds, solve dungeon puzzles, and program armies to follow your commands.

Advanced Game Design: Ages 14+

Drone Menace – Program a multi-level arcade game with a scoring system, win-loss scenarios, and special effects.

Gravity Sling – Build an Angry Birds-style physics-based catapult game while learning to program gravity and collisions and even create a black hole!

Ninja Runner – Use advanced physics engine commands as you program a platformer game with your own hero and enemy A.I.

How Kids Learn to Code while Building Games

Building a game is an involved process, touching on a variety of left brain (logic) and right brain (creativity) functions while designing and programming scenes. All the planning that goes into game making increases kids’ ability to focus on tasks for long periods of time and see projects through to completion while developing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Interactive Scenes – place characters, make animations, and add effects. Kids can even draw their own characters and animate them with multiple frames.
• Sound – set the mood for any kind of scenario with music. Whether they want a dramatic intro sequence or an exciting duel, kids can choose from a variety of music clips and sound effects from our library. They can even compose their own music using our built-in MIDI interface and Tynker’s Synth Blocks.
• Character Motion – use loops to program the motion of characters and coordinate geometry to move sprites across the screen. For example, when programming a Pong or Brick Breaker game, kids have to use angles and speed to move the paddle and the ball.
• Game Play – program whether to detect user input from a mouse or the arrow keys and write code to handle these events. For example, press the spacebar to jump or click and the mouse to pop a balloon.
• Keeping Score – use variables and counters to keep track of the score, health, and number of lives, increasing and decreasing them based on key events during gameplay. Advanced users can even build leaderboards to rank players in the community.
• Detecting Win/Loss Conditions – use conditional logic to determine if a player won or lost a game.

How Can Video Game Coding Help Develop Programming Skills?

• Video game coding is engaging and motivating for developing programming skills.
• It keeps individuals invested in coding through fun and interactive games.
• Real-world challenges like character movement and collision detection reinforce programming concepts.
• Game development fosters problem-solving and logical thinking by breaking complex problems into smaller tasks.
• It combines technical and creative abilities through storytelling, art, and game mechanics.
• Debugging games teaches attention to detail and effective error-handling.
• It often involves teamwork, improving communication and collaboration skills.
• Coding games exposes programmers to various technologies and platforms.
• Completed game projects can be showcased in portfolios for job or academic opportunities.
• Overall, video game coding is a practical way to develop a broad spectrum of programming skills applicable to computer science and beyond.

Tynker’s Global Community

Check out these great block coding projects from our global community to see how kids are creating stages, animating characters, and producing sound with a variety of activities and interactive games.

For support, check out our Tynker Toolbox blog where we show kids how to design their own platformer game using two great tools:

• The Level Editor lets you drag-and-drop game elements visually and create fun levels super fast.
• The Platformer Blocks help you code platformer actors to move left-and-right. Many of the props and characters in the Level Editor come with prebuilt code, which can be customized as needed.

Tynker Summer Code Jam

Here are a few game gifs designed by our code jammers:.

We also have an incredible 8-week Summer Code Jam in which young coders from around the world compete for up to $10,000 in prizes by creating their own projects.

This is the perfect time to unlock your child’s potential with a subscription to Tynker.

We can’t wait to see what your child will create with code!

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Take your child from novice to expert. Just follow the path.

Block Coding Courses

Apply your coding skills! Find your passion!

Other Advanced Tynker Courses

Graduate to Python and other text coding languages with Tynker’s advanced elective courses.

Game Design Assignments

In-class assignments.

All work is started in class on the date shown on the syllabus, and is due before the next class meeting. Assignments count toward your participation grade.

Team Projects

You will work on three (3) team projects over the semester. For each project, you will be given a specific problem to solve. For each project you will need to do the following with your team:

• Get together with your team and decide who on the team is in charge of what. Everyone should take charge of at least one thing. Things you may be in charge of are ...
• ePortfolio creation and maintenance - for someone good at web design & development
• writing about the project - for someone good at writing
• artwork, including character and setting design - for someone with artistic skills
• audio - for someone with musical/audio skills
• prototype development - for someone with building and/or programming skills/experience  
• Create an ePortfolio for the project
• Go to http://stonybrook.digication.com/ and login using your NetID.
• Click on the e-Portfolios tab, and Create a new e-Portfolio for this class. If you have never created a digication eportfolio before, be sure to look at the Quick Start Guide.
• Create a Title. Give it a name indicating the Game and Team designation (e.g. Game_1_Team_Z).
• Under Template, choose Create From Scratch . Later on, under Settings, you can choose to customize with your own icon, header, and other desired formatting changes.
• Under Permissions, make it Private within SBU . Click on Custom Permissions and add the other team members (using their Stony Brook email) and give them Admin status .
• Choose a tagging option (any one is fine).
• Allow Comments from Registered Users , and Show Comments Immediately .
• Click on Create New e-Portfolio .  
• Create appropriate sections in the ePortfolio for the design elements required for each project. One section should describe the Team , listing all the members and what each person is in charge of. The Vision Statement should appear on the main page. See below for details on what else is required for each project.  
• Playtest the games, and enter your responses in the appropriate e-Portfolios. Note that this counts as a homework assignment, so see the assignments above for specifics. See Assignments in Blackboard to see who evaluates what.  
• A title and pitch for the game
• The purpose of the game, who it is intended for, and why this is important
• How you solved the specific problem that you were given for this assignment
• Who you think this will appeal to, and what they will find to be fun about it
• Demonstrate using the prototype (required)

Here are further details for each project:

Project 1: Take an existing physical (non-digital) game and modify the formal elements to create a completely different game. Things you may change are:

• Player interaction patterns: e.g. take a competitive game and make it either cooperative or collaborative .
• Objectives: e.g. if the original objective is capture , make the objective a chase , race , or alignment .
• Procedures: e.g. change the core mechanic of the game.
• Rules: e.g. modify restrictions on actions that players can and cannot make.
• Resources: add new resources to the game and take away existing ones.

As you design this game, be sure to create the following:

• Title of the game
• Pitch: a snappy 1 sentence that makes people want to play
• Audience & genre: what type of game it is, and who will likely play it
• Premise: theme, goals, how to win
• Mechanics: what player does to achieve goals
• Look and feel: what it feels like to play the game
• Uniqueness: what makes this different from other games?
• 1 image showing a snapshot of what the game screen will look like
• Rules and procedures for playing the game. This should be complete enough that someone should be able to play just by following directions here. Post this as a separate section in the project's ePortfolio.  
• Physical prototype. This should be sufficient to allow playtesters to experience playing the game.

Project 2: Consider a hobby that people occupy their time with (other than playing a sport or a game). Using that hobby as the premise, design a game for an Android tablet where the core mechanic of the game relates to the actions taken in that hobby. As you design this game, be sure to create the following:

• Premise: the hobby this is based on, goals of the game, how to win/succeed
• Paper prototype. For the first playtest, use paper or other physical materials to protoype the core mechanic, so playtesters get a feel for what it's like to play the game.
• Digital prototype. For the second playtest, prototype the core mechanic AND the aesthetics of the game.

Project 3: Design a digital game for a specific physical context , such as a landmark, LIRR train car, Starbucks cafe, etc. The game should either reinforce , challenge , or transform the cultural ideology of the chosen context through the play of the game. As you design this game, be sure to create the following:

• Theme: the physical context and its current cultural ideology
• Goals: goals of the game, how to win/succeed
• Flowboard. This should show the progression of the game, and the choices available to the players at each point. Develop this as a physical prototype to be used in the first playtest.
• Digital prototype. Prototype both the mechanic, so playtesters get a feel for what it's like to play the game, and the aesthetics, so playtesters get a sense of the look-and-feel of the game.

Browse Course Material

Course info, instructors.

• Philip B. Tan

Departments

• Comparative Media Studies/Writing

As Taught In

• Game Design
• Media Studies

Learning Resource Types

Assignments.

All student work presented on this page is published with permission of the authors.

First Assignment: Card Game

Design a simple competitive or cooperative card game using only a deck of identically-sized cards (no tokens, dice, variations in card sizes, etc.) that can be set up and played between 5 minutes and 10 minutes. Design your cards to emphasize legibility, clarity, and ease-of-use. Visual artistry may be appreciated but will not be graded. We encourage using tools that speed up iteration. You only need to design and test the game for a fixed number of players: two, three, or four players. If your game accommodates different-sized groups, state any rule changes necessary.

To complete the assignment, you must design and provide a hardcopy deck of cards. Submissions will not be returned to students after grading but will be made accessible in the GAMBIT Game Lab for future classes. You must also upload PDF copies of your game rules and cards to the course website. Scans of your cards are perfectly acceptable; provide color scans if your cards have color. Rules should be properly typed and formatted.

Session #5: Team formation Session #10: Internal playtest Session #13: Playtest with GAMBIT Staff Session #16: Online and deck submission deadline

Student Work

Second Assignment: Board Game

Design a board game that adapts or abstracts some real-world system of your choosing, e.g. a nuclear reactor, a black market, global climate, high school popularity, MIT. Your game must be playable by two or four players. State any rule changes necessary for different-sized groups. New players need to be able to set up, learn, and complete your game under 45 minutes. Players already familiar with your rules should be able to complete a full session in under 30 minutes. Design your game bits to emphasize legibility clarity, and ease-of-use Visual artistry may be appreciated but will not be graded. Be prepared to announce the system you have chosen by the first Internal Mechanic Playtest.

To complete the assignment, you must select, design, and provide all the necessary game bits to play your game. Submissions will not be returned to students after grading but will be made accessible in the GAMBIT Game Lab for future classes. You must also upload PDF copies of your game rules, game board, and any custom cards to the course Web site. Scans of your board and cards are perfectly acceptable; provide color scans if your cards have color. Rules should be properly typed and formatted. Include a list of all the game bits and props used by your game.

Session #19: Team formation Session #22: Internal playtest Session #24: Playtest with GAMBIT Staff Session #29: Showcase and submission deadline

Third Assignment: Game For A Client

Design a game that can be set up and played between 20 minutes and 40 minutes. You will be given a client who needs a game designed to fulfill certain requirements that will be provided at the beginning of the assignment. The game could be a card game, board game, live-action game etc. (The game should not require significant athletic activity; keep it safe for all participants involved.) The game will be played in a single classroom. This session may be recorded on video. You will have to host/GM a session of your game, live, during the last day of classes. The intent is to provide a game that the client could host/GM themselves.

To complete the assignment, you must select, design, and provide any necessary game bits or props to play your game. You may use prototyping materials available in the GAMBIT Game Lab. Submissions will not be returned to students after grading but will be made accessible in the GAMBIT Game Lab for future classes. You must also upload PDF copies of your game rules and printed materials to the course website. Include a list of all the game bits and props used by your game.

Session #31: Team formation Session #35: Internal playtest Session #37: Playtest with GAMBIT Staff Session #39: Showcase and submission deadline

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GAME:IT Advanced

Sub title mobile game development & industry awareness.

• Description
• Course Standards
• Technical Requirements
• Request a Demo

The GAME:IT Advanced course is the capstone course in the high school game design and programming pathway. In this course, students will focus on mobile game development and the advanced game physics, mechanics, and multiplayer aspects of these types of games. The skills covered in this course include:

• Mobile Game Development
• JavaScript Programming
• Advanced Game Physics
• UX & UI Design
• Marketing & Monetization
• In-App Advertisements
• Industry Awareness

At the conclusion of the course, students will have the opportunity to take an industry certification exam. The industry certification exam covers concepts covered across the GAME:IT series, so the following prerequisites are recommended: GAME:IT, GAME:IT Intermediate .

• GAME:IT Advanced - Course Overview
• GAME:IT Advanced - Pacing Guide
• Intro to Construct 3
• Tutorial: Open Construct 3 Files
• Video: Building Games with Construct 3
• What is a Mobile Game? Lesson
• Modern Devices & Gaming Lesson
• Mobile Game Engines Lesson
• Future of Mobile Gaming Project
• Intro to Mobile Gaming Quiz
• Module 1 Vocabulary Workbook Assignment
• “The Evolution of Mobile Gaming” Video
• Exploring Mobile Games Assignment
• Top Mobile Games Assignment
• Video Tutorial: Intro to Canva Tools
• Video Tutorial: Creating QR Codes
• Mobile Device Survey Assignment
• Video Tutorial: Using Google Forms
• Game Engine Exploration Assignment
• Introduction to JavaScript Lesson
• Variables & Data Types Lesson
• Functions in JavaScript Lesson
• JS Scripting in Construct 3 Lesson
• Pocket Piano JS Game Project
• Fundamentals of JavaScript Quiz
• Simple Alert - Example File
• Audio Scripting - Example File
• Pocket Piano - Template File
• Pocket Piano Project Assets
• Module 2 Vocabulary Workbook Assignment
• Hello World Assignment
• Create Alert Assignment
• Declaring Variable Assignment
• String Quote Assignment
• Arrays Assignment
• Date & Time Assignment
• Functions Expressions Assignment
• Callback Function Assignment
• Construct 3 JS Assignment
• Part 1 - Physics Behavior in Construct 3 Lesson
• Part 2 - Physics Behavior in Construct 3 Lesson
• Advanced Game Mechanics Lesson
• Controls & Detected Input Lesson
• Half Full Game Project
• Advanced Physics & Mechanics Quiz
• Compare Acceleration - Example File
• Compare Orientation - Example File
• Half Full - Template File
• Water Effect - Mirrored Example
• Water Effect - Movement Example
• Water Reflection - Reflection Example
• Wind Effect - Animations Example
• Wind Effect - Sine Behavior Example
• Module 3 Vocabulary Workbook Assignment
• “Forces and Motion in Games Programming” Video
• Gravity Assignment
• Collision Polygons Assignment
• Rotation Assignment
• Force Assignment
• Torque Assignment
• Joint Assignment
• Car Movement Assignment
• Effects & Particles Assignment
• Wind & Water Assignment
• Touch Controls Assignment
• Gamepad Input Assignment
• Tilt & Tip Assignment
• Trends in Mobile Gaming Lesson
• Elements in Mobile Game UI Lesson
• Mobile Game Design Process Lesson
• Original Mobile Game Project
• Designing Modern Video Games Quiz
• Local Storage - High Score File
• Leaderboard - Array Example File
• Multiplayer Game - Example File
• Module 4 Vocabulary Workbook Assignment
• “Top Mobile Games of All Time” Video
• Design a Leaderboard Assignment
• "Simple Game Design and How It Makes Gaming Accessible" Video
• Title & Game Over Screen Assignment
• Navigation Design Assignment
• "Accessibility - The Curb Cut Effect" Video
• Reading - Designing Accessible Games
• Accessibility Assignment
• Software Development Life Cycle Assignment
• Project Management Tools Assignment
• Brainstorm Mobile Game Ideas Assignment
• Game Design Document Assignment
• Game Project Schedule & Tasks Assignment
• Game Artwork Concept Assignment
• Build Game Prototype Assignment
• Mobile Testing & Exporting Lesson
• Mobile Publishing Options Lesson
• Maintaining Mobile Games Lesson
• Publish Your Game Project
• Publishing Mobile Games Quiz
• Module 5 Vocabulary Workbook Assignment
• Remote Preview Assignment
• Android vs. iOS Assignment
• Hosting Mobile Games Assignment
• Web App Evaluation Assignment
• Maintenance Checklist Assignment
• Bug Fixes Assignment
• Upgrades & Improvements Assignment
• Mobile Game Marketing Lesson
• In-Game Advertising Lesson
• In-App Purchases Lesson
• Mobile Game Site Promo Project
• Marketing & Monetizing Mobile Games Quiz
• Module 6 - Vocabulary Workbook Assignment
• "How to Make Money from Game Development" Video
• Getting Social Assignment
• Posting Your Game Online Assignment
• Going Viral with Games Assignment
• Design a Video Ad Assignment
• Tutorial: Creating Videos with Biteable
• Create a Banner Ad Assignment
• Design an In-App Purchase Assignment
• Create a Subscription IAP Assignment
• Business Industry Client Project
• Business Client - Game Design Document Assignment
• Business Industry - Client Resource
• Rubric - Business Industry Client Project
• Healthcare Industry Client Project
• Healthcare Client - Game Design Document Assignment
• Healthcare Industry - Client Resource
• Rubric - Healthcare Industry Client Project
• Education Industry Client Project
• Education Client - Game Design Document Assignment
• Education Industry - Client Resource
• Rubric - Education Industry Client Project
• Retail Industry Client Project
• Retail Client - Game Design Document Assignment
• Retail Industry - Client Resource
• Rubric - Retail Industry Client Project
• Course Survey for Students
• Meet the Exam Overview
• Lesson 1 — Discover Career Pathways
• Lesson 2 — Career Awareness
• Lesson 3 — Choosing a Path
• Lesson 1 — Exploring College Programs
• Lesson 2 — Applying to College
• Lesson 3 — Financial Planning
• Lesson 1 — Role of a Portfolio
• Lesson 2 — Digital Artifacts
• Lesson 3 — Sharing Your Portfolio
• Unlimited Seats
• 18 Weeks of Curriculum
• Construct 3 Licenses
• Interactive Lessons
• Hands-On Assignments
• Team Development Projects
• Industry Client Projects
• Industry Certification Exam
• Teacher Resources
• Onboarding PD & Support

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards

ISTE Standards for Students

Advance CTE Career Cluster Standards

• PC, Mac, or Chromebook
• Any Modern Browser
• Internet Connection
• Access to YouTube

GAME:IT Elementary

Game Design

GAME:IT Junior

GAME:IT Intermediate

What is Video Game Design Club?

Video Game Design Club teaches kids ages 10 to 18 how to make video games, while also learning about STEM careers. Animation, architecture, programming, engineering – it’s all combined in a single year round program. Members earn badges each month as well as attend a monthly video game party. Additional benefits include a private Minecraft Server and social website for engaging online discussion. Locations in Huntsville and Athens, join the waitlist as spots are filling up fast!

What are the benefits of membership?

Monthly membership is $195. It’s definitely more than a drawing class or even a few video games. However, VGDC strives to provide the highest value to our member families as we greatly value your investment in our program.

8 Hours of STEM

Members can attend up to 4 sessions of two hours, totaling 8 hours of monthly STEM activities.

Real Badges

Like Scouts, every month is a new activity with the opportunity to earn a new physical badge.

Paid Software

Part of the cost includes software that members own from here on to practice and play.

Minecraft Server

Members can play on an exclusive server that only they have access to from home.

3 Hour Video Game Party

Every month, we get together and play video games, board games, and VR at a social event at DiVRgence of Huntsville!

Social Site

Access to the site also includes a safe and secure social media hosted in this site for interacting.

Join the Waitlist

Earn a new badge every month.

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Engage your students as soon as they walk into your classroom with my best-selling, full-year bell-ringer set. Each day includes a unique and creative task. Topics include grammar, vocabulary, writing, and figurative language.  

Full Year of English  Bell-Ringers (Vol 3)

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I’m a curriculum writer, literacy educator, and all around book lover with a passion for helping English teachers engage their students with creative, high-quality resources. My mission? To make teaching English a whole lot easier for you, teacher friend! 

Hello, Teachers! 

Turn a Story into a Video Game: Creative Assignment For Any Novel or Short Story

Are your middle school ELA students obsessed with video games? I know that lately, gaming is all that some students want to talk about!  I also know that leaning into students’ interests creates instant buy-in. With this in mind, I came up with a multi-stage assignment that brings elements of video games into the middle school  ELA classroom. Combining the creativity of video games with the literacy skills required in English language arts keeps students engaged through the entire learning process.

Turning a Story into a Video Game Assignment is a flexible, appealing, and open-ended project that works at the end of almost any short story unit or novel study. What I love most about it is how versatile it is – you can use each of its eight components individually, or combine them into one large culminating assignment. 

It’s especially great for reluctant readers, or anyone who needs to make an outside-the-box connection with middle school ELA students. Best of all, both printer-friendly and digital versions of this assignment are available to help you meet the needs of all your learners. Here’s how it works:

Letter to the Video Game Developer

To begin, I like to invite my students to imagine that the story or novel they just read has become a best-seller. What happens to best-selling books? They need a video game tie-in, of course!

In this initial task, they need to write a letter to a video game developer . The purpose of the letter is to persuade the developer to make the story into a video game. As they write, middle school ELA students need to make a compelling argument for why the characters or conflict of the story would make for a fun game to play.

Select Your Players

Once the letter is complete, I like to ask students to choose three characters from the book or story, and determine how they will be controlled in the context of their video game.

Two of the characters they choose will be “playable” characters (PCs), meaning they can be controlled by the gamer. A third character will be a “non-playable” character, whose actions are controlled by the game. 

As part of this exercise, I like to encourage students to draw the characters and describe them in detail. To extend this exercise, you can also get your students to consider characters’ backstories, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

Design Your World

In my opinion, one of the most engaging things about video games are the rich and complex worlds the characters live in. To bring this element of video games into the middle school ELA classroom, I like to have my students design the main “world” (AKA the setting) where most of the action of the game will take place.

During this process, I like to encourage students to use specific evidence from the novel or story to create their setting. As they create their design, students should consider where and when the story takes place, as well as the objects, structures, and potential obstacles they need to include.

Video Game Box Cover

What would a video game be without creative cover art ? I like to begin this task by leading a quick brainstorming session about the type of designs that would encourage someone to buy a video game.

After the discussion, I outline the necessary features of a video game box cover, including the title, author, image, and a slogan. As part of this process, I sometimes ask them to write a brief persuasive description of the game to include on the back of the “case,” as well as a quote or snippet from a “five-star review!”

When bringing the idea of a book-turned-video game into the ELA class, one project students will often spend the most time on is storyboarding the game itself.

I usually start by explaining that video game developers use storyboards – comic-book-like versions of the video game – to plan key scenes. After this discussion, students create a sequence of drawings to either show the levels of the game, or an important scene or event. Then, they explain and justify their choices, using evidence from the book or story to support their thinking.

Video Game Composer

I think that one of the most underrated parts of any video game is its score. Music has the power to set the mood and tone of any scene, and the dramatic scenes of a video game are no exception!

In the Video Game Composer task, I begin by asking students to think of three songs they would like to include in their video game adaption of a short story or novel.  

First, they need to explain which part of the video game each song would be used in. Next, they give details about how the lyrics or melody of each song connect to specific moments in the story or novel. I find this is a really effective way to encourage students to justify their thinking!

Game Conflict

Bringing video games into the ELA classroom presents a great opportunity to discuss the various types of conflicts in narrative writing. I usually begin by explaining the different types of conflict in the context of gaming – player vs. player, player vs. self, player vs. environment, and player vs. society.

After this discussion, students choose a conflict for players to encounter during their game, and explain their choice. Once they make their choice, I invite them to consider this conflict in terms of its impact on the characters of the game, as well as the overall mood and tone. Specifically, I might have them discuss how the conflict affects the relationship between the various characters. As an alternative, they could also write about how the game developer conveys different emotions through the conflict.

Game Time Interview

In the final task for Turn A Story Into a Video Game , students take on the role of the developer who created the video game adaptation of the story or novel. I start by asking students to imagine that they are being interviewed for Game Time magazine. With this in mind, they consider the answers to questions like:

• What kind of person would like to play this game?
• What do you think gamers can learn from the story told in this video game?
• What was the most difficult scene from the game to create?

As they respond to each question in short paragraphs, students explain their thinking with specific references to the plot and characters from the novel or short story. Once their drafts are complete, you could even have your students design and format the interview as it would appear in an actual gaming magazine, complete with images and pull quotes!

I hope these ideas help you find creative ways to incorporate video games into your ELA class , and connect with the gamers in your school! The digital version of this activity is available here .

Looking to give students more autonomy when it comes to reading? Transform your middle school ELA classroom with the Empowered Readers course !

Check out my post on 10 Tips to Engage Reluctant Readers in Middle School for more ideas to support your students.

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Game Design BFA

• BFA Application
• The Student Experience at NYU
• Financial Aid
• Frequently Asked Questions

You love games. You fill notebooks with your plans for video game levels you’d like to make. Or you spend entire weekends role-playing goofy adventures with your friends.

You run an online blog where you analyze the latest and greatest game releases. Or perhaps you just can’t stop doodling ideas for new video game characters.

You dominate your local card game tournament. Or maybe you just invent card games of your own.

We’ve got news for you: You finally found what you’re looking for. At the NYU Game Center, we take games seriously. As seriously as you do. We know games are strange and amazing and magical. And we live to understand them better and invent new forms of play. We’d like you to join us.

What is the Game Center BFA?

The Game Design BFA is a 4-year Bachelors of Fine Arts program. We are located inside NYU’s famous Tisch School of the Arts program, and like other Tisch programs in film, dance, and theater, we look at games as a creative form of art. Students in the BFA program learn about game design, game development, and game scholarship, preparing them for careers as game designers, developers, scholars, and critics.

The program structure first introduces you to the fundamentals of games through the lenses of design, technology, and culture. As you progress in the program, you have the flexibility to discover and pursue your own interests, taking courses that range from collaborative game production to critical analysis to specialized elements of visual and audio design. At the conclusion of your BFA study, you complete a senior project, either as an individual or with a group.

• A solid foundation. The required elements of the BFA curriculum covers the basics of making and understanding games on and off the computer. This includes courses like Games 101 , an in-depth look at the history of games from ancient board games to the latest videogames, taught by our entire faculty .
• Broad and deep. The program emphasizes flexibility and choice. You can choose to focus in many areas, from game design to visual design, and from game programming to game scholarship. There are a wide array of classes from which you can mix and match your own education in games.
• Capstone. All students complete a senior Capstone – a one or two semester group or solo endeavor. A capstone project might be making a game on or off the computer, or could be a research paper, curated exhibition , or take any number of other forms.
• Integrated with the Game Center. The best thing about the Game Center BFA is that it is part of the larger NYU Game Center. Our faculty, staff, talks, workshops, resources, facilities, and events help make the program a world-class experience in the study of games.

Program Curriculum

The BFA in Game Design is a well-rounded, interdisciplinary degree that includes  coursework  in game studies, game design and game development, as well as the option to specialize in game programming, visual or audio design, and the business of games. All of the courses in the Game Design BFA program are organized in seven areas. Each area represents one facet of the complex interdisciplinary endeavor of making and studying games.

Primary Areas Game Studies – Academic, scholarly, and journalistic approaches to games Game Design – Creating the rules of the game and the player experience Game Development – Production processes for creating games

Production Areas Programming – Interaction, graphics, AI, and other game programming Visual Design – 2D and 3D animation, graphic design, and art direction Audio Design – Music, sound effects, and audio programming Game Business – Marketing, revenue models, and the game industry

Capstone During the final year, in addition to other advanced-level courses, each student will complete a senior capstone project. A Game Design BFA Capstone can take a variety of forms, from an individual or group game to a game-related research paper or exhibition.

A sample curriculum guide for the BFA program can be found here . However, authoritative curriculum information can be found exclusively in the University Bulletin . You can find the exact curriculum for our BFA program in the Bulletin.

You may also find our current course offerings and course descriptions here , where courses are constantly being updated and added!

A Liberal Arts Education

At the Tisch School of the Arts we believe in the importance of a well-rounded undergraduate education: you need a great education to make great games. The Game Design BFA builds into the curriculum a firm foundation in the liberal arts. All Game Design students must complete a significant number of credits in a combination of expository writing, humanities, and social or hard sciences. Students are also required to take a production class in another Tisch department, to build familiarity in other styles of creative production.

Who should apply? How much does it cost?

Some of our applicants come with experience in making their own games, but you don’t have to be a life-long gamer or a programmer in order to apply. The most important thing you need for the BFA program is a passion for games and the dedication to turn that passion into something real. It takes all kinds of people with a diversity of talents to make games, so our classes have a rich mix of cultures, genders, and backgrounds.

To apply to the BFA in Game Design, you will need to apply to New York University . You will also be sending in a portfolio for us to review. Your portfolio can be anything you want, as long as it shows off your creativity for games. It could be a film you made or a story you wrote. It could be the rules for a card game or a prototype computer game. Or it could be a song you composed, sculpture you constructed, or play you wrote.

More information about the application process and the portfolio can be found here .

With regards to tuition and fees, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions provides a very helpful breakdown of costs here .

In the fall of 2019, 370 Jay Street became the new home of the Tisch departments Game Center, Clive Davis Institue of Recorded Music, and ITP & AMA alongside programs from  Steinhardt in Games for Learning , Tandon School of Engineering in Integrated Digital Media and Computer Engineering , Courant Institute of Mathematics , and the Center for Urban Science and Progress .  The stunning brand new space includes state of the art classrooms and studios, several black box theater, recording studios, 3D and large format printers, and the Game Center Open Library , all of which are available to Game Design BFA students. The integration of many different departments in one place leads to new collaborations across disciplines and schools at NYU.

Life after the Game Center

Our efforts don’t stop at the classroom door. Just as important as your education is what happens when you finish your time at NYU. A major focus of the NYU Game Center is making sure that you find internships and jobs during and after the BFA program, so that you are set up to create your dream career in games.

• Workshops and events – Each spring we host “Strategy Guide: Breaking into the Game Industry” , a panel discussion with studio heads and working Game Center grads that also doubles as a job fair.
• Making connections  – The NYU Game Center is a hub for the game industry and on any given week, we have multiple industry speakers, guest critics in our classes, and local developers playtesting their games on site. There are lots of opportunities for students to network with working game industry professionals.
• The Game Center Incubator – Launched in 2014, the incubator provides space, funding, and expertise for graduating students. Through a competitive application process, the incubator selects projects that have commercial potential and sees them through to a public launch. More info on our incubator here .
• Help from NYU & Tisch – In addition to all of our game-centric efforts, students can also take advantage of NYU’s extensive Wasserman Career Center .  The Tisch School of the Arts has its own Office of Career Development dedicated to helping students with creative careers. These two offices host regular sessions on a wide range of topics, from giving great job interviews to figuring out international work Visa issues.

Our students have received jobs and internships at top game companies, including Riot, Blizzard, Disney, and Avalanche Studios. They have received investment from Indiefund and have been honored with awards like IndieCade Audience Choice, multiple recognitions from the International Game Festival, and the Randy Pausch Scholarship. They have started their own companies, organized festivals, and written books. After the Game Center, our students transform the games industry for the better.

Visit NYU & the NYU Game Center

Visit the Game Center for a tour or info session, come to Tisch for a Fall Open House, or just give us a call. There are many ways to learn more about the program. Click here to find the best way for you to visit the Game Center.

Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS)

College of computing, cs 6457: video game design, instructional team.

Jeff Wilson

Creator and instructor.

Welcome to CS6457 Video Game Design. The course covers many game design topics including game engine concepts and technologies, structural elements of games, and game design process.

CS6457 is a project-based course and includes both individual assignments as well as a group project. Learning objectives are focused primarily on creating fully three-dimensional games with real time game object control. This includes games that meet the criteria of Game Feel such as Super Mario 64.

Check out the demo reels from Spring 2022 below!

Sample Syllabus

Summer 2022 syllabus (PDF)

Note: Sample syllabi are provided for informational purposes only. For the most up-to-date information, consult the official course documentation.

Before Taking This Class...

Suggested background knowledge.

Students are not expected to be familiar with the Unity Engine. Outside of C# experience, familiarity with a strongly typed object-oriented programming language such as Java is helpful.

Useful prerequisite knowledge for the course includes linear algebra and computer graphics basics. Understanding of affine transformations of homogeneous coordinates, transformation order, quaternions, 3D projection, matrix stacks, scene graphs, graphics lighting models such as the Phong reflection model, are all relevant.

Technical Requirements and Software

All software development is performed with the Unity Engine and the C# programming language. Students need a Windows PC or Mac capable of running Unity.

Academic Integrity

All Georgia Tech students are expected to uphold the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code . This course may impose additional academic integrity stipulations; consult the official course documentation for more information.

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‘How I hope generative AI will speed up video game development’

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A Reader’s Feature offers a very optimistic view of how generative AI might be used in video game development in the future.

One reader tries to imagine the best case scenario for using AI to make video games , cutting down the time and effort needed by developers.

There are many out there who are terrified about the possibility that AI will take over a large segment of the workforce, but I argue that the gaming industry (as well as many others) is struggling with the cost of making games; we’ve seen many studios having to lay off staff and ‘restructure’ to cut costs. And the biggest cost by far is just creating the world!

With growing hardware power, it has become more and more difficult to create a graphically beautiful world and characters. Hundreds of development hours are spent creating a simple landscape, realistic physics, and trying to make sure there are no glitches, like holes in the universe players can fall into.

More and more often we’ve seen AAA games come out that are so glitchy they may as well be beta releases. This has led many studios to start releasing games still in development as early access versions, allowing players to hunt out the glitches without backlash from the community.

Some even turn to releasing retro style games which are incredibly low resolution and low power so the devs can spend more time just creating a good story, side quest lists, and multiple endings based on player choices (in some cases the multiple endings are only slightly different, if at all).

Now we’ve seen generative AI create photorealistic videos in under a minute, so imagine one designed to take a small amount of basic input and generate or populate an entire landscape, then the developer either flies over and/or runs through the area to see how it looks and picks up on anything that doesn’t match their vision, removing anything they don’t like or highlighting sections they want changed and getting the AI to modify the section.

Or imagine the developer creates the basic outlines of a village or city, then feeding the AI some concept images of that they want the village to look like and getting the AI to completely create it. Then, as before, the developer can go through the village and make alterations where needed or wanted.

I can imagine a day when developers with VR headsets can literally create a world while standing in it, looking at a group of buildings and asking the AI to turn one into a tavern, then changing the building material to logs, then changing the roads from cobble stone to dirty and make it muddy.

Now show me what it will look like at night! Right, add some touches outside the tavern. Decrease internal lighting. OK, back to daytime and show me some characters that match the era. OK, make their clothes more dirty and tattered. OK, that’s good, now populate the tavern, roughly 30 people, 60% men, 30% women between the ages of 20 to 40 and 10% children around the ages of 10 to 15.

This could drastically improve the quality of games and speed up the development times! You can have developers who have skills in manually creating textures and items, maybe a selection of buildings and objects the AI can use as templates for the developer to use to make the worlds.

So rather than having dozens of people sat for hundreds of hours creating each individual building, character, tree, animal, etc. all they’d have to create is a selection of reference material and leaveit to the AI at the direction of the creative developers to build the world!

By reader Tristan

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at [email protected] or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

MORE : ‘Modern video games have too much story and not enough gameplay’

MORE : PS5 needs to take advantage of Xbox’s failure before someone else does – Reader’s Feature

MORE : Why doesn’t Microsoft want people to buy an Xbox console? - Reader's Feature

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