This will be a post-mortem discussion of interesting game design related ideas in hindsight following a certain course taken over this past summer. The course discussed such topics such as game genres, progression systems, crafting systems, player profiles, differences between games toys and interactive experiences, principles of design and gestalt in games, and social systems and economies in multiplayer games.

Amongst all of these topics, there certain new insights that have particularly stuck with me.

The distinction between the actual lore of a game and the "ludonarrative" told by the game's systems and that the player tells themselves. A good example of this, as depicted above, is in classic sprite-based RPGs wherein the playable protagonist might be something of a hero who saves the world from impending doom, but is allowed to (and most players do) indiscriminately rob any and all treasure chests regardless of time or place.

Similar dissonances can be found in shooters and progression games with a lot of gameplay and design invested in the weapon systems, incentivizing their rampant usage, while telling a story of justice and good with the lore.

Depicted above: official splash art of the protagonists of Octopath Traveller.

8 Principles of Gestalt: Proximity, closure, similarity, common region, continuity, figure & ground, symmetry, common fate.
The ideas of gestalt in visual design and illustration are not new to those fields. However, when revisiting them and seeing them described in such general ways such as "proximity" or "common fate", one can see that, even excluding the visual elements, they can become concepts that can possibly be applied to game design. Using these ideas, one can roughly form an idea of how to order the composition of the dynamic story told by a game through not only its visual elements but the interactive experience, the rules within which the player must operate.


The ideas of loops and arcs, while not immediately profound, also provide additional context and structure for analyzing games over time. Immediately apparent are distinctions between genres such as roguelikes and other games designed for replayability having large encompassing gameplay 'loops', versus games like RPGs which focus on delivering a conclusive story over a lengthy 'arc'. Taking a step further, one might realize that modern games are often the overlay of many such loops and arcs, with few games being solely one or the other. And taking a step even further, one can then start to look at how, when, where, and why these structures are implemented, how they might complement each other, and what effects they have on the game as a whole.

And all of these are things that can be further layered upon by considering the "profiles" of the players that one is designing for. One particular line from the class that stood out to me as words of wisdom was essentially to have, amongst your team, people from multiple distinct player profiles. People that enjoy different types of games in different ways. People that have different ways of understanding and conducting play. This not only provides you and your team with unique opinions, but contexts for understanding how different players might feel about and interact with your game. Crucial for developing  a successful, well-rounded game with appeal.