Table Of ContentD P G D :
AVID ERRY ON AME ESIGN
A B T
RAINSTORMING OOLBOX
D P R D M
AVID ERRY AND USEL E ARIA
Charles River Media
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David Perry on Game Design: © 2009 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning.
A Brainstorming Toolbox
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09
Preface
Hi,
I’m David Perry. I’ve been making professional games (getting paid for it) for more than 25 years. It’s the
best job ever! I’ve had multiple #1 chart hits and lots of “Game of the Year” awards, and the games I’ve
worked on have generated more than a billion dollars in revenues at retail stores around the world.
I’ve been really lucky to work with some of the best talent in the industry, and I’ve also been lucky because
I’ve become friends with some of the most respected game development luminaries in the world.
Who is this book for?
If you’re a game design student, someone burning with new video game ideas, or you’re working
your way up through the design ranks to become a game director, this book is written specifically for you!
Why make a game design book? There are plenty of others.
There are plenty of great game design books that tell you all about the subject and the job. Instead
of explaining to you what’s important, such as, “It’s important to make characters interesting,” my goal
is to give you hundreds of ways to do exactly that. If I say, “Make it funny,” I also want to give you
endless examples of howto make it funny. That’s the difference.
You’re saying I can create new ideas neverseen before in video games?
Yes, that’s the whole idea. This book is designed to help trigger your own creative ideas—original
ideas that have never been seen before, ever! I have absolutely no doubt this will happen many times as
you use the materials I provide here.
Are you sure it works?
Absolutely. As an example, I tested a chapter on a large group of IGDA (International Game
Developer’s Association) members. I asked them to come up with an original weapon never seen before
in a video game; I wanted one from everyone in the room, and they had just two minutes.
As you can imagine, that’s a tough challenge! But after showing them the section on “Ways to Die”
(Chapter 32 of this book), I was hit by a deluge of ideas none of us had ever seen before.
Who is Rusel DeMaria?
Rusel is a good friend of mine and one of the most published writers in the video game industry.
It was frankly impossible for me to write this entire book (I’m always running game companies and
projects), so I hired Rusel to be my ghostwriter. I don’t know if he anticipated the hundreds of phone
calls every time I was driving anywhere, but it became a labor of love for him also. In the end, he devoted
so much time and effort on it that I had to admit he was more of a coauthor than a ghost writer.
iii
iv Preface
To be clear, when we are old and gray (already happening), we are hoping to hand over the manu-
script to new up-and-coming designers who enjoy the art of creation.
What about new ideas that come up?
This is the first edition of the book. I consider it the stake in the sand and invite the readers to
team up with us for the second edition. We’ve created a website at www.gamedesignbook.org to help
that discussion happen. (Come and say hi!)
We hope this body of work will continue to be refined—by our readers and by professional
designers—and will evolve into the key “reference and inspiration book” for the future generations of
game designers.
This book is dedicated to my wife, Elaine, and my little daughter, Emmy.
Big thanks go to Rusel (you rock) and all the people who have contributed in one way or another
along the way.
For those reading this, I can’t wait to play your games!
David Perry
www.dperry.com
A WORD FROM RUSEL DEMARIA
When DP first approached me about this project, he said, “I’ve got this idea I’ve been wanting to do. I
know I won’t have time to do it if I don’t get help.” Then he said, “I have been making lists of things to
do with games—like the items you might find along a freeway. Let me send you my notes and see what
you can do with them.” I really didn’t have any idea what I was getting into and what a fantastic romp it
would be, but four years and more than a thousand pages of manuscript later, here we are.
There’s no way we could ever complete this book. Period. At some point we had to say, “It’s
done for now.” The many days I spent with my head in my hands, just trying to come up with one
more example or one more idea, were a futile attempt to finish something—anything—but what’s
exciting is that both DP and I know that youwill find things we didn’t think of.
We hope we made it just a little difficult for you to think of what we missed, but we are counting
on you to take the material in this book and run with it. If you do—if you create games with ideas that
were inspired from this book—then we will have done our job.
Obviously, I never would have had this opportunity without David Perry, a man of infinite creativity,
drive, and ideas. It has been massively fun—and that’s the name of the game, isn’t it? Thanks, DP.
Acknowledgments
We want to thank several people for their contributions to this project:
Stephane Bura
David Freeman
David Bergeaud
Mike Doran
Michelle Montierth
Yana Malysheva
Steven Egan
James Baldwin
David Slauenwhite
Michael Vaj
Max Ehrman
Thanks to Heather Hurley, for her constant support and flexibility in seeing this project to
completion, and to Cathleen Small, for having the fortitude to copyedit even the most grisly portions
of the manuscript.
Thanks to Jill Flores, for doing a fantastic job with the challenge of making this book readable and
keeping it to just over 1,000 pages! And to all the people at Cengage Learning who work behind the
scenes to make great books.
Special thanks, also, to Viola Brumbaugh, for unrelenting support.
Also, a big, big thank you to all the people and friends who contributed ideas and feedback on our
various websites and wikis.
v
About the Authors
David Perryis a 26-year veteran of the video game business—and he’s also probably the tallest in the
business! Atari bought his development studio, Shiny Entertainment, which was known for titles such
as Earthworm Jim, MDK, and The Matrix. These days he’s a co-founder and chief creative officer of
Acclaim Games, the number-one American Free-to-Play MMO Publisher (www.acclaim.com). Perry’s
games have generated more than a billion dollars in revenue, and he has had numerous number-one hits
and “Game of the Year” awards. In his spare time, he helps students into the industry and writes articles
for BusinessWeek.com. In the last couple of years, he has been awarded a master’s, a doctorate, and a
fellowship for his achievements. He has spoken at almost every major video game conference as well as
at major universities, such as MIT, USC, and UCLA, and at the prestigious TED conference. To help the
industry grow, Perry is personally funding an initiative to bring together investors, publishers, and de-
velopers worldwide (www.GameInvestors.com) and a new Flash gaming site (www.TheFanHub.com).
For more information, visit www.dperry.com.
Rusel DeMaria began playing video games in 1967 and has been writing about them since 1981, so
although he isn’t as tall as David Perry, he has been around video games since their inception. He has
been a senior editor on three magazines, a columnist nationally and internationally, and the founding
editor and creative director of Prima Publishing’s strategy guide division, which he started in 1990. He
has written more than 60 game-related books, including High Score: The Illustrated History of Electronic
Games,Reset: Changing the Way We Look at Video Games,Spore: Evolution, and many others, with sales
in excess of 2.5 million copies. DeMaria has appeared on TV and radio and was one of the primary
commentators and consultants for PBS’ Videogame Revolution. He has been a speaker at several
industry events, including GDC, and has also been a game designer and a consultant for companies
such as Sega, Maxis, LucasArts, Oddworld, and Acclaim. Currently, he is assistant director of David
Perry’s Game Consultants, Inc.
vi
Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx
Part I How to Use This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 Using This Book as a Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Delving Deeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Brainstorming and Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Using Brainstorming in Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Kaleidoscope Brainstorming Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Brainstorming Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Brainstorming Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Brainstorming Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Games and Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
What to Look For. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Research Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Part II Which Game Will You Make? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Benefits of a Hook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Hook Evaluator v3: DP’s Forty Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4 What Publishers Want. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Why Do We Need Publishers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Getting Your Game Published . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Preparation for the Pitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Artistic License. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Pitching Games to Publishers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
vii
viii Contents
The 45-Second Elevator Pitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
A Good Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Good Pitches versus Bad Pitches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Elements of a Game Design Submission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Getting Work in the Game Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5 Game POV and Game Genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
POV: How to View the Game. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Basic View Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Types of Graphical Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Making 2D Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Future Game Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Visual Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Game Genres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6 Business Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
In-Game Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Around-Game Advertising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Finder’s Fee from First Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Advert-Games/Advergaming/Re-Dressed Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Try before You Buy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Episodic Entertainment/Expansion Packs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Buy the Win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Velvet Rope or Member’s Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Subscription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Support Tiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Become a “Brand Member”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
In-Game Stores and Microtransactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Selling Consumables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Skill-Based Progressive Jackpots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Player-to-Player Wagering and Item Sales/Trades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Pay Players to Meet a Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Charityware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Sponsored Games/Donationware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Pay per Play/Pay as You Go/Pay for Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Contents ix
Player-to-Player Trading/Auctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Foreign Distribution Deals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Sell Player Access/Co-Registration Offers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Freeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Loss Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Peripheral Enticement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
User-Generated Content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Pay for Storage Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Host a Private Game Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Rentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Sell Branded Physical Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Pre-Sell a Game to Its Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Before-Game Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Virtual Item Sponsorship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Add Download Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Feed Me or I Die!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Methods of Avoiding Buyer’s Regret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7 Branding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Working with Someone Else’s Brand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Picking a Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Creating a Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Qualities of Successfully Branded Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Building Value on a Character Licensed Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
8 Protecting Your Intellectual Property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Trade Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Copyrights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Trademarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Part III Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
9 Storytelling Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Elements of a Good Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
The Basic Story Arc: Games and the Three-Act Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
