Exploring Game Mechanics: Principles and Techniques to Make Fun, Engaging Games

Description

Learn simple yet powerful, modern-day techniques used in various gaming genres, including casual and puzzle, strategy and simulation, action-adventure, and role-playing. This book is your pocket-sized guide to designing interesting and engaging mechanics for any type of game. Exploring Game Mechanics is a cornucopia of concepts related to gameplay mechanics that you can use to create games that are fun and rewarding to play. Dive into key gameplay elements that improve the player experience, such as implementing in-game tutorials, controlling the flow of player-choice-based games, and building a game narrative through storytelling. Understand how to establish the game’s end goal for the player to work towards by creating quests, missions, and objectives. Explore the key ideas behind creating immersive game worlds, generating better NPCs and enemies, and controlling the in-game economy. Finally, discover the unique mechanics that make established industry games so successful.  What You Will LearnDiscover the key elements that make gameplay immersive and entertainingDevelop players and NPCs through customization and levelling up Gain insight into the tried-and-tested concepts behind modern-day games  Who Is This Book ForGame development enthusiasts with little to no knowledge of game mechanics will find the content informative and useful.  Table of Contents About the Author About the Technical Reviewer Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Why Do We Play Games? It’s All About the Player’s Needs Novelty Creativity Achievement Social Interaction Rules That Are Fun to Follow Appeal of Different Game Genres Casual and Puzzle Strategy and Simulation Action-Adventure Role-Playing Games (RPGs) Key Takeaways Chapter 2: Creating Fun Gameplay Making Choices That Matter The Hollow Decision The Obvious Decision The Uninformed Decision The Informed Decision The Immediate Decision The Weighted Decision The Moral Decision The Long-Term Decision Designing Better Player Choices Permanence of the Choice The Butterfly Effect Maintaining the Illusion Game Balancing Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Games Power Balance Risk vs. Reward Challenge and Success Chance vs. Skill An Iterative Process Teaching the Player Through Game Tutorials Learning from Super Mario Bros. Tips for Tutorials Storytelling and the Game Narrative Linear and Non-linear Games Writing Our Own Stories Character Motivation Connecting with the Characters Cut Scenes Key Takeaways Chapter 3: Crafting Meaningful Experiences Player Progression Leveling Up Perks and Skill Points Unlocking New Content Skill Trees Combat Skills Venom Skills Camouflage Skills Quests and Missions Gather Quests Kill Quests Delivery Quests Escort Quests Interaction Quests Designing Fun Side-Quests Abundance of Resources An Interesting Variety Length of the Quests Balance the Rewards Link the Sub-quests to the Main Game Movement Mechanics Swipes and Taps Movement in Platformers Action Points Traveling in the Game Fast Travel Key Takeaways Chapter 4: Defeat, Collect, Repeat Heading Toward Victory The Collection Mechanic Popular Power-Ups Dodging Difficulties Fighting Monsters Combat Mechanics Jumping on Top of Them Shooting/Slashing Using Environmental Objects Designing Smarter Enemies Novelty Aggro Meter Announcing an Intention Giving the Player Hints Adjusting Enemy Difficulty Iconic Bosses in Games Game Economy The Source/Tap The Sink/Drain Player Inventory Key Takeaways Chapter 5: Choose Your Mechanics Mechanics as a Toolkit Game Type Game Length and Complexity Randomness in the Game Player Investment Player Types The Achiever Level-Up Systems Progress Bars/Stars Boss Fights Challenging Others Bonus Content The Explorer Unique Game Locations In-Game Puzzles Easter Eggs Interaction with NPCs The Socializer Chatting Learning from Others Trading and Gifting Mini-Games The Killer Fast-Paced Chaos Elements of Horror Competition Game Analysis No Man’s Sky Type of Game Character Development Unique Game Mechanics Fallout 4 Type of Game Character Development Unique Game Mechanics Life Is Strange Type of Game Character Development Unique Game Mechanics Key Takeaways Index