Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Pencil and paper
Once you have a mental image of a game mechanic, work it out on paper. Do the
math on a spreadsheet if possible. If appropriate, play out scenarios with other team
members. The designer acts as the
game master
(
GM
) and another team member
or members try different actions. The GM figures out what the result of the player
actions are. This is a good way to spot weak spots in a mechanic, since the designer
may not have thought of every aspect of the gameplay.
Use of game accessories: dice, playing cards, dominoes, and checkers (board and
pieces) are some examples of potentially useful items. To get the creative juices flow-
ing, try taking two or three of the accessories and coming up with a completely genre
style game. For example, one of the authors used a standard card deck and a set
of dominoes to prototype a simple dungeon crawl game similar to the classic "Dun-
geon!" (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon
).
