13 replies to this topic

[TheMagician]

The book "Art of Game Design" by Jesse Schell is a great read and I thoroughly recommend it.

In this post however, I'd like to point your attention at an app for iPhone and Android which the author and have team has created and that is available FOR FREE!

The app is a collection of cards (called "lenses") which focus on one particular aspect of game design. The cards make you think about your game idea and refine certain areas.

Here's an example of one "lens" through which you can have a look at your game:


Of course it would be overkill to read through all of the 70+ lenses and try to consider them for your game. However, picking out a few ones and reading through them can open up new perspectives.

Link to iPhone app: http://itunes.apple....ses/id385531319

Link to Android app: https://play.google....es.deckoflenses

[The Legend]

Awesome! This is the first gamedev helping app I've seen on the app store! A great idea and a steal for free. Thanks for the tip!

[Sondar]

Thanks for this it looks like a great resource!

Sondar

[RevenantGhost]

is there any version of this "thing" for PC or symbian?

[TheMagician]

I don't think there's a version for PC.
Perhaps the author doesn't want people to simply print out the cards because he sells those via Amazon.

Link to deck of cards: http://www.amazon.co...18133876&sr=8-8

[RevenantGhost]

$30? LOL

[YellowAfterlife]

$30? LOL

Considering that there are 100 cards in set, that's actually rather cheap.

Linked app is pretty cool (got Android version). Probably will re-read through these multiple times.

[greyzebra]

Thanks for the link to the android app. I think I will show these cards to any person that doubt game design is easy (or even SOMETHING)

[Player Zero]

Glancing through the example 'lenses' on the site, I thought they were pretty stupid.

There's only one thing you really need to know about game design, from the father of us all, Nolan Bushnell.
Bushnell's Theorem: "All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master. They should reward the first quarter and the hundredth."

[Spyro Conspiracy Theorist]

Wow, I had no idea that there was an app for that. I own the book, and it's definitely the best resource for game design I've ever seen. I often refer to it to see what I could do to improve whatever game I'm working on, so it'll be really handy to have these lenses available to scroll through so easily.
@RufusGriswold: that's a great quote, but it's not like you can condense everything an artist needs to know about his entire field of design into two sentences. And I'm not sure I'd agree with it, anyway; at least a couple of my favorite games DON'T have a significant mastery curve. What did you think was stupid about the lenses you read?

[Player Zero]

This one stood out:



Except for perhaps boring educational games, games do not, and should not, have any sense of responsibility or purpose except to entertain. It's just pretentious to imagine otherwise. I'd hate to think what Pacman, Super Mario, or Halo would be if the designers were worrying about how the game would help people.

[Spyro Conspiracy Theorist]

You and I have differing views on video-games, I guess. I personally think they have the same potential as books and movies to be powerful, emotional, and important, and thus have a purpose beyond mere "entertainment." That doesn't mean entertainment is meaningless, but I do think that important entertainment is more than just "creating a pleasurable psychological sensation to pass time until we die," and thus not just entertainment. Not that I can say you're "wrong," per sé, the idea of entertainment, and the responsibility and purpose attached to it, are muddled and are extremely difficult to discuss in any intelligent manner... But I don't think it's stupid to say that games are important. I suppose that makes me (and most of my favorite game designers, like Ken Levine, and Thomas Grip) pretentious. I don't really care... I just think it's sad to say that this wonderful, new, powerful medium is no more important than a deck of cards.

...More on-topic, does anyone know of anything else this author has put out? I've never heard of Schell outside of this book and a few GDC speeches.

Edited by Spyro Conspiracy Theorist, 31 May 2012 - 03:44 PM.

[GreenMeteorTeam]

The book is #1 when it comes to game design, though it's not as "fun" as others like Level Up! and Theory of Fun which both have plenty of doodles and sketches to illustrate every thought (just in case you're ADHD or whatever ). He describes the lenses as an attempt at a sort of Table of Elements for games.

@Spyro Conspiracy Theorist
As you know from the book, he worked at Disney for a time and now runs Schell Games. But from what you've mentioned I can't think of anything else "educational" that he's put out except for a Dice 2010 speech here.

[Player Zero]

From Orson Welles, though I think it applies equally for game design as film:

"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art." ― Orson Welles