The Nightmare Chronicles: First Rule of Game Design blog - awesomepossum

While developing a section of The Nightmare Chronicles I stumbled upon a game design problem that has had me stumped for several hours and it all comes down to the fundamental rule of Game Design: Assume the player doesn't know anything. This at first glance seems like a terrible thing thing to do. Its terribly discriminatory to just lump a large group of people, especially the ones you are targeting as an audience and saying they are all ignorant.

So, Let me clarify what I mean. They player is absolutely clueless to the inner workings of your mind. What may seem perfectly logical to the game designer may not be the least bit intuitive to anyone else. As a level designer you know every corner of your map, every trigger, every secret, every Easter egg. But the player doesn't, this is their first adventure into the virtual realm you have created and they don't have a clue where you hid the tiny gold key to unlock all the fabulous treasures of gaming goodness that you made for them. Never assume they player knows what they are supposed to do because the Player doesn't know what you meant for them to do unless you tell them.

The simplest and most often encountered problem is a game design classic scenario. Getting the Player to look up. It is often best to avoid putting anything useful or imperative to game play on the ceiling because you have to go to such great lengths to get the player to look up. Perhaps it is human nature. I challenge you to think about the last week and try and remember a time when you were looking above you. I bet you can't really think of a time, because most of your day was spent looking ahead of you or down at your own shoes. Because of this games tend to be mostly horizontal. If you listen to the developed commentary for the game Portal. There is at least one section where they mention how difficult it is to get the player to look up. They have to place signs and create special lighting to draw the players attention skyward to solve their puzzles.

I accidentally created a similar problem in my game, by drawing the players attention to be extremely focused on one object. Getting them to focus on one thing was one challenge. However, this created a problem later because I wanted them to interact with something else that was behind them. The problem stems from the fact that they can't take their focus off of the first object because it is threatening them and will cause them substantial damage if they aren't carefully dodging attacks. So how do I get the player to figure out what they need to do, when they don't have time to even look around? Obviously I need to change the situation they are in. I can either remove the threat so they can be free to explore the area or I can move the object i want them to use in front of them so they can see and know that they need to use it. If I don't change something the player will get frustrated from dying repeatedly and not finding a way to remedy the situation.

Imagine playing chess. Now imagine playing trying to play chess against someone really good and you have no clue what the rules are. The other player just keeps saying, "No, you can't do that" "That is against the rules" You would very quickly get angry and give up on the situation. Every action you take results in a negative feedback from you opponent. As a game designer it is important to make sure your game does not have any moments that creates this feeling for the player. If something is just too hard, make it simpler. If you can't make it easier, just get rid of it. Games are mean to be fun, not nerve racking experiences. So make it clear to the player what they need to do. Its better to err on the side of too easy than impossibly difficult.

When you are designing a game you need to be able to get out of your own head and approach each situation you create from the perspective of an outsider who has never played your game. Because it is not easy to do this the best thing to do is invite other people to play test your game. They will help you find these problems and will always do something you weren't expecting. They might even come up with a solution to your problem that you couldn't think of because you are too focused on the project. So test early, and test often. And remember: The Player doesn't know anything.