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Practical Game Design

You're reading from Practical Game Design Learn the art of game design through applicable skills and cutting-edge insights

Product type Paperback

Published in Apr 2018

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781787121799

Length 476 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Concepts

Design

Authors (2):

Kramarzewski

Ennio De Nucci

View More author details

Table of Contents (22) Chapters

Title Page

Copyright and Credits

Packt Upsell

Contributors

Preface

1. Introducing the Game Production Process FREE CHAPTER

2. Game Concept

3. Scoping a Game Project

4. Design Documentation

5. Adaptation of Mechanics

6. Invention of Mechanics

7. Prototyping

8. Games and Stories

9. Level Design

10. Characters

11. User Interface and User Experience

12. Accessibility

13. Balancing

14. The Final 10%

15. Games As a Service

1. Other Books You May Enjoy

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Index

Additive and subtractive design

Our previous Super Meat Boy jump example is a perfect introduction to the topic we're going to discuss: additive and subtractive design.

By taking out that gravity element, Meat Boy's developers have subtracted from a classic jumping mechanic, while on the other hand they have added to the mechanic by allowing wall jumping.

Additive and subtractive design is the principle behind any adaptation of game mechanics.

Additive design, in particular, is what game developers have always used to create new video games. Expanding and improving existing game mechanics is the lifeblood of game design as much as introducing new groundbreaking ones.

Subtractive game design though is probably even more important.

We talked already about the Less is more principle and how it should be applied throughout the whole design and its documentation. Applying this principle in game mechanics is not only a matter of elegance; it can help game designers to discover (or re-discover) the...

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Authors (2)

Kramarzewski

Kramarzewski

Adam Kramarzewski is a game designer who, at the age of 19, dived straight into the pre-smartphone mobile games industry of 2007. He has gathered over fifteen years of experience with the likes of Gameloft, Square Enix, Space Ape Games, and Madbox, and has worked on over 30 game projects and many world-class IPs, including Lara Croft, Deus Ex, Transformers, and Boom Beach. Adam is an avid gamer, a fan of cinematography, psychology, and all things science. He also sat on the jury for game design at the 2017 and 2022 BAFTA Video Game Awards.

See other products by Kramarzewski

Ennio De Nucci

Ennio De Nucci

Ennio De Nucci is a game designer and developer. He has worked as a game designer since 2011 and designed both digital video games and physical board games. He worked for a variety of video game developers, such as PM Studios Srl, IGT, Supermassive Games, and Another Place Productions. Currently, he works as a Lead Game Designer for one of the most renowned strategy games developers.

See other products by Ennio De Nucci

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