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— Ian Bogost, Georgia Institute of TechnologyFundamentalsof Game Design Third EditionLearn the fine craft of game design from one of the industry’s leadingauthorities. Now in its third edition, the classic book on game design hasbeen completely revised to include the latest developments in the gameindustry. You’ll learn all the fundamentals of concept development, gameplay design, core mechanics, user interfaces, storytelling, and balancing.You’ll be introduced to designing for mobile devices and touch screens,as well as for the Kinect and motion-capture gameplay. For those indiedevelopers who are pushing the envelope, you’ll discover how new businessmodels such as free-to-play and ad-supported games are influencingdesign, and you’ll get a first-hand look into developing games for a varietyof international markets.Dr. Ernest Adams is a gamedesign consultant, teacher,and the author of several books,including Game Mechanics:Advanced Game Design andprevious editions of this book. He has workedin the game industry for over 20 years, eightof them at Electronic Arts. He has been a leaddesigner at Bullfrog Productions, and forseveral years before that he was the audio/video producer on the Madden NFL footballproduct line. In a much earlier life he was asoftware engineer. Dr. Adams is also thefounder and first chairman of the InternationalGame Developer’s Association, and is afrequent lecturer at the Game DevelopersConference. His professional website can befound at www.designersnotebook.com.In an easy-to-follow approach, Ernest Adams dives deeply into the processof designing a game, from initial concept to final tuning. You’ll learn how to:—D efine the challenges and actions at the heart of the gameplay.—W rite a variety of useful game design documents.—U nderstand the essentials of user experience design and how todefine a game’s look and feel.—D esign for a variety of input mechanisms, including the Wii controllerand multi-touch iPhone.— C onstruct a game’s core mechanics and flow of resourcesLEVEL: Beginning / IntermediateCATEGORY: Game Design / Game ProgrammingCOVER DESIGN: Aren Straiger(money, points, ammunition, and more).—D evelop appealing stories, game characters, and worlds that playerswill want to visit, including persistent worlds.—W ork on design problems with engaging end-of-chapter exercises,design worksheets, and case studies.—M ake your game accessible to a variety of audiences such as children,adult women, people with disabilities, and casual players.facebook.com/newriders@newridersUS 69.99 / Can 72.99www.newriders.comFundamentals of Game Design Third Edition“ In this updated edition of Fundamentals of Game Design, Adams adds muchto what was already a thorough look at game design in all its varieties. Theresult is a veritable feast of design lessons sure not only to satisfy the buddingdesigner’s appetite, but also to refine her palate.”AdamsFundamentalsof Game DesignThird EditionErnest AdamsFounder of the IGDA

Fundamentalsof Game DesignThird EditionErnest Adams

Fundamentals of Game Design, Third EditionErnest AdamsNew Riderswww.newriders.comTo report errors, please send a note to errata@peachpit.comNew Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson EducationCopyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.Senior Editor: Karyn JohnsonDevelopment Editor: Robyn G. ThomasProduction Editor: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-RamaCopy Editor: Rebecca RiderTechnical Editor: Tobi SaulnierCompositor: WolfsonDesignProofreader: Emily K. WolmanIndexer: Jack LewisInterior Design: WolfsonDesignCover Design: Peachpit Press/Aren HowellNotice of RightsAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permissionof the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contactpermissions@peachpit.com.Notice of LiabilityThe information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution hasbeen taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to anyperson or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly bythe instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.TrademarksMany of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed astrademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim,the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and servicesidentified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companieswith no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intendedto convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.ISBN-13: 978-0-321-92967-9ISBN-10: 978-0-321-92967-5987654321Printed and bound in the United States of America

To Mary Ellen Foley, for love and wisdom.Omnia vincit amor.“In this updated edition of Fundamentals of Game Design, Adams addsmuch to what was already a thorough look at game design in all itsvarieties. The result is a veritable feast of design lessons sure not only tosatisfy the budding designer’s appetite, but also to refine her palate.”—Ian Bogost, Georgia Institute of Technology“Fundamentals of Game Design was already an essential book fordesigners. Adams provided a solid foundation for new designers to buildon, by offering clear, pragmatic advice, exercises and wisdom to asubject often shrouded in mystery. This updated version is a must readfor game designers of all levels of experience.”— Adam Mayes, Subject Responsible for Game Design,University of Uppsala, Sweden“Ernest writes in a way that is very down to earth and approachable tostudents. It is obvious that he has ‘been there and done that’ and hisreal-world, unpretentious approach to the material is what makes thistext so accessible.”—Andrew Phelps, Rochester Institute of Technology

AcknowledgmentsIt would be a rare developer indeed who had worked on all the kinds of gamesaddressed in this book, and certainly I cannot make that claim. When it came timeto speak about subjects of which I had little direct experience, I relied heavily onthe advice and wisdom of my professional colleagues. I owe particular gratitude toMonty ClarkMike LopezJesyca DurchinSteve MeretzkyJoseph GanetakosCarolyn Handler MillerScott KimBrian MoriartyRick KnowlesTess SniderRaph KosterChris TaylorMichelle Hinn and theIGDA Accessibility SpecialInterest GroupI owe special thanks to Jason VandenBerghe, Creative Director at UbiSoft, whoseresearch on player motivation has been enormously valuable, and I’m grateful forhis and UbiSoft’s willingness to share it with the world. I hasten to add that anyerrors in the book are mine and not theirs.I am also indebted to MobyGames (www.mobygames.com) and Giant Bomb(www.giantbomb.com), whose vast databases of games I consulted daily, and sometimes hourly, in my research.My technical editor, Tobi Saulnier, gave me advice and feedback about every aspectof the book. This is the second time Tobi has worked with me in this capacity, andher experience, especially with casual games and games for children, has beeninvaluable. A number of other colleagues offered useful suggestions about differentparts of the manuscript; I am particularly grateful to Chris Bateman, Ben Cousins,Melissa Federoff, Ola Holmdahl, and Lucy Joyner for their advice.Several people and institutions generously gave me permission to reproduce images:MobyGames (www.mobygames.com)Giant Bomb (www.giantbomb.com)Björn Hurri (www.bjornhurri.com)Cecropia, Inc.Pseudo Interactive (www.pseudointeractive.com)Martin Stever

Finally, no list of acknowledgments would be complete without recognizing thehelp of my editor. Robyn Thomas worked hard with me to get the book doneunder severe deadline pressure (as always). Mary Ellen Foley, The Word Boffin(www.wordboffin.com), also provided occasional advice and staunch support.I’m grateful for the assistance of Margot Hutchison, my agent at WatersideProductions, in helping to finalize the contract.Suggestions, corrections, and even complaints are always welcome; please sendthem to ewadams@designersnotebook.com.About the AuthorErnest Adams is a game design consultant and part-time professor at University ofUppsala Campus Gotland in Sweden. He lives in England and holds a Ph.D. inComputer Science from Teesside University for his contributions to the field ofinteractive storytelling. In addition to his consulting and teaching, he gives gamedesign workshops and is a popular speaker at conferences and on college campuses.Dr. Adams has worked in the interactive entertainment industry since 1989, and hefounded the International Game Developers’ Association in 1994. He was mostrecently employed as a lead designer at Bullfrog Productions, and for several yearsbefore that he was the audio/video producer on the Madden NFL line of footballgames at Electronic Arts. In his early career, Dr. Adams was a software engineer,and he has developed games for machines from the IBM 360 mainframe to thepresent day. He is the author of five other books and the “Designer’s Notebook”series of columns on the Gamasutra developers’ webzine. His professional website isat www.designersnotebook.com.About the Technical EditorTobi Saulnier is founder and CEO of 1st Playable Productions, a game developmentstudio that specializes in design and development of games tailored to specificaudiences. Games developed by 1st Playable span numerous genres to appeal toplay styles and preferences of each group and include games for young children,girls, middle schoolers, and young adults, and some that appeal to broad audiences.The studio also creates games for education. Before joining the game industry in2000, Tobi managed R&D in embedded and distributed systems at General ElectricResearch and Development, where she also led initiatives in new product development, software quality, business strategy, and outsourcing. She earned her BS, MS,and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.