Sometimes it is a concept that we want to translate into play sometimes it is gameplay that we want to turn into concept. The cognitive process of designing a game begins with an idea. I see “kick butts” translating into “awesome boss fight”! Gilliard: Look! Can you see the marvels of game design cognition being applied in this case? Do you realize how the basic verbs and mechanics have translated into an amazing game concept? Therefore, this article comprises the study of each layer and its relationships with the others, presenting them as a hierarchical structure for an easier understanding of the top-down and bottom-up approaches to game design cognition. Rather, designing a game in practice often involves multiple traversals up and down those layers, in a much more organic fashion. However, the process of putting this whole picture together is never as streamlined as our quick analysis would assume. The process of designing such a game probably involved, in some order, the definition of its main concept (an epic, gripping third-person action game centered on a brutal anti-hero), context and environment (conflict among the gods in ancient Greece, in which the protagonist gets personally involved), features and content (combos, weapons, levels), mechanics and verbs (the divine powers system, the power-ups, the player's actions such as jump, light attack and heavy attack). Thus, this article introduces a proposed breakdown of the cognitive process behind game design, enabling the discussion of different methods that are intuitively used, but seldom understood, by game designers.įor example, take the award-winning action game God of War. However, the subject of meta-design applied to games is barely mentioned in the reference material about game design that we see today. Such a process is called Game Design Cognition, and it is absolutely necessary to understand and improve it if we want to evolve as an industry that creates fun out of thin air.
But just how is it possible to create fun? What drives the creative force inside game designers and developers to define, specify and ultimately implement concepts that are entertaining by nature?
It is often said that there is one single word that ties both ends of the process of designing a game, being its cause and consequence.
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