作者：Farshid

我想要成为一名游戏设计师，所以我开始阅读博客、论坛甚至是书本。我并不经常阅读书籍，所以这对我来说是件较为麻烦的事情。不久之后我意识到，优秀成功的游戏为玩家创造的都是必不可少的体验。这种体验必须新颖，但是同时又让人感到似曾相识，是种能够创造趣味性和娱乐感的体验。

要创造出这种体验，你所要专注的不仅仅是“游戏设计4要素”，“主题”也是必不可少的。是的，你在小学5年级可能就学过何谓主题以及如何在故事讲述中表现主题。但是你可曾知晓，在进行游戏设计时，主题可以创造出那些独特且强有力的体验？遵循以下这些步骤即可。

首先，挑选主题

刚开始选择主题或许显得很困难。你或许有个游戏想法，自认为其独特和新颖的游戏机制能够使游戏成为轰动市场的巨作。但是，你仍然需要故事和技术来将这个想法变成现实。那么，故事的主题是什么呢？也就是说，什么是游戏的主题？

简单地说，主题就是游戏的相关内容（游戏邦注：此语出自Jesse Schell）。

作为游戏设计师，你或许有着些许非常重要的想法。主题能够将所有的要素汇集起来，组成整款游戏。你努力使用所有的游戏设计元素来支撑想法。但是如果没有主题或者你不知晓游戏的主题是什么，那么你的游戏有可能就此失败。

你还没有想出主题？没关系，不要为此感到烦躁。你想知道为何无需担忧吗？

因为当你开始进行游戏开发并将所有的想法拼凑起来时，主题自然就会浮现在脑中，让你的游戏充满活力。但是应当记住的是，奠定主题的时间越早越好。确定主题能够让你挑选那些符合主题的概念来执行。任何不符主题的东西都应当被抛弃。

这种自由选择可以加强主题的概念能够让你将所有的资源集中在匹配的概念上，不会造成精力的浪费。接下来要分析第2个步骤。

第二步，强化主题

没错，就是通过所有的必要方式来加强主题。自始自终加强游戏的主题，包括每个章节、每个任务、每个角色、每个敌人、每段小对话、每个图标、咒语、武器和护甲等。对游戏中的主题加强越大，游戏为玩家所创造的体验就越好。

小小大星球(from videogames.techfresh.net)

花点时间想想那些你最喜欢的游戏。你能否清晰地识别出其中的主题？如果这是你最喜欢的游戏，那么对你而言它就具有成瘾性而且能够产生很棒的体验。因而，识别其中的主题应当非常简单，因为这些游戏在这个方面做得很好。你最喜欢的游戏是《使命召唤》，还是《模拟人生》，抑或是和我一样最喜欢《小小大星球》？游戏中的每个小细节都为主题提供强大的支持，难道不是吗？

对游戏设计而言，哪个种类的主题最好呢？

最棒的主题是能够被所有玩家接受的主题，包括孩子、成人、男性和女性玩家。这种主题能够真正打动我们，并从深层次影响我们的情感。

想知道为何漫画书和超级英雄如此流行吗？它们的主题是什么？坦诚地说，我们所有人内心里都希望能够成为超级英雄，我们希望能够战胜邪恶。所以我们可以看到，“爱可以战胜一切”的主题出现在许多电影中，比如《泰坦尼克号》。人们心中“我们需要的只有爱”的想法为受众创造出充满情感的体验。

通过这两个步骤可以使得游戏主题为你的游戏营造不可或缺的体验。但是必须记住的是，你需要进行创新，过分相似的主题会起到相反的效果，让玩家离开你的游戏。

主题可以将游戏从业余爱好转变为艺术形式。尽量早地利用这个优势，而且需要铭记在心。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2011年7月6日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Your Game Doesn’t Have a Theme? It’s Game Over for You

Farshid

In my quest to becoming a game designer I started reading blogs, forums and even books (I am not much of a book reader so that is a big deal for me). It soon became clear to me that good games, successful games, are all about creating essential experiences for the player. An experience that has to be new and yet familiar at the same time. A relatable experience that creates joy and amusement.

In order to create these experiences not only do you have to focus on the 4 Elements of Game Design but you also need a Theme. Yeah, you learned in fifth grade, what a theme is and how it is implemented in story telling. But did you know when it comes to game design having a theme can makes those essential experiences truly unique and powerful? Just follow these simple steps.

First – Pick a Theme

Choosing a theme might be hard at first. You might have an idea for a game that you believe to be the next hit due to its unique and innovative approach to game mechanics. Heck, you might even have the story and technology (you have read the 4 Elements to Game Design right?) in place to create this masterpiece. But, what is its theme? For that matter, What is the theme of any game?

In short “The theme is what your game is about.” (Jesse Schell)

It is the single most important idea you can ever come up as a game designer for your game. It brings all the elements together, it forms your game, from beginning to the end. It is the idea that you work so hard to support using all the game deign elements. And if you don’t have a theme or don’t know what your theme is, chances are, you have failed and it is game over for you as a game designer.

Okay, you don’t have a theme yet? And that is fine, don’t go pulling your hair out. You want to know why?

Because as you start developing your game and putting the pieces together, you will come across the theme that is going implode your mind and give life to your baby. But remember this, the sooner you pick your theme the easier your life is going to be. Having a theme in place would allow for you to implement the concepts that are true to your theme. And anything else that doesn’t fit in with your theme is garbage and gets tossed.

Having this freedom to pick all the concepts that add life and reinforce your theme will allow for you to focus all your resources on the matching concepts and not waste energy designing a game that is B to the O-ring. Which brings me to the second step.

Second Step – Reinforce by any means necessarily

Thats right, reinforce your theme by any means necessarily. Reinforce the theme as much as you can, from the beginning to the end, every chapter, every mission, every corner, every character, every enemy, every little dialogue, every icon, spell, weapon or piece of armor. And when you think you are done, guess what? You have got some reinforcing to do. The more reinforce your theme in your game the better the experience it will create for the player.

Think about your favorite game for a second. Can you clearly identify its theme? Chances are if it is your favorite game, it is addictive and has created a wonderful experience for you. Therefore identifying its theme should be very easy, because they did their job right. Is you favorite game “Call of Duty”? Is it “The Sims”? Or maybe you are like me and you are loving “Little Big Planet”. Every little detail in the game seems to support the theme, doesn’t it?

What is the best kind of the theme for game design?

The best kind of themes are the themes that are relatable by everyone, kids, adults, men and women. A theme that we hold dear to our hearts and against all odds wish it to be true. A relatable theme can truly move us and affect us deeply.

Ever wonder why comic books and superheros are so popular? What are their themes? Lets be honest, we all secretly or openly wish to be superheros, we wish to triumph over evil and above all, we wish to kick ass. Then we got the ever so cliche “Love triumphs all” sort of theme that has been beaten to death in just about every movie ever made. To refresh your memory on this theme, just think about the “Titanic” and “The Notebook”. The simple fact that people want to believe “Love is all you need”, creates a superb and emotional experience for the audience.

These are two examples of the hundreds of thousands of relatable themes out there that can help form the essential experiences of your game. But keep in mind you gotta innovate and bring a fresh perspective to the table or else a very familiar theme can actually backfire and turn people away from your game.

A theme can transform your game from a craft and a hobby to a piece of art. Use it early, use it always. (Source: Farshid Palad)