作者：Mark Rosewater

1）目标

游戏需要目标。玩家需争取什么？如何获胜？

当你向新手解释新游戏时，通常你告诉他们的第一件事都是他们要进行什么操作。游戏的目标是什么？玩家如何获得胜利？新手开发者常犯的错误是他们过多关注游戏的杰出元素 ，而忘记玩家进行此操作的原因所在。

我是写作出身，喜欢以平行模式叙述故事。故事有主角，他/她想要某东西。欲望推动故事发展。目标推动游戏发展。需注意的是，游戏目标要符合玩家欲望。

目标需要具有吸引眼球，这意味着实现目标的过程要非常享受。玩家愿意体验游戏，因为他们喜欢游戏所设置的任务。例如，“用针刺伤脸部”的游戏内容永远都不会受欢迎。

此外，目标需清晰而准确。另一新手设计常犯的错误是创建目标模糊的游戏。玩家得摸索着弄清自己所要完成的任务。要避免出现这种情况。让玩家在实现目标方面享有足够的灵 活性，同时保证目标的稳定性和准确性。通常若玩家需问说“我赢了没？”，游戏就缺乏明确目标。

《Magic》在此表现突出。什么是目标？在魔法斗争中打败对手，或者以更机制化的角度来说，将他的生命值从20变成0。这听起来非常有趣，玩家需要完成的任务非常清晰。其实 我觉得《Magic》的一大优点是目标非常清晰。

但玩家是否能够凭借装饰、毒药或其他获胜条件取得胜利？可以，这没问题。其一，核心目标不会发生改变，其二，这些选择只是游戏整体体验的一小部分。《Magic》这类庞大而 灵活的游戏能够支撑若干获胜条件，但这是由于其目标非常清晰。

2）规则

游戏需要明确罗列玩家的操作范围。限制条件是游戏的重要组成。完成游戏目标的过程不应过于简单。

多数产品的设计目标都是尽可能简化内容。设计灯泡时，你的目标就是简化灯泡的开关操作。但游戏设计是例外，它的目标是将内容复杂化。设定好游戏的目标后，余下任务就是 让实现目标的过程变得富有挑战性。

游戏体验从根本来说就是解决各种障碍。你希望在自愿情况下操作游戏任务，或者通常是在他人企图阻碍你的情况下。实现目标的过程非常有趣，因为完成困难任务总是充满迫切 性。从生物学角度看，主体内容要能够刺激你完成内容，然后给予你化学和心理层面的奖励。作为游戏设计师，你需要设计障碍。游戏过于简单就会缺乏获胜满足感，而过于复杂 ，玩家将永远无法获胜。

我通常坚持“限制条件创造创造性”原则。这运用于游戏规则设计再适合不过。作为游戏设计师，你的任务是迫使玩家创造性地克服你所创造的限制条件。设计师应花时间思考自 己设定的目标及玩家会如何完成这些目标。然后开始以他们的方式放置障碍。

如果说创造愉快体验是本文的主题之一，那么另一个话题就是清晰的重要性。规则的第二个主要功能是明确规则玩家的操作范围。含蓄在很多情况下能够制造很好效果。但游戏体 验不在其中之列。当玩家需花时间弄清游戏运作方式时，他们通常会选择退出游戏体验。

《Magic》规则有利有弊。弊端是，它们使得游戏变得难以掌握。我已多次谈到《Magic》的进入障碍。但只要投入其中，规则就会变成有趣元素。问题总有答案，总有解决办法。

就阻碍目标实现来看，《Magic》规则堪称绝无仅有。《Magic》设计师Richard Garfield成功创造富有组织性的平衡游戏机制。每个策略都有反攻战略。游戏的开放结构令玩家得 以自由寻找解决方案，给对手创造新问题。在我看来，游戏之所以持久留住玩家是因为游戏非常有深度，而关键要素就是规则机制，这创造众多制约和平衡关系。

3）互动

游戏需要融入某些鼓励玩家互做反应的元素。游戏如何促使玩家进行互动？

玩家需要存在某种欲望。游戏需让实现此欲望的过程变得富有挑战性。下一步就是确保所有玩家都体验相同游戏内容。最简单的方式就是给予所有玩家相同目标，让所有玩家都互 为障碍。但无论如何，最关键的还是游戏要同玩家操作建立联系。

为什么这点如此重要？有多个原因。首先，游戏体验的一个重要元素是社交互动。电脑和手持设备令我们能够轻松单独体验游戏。传统游戏依旧受欢迎的原因在于其存在一大优点 ：面对面的互动。人类天生就是社交性生物。融入欲望元素的游戏让玩家得以进行互动。互动是游戏的一大核心目标，因此强化互动元素非常重要。

其次，若你将其他玩家当作必需阻碍，就会获得大量资源。例如，《Magic》在挑战用户方面表现突出，玩家会同其他玩家比拼智慧。自我选择意味着玩家倾向选择认同其提高游戏 体验方式看法的玩家。

研发部门常关注的一点是保持游戏互动元素。这也是我们谨慎看待组合技能（游戏邦注：即组合系列纸牌，创造赢得比赛的强烈效应）的原因之一。若组合技能足够强大和迅速， 玩家完全没有必要在乎其他玩家的操作。

《Magic》创造互动性的两大工具都是纸牌模式：创造和瞬间。创造操作带来互动是因为它要求玩家推动对手采取行动。进攻带来阻止操作。瞬间操作创造互动是因为它让玩家能够 在对手的操作时间里采取行动。

《Magic》互动的另一主要内容是融入解决问题的纸牌。Richard清楚令集换式卡牌游戏顺利运作的关键是确保所有威胁都有解决办法，这让牌组能够随子游戏的改变而改变。 《Magic》是款变化的游戏，实现此目标的关键是向玩家提供能够同当前主导策略相抗衡的工具。

4）追赶功能

落后玩家要有追赶渠道。若玩家觉得自己没机会胜出，游戏就会变得令人沮丧。

另一创造此必要条件的途径是利用投入概念。为让游戏能够以最佳状态运作，所有玩家都要给予关注。若无法做到这点，核心体验小组的目光就会离开游戏。如何让玩家持续关注 游戏？通过让他们投入其中。

玩家离开游戏的一大原因是他们不再投入其中。而其中的主要原因是玩家觉得自己没有获胜的机会。游戏的着眼点就是实现所有目标。只要玩家无法实现此目标，游戏对他们来说 就缺乏吸引力。

实现这点最有效的办法就是在游戏中融入能够让落后玩家迎头赶上的元素。其中也许包含某些能够扭转局面的随机事件。领先玩家也许会遇到阻碍因素。也许游戏中的收获会随游 戏的进展变得日益丰富。无论如何，游戏要融入能够让玩家有所期待的元素，即便只是很小的期待，这点非常重要。

那么《Magic》的最大追赶功能是什么？答案在于游戏原始设计中的巧妙设置：魔法值机制。由于玩家会慢慢强大，游戏鼓励玩家亮出在游戏中屡次表现突出的纸牌。这里的巧妙之 处在于玩家总是能够就最佳和次佳纸牌进行选择。在第一回合中输掉比赛非常刺激，但在第十回合输掉就很糟糕。而第五回合的失败则能够制造悬念。

纸牌根据游戏游戏进程的不同而有不同表现，纸牌可能变成好牌，也能变成烂牌。纸牌效果的不确定性令落后玩家能够起死回生（游戏邦注：此外，由于所抽之牌属于隐藏信息， 游戏因此能够有效留住玩家，因为玩家有望抽到扭转局势的纸牌）。

5）惯性

游戏需有推动游戏朝目标迈进的元素。游戏有推动内容结束的元素。游戏设计师在设计首款游戏时遇到的首要问题是什么？游戏长度。制作精良的游戏应在玩家失去体验兴趣前结 束。设计师要如何实现此目标？通过在游戏中融入足够的惯性。

惯性理念是指处于中立状态的游戏应推动玩家朝目标迈进。若玩家需要通过斗争结束游戏，那么通常游戏不会在玩家希望结束时结束。这意味着有很多游戏都是在玩家的不满中才 拉下序幕。

我的一位写作导师曾表示，“创作长度合理故事的要诀是尽可能缩短故事，然后去除10%的内容。”

游戏需尽早结束。玩家希望游戏持续更久要比玩家希望游戏尽早结束的情况好很多。在前种情况中，玩家可以选择重新体验，但后种情况中，玩家永远不会再次体验。这里的要诀 是制作推动玩家朝目标迈进的游戏。

就《Magic》来说，这款游戏如何结束内容？游戏持续提升魔法等级。游戏最终会步入尾声，因为这些魔法最终会强大到足以结束游戏。这款游戏创造允许玩家结束内容的机制。

6）惊喜

你的游戏中需要一些能够让玩家预料不到的惊喜。人们总是喜欢惊喜。所以你必须确保自己的游戏拥有这种惊喜。

为了精通掌握游戏设计，你必须先清楚怎么做才能吸引人们的注意。人们喜欢惊喜，特别是那种适当，不背离游戏环境，且能让人感到舒心的惊喜。

我之所以会觉得惊喜很重要，是因为人们有时候其实并不想知道未来会发生些什么。我们总是能够怀着一种激动的心情去面对一些未知的事物。当我们走进一款游戏时，这就是一 个最佳的惊喜空间，只有身临其境，你才能感受到为何你想要获得惊喜。玩家总是喜欢享受惊喜。以下是另外两大原因。

另一个促使你在游戏中添加惊喜的原因便是我们所说的游戏深度。为了让游戏保持乐趣，你就必须让游戏保留一些玩家摸不透的内容。如果玩家能够一目了然地看穿游戏或者总是 知道自己下一步该怎么做，那么他们便很快会对游戏失去兴趣。而适当的一些隐藏信息（能够为游戏营造出惊喜的内容）则会让玩家感到迷茫，因为这些信息会让玩家不知道如何 做出决定。

同样地，一些隐藏信息也能够让一名玩家知道其他玩家所不知道的内容，所以这种方法不仅能够汇聚信息，而且能够让玩家更好地了解游戏。玩家可以通过线索（游戏邦注：即玩 家在游戏中所做的或者在游戏中的反应）而做出一些相关推测并找出这些隐藏信息。比起游戏已经告知的内容，推测更有助于在游戏中营造出一种紧张感。

第三个原因便是惊喜能够提高游戏的重玩价值。游戏之所以能够带给玩家惊喜，是基于游戏本质属性，同时能够为游戏带来各种结果。当一款游戏拥有多种不一样的结果时，玩家 更加愿意反复尝试游戏。

《Magic》中的惊喜则是来自于“文库”和“控制”。前者确保每一个游戏设置的不同，而后者则能够提供给玩家一些隐藏信息，并保持一种悬念。另外一个较大的惊喜则来自于随 意安插的“咒语”和“功效”。而在《Innistrad》中便出现了“咒语”和“功效”这种惊喜，因而我们都能够在游戏中感受到一种恐怖的悬疑感。而《Innistrad》对卡片的使用 让我们更加相信《Magic》未来的游戏设置将会更多地出现这种具有惊喜的设计空间。

7）策略

你的游戏中必须拥有一些能让玩家变得更好的内容。人们之所以愿意再次玩游戏是因为他们希望能够不断改进并完善之前的游戏知识，从而更好地将其运用于未来的游戏任务中。

有两大方法能够为游戏带来重玩价值。一个便是多样的游戏玩法。另一个则是游戏体验的持续性。我们总是很容易把玩游戏当成是单一的体验，但是事实上并非如此。就像是你玩 1243款《Magic》类型的游戏与玩《Magic》有何不同？

游戏总是会从一个期间过度到另外一个期间（特别是角色扮演游戏），绝大多数游戏的开头和结尾其实是处在于两个完全不同的游戏片段中。而正是玩家在游戏中的行动将如此开 头与结尾紧密联系在一起。当玩家越来越熟悉游戏，并且更加理解游戏，这种联系便会变得越来越成熟。也就是，如果玩家能够越频繁地玩游戏，便能够从中收获更多。

这种成长经验非常重要，游戏设计者必须赋予游戏与玩家一起成长的能力。而最简单的方法便是采用策略。在游戏中添加多种机会能够帮助玩家学习与成长。如果玩家在每次玩游 戏时都能够完善自己的技巧并获得“升级”，那么他们肯定愿意经常玩游戏。

我之所以说到“升级”，是因为级别在很多游戏中都很重要。玩家要如何才能知道自己变得更好了？只能通过游戏提供给他们更多工具或资源而知晓答案。

《Magic》便很重视游戏策略。Richard通过各种深层次的策略元素而创造出这款多样化的游戏。在集换式卡牌游戏（玩家必须自己创造特别的游戏部件）以及亚对策（不断推出新 卡片并改变旧卡片的格式）中添加策略元素，你将能够创造出一款具有策略性的高级游戏。

8）乐趣

游戏必须能够提供给玩家一些乐趣。玩家玩游戏的首要原因便是找乐子。如果你的游戏没有一点乐趣，那便没有人愿意尝试你的游戏。

当我在玩一款新游戏时（不只是指首次发行的游戏，同时也包括设计师首次推出的游戏），我们都会考虑到这10点必要因素，而乐趣则是其中很容易被忽视的一点。

在这十大元素中，乐趣可以说是最为主观的一点。一个人很容易喜欢上别人所讨厌的东西，但是游戏设计是关于创造乐趣的一种行为，所以每个游戏设计者都应该更加重视这一点 。而因此，游戏测试不容忽视。虽然你能够从游戏观察中学到很多知识，但是乐趣却不在其中。乐趣来自于游戏体验，这就意味着设计游戏的一部分便是玩游戏，并且是由作为设 计师的你与身份不明的玩家一起玩游戏（通常，与设计者存在个人交情的测试者总会对游戏给予好评）。

这对于游戏来说是最有效的验证方法。让一些不熟悉的人自由地玩你的游戏，而无需你的任何指导。然后在他们玩完游戏后，让其他人去问这些玩家一个问题，即是否愿意再次玩 这款游戏？如果他们反馈的并非“我愿意”这种肯定回答，那就说明你的游戏便真的不够有趣。

《Magic》的乐趣在哪里？这是一个非常值得讨论的话题。《Magic》是否有趣？这是当然的！我是如何知道这个答案？因为我能够看到玩家的游戏方式。我看到玩家们会花10几个 小时，甚至是1天以上的时间去玩这款游戏，如此之后，他们会更加热衷于玩《Magic》。他们愿意在不同社交媒体（游戏邦注：如Twitter，Facebook，Tumblr或者Google+等等） 上玩这款游戏。可以说，几乎所有《Magic》玩家都愿意一直玩这款游戏。甚至在我们的研发部门中，我们每天的的工作也离不开玩《Magic》，而在下班后，我们也仍然会继续玩 这款游戏。

我想，乐趣是所有游戏设计者都不能忽略的一点。因为如果游戏缺少了乐趣，玩家便不会愿意再次尝试这款游戏了。而这也是游戏设计中众所周知的一大真理。

9）基调

除了游戏机制，游戏同时还需要一种特别的吸引力。游戏需要属于自己的特定基调。有时候，设计者会先确定基调再围绕它开始设计游戏；也有时候，设计者会先明确游戏机制， 再创造出符合这种机制的基调。不论设计者采取了哪种方法，只要游戏元素能够紧紧围绕着游戏故事或环境，游戏便会具有更多乐趣。

8年前，我曾经写过一篇文章，是关于基调在游戏设计中的重要性以及它的功能所在。而今天，我打算从另外一个角度去分析游戏基调。游戏设计者都有属于自己的游戏制作工具。 但是我在此想要说的基调并不是一种工具，可以说，这是一种比工具更有效的方法。

首先，通过基调，你可以获得来自于玩家的情感反馈，并将这种反馈带到游戏中去。让我们以《Innistrad》为例。这款游戏体现出的基调是一种恐怖感。我们的设计团队并不是在 创造恐怖，而是希望通过营造这种感觉而告诉玩家关于游戏的相关内容。我们能够创造出一些全新的氛围，并且不会让玩家对此感到陌生。在游戏设计中，基调是关于在情感层面上连接游戏与玩家的一种非常有价值的方法。

除此之外，基调还有更多功能。玩家玩游戏的最大阻碍是什么？也就是我们通常所说的“进入障碍”。为了让玩家玩你的游戏，首先你就必须教会他们如何玩。学习新事物是一个 很难的过程，而如果你不能很好地教授玩家玩游戏，他们也许便不会再次尝试你的游戏。而进入障碍也许是《Magic》的最大肋骨。

基调能够帮助游戏降低进入障碍。基调能够以一种较为随意的方式为玩家解说游戏规则。基调能够帮助玩家明确游戏理念，更轻松地了解游戏，并鼓励他们更深入地学习游戏。基 调可以说是进入障碍最大的天敌，俗话说得好，你敌人的敌人就是你的朋友。

基调还能够帮助你更好地完善游戏。我一直在讲述着游戏设计的重要性，但是吸引玩家玩游戏还有许多重要因素。游戏外观便是其中一点，而基调同时也能够很好帮助游戏完善外 观。

《Magic》很好地利用了基调。这款游戏的主基调是关于魔法决斗。美术效果，名称以及基调描写等都是这款游戏能够吸引玩家的重要元素。很多人都表示，当第一次看到这款游戏 的外观时，便深深为之着迷。而正如《Innistrad》所表现的，基调同时也能够帮助游戏定义背景。所以说基调是一个非常重要的“工具”，而《Magic》也很好地使用了这一工具 。

10）诱饵

如果你希望人们玩你的游戏，你就必须先想出能够鼓励他们玩游戏的诱饵。而如果你正在销售游戏，那么诱饵指的便是你的营销方法。

起初，我认为诱饵只能用在游戏销售中，而并不在游戏设计者的考虑范围内。但是后来在仔细思考后，我发现设计者们其实也是在间接销售游戏。他们的游戏将会被区分等级，并 且等待着玩家们对其做出反应。

按照这一标准，我们可以看出，其实游戏设计本身并不是一种艺术。单纯创造出一款游戏是远远不够的，你还必须学会如何去销售它。而如此，游戏设计者便必须学习这一标准了 。游戏中必须具有能够用于市场营销的元素，而这包括多方面内容。可以是独特的游戏机制，具有创意的主题或者新颖的执行方法。不管设计者采取何种方法，都必须确保游戏能 够吸引人们的眼球，让他们愿意停下来了解更多关于游戏的相关内容。

在我刚来到好莱坞之时，我认为成为当编剧最难的事情便是写出一部优秀的剧本。但是当我成为编剧作者后，我便发现写剧本不再是最折磨人的难事（尽管这仍然是一项很难的工 作），最让我头疼的却是如何让观众阅读我写的剧本。在游戏设计中亦是如此。不管一款游戏如何优秀，如果它不能够吸引玩家进行尝试，那它便只能是一具没有灵魂的躯壳。

游戏设计者总是需要扮演着不同的身份，而其中之一便是市场营销者。你必须知道如何去销售你的游戏，因为这是你在设计过程中需要关注的一个要点。你不能只是创造出一款游 戏而不去思考任何后续工作。因为如果你未考虑到这一点，你将会在创造过程中陷入一些不必要的麻烦，这与冰箱中未储存任何食物而在肚子饿了的时候却没东西吃是一个道理。 诱饵能够帮助你创造游戏，而如果你忽视了它，便会面临巨大的麻烦。

最有益的诱饵是指简单而又容易理解的内容。诱饵必须能够抓住人们的注意，所以它就必须具备一些清楚易懂的信息。通常地，我们只有一次机会能够争取第一印象。所以你必须 牢记，一定不要在诱饵中插入太多内容。诱饵的功能不是教育，而是吸引。它是用来帮助你吸引潜在玩家并鼓励他们了解更多关于游戏的内容。

而这也是《Magic》做得很好的一点，也是我们为何会在游戏中设置集换式卡牌的最主要原因。任何一张卡牌都带有一个很明确的基调，以及大篇幅的图像。而如此设置能够帮助游 戏更好地抓住玩家的第一印象。但是对于《Magic》的设计者来说，游戏所面临的挑战便是即使拥有了一个很强大的诱饵，但是却还需要创造出更多不同的诱饵去拓展更大的市场。

相关阅读：篇目1，篇目2（本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao）

Ten Things Every Game Needs

by Mark Rosewater

#1) A Goal or Goals

There needs to be a point for your game. What are your players trying to do? How do they win?

When you sit someone down to explain a new game to a beginner, usually the first thing you tell them is what they’re trying to do. What’s the point of the game? How do they win? A common mistake beginning game designers make is that they focus too much on the cool thing the game does and forget why the players are doing it.

As my background is writing, I enjoy the parallel to telling a story. You have a main character. He or she has to want something. That want is what drives the story. The goal is what drives the game. Due to keeping my sheet to one page, I didn’t go into depth on this point, but here’s something else important to know. The players have to want to do the thing the game drives them to do.

The goal has to be attractive, meaning that the act of getting to the goal has to sound enjoyable. (You’ll see how these all tie together. Fun isn’t until #8, but it’s important in every facet.) Players will want to play the game because they will like the idea of doing what the game tells them to do. The “stick needles into your face” game, as an example, is probably never going to catch on.

Also, the goal has to be very clear and precise. Another common beginner design mistake is to create a game where the goal is murky. The players fumble around trying to figure out what they need to do. Don’t do that. Let the players have plenty of flexibility in how they solve the goal but make the goal rigid and exact. Usually if a player has to ask “Did I win?” the game is lacking in the goal department.

Magic does wonderfully at this need. What’s the goal? Defeating your opponent in a magical duel or, in more mechanical terms, driving his or her life total from 20 to 0. That sounds like fun and it’s clear what needs to be done. In fact, I believe one of Magic’s strengths is the clarity of its goal.

But wait, can’t I win with decking or poison or having a giant deck or whatever other alternate win conditions the cards allow? Yes, you can, and that’s fine. One, the core goal doesn’t change (defeat the other player in magical battle) and two, those alternatives are a tiny, tiny part of the overall game experience. A game as large and flexible as Magic is capable of supporting a few alternate win conditions, but that is because of the overall clarity of its goal, not despite it.

#2) Rules

There needs to be a list of what players are and are not allowed to do. Restrictions are an important part of a game. Accomplishing your goal shouldn’t be too easy.

The design of most products is about making things as easy as possible. When you’re designing a lamp, the goal is to make the lamp simple to turn on and off. Game (and puzzle) design is unique in that the goal of the design is to actually make the thing harder to do. Once you’ve set out the goal of the game, the next part of the design is to make meeting that goal a challenge.

Game playing is essentially about overcoming obstacles. You want to do your thing and the game, of its own accord or often through the other players, tries to stop you. Accomplishing your goal is fun because there’s a rush in completing a difficult task. Biologically, the body has to be able to motivate you to do things, so it tends to reward you chemically and emotionally (some would argue those are the same thing) for doing them. As a game designer, you have to build the hurdles. Make them too easy and there’s no thrill in victory. Make them too hard and the player never gets to win.

Regular readers of my column known that my favorite mantra is “restrictions breed creativity.” Nowhere is this more true in game design than rule creation. Your job as a game designer is to force your players to have to be creative to overcome the restrictions you create. Spend time thinking about what goals you ’ve set and how your players would naturally want to complete those goals. Then start throwing obstacles in their way.

If creating enjoyable moments is one theme of this column, another is the importance of clarity. A second major function of the rules is making it crystal clear what the players are and are not allowed to do. Ambiguity is wonderful in many facets of life. Game playing is not one of them. Every moment players spend trying to figure out how the game works is one where they are pulled out of the game experience (there are exceptions to this, but I’m talking about the basics here).

Magic’s rules are both a curse and a blessing. Their curse is that they make the game hard to learn. I’ve talked numerous times about the barrier to entry when learning to play Magic. Once you are invested in the game though, the rules become a wonderful thing. Problems have an answer, and there are means to solve them (our Game Support team among them).

From the perspective of keeping you from your goal, Magic’s rules are a masterpiece. Richard Garfield, Magic’s creator, did a wonderful job creating a structured, balanced game system. Every strategy has a counter-strategy. The game’s open-ended structure allows players infinite ability to find solutions and create new problems for their opponents. One of the reasons I believe that the game keeps players so long is that the depth of strategy is remarkable and a key part of this is the rules system, which creates so many intricate checks and balances.

#3) Interaction

There needs to be some aspect of the game that encourages the players to react to one another. What does your game do to make the players interact?Players have to want something. The game has to make acquiring that thing challenging. The next step is making sure that everyone is playing the same game.

The simplest way to do this is to give all players the same goal, making each of them an obstacle of the others. However you do this, though, it is crucial that your game interconnects the actions of the players.

Why is this so important? There are several reasons. First, a big component of game playing is the social interaction. Computers and hand-held devices have made it easier and easier to play games solo. The reason that traditional gaming is still popular is that it has one huge advantage: face-to-face interaction. Humans are by nature social creatures. Gaming plays into the desire allowing people to interact. As interacting is one of the key goals, it’s important that your game reinforce this interaction.

Second, there’s a great conservation of resources if you use other players as the needed obstacles. Magic, for example, does a great job of challenging a player because they are matching their wits against another person like themselves. Self-selection also means that players will tend to play against players who share their vision of how the game should be increasing the chances that all parties have a good gaming experience.

One of the things that R&D is constantly conscious of is making sure to keep the interaction in the game. This is one of the reasons, for instance, that we are very cautious with what we call combos—that is, groups of cards that combine to create a giant effect that usually wins the game. If the combo is powerful and fast enough, there’s no reason for you to even concern yourself with what the other players are doing.

Magic’s two greatest tools to creating interactivity are both card types: creatures and instants. Creatures force interaction because they require you to bring the action to the opponent. Attacking allows blocking. Instants create interaction because they allow you to act during a time that normally is focused on your opponent.

Another big part of Magic’s interaction is the inclusion of cards that answer problems. Richard understood that a key to making trading card games work is to make sure that every threat had an answer, which allowed decks to change over time as the metagame shifted. Magic is a game about change, and a key part of making this happen was giving the players the tools to combat whatever was currently the dominant strategy.

#4) A Catch-Up Feature

There needs to be a way for players that have fallen behind to catch up. A game becomes frustrating if a player feels like he or she has no chance to win.

Another way to think of this requirement is the idea of investment. In order for a game to function at its best, all its players have to care. If they don’t then the core of the play group’s attention will shift from the game. How do you keep focus on the game? By keeping all the players invested in it.

The biggest reason players disconnect from a game is because they no longer have any investment. The number-one cause of this is a belief that you can’t win. The point of the game is to complete the goal from #1. Once you are no longer able to do that (or, more importantly, once you no longer believe you can do that) the game stops having any pull over the player.

The classic way to do this is to build something into the game that allows players that are behind to catch up. There might be some random event with a huge swing. Players in the lead might pick up handicaps. The game might be built such that the gains made in the game get larger as the game progresses. No matter how you do it, it’s important to make sure that players always have something to hope for even if that hope is a small one.

So what is Magic’s biggest catch-up feature? The answer lies in a very clever part of Magic’s initial game design: the mana system. Because you slowly build up over time, the game encourages you to play cards that work best at various times during the game. What’s so wonderful about this is that it means that you always have cards you can draw that are optimal and suboptimal. For example, a one-drop is a wonderful first turn draw, but a horrible tenth-turn draw. A five-drop, though, is the exact opposite.

Because cards have variance based on where in the game they are drawn, they make sure that there are always good and bad draws. This swing in utility allows players who are behind to make dramatic comebacks. In addition because the draws are hidden information it helps keep players in the game because there is always the hope of a drawing a card that will swing the game in their favor.

#5) Inertia

There needs to be something in your game that moves it along towards completion. You have to have something built into your game that makes sure it ends.

What do I believe is the number-one problem game designers have with the first game they design? Game length. A well-crafted game should end before the player wants to stop playing. How do you accomplish this? By making sure your game has enough inertia.

The idea behind inertia is that your game in a neutral state should be pushing the players towards completion. If the players are fighting against the game to end it, on average half the time the game will not end when they want it to. That means half the games will end with the players unhappy with the game.

One of my writing professors used to say, “The key to having the right story length is to make your story as short as you possibly can make it and then cut ten percent.”

Your game has to end as early as you can make it end. It ‘s much better to have a game that you wanted to last longer than one that you wanted to stop earlier. You’ll play the first one again, possibly right away, and you might never return to play the second one. The trick to doing this is to set up your game so that it pushes the players towards completion.

Let’s take Magic as the example. What does Magic do to ensure its completion? It keeps raising the power level of its spells. The mana system works such that as you get to the late game you have the ability to play larger and more powerful spells. The game will end because these spells are big enough to make it end. The game creates a system that enables the players to end it.

#6) Surprise

There need to be elements of your game that theplayers cannot predict. People enjoy being surprised. You have to make sure that your game has moments that are unexpected.

One of the themes of my column is that to be good at game design you have to understand what makes humans tick. Humans love surprise, provided that it comes in the context of something that they are comfortable about. (One of these days I’m going to write an article all about my communications education and how it has defined how I view design. Comfort and surprise are two parts of what communication does to draw in an audience. Okay, now you’re all going, “But
Mark, what’s the third piece?” Ironically, it’s completion. It’s going to be an awesome article.)

The reason I believe surprise is so beloved is that humans enjoy not always knowing what’s going to happen. There’s a thrill to the unknown. When you walk into a game, you’ve enter a comfortable space where it’s now okay to be surprised. That’s the psychological answer to why you want surprise. Player’s enjoy it. Now let’s get to the other reasons.

Reason two for wanting to add surprise to your game is what we call depth of play. To keep a game interesting for the players, you want for it to exceed their ability to understand what they have to do. If players can look at a game state and always know what to do next, the game will quickly become boring. Hidden information (the quality of a game which allows surprise to happen) makes it much harder to know what to do because it makes the decision tree infinitely more complex.

Also, hidden information allows one player to know something the other doesn’t, which brings information gathering and player reading to the game. Players can use clues (what the player did in the game or how they behaved or reacted to things) to make educated guesses as to what the hidden information is. Educated guesses make for much more in-game tension than definitive knowledge.

Reason three to want surprise is replayability. Games that have the ability to surprise are by their nature less consistent because in order to surprise someone, the game has to allow various outcomes. This results in games that have more variety to them and thus are more enjoyable to play again and again.

The key to Magic’s surprise is the library and the hand. The former makes sure each game plays out differently, and the latter provides hidden information to keep suspense during the game. The other big avenue for surprise is spells and effects with randomness built into them. Innistrad notched up those types of spells and effects because we found that the unknown helps create the suspense we wanted to capture the horror genre feel. The success of those cards in
Innistrad (with the data we have so far) leads me to believe that future Magic sets might be more willing to play in that design space.

#7) Strategy

There needs to be something in your game that allows players to get better over time. The reason people like playing games again is that they want to use knowledge from past games to do better in future games.

There are two main things that provide replayability. One is variety of play. The other is the continuity of the experience. It’s very easy to think of each game played as a single occurrence in a vacuum but that’s not how it’s actually perceived. For example, have you played 1,243 games of Magic, or do you play Magic?

While some games continue from session to session (roleplaying games being the most famous example of this), most games start and end within each episode of play. What tends to tie them together is the relationship the player has with the game. As he or she plays more, this relationship matures most often through the player’s understanding of the game. Essentially, the more you play, the better you get.

Because this growth of experience is so important, game designers need to build into their game the ability for the game to grow with the player (and one could argue the player to grow with the game). The simplest way to do this is with strategy. Make the game have plenty of opportunities for players to learn and improve. If it does, this helps keep players connected to the game because each time they play they will improve their skills and “level up.”

I use the term “level up” because the idea of leveling is something that is so important that many games bring this aspect to the forefront. How do you know you’re getting better? Because the game shows you that you are, often giving you access to more tools or resources.

Magic nails this category. Richard created a very dynamic game system with deep strategic elements. Add to that the layering of a trading card game (where players have to construct the very game components they are playing with) and the ever-evolving metagame (with new cards constantly being released and old cards rotating out of formats) and you have a game about as strategically complex as has ever been created.

#8) Fun

There needs to be something that allows the players to enjoy themselves. The number-one reason people play games is for entertainment. If your game isn’t fun to play, people won’t want to play it.

I have played my share of first-time games (I’m not talking necessarily only about published ones, just games of which they were the first game the designer made) and of all ten categories, this is the one that is most often missed. That might come as a surprise, because at its core game playing is a form of entertainment. But many inexperienced designers (and one could argue some experienced designers) get so caught up in the minutiae of their games that they miss the most important question of all: Is the game fun?

Of all the ten criteria, fun is by far the most subjective. It’s very easy for one person to enjoy what another would hate, but game design is about creating fun experiences so this is something every game designer has to care about. This is where playtesting becomes so important. There is much you can learn by looking at your game, but fun is not one of them. Fun comes from the play itself, which means part of designing a game is playing—and not just by you, but by others, some of whom you shouldn’t even know. (Playtesters often sugarcoat reactions if they have a personal relationship with the designer.)

Here’s the best litmus test for a game. Have some people you don’t know play it without your guidance. When they are done, have someone (not you) ask them the following question: Would you want to play this game again? If you get anything other than a very enthusiastic “yes,” your game is not fun enough.Why is Magic fun? That’s a topic worthy of its own column. Is Magic fun? Definitely. How do I know? Because I can watch the play patterns of the players. I have seen players play in a tournament for ten-plus hours and the second it’s over for the day, what do they do? They play more Magic. Pick a social medium of choice (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google+, etc.). Odds are I’m watching Magic players on it, and the common denominator on all of them is that Magic players really like to play and play a lot. Even in R&D where it’s our job to play Magic day in and day out, what do we do after hours? Play more Magic.

In my intro, I talked about how games can exist that skip one of the criteria (in the hands of an experienced game designer). There’s one, though, they can ’t skip: this one. If a game isn’t fun, it will never get played more than once. That is the ultimate truism of game design.

#9) Flavor

Besides having mechanics, a game wants to have a trapping. It wants to be about something. Sometimes this comes first and the game is built around it. Sometimes the mechanics come first and a flavor is found to match it. Either way, games are more fun if the elements of the game refer a story or an environment or a theme.

Eight years ago, I wrote a column about the importance of flavor, and its role with function, in game design. The article makes a lot of good points so if you’ve never read it, I’d give it a look. Today, I will approach this issue from a different vantage point. A game designer has tools he or she uses to make a game. No tool, I will argue, is more potent than the tool of flavor. Let’s walk through what it can do.

First, it allows you to take emotional investment built by your players, usually through other means, and bring it to your game. Let’s use Innistrad as an example. The entire design of the set was to give mechanical flavor to the genre of horror. My design team and I didn’t invent horror, but by using it we were able to create something that spoke to our players at a very deep level. We were able to take something new and make it familiar. As game design is all about connecting with your player on an emotional level, that’s a pretty valuable tool.

But wait, there’s more. What’s one of the greatest obstacles to players playing your game? Something we call “barrier to entry.” In order for a player to play your game they have to first learn how. Learning new things is difficult and intimidating, and if you get turned off during that process, odds are you will never play that game again. Barrier to entry is probably Magic’s greatest weakness. (It’s both hard and very intimidating to learn.)

Flavor lowers barrier to entry. Flavor helps explain rules that might otherwise seem random. Flavor helps players lock onto ideas. Flavor excites the player making the material less intimidating and encouraging the player to learn. Flavor is barrier to entry’s greatest nemesis, and as they say, your enemies’ enemies are your friends.

Flavor also allows you to make your game look good. I spend a lot of time talking about the importance of game design, but there are many other facets that go into getting people to want to play your game. Appearance is a big one, and flavor helps tremendously with appearance.

Magic uses flavor well. The entire trapping of the game as a magical duel helps define how the game hangs together. The art and names and flavor text pull people in. A very common “I started playing Magic” story begins with someone entranced by the look of the game the first time they saw it. As Innistrad demonstrates, flavor can also help define a set or a block. Flavor is a very important tool which I feel Magic uses very effectively.

#10) A Hook

If you want people to play your game, there has to be something about it that encourages people to want to try it. If you’re selling your game, the hook is what you use to market it.

I mentioned in Part 1 that I originally had nine criteria and added a tenth one. This is it. The reason I initially left this one off was that this criteria is all about selling your game and the kids in the class didn’t have to worry about that. As I thought more about it, I realized that the kids were selling it, just not for a profit. Their games were going to be graded and a big part of that was going to do with how other students reacted to it.

This criteria plays up the fact that game making is not an art unto itself. It’s not enough to just make a game; you have to be able to sell it. To do this, the game designer has one more criterion to worry about. The game needs something you can market. This could be one of many things. It could be a unique game mechanic, it could be an original theme, it could be a novel execution. The key is that the designer has to make sure that there is something built into the
game that makes someone stop and want to know more about it.

When I first arrived in Hollywood, I believed that the hardest thing about becoming a screenwriter was writing a good script. What I found out once I got there was that producing the good script wasn’t the hardest part (although to be clear, it’s pretty hard). The hardest part was getting the right person to read it. The same thing is true with a game. No game, no matter how good it is, can capture someone if they never play it.

A game designer has many hats, but one of them has to be a marketer. You have to be conscious of how you’re going to sell your game, because you have to make sure that it’s in the design. This element is so important that you can’t leave it up to chance. Can’t you just create your game and worry about it later? Maybe you’ll stumble upon in through the creation process. That’s kind of like never buying food and just hoping you’ll find something when you’re hungry. It could work out for you, but it could also end disastrously.

The key to a good hook is that it’s simple and easily understood. A hook has to grab a person’s attention and to do that it has to have a clear and digestible message. As they say you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Remember that your hook doesn’t have to explain much. Its role is not to educate but to tease. Its job is to make the potential player interested in learning more.

This is another criterion that Magic excels at, and the biggest reason is the nature of a trading card. Any single card has a strong flavor identity complete with a large illustration. It teases the larger game with text that might not make sense in a vacuum but clearly communicates there’s more going on than the observer can catch at first glance. The challenge for Magic designers is that while the game has a strong hook, we have to keep coming up with different hooks for each expansion.

Class Is in Session

The speech went over very well. I started by asking the kids to name their favorite games. For each point I used those games, as opposed to Magic as I did for these articles, to demonstrate my points. About six weeks later, the class held a Game Night where the students and their families could try out all the games the students had designed.

Rachel decided to base her game on the game Taboo.

The goal of the game, for those unfamiliar, is to get your teammates to name the noun in question without using any of the five taboo words or phrases. Seem easy? Here’s a sample card:

All the cards had to do with the American Revolution so it proved to be a little harder (especially for the parents) than normal Taboo. Rachel ended up getting an A (well, they didn’t have letter grades, but the equivalent of a high mark) on her game.

The Game Night was also a lot of fun as I got a chance to see all the different games the kids made. I was touched how many of the kids took my speech to heart and tried to incorporate the ten criteria into their game.