Datasheet

Part I: Getting Started

Beginning with an idea

Game designs don’t just spring into existence, fully formed. Game design is an

organic process involving writing, reading, examining, rewriting, and updat-

ing. Go through the process of constructing an idea several times before you

settle upon one.

A game concept starts to feel complete when it has the following:

✓ A description of the basic mechanics of the idea (how the game should

play out and the basic actions that the player takes while playing)

✓ A basic story describing the motivation for the game play

✓ A flow (a basic game play description)

✓ Conceptual notes on graphics, feel, and audio

✓ Some examples of typical user interactions

So, how do you get these elements of your game concept in place? Well,

the process somewhat depends on your game, and we can’t really give you

a blanket solution that works every time. But we can walk you through the

steps of defining the elements as we did for the Traffic game. This process

offers an understanding of the design decisions required and one method for

arriving at them.

Making the idea fun, feasible, and unique

The idea for Traffic came from staring at the traffic passing and thinking,

“That would make a fun game . . .” Of course, an iPhone game based on

realistic simulation of traffic patterns wouldn’t be too fun or accessible, so

we had to pare down the idea to something that would work on the device.

Line-drawing games have shown great longevity as popular titles at the App

Store, so we approached the Traffic design with the idea that it’d be a line-

drawing game.

In line-drawing games, the player sees an overall view of a scene and uses

the iPhone’s touchscreen to score points by drawing lines from one object

to another (or a goal object). The genre has exploded in popularity, and

you find many different variations on the general idea. Some great examples

of line-drawing games that carry off the concept well are Flight Control, by

Firemint, and Harbor Master, by Imangi Studios.

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