How to Make a Game: 13 Steps (with Pictures)

2024 Author: Samantha Chapman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 09:13

Games provide educational and entertainment opportunities, to distract and train the mind at the same time, and to cultivate creativity. Creating a game, whether it's for your kids, a classroom, or for sale, requires studying what makes a game enjoyable and researching the resources available to help you build that game.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Characteristics of a good game

Step 1. Choose the goal of your game

Games are supposed to be fun, but the most popular and enduring ones have an underlying concept or purpose that goes beyond pure entertainment. Many games teach and develop physical and mental skills.

Strategy games such as chess, checkers and mancala can be used to teach basic mental skills, and in the case of mancala, even calculation.
The RoboRally board game, in which players use robots to move through mazes, teaches logical thinking and programming skills starting with how players use movement cards. The Wings of War card / miniature game teaches similar skills, using cards to represent aerial maneuvers between 2 players competing in a duel.
The mobile game Tiny Wings is designed so that the flying avatars of the players float in the air until the screen is touched, at which time the bird swoops down. With a little practice, players learn to control bird descent to gain speed, momentum and points, while developing timing and fine motor skills.

Step 2. Set yourself a well-defined goal

A game's goal, object or mode of victory should be something that can be easily explained to players or anyone else. It should also be accurate enough to make the moment someone wins instantly recognizable.

The purpose should also be satisfying for the players. Goals such as eliminating a team of antagonists in a video game, being the first to reach the maximum score in a board game, or earning the most in a TV quiz are all pretty satisfying.
Having a well-defined way to win does not preclude other ways of winning. Although the main way to win the Unspeakable Words game is to be the first player to score at least 100 points, you can also win by being the only one who still has a health token available.

Step 3. Make the player's actions and consequences consistent with the context of the game

What the player can do within the game should logically emerge from the concept and setting of the game.

In the Monopoly board game, a real estate trading game, players can buy and sell properties, collect rents and increase the value of those properties by building houses and hotels that raise the rental price. Players also pay property and luxury taxes, and based on which Probability or Contingency cards they draw, they may receive deductions, dividends or refunds for advertising the work; or they may have to pay medical or property maintenance fees.
In the video game Halo, where the goal is to repel the Covenant intruding aliens from worlds colonized by humans, players battle aliens with an arsenal of weapons and explosives. Weapons have realistic effects, as do the avatars of players, their allies and enemies.
The compactness of the action also extends to providing clues to the player that something is about to happen, so that he can prepare the appropriate reaction. In a video game, it can take the form of the sound effect of thunder and hair blown by the wind to show the approach of a storm. In a card game, it can mean showing the suits of the cards the player must have to win on the card that certifies the victory condition.

Step 4. Come up with simple rules that make the game exciting

The rules should not hinder the overall enjoyment of the players, but they should determine what the player can and cannot do, to force him to take creative approaches to the immediate problems and long-term strategies necessary for the final victory.

The Taboo pun requires players to give clues to their teammates about a person, place or thing within a certain time frame. The restrictions concern the use of words or phrases listed on the card as prohibited, usually the most obvious words or phrases to describe that subject, or any gesture. In this way the players have to think of alternative ways to describe that subject.
The Fluxx card game has the apparently simple objective of being the player who owns or shows the cards that correspond to the objective in play. The complication comes from the fact that the goal can be changed at any time by playing a card, as well as the number of cards that can be drawn, played, held in hand or in front of the players. Players are forced to become familiar with the cards in the game, a strategy that is deviated from the various thematic versions of the card game that may or may not be found in the original Fluxx.
The television quiz "The wheel of fortune" is basically a variation of the hangman game. Its main complication is that players can only guess consonants to earn money and have to buy vowels.

Step 5. Balance the game

Balance consists in avoiding, in the event that a game can be won in more ways than one, that there is a "fairer" way than the others. Players should be able, and sometimes obligatorily, to make informed decisions about the path to take to win and should be prepared to face the consequences of their own bad choices.

In the Game of Life board game, players can choose different paths at different times. Some paths may be shorter and simpler, while longer ones carry greater risks and potential rewards. Each player must choose his or her most suitable path to complete the game with as much money as possible.
The “Mercenaries” feature of the Resident Evil 5 video game offers players two ways to kill as many zombies as quickly as possible: at range or close range. Shooting from a distance is safer, but uses more ammo. Zombies are more dangerous at close range, but each zombie killed up close extends the fight, allowing the player to kill more and score more points.
Another aspect of the balance of a game is achieved by ensuring that each player in a multiple game has the same ability to contribute. Most RPGs are set up so that each race or character type is more skilled at certain things and less at others, like a very powerful giant who can deliver devastating punches but is much more prone to blows due to size, or a nimble ninja who can be brought down by a well-aimed breath, but is able to dodge most attacks.
Another form of balance is to provide a way for players to catch up when they fall behind. The television game "Jeopardy!" offers various chances of catching up: its “Double Jeopardy!” round, where questions are worth twice as much as normal rounds; “Daily Doubles”, in which players can risk part or all of their score on the question; and “Final Jeopardy!”, where a player in the lower places can still win by placing the right bet.

Step 6. Offer the appropriate level of difficulty

The ideal game is one that players can learn the essence of quickly but from which they can continually draw a sense of challenge. No game can be ideal for all players, because players have different abilities, based on age and interests, but certain games can and do provide a means to recognize these differences.

Some games are sold in separate versions aimed at different age or experience groups. Monopolino is a simplified version of Monopoly, which replaces the real estate world with the Disney one and makes other changes aimed at children, but the underlying goal is the same as the adult version. Instead, Winning Moves offered an expanded version of “Monopoly: The Mega Edition” that adds additional spaces, skyscraper tokens, stations and an additional die to speed up the game.
Some games offer alternate versions with additional challenges. The Fluxx card game has various thematic versions, such as EcoFluxx with the “Composting” card, or “Martian Fluxx” with cards capable of denying Creepers or an “Anti-target” card to end the game with no winners.
Some games offer expansions suited to the player's skill levels or interests. Trivial Pursuit has created "editions" of card expansions for film buffs ("Silver Screen Edition"), music fans ("RPM Edition"), sports fans ("All-Star Sports Edition"), and young players ("Young Players' Edition"). The Munchkin card game offers expansions containing new challenges for players already comfortable with the original game, as well as mixed decks that take advantage of the possibilities of merging decks from two different versions, such as "Super Munchkin" and "Star Munchkin".
Various video games offer extra levels of play that are "blocked" until a specific goal is reached or the acquisition of a particular object, after which the new level is available to be played and to constitute a new challenge. As the player reaches that level, the pace of play may gradually increase as the player acquires skills to make the game more engaging.
If the level of play is also designed for a specific audience, you can include jokes and references to grab the attention of players outside your audience, such as the Munchkin Artifact Cards "The Boots of Butt-Kicking". kick ass) or the "Staff of Napalm". These types of games are sometimes called "double level".

Step 7. Give the players a sense of control

Games may have rules that make certain steps automatic, such as checkers "if you can eat you must eat", or force you to boring activities, such as teleporting in video games. Along with the automatic part of the game, there should be opportunities to make decisions that make players feel like they are part of the game.

In Trivial Pursuit, the distance that players can travel is determined by the roll of the dice. However, the player can choose at least 2 directions in which to move based on their knowledge and how many segments they still have to earn to win.
Although some RPGs cause players to roll the dice to determine their attributes, many others allow players to choose their own, starting with a finite number of character points to spend, further modified by the game's “master” decisions. This system takes more time for players to create characters, but offers much more flexibility in the types of characters available.

Step 8. Provide feedback and rewards

Players should be given guidance on how they are doing in the game as they play. It can happen in many ways.

Rewards and scoring are the most common forms of evaluation. The score can be represented by points, tokens or currency, which can be added to the player in the event of a reward or subtracted / left as it is in the event of bankruptcy. Certain games hold various scores, such as for the use of cash, contracts and tokens from houses and hotels in Monopoly.
Video games use progress bars to track the progress of players within the game or the level of health or energy of the avatars. The energy bars fill to the right to show a player's proximity to an objective, while the energy / health bars go to the left to show how much stamina or energy an avatar or vehicle possesses so the player can gauge when Reload.
Video games also use other visual and auditory clues, such as the grunt of an enemy, grimaces or blood in case of injuries or, in the case of Tetris, the height reached by the pile of figures. Board and card games are more limited in clues that can be used as comments, but it is still possible, as in the Boomtown board game, in which a player who buys 3 or more mines of the same color wins a token that qualifies him as a "mayor”Of the community associated with that color, as well as a victory point at the end of the game if you keep your status.

Step 9. Insert a “hook” to attract people to the game

The "hook" is the element that leads someone to play, and if you are selling it, to buy it. The hook can be in one or more forms, including:

A kind. The Unspeakable Words game is based on the fantasy universe created by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. His cards show images of the Old Gods from the myth of Cthulhu, and the letter scores are based on how many facets they contain, referring to the multiple aspects of these creatures.
A rule or mechanics of the game. The Big Dalmuti card game asks players to play the same number of lower-level cards as those played in the round preceding theirs. However, the deck contains fewer and fewer low value cards than the high ones. This, together with other rules, allows the player who wins one game to win the next one more easily, encouraging other players to challenge their luck and become the new Great Dalmuti.
A cross-media connection. Many games have been manufactured in connection with science fiction sagas such as "Star Trek" and "Star Wars", as well as other famous radio, film, television and comic characters. "Batman: Arkham Asylum" is Rocksteady Studio’s 2009 video game in which the player takes on the role of Batman trying to escape from Gotham City asylum to stop the Joker from blowing up the city. The connection between different media leads to having the voice actors of the Batman animated series as the official voices of the game, and the same dialogues written by one of the authors of the series.

Part 2 of 2: Creating your game

Step 1. Decide if you want to produce an amateur or a commercial game

"Amateur" in the sense of a game to be used with family or friends / classmates, while a "commercial" game is for sale.

You can build an amateur board game out of cardboard, although it is best to laminate it for prolonged use. You can draw the graphics yourself, by hand or digitally, or you can ask a friend, family member or student for help.
For a commercial board game, you will need professional graphics, directly digitally or scanned. You can work either with industries producing games, tokens and other pieces, or contact the producers of the various pieces and create an independent production circuit. An independent circuit may cost more initially, but could allow for lower costs in the event of subsequent unforeseen events.
You can build an amateur card game using cardboard or filing cabinets, and again, you may want to laminate the cards in case of frequent use. You can design your own graphics or get help from a friend, family member or student.
For a commercial card game, you will still need professional graphics, and the cards will either need to be made of playing card or post card stock.
To create a PC video game, you will need a minimum of computer skills. If you want to design a module for an existing game, you can use a developer kit such as the “Source SDK”, “Unreal Development Kit”, or “Skyrim Creation Kit”, depending on the engine used by the game. However, if you want more control than the kit provides, you need to learn C ++, UScript, or another programming language to write the code that gives you that control. You will also need a copy of the game you want to create a form for.
To create a Facebook game, you will need a Facebook account and a management program such as “Construct 2”. You may also need a programming language such as HTML.
You can represent backgrounds and three-dimensional images for your PC games with programs such as "Google Sketchup", which have an interface similar to that of the layer creation software in developer kits.

Step 2. Create a prototype

You must have an actual version of the game ready to play, as well as a detailed written version of the relevant rules.

Even if you plan to produce your board or card game for sale, you can still make a prototype from the same cardboard you would use for the amateur version

Step 3. Test it

Testing allows you to see if the game works the way you wanted and to receive the opinions of the people who play it in order to improve it.

PC game developer kits usually include a trial mode in which you test the game module to make sure it doesn't hang or differ from the design. You will want to resolve any errors before inviting other players to the test.
Family and friends are the ideal first testers if interested in the game. Beware of the possibility that their opinions are influenced by their relationship with you rather than how much they really enjoy the game.
Local game and comic retailers may organize groups of players, some of whom may be interested in testing your game. Some cities also have playrooms and nightclubs dedicated to hardcore gamers.
Many science fiction conferences include a play section, and there are also conventions reserved for games. Lucca, for example, hosts one of the most important in Italy, although it is possible to find more or less small conferences in your area (A list of the various fairs is available here: