The trick is to make your material so fascinating that you cannot stay away from it, so intriguing that you ignore negative feelings and second thoughts, so rich with interest that the concepts of "good" and "bad" hardly occur to you.
- From 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, by Jane Smiley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author
While Smiley's words are intended for writers, I found that they offer good insight for game designers as well. Crafting a game is not merely about following design principles; it's a creative pursuit that benefits greatly from engagement with the material.
The Essence of Engagement
At the heart of Smiley's quote lies the concept of engagement—the deep, immersive connection that creators forge with their material. For game designers, this means more than just understanding the mechanics, rules, or components of a game. It's about cultivating a deep interest in the world you're creating, the elements of your game, and the experiences you're crafting for players. When designers are genuinely engaged, their enthusiasm permeates every aspect of the game, from its thematic elements to its game-play dynamics.
Ignoring the Noise
When designing a game, you will often encounter obstacles, doubts, and critiques. Creating a game is involves challenges, both internal and external. However, as Smiley suggests, when you're deeply engaged with your material, these obstacles fade into the background. The engagement with your game propels you forward, allowing you to navigate challenges with creativity, resilience, and determination. By focusing on what truly excites you about the game, you can overcome doubts and second-guessing, and more easily continue the work of developing the game.
Measure your Engagement
Some questions I like to ask when evaluating how engaged I am by a game I am working on are:
- Are there boring or tedious parts? If yes, can I remove, shorten or enliven them? How?
- Do I gloss over any parts?
- Do I get tired of telling any particular rules while playing the game?
- Are there any parts or concepts or themes that I really like that I could expand upon?
- Do I want it be longer or shorter when I play through it?
- Do I want to play again soon?
- Are there exciting discussions after a play? Is there "telling the story of the game" after?
- Are there any "if I only I had done..." statements afterward?
- Are players interested in and paying attention to each other's turns, just to see what happens?
Beyond Good and Bad
Smiley's assertion that the concepts of "good" and "bad" hardly occur when deeply engaged with material apply directly to designing a game. While clearly evaluating a game's mechanical merits is essential, being overly preoccupied with rigid definitions about games can stifle creativity and hamper your progress. Instead, focus on creating game experiences that are interesting, meaningful, and that grab your attention. By thus immersing yourself in the creative process, you can ignore limiting notions of what you "should" be doing and other ideas that may hold you back from crafting your game.
Conclusion
Jane Smiley's insight into the creative process serves as a good reminder for game designers: engagement contributes to forward movement and compelling design. By cultivating a deep connection with their material, designers can navigate challenges, keep themselves interested, and continue work on their game. Ultimately, the more time, effort and thought you put into a game, the better it turns out, so finding ways to keep going is essential.
