Gary Penn on the rules of game design
These are some pretty good guidelines to make games (and beyond!). To summarize:
Feel
“they are substantial, they aren’t sloppy, the controls feel responsive, and you feel in control. But it also makes you feel good”
Drama
“it’s more in terms of thinking about spectacle, performance and emotive, meaningful moments. So you’re focusing on dramatic intention, dramatic actions, dramatic interactions”
Alive
“It’s making sure the game is keeping you informed at the right times, with the right kind of absorbable information.”
“if the product has life, it’s evocative and attentive, it says ‘hey that was pretty cool, I like the way you did that’.”
Convenience
“you shouldn’t have to go, ‘sorry, can you explain that again?’”
Twist
“it just has to have something that distinguishes it from everything else. It can be a twist in the concept, a twist in the execution, and it has to kind of manifest throughout the product.”
