How to Start Designing Games

A short and practical guide for beginners

Defining Game Design or what constitutes a Game Designer is as inexact as its field of study itself. For some authors, such as Schell (2008), says that the process of game design comes from making any decisions on how a game should be. In that sense, a Game Designer is a constant role that can manifest in many people involved in making a game.

Other authors limit the definition of game design to aspects and terms that are more strictly related to games. Salen, Tekinbaş, and Zimmerman (2004) define game designing as inherent to designing the gameplay (how you play the game), the rules, and the structures that create the player's experience.

The design and decision-making processes are meant for engaging players. More precisely, they are meant to trigger curiosity, surprise, and fun (henceforth, CSF). While developing a game, all of the processes can be, at some point, understood as aiming to achieve one of these three states (but, most commonly, fun).

Game Designers can use a vast repertoire of elements to achieve CSF. Elements described in the definition of game design itself, such as rules, gameplay, and structures, are potential candidates for the task. Moreover, Game Designers can also borrow techniques from other disciplines, such as narrative…