Polish: Turning Onetime Players Into Diehard Fans

How can a game feel like it was made by the developers “out of love”?  How can a game seem like the developers implemented everything that they thought would be fun and interesting, lacking nothing?  How can a game feel like it went 110% to provide a top-notch experience?

There are many components to making a game.  There are the Base Mechanics, the rules of how the game works.  There are the Punishment and Reward Systems and Long Term Incentive, which fuel why the player plays and for how long.  And there is the Aesthetic Layout, the artwork, sounds, and polish layered on top of the rest of the game that help to fill out its Core Experience.

We’ve discussed before how the gameplay, what they player is actually doing, is more often than not the most important aspect of a game’s design.  But left alone, the Base Mechanics of a game are just mathematical constructs.  Without aesthetics, the game feels stale to most non-engineers.  These rules and gameplay blocks must be built.  However, once that has been taken care of, how can a developer get their game to be perceived as the highest quality?  What are the indicators of a good versus a great game?

This final, key 10% of the game is what is referred to in the industry as “polish”.  It is the time in development when the game could in fact be considered “done”, but just a few more features, tweaks, and sparkles will help it to shine through to players and stand out from the crowd and breathe life into it.  Well polished games are described with words such as “charming”, “engrossing”, “fascinating”.  Well polished games are loved by their players. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Gameplay is King: Story is Distant Second

I only recently got around to playing 2009’s  most critically acclaimed game title: Uncharted 2 for the PS3.  Personally as a player, this isn’t exactly my kind of game; I’m not a huge shooter fan and, like Avatar, the story and premise seemed a bit simple.  However, as a game designer, I can’t excuse myself from a game so highly regarded among players and developers alike.  Even if it didn’t interest me in the name of my own entertainment, it certainly interested me in the name of my design education.

After sinking a good number of hours into it, I can definitely say that it is worth the ride.  The game has a captivating story and interesting characters, but that’s not why it’s a great game.  It is a great game because of the only thing that can make a great game: great gameplay.  Let’s step through two of the best points of this game’s design and execution.

Don’t Tell Me About It; Let me Do It

Let’s start with Uncharted 2’s biggest selling point: you get to play everything you want to play.  You do everything you want to do.  Action?  You do it.  Talking?  It’s just a cutscene.  This may seem obvious, but it’s more difficult than it sounds. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »