Chapter One
What Makes a Good Game & What Makes One Bad
A good game is easy to control. It is natural. Not awkward. Not unreasonably difficult.
A good game has good music. In fact that can make a very big difference.
A good game is good to look at.
Isn’t just a clone. What you could call “differently the same.”
Is just fun and involving. If a player enjoys what they are doing then you have succeeded in every way. People may tell you that’s an awful idea but if it succeeds, well, “the proof is in the pudding.”
Aesthetics matter. Meaning the beauty of it. Like the title screen. The cinematics and stuff. If they are lovely then you’ve got it right.
So we can go over controls and music, the look of the game, the degree of involvement it generates, and the level of fun the player has. Those are the most important things to carefully go over making sure it is executed right. With those you have the most important things. But I will go over a hefty amount of other things that will help you to create the best game possible.
The smallest elements in a game seem to each have a myriad of ways to do them. For example how many different ways you can equip a character or just strengthen them. A character can even jump many different ways. A short jump, a high jump, a very high one. Floats in the air after jumping. Crouch jumps. Natural jump. Spin jump, you get the idea.
Lots of options. Consider them. Like blasts from a hand gun as seen in Mega Man. That guy has all sorts of kinds of blasts. In Mario Land Mario even used a rubber ball to attack. One game has you throwing axes and daggers. Another shuriken.
I will spend a lot of time listing your options off as I know them. From there you can pick and modify them if you need to. Or just to have as good for thought.
Some things have stood the test of time. While we would want to do something better, sometimes we just can’t.
A game not so demanding. One not too frustrating. One not leaving things feel pointless. But rather one rewarding and naturally enjoyable.
Naturally enjoyable means things like intuitive and automatically adjusting, automatically suited to what the player wants.
A game of great design that pulls everything off just right. What could be made better is made better until it is just right. If that means some ideas must be trashed, then so be it. In the pursuit of making a game that is a rule. At any point the player could be lost or just find something too difficult to pass. While there are online guides from games, some systems and techniques, some methods are too difficult to pass, with or without advice.
Many games just try to be the next good thing of the old thing. But they don’t come from genuine interest in programming. It is a law of gaming you could say. That you have to have your heart in your work to make a good game. A painter could just say “I’m going to make one of those too.” But do painters do that? Or a painter just sloshing around colors in an effortless way. But a game player us less likely to enjoy something like that.
But I would suggest not to overthink things. An over smart game could be awful. Originality doesn’t account for a good game all the time. While we want to be entirely new there are some ideas that are the best already and will stay that way. But who knows. The best of the best of the best ideas are very hard to come by. If they weren’t they would have presented themselves a long time ago. People making games are constantly working hard to think them up.
Some games make things as real life as they can. But a game is a game. The game world doesn’t live by the same rules. So food in your inventory that rots is just pestering, or a sword you have to buy a sharpener for. Or suddenly breaks. Never did like that approach.
A game is a pretend thing in a fantasy setting. If you have to go through schooling in the game to become a secret agent then that’s no fun.
Giving the players a lot of options is always a good way to program. Multiple level choices or quests for example. If they get stuck one way there is always another. “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” They aren’t left feeling tedious towards things. One person may like one temple or dungeon and another one different. If you only open up one area at a time slowly then it isn’t really an open world game. Make the items come in many, weapons, magic etc., give a brief explanation of it, and there you go!
To summarize all of this..
A good game is easy to control. To understand.
Has good music.
Has good looks.
Isn’t just a clone.
Is fun and involving.
You have many options these days in programming in things.
Some old ideas couldn’t be made any better, it seems..
A good game is neither frustrating or demanding
Is naturally enjoyable
Comes from genuine interest by its maker
Is a game, not real life
And as a suggestion, don’t overcomplicate the process, but keep things enough simple. Start from scratch. A draft. Put the pieces together until the fit right.
What else makes a good game or bad game, or makes a good game turn bad..
When the player doesn’t know what they are doing or how to do it. While some learning required is OK, too much if it certainly isn’t.
Too many buttons and menus= a complicated mess.
Not having the ability to enjoy an area. Being pushed to the next too early. Or changing weapons and items constantly.
Long and wordy cut scenes unless they are very enjoyable. Though not having to watch them every time.
People in the game telling you what to do but making no sense.
It takes a good team. A good musician. A good programmer. A good illustrator, a good designer, etc., in more or less numbers. And it takes time and interest. People that enjoy the process. That may mean looking around. If may mean education. From there it goes to the drawing board. Putting forth ideas. Having a good and solid premise of the game. And going from there. It isn’t so much point A to Z. It is a little here and a little elsewhere until it comes together well.
Perfectionism may not be good. As a game of intelligence more than having a firm grasp on what you wish to do and execute. A better approach is to focus primarily on creating something fun and involving.
Word of mouth matters. First impressions to. Like that come from marketing, advertising, presentations, even labels and packaging.
That said, the game you make is bound to succeed and remember to always love what you are doing.