What makes a great game? Analyse, design, and plan your own game concept.
Course: Game On (9GAMZA)Lesson: T1 — L09Time: ~75 minOutcomes: G5-1, G5-3, G5-5
TOTAL XP0/ 50 XP
1
What Is Game Design?
~10 min • Understand the role of a game designer.
+10 XP
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Key Terms
Game Design
The process of creating the rules, systems, and experiences of a game. It's about decisions, not coding.
Game Development
The entire process of making a game: design + programming + art + sound + testing.
Mechanic
A rule or action in a game. Examples: jumping, collecting coins, matching tiles, building blocks.
Dynamics
What happens when players interact with mechanics. e.g. "speed running" emerges from movement mechanics.
Aesthetics
How the game makes you FEEL: fun, fear, challenge, discovery, competition.
GDD
Game Design Document — a written plan for a game, created before coding begins.
💡
Key insight: Game design is NOT the same as programming. A game designer decides WHAT the game is — what's fun, what's challenging, what the rules are. A programmer decides HOW to build it in code. You can design a game with just pencil and paper!
1.1
Think-Pair-Share: What's your favourite game? What makes it fun? Share with the person next to you. (2 minutes)
1.2
Key roles in game development:
Game Designer — Creates the rules, levels, and experience. The "architect".
Programmer — Writes the code that makes everything work. The "builder".
Artist — Creates visuals: characters, environments, UI, animations.
Sound Designer — Creates music, sound effects, and audio atmosphere.
QA Tester — Finds bugs and tests if the game is fun and balanced.
In indie game dev (and in this course!), you do ALL of these.
1.3
Which role interests you most? Write it down:
My preferred role:
Designer / Programmer / Artist / Sound / Tester — and why?
✓
Checkpoint: "I understand the difference between game design and game development, and I can name 5 key roles."
2
Core Mechanics & Game Genres
~10 min • Identify what makes each game unique.
+10 XP
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Key Terms
Core Mechanic
The ONE main action a player does over and over. In Mario it's jumping. In Tetris it's rotating blocks.
Genre
A category of game based on its gameplay style: platformer, RPG, puzzle, shooter, etc.
Gameplay Loop
The cycle of actions a player repeats: explore → fight → loot → upgrade → explore again.
2.1
Common core mechanics:
Jump — Mario, Celeste, Hollow Knight
Shoot — Fortnite, Call of Duty, Splatoon
Collect — Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Pikmin
Avoid — Geometry Dash, Crossy Road, Flappy Bird
Match — Candy Crush, Bejewelled, Puyo Puyo
Build — Minecraft, Terraria, Roblox Studio
Solve — Portal, The Witness, Professor Layton
Survive — Don't Starve, Subnautica, Rust
2.2
Game genres:
Platformer — Jump between platforms (Mario, Celeste)
RPG — Role-playing with stats and story (Pokemon, Undertale)
Puzzle — Solve logic challenges (Tetris, Portal)
Racing — Speed competition (Mario Kart, Need for Speed)
Fighting — Combat between characters (Smash Bros, Street Fighter)
Sandbox — Open world, player freedom (Minecraft, GTA)
Idle/Incremental — Auto-progress, numbers go up (Cookie Clicker)
Battle Royale — Last one standing (Fortnite, Apex Legends)
2.3
Activity: Analyse 3 Games. Think of 3 games you play and fill in this table:
Game Name
Genre
Core Mechanic
Why is it fun?
1.
2.
3.
2.4
Discussion: Can a game have MULTIPLE mechanics? Yes! Most games combine several. Fortnite = shoot + build + collect + survive. But there's usually ONE core mechanic that defines the experience.
✓
Checkpoint: "I can identify core mechanics and genres for 3 different games."
3
Player Experience & Flow
~15 min • Understand what makes a game feel "fun".
+10 XP
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Key Terms
Flow
The mental state where a game is perfectly balanced between challenge and skill. You're "in the zone".
Difficulty Curve
How hard the game gets over time. Good games start easy and gradually increase challenge.
Feedback
Information the game gives the player about their actions: sounds, visuals, score changes, screen shake.
Positive Feedback
Rewards that encourage the player: coins, XP, power-ups, satisfying sounds.
Negative Feedback
Consequences that create tension: losing lives, time pressure, damage, game over.
💡
Flow Theory (simplified): If a game is too EASY, the player gets bored. If it's too HARD, they get frustrated. The sweet spot in between is called flow — where skill and challenge are perfectly matched. Great game designers keep players in flow.
3.1
The Flow Channel: Imagine a graph. X-axis = your skill level. Y-axis = challenge level.
Too easy (high skill, low challenge) = Boredom. You stop playing.
Too hard (low skill, high challenge) = Frustration. You rage quit.
Just right (matching skill and challenge) = FLOW. You lose track of time!
3.2
Difficulty curves in real games:
Mario — World 1-1 is a genius tutorial. No text, just level design that teaches you: jump, collect coins, avoid enemies, hit blocks.
Celeste — Each chapter introduces ONE new mechanic, then builds on it with harder levels.
Dark Souls — Intentionally hard from the start. Aimed at players who WANT extreme challenge.
Candy Crush — Easy levels hook you in, then difficulty spikes encourage purchases.
3.3
Feedback makes games satisfying. Think about what happens when you collect a coin in Mario:
Visual: Coin spins and disappears with a sparkle
Audio: Satisfying "ding!" sound
Score: Number goes up (+100)
Progress: Coin counter increases (50/100)
All of these happen in a split second. Without feedback, collecting a coin would feel like nothing!
3.4
Activity: Pick one game you play and list its feedback systems:
Game:
Name your game
Visual Feedback:
What do you SEE when something happens? (particles, animations, colour changes)
Audio Feedback:
What do you HEAR? (sound effects, music changes)
Reward Feedback:
What REWARDS do you get? (coins, XP, unlocks, power-ups)
✓
Checkpoint: "I understand flow theory, difficulty curves, and feedback systems."
4
Design Your Game — GDD Lab
~25 min • Create your own Game Design Document.
+10 XP
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🏆
This is important! You'll use this Game Design Document later as the foundation for your assessment task. Take it seriously — a good GDD makes coding SO much easier.
4.1
Think about YOUR game. What kind of game do YOU want to make in Unity? Consider:
What genre excites you? (platformer, puzzle, adventure, survival...)
What's the ONE main thing the player does? (your core mechanic)
What makes your game different from others in the same genre?
What's realistic to build with your current Unity skills?
4.2
Fill in your Game Design Document:
GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT
Game Name
What is your game called? (Can be a working title — you can change it later)
The ONE main action (jump, collect, avoid, solve, build...)
One-Sentence Description
"A [genre] game where you [core mechanic] to [goal]." e.g. "A platformer where you jump between islands to rescue lost pets."
Target Audience
Who would play this? (Age group, casual/hardcore, what they enjoy)
Feature 1
A key gameplay feature (e.g. "double jump ability")
Feature 2
Another key feature (e.g. "collectible power-ups that change abilities")
Feature 3
Another key feature (e.g. "3 levels with increasing difficulty")
Difficulty Plan
How does your game get harder? What starts easy? What's the final challenge?
Visual Style
Pixel art? Cartoon? Dark? Colourful? Minimalist? Describe the look.
Feedback Systems
What visual/audio/reward feedback will your game have?
4.3
Sketch your main screen. On paper (or a new page), draw what the player would see during gameplay. Include:
Player character
Environment/platforms/obstacles
UI elements (score, health, lives)
At least one enemy or collectible
It doesn't have to be artistic — stick figures and boxes are perfectly fine! The point is to visualise your idea.
4.4
Peer review. Share your GDD with the person next to you. Give each other feedback:
Is the core mechanic clear?
Does the game sound fun to play?
Is it realistic to build in Unity with your current skills?
What's one suggestion to improve it?
✓
Checkpoint: "My GDD is complete with game name, genre, mechanic, features, difficulty plan, and a sketch."
5
Extension Challenges
If time permits • Go deeper into game design.
+10 XP
▶
Only if you've finished Sections 1-4.
5.1
Challenge 1: Research a Famous Designer. Pick one and write 3 interesting facts:
Shigeru Miyamoto — Created Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong (Nintendo)
Markus "Notch" Persson — Created Minecraft (sold to Microsoft for $2.5B)
Toby Fox — Created Undertale almost entirely by himself
Jade Raymond — Led development of Assassin's Creed
Hideo Kojima — Created Metal Gear Solid, Death Stranding
5.2
Challenge 2: Difficulty Curve Graph. Draw a graph for your favourite game: X = progress (Level 1 to final boss), Y = difficulty. Mark where the difficulty spikes happen. Is it a smooth curve or sudden jumps?
5.3
Challenge 3: Paper Prototype. Create a paper version of your game! Use index cards for game elements, draw a simple board, and test it with a partner. Can you play your game WITHOUT a computer?
5.4
Challenge 4: Game Design Analysis Video. Watch "What Makes Mario Fun?" or "Celeste's Assist Mode" on YouTube. Write 3 design lessons you learned from the video.
🎮
Fun fact: Shigeru Miyamoto designed Mario levels on graph paper before anyone wrote a line of code. The design came first — always!