This is my view about how to treat game design in general. I associate it tightly with automotive design, as there are a lot of parallels between the two. I also explain my view on what qualities should one have in order to pursue a career in game design and finally, analyse one of the most successful recent mobile games - Clash Royale, based on the method and parameters explained in the presentation.

1. By Anton Gromov
The true nature
and role of Game
Design
This presentation reveals the
true nature of Game Design,
what are its core roles and
ultimately what qualities are
necessary to become a game
designer.

2. Table of Contents
❖ Definition of game & game design
❖ Game design nature & components
❖ Game design roles spectrum
❖ Game design skill sets
❖ Example
❖ Useful quote

3. Definition(s) of Game
A game is a form of interactive
where players must overcome challenges,
by taking actions that are governed by
rules, in order to meet a victory condition.
—Adams: Fundamentals of Game Design
A game is a in which players engage in
artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a
quantifiable outcome.
—— Salen & Zimmerman: Rules of Play
entertainment
system

4. Correct definition of Game
entertainment - is a form of activity that holds the attention
and interest of an audience, or gives pleasure and delight.
attention
interest
pleasure
delight
Game - is a form
of activity that
gives delight &
fun!

5. Game Design Nature
Game Design - is an art of inventing and/or adapting
a game.

6. Game Design Components
Client / Audience
Setting / Art design
Genre / Core mechanic
Features
UI
UX
Social / Virality

7. Client / Audience
❖ Platform
❖ Geolocation / Nationality
❖ Age
❖ Sex
❖ Social status / Hobbies
❖ Industry / Profession
Understanding the audience (player
type) for which the game is being
developed is crucial for making right
decisions about the design of the game.

8. Setting / Art
design
This is how your game looks like in term
of visual appearance and appeal.
Different settings require different
approach to the art design & style.
❖ Real / Fictional
❖ Timeline reference
❖ Type (taking into account the above)
❖ Style (taking into account the above)
❖ Player roles
❖ Possible activities

9. Genre / Core
mechanic
❖ Type
❖ Complexity
❖ Depth / Evolution
❖ Tempo
❖ Session length
❖ PvP / PvE
This is what makes your game running
and defines its gameplay. Core
mechanic should also take into account
player progression and metagame
scenarios.

10. Features
❖ Progression
❖ Mini-games
❖ Customization
❖ Game modes
❖ Quests / Missions
❖ Achievements
Features “wrap” your core gameplay in
additional mechanics that help to make it
interesting for a wider audience and
bring more depth and fun into it.

11. User Interface
❖ Interface map
❖ Layouts
❖ Controls
❖ Tutorial
❖ Completeness
❖ Clarity
No matter how the gameplay is good,
you have to provide the player with
reasonable data about what happens
and means of controlling it.

12. User eXperience
❖ Logic
❖ Coherence
❖ Engagement
❖ Satisfaction
❖ Comfort
❖ Stability
While tightly connected to UI, user
experience takes into account all parts of
the game and can be regarded as a level
of “satisfaction” or “appeal”.

13. Social / Virality
❖ Social interaction
❖ Friend invitation
❖ Results sharing
❖ Group quests
❖ Game communities
❖ Retention
Wheels are what connects the car to the
outer world - so game design should be
also providing right social tools and
opportunities and ensure game virality.

14. Game design roles spectrum
Client / Audience Core gameplay Features Setting / Art UI UX Virality
LEVEL DESIGN
UI DESIGN
BALANCE DESIGN
FEATURE DESIGN
STORY DESIGN
AI / TECH DESIGN

15. Game design skill set (1)
Client / Audience Core gameplay Features Setting / Art UI UX Marketing /Virality
LEVEL DESIGN UI DESIGN
2D&3D PLANS
ART TASTE
LOGIC&MATH
CREATIVITY
EVALUATION
BALANCE DESIGN
EXPERIENCE
EVALUATION
SPREADSHEET
SCENARIOS
RIGOROUSNESS
KNOWLEDGE
EXPERIENCE
CREATIVITY
ART TASTE
2D GRAPHICS
EVALUATION
TASK TRACKER TASK TRACKER
GAME ENGINE
TASK TRACKER
EXPERIENCE

16. Game design skill set (2)
Client / Audience Core gameplay Features Setting / Art UI UX Marketing /Virality
FEATURE DESIGN STORY DESIGN AI / TECH DESIGN
CREATIVITY
EVALUATION
LOGIC&MATH
ANALYSIS
MATH&LOGIC
EXPERIENCE
EVALUATION
RIGOROUSNESS
READING
WRITING
CREATIVITY
ART TASTE
TASK TRACKER TASK TRACKER
GAME ENGINE
TASK TRACKER
EXPERIENCE
SPREADSHEET
QUESTS
STYLE / FLAIR
GAME ENGINE
SCRIPTING

17. Example: Clash Royale
Client / Audience Core gameplay Features Setting / Art UI UX Virality
100% the audience of
Clash of Clans + the
increasing audience of
card-based games
(powered by
Hearthstone success)
Rating: 95/100
Reversed / mirrored
and really simplified
gameplay from Clash
of Clans (actually more
like Enfo Team WC3
map). However, there
are certain problems
with the core
mechanic.
Rating: 90/100
While the game is
really young, it’s pretty
weak on features other
than those, that
enhance core
gameplay part. This
will definitely improve
with updates
Rating: 80/100
As everything that is
developed by
Supercell, this game is
done exactly in that
“Disney”-style and they
managed to use the
universe from Clash of
Clans as well
Rating: 98/100
Simply perfect.
Rating: 110/100
There are certain
problems in the UX,
that are mostly related
to the core gameplay
mechanic and also a
certain lack of
features. However,
overall, the UX is
almost ideal.
Rating: 95/100
Virality and social stuff
is also a strong part of
the Clash Royale
product. The TV stuff
is incredible and works
very good with helping
to understand the
game.
Rating: 85/100
“With Clash Royale, Supercell shatters the mid-core benchmarks it has created and in the
process sets a new set of rules that all the future mid-core games are forced to follow.
Clash Royale follows Supercell’s simple winning formula:
- creating a game that is familiar yet new (it is a mix between Clash of Clans and
Hearthstone)
- keep the feature set simple
- focus on polish. Well-balanced economy, beautiful graphics and lack of bugs create a
feeling of quality.”
deconstructoroffun.com

18. Client / Audience
Platform: iOS/Android (i.e. mobile)
Age: mostly, 21-35 (40+%) with 10-20 and 36-50
being equal at about 15%
Sex: definitely male (77%)
Geo: N.America (±30%) + Europe (±25%) + China
(±10%)
Status/Profession: Based on the demographics
this is definitely an audience of mid-senior
managers and grown-up male audience, which
means that most likely they are able to pay more
than the average ARPU.
Conclusion: The audience specified in this section
is fond of competitive games (especially PvP), so
Clash Royale is a perfect fit for that.

19. Core Mechanic
Type: This is a PvP-based mechanic, which is a combination of
tower defence (Clash of Clans, Enfo Team) and card-based
games (Hearthstone, Shadow Era) in a 2D field.
Complexity: very simple (i.e. can be learnt within 5-10
minutes)
Depth: average depth, which can be enhanced by game
features (i.e. more types of cards).
Tempo: slow tempo with bursty moments, when multiple troops
are deployed.
Session length: 1 game is 3 minutes max (but normally 1-1.5
minutes), so probably 5-10 games per session would make it
around 15-20 minutes per session.
PvP / PvE: PvE is non-existant, so all the focus goes to PvP
format.
Conclusion: heavily PvP-oriented game with slow tempo,
which makes decisions matter more than reflexes, which is
good for the 21-35 audience (and even more so for 36-50).

20. Features
Progression: Progression is achieved through card upgrades,
upgrading your level (which upgrades your base) and through
ranking (trophies).
Mini-games: non-existant
Customization: non-existant
Game modes: single game mode (Arena) which changes
depending on the ranking (different cards are available)
Quests/missions: basically non-existent, except for chest-
based “quests” that require certain amount of games/wins.
Achievements: 5 achievements (that have a progressive
numerical scale).
Conclusion: the game is focusing on meta-gameplay (i.e. the
engagement arises not through the features variety, but
through evolution of gameplay based on the strength and
abilities of the cards that are available. While the approach is
very nice, the game still lacks features, which may be corrected
with further upgrades.

21. Art / Setting
Disclaimer: Since the game is totally based on the Clash of Clans
universe and troops (some are even exact copies from Clash of
Clans), so we will be basically discussing the setting of Clash of
Clans and its Art style.
Real/Fictional: Fictional universe which has no relation with the
real world.
Timeline: Medieval times, that occasionally tap into later periods
of Tesla / Steampunk era.
Type: Fantasy, that heavily relies on magical abilities and sorcery.
Style: Disney-like cartoon style, that is very casual and characters’
part are exaggerated.
Player roles: Player takes a role of a leader of an army, that
enters the battlefield vs other army. There are no factions, so this
is just a combat with the other “general” for personal glory and
fame.
Conclusion: Clash of Clans has proven that this setting and art-
style is one of the best for the market right now. Also, this
approach allowed to save lots of resources, as Clash of Clans
donated many units and art to Clash Royale.

22. User Interface
Interface map: It is simply incredible. One of the best parameters to check when you
are reviewing the interface is how deep you need to dig for the furthest element. In
Clash Royale (which is partially due to simplicity of the game), there is no functionality
that is more than 3 clicks away from the main menu.
Layout: once again - perfect placement of elements throughout the screen, with
important points moved to the most used parts of the screen.
Controls: menu controls are standard and in battle, the interface is very intuitive,
responsive and solid.
Tutorial: a bit too long (20-25% shorter would be ideal, so that the player can definitely
finish it within 1 game session), but very nice and covers all the key parts of the game
Completeness: All the key information is always present on the screen, so while there
is a lot of info, especially while in battle, it is more than enough to make your decisions.
Clarity: All important elements have perfect size, so that they are readable and
clickable without any problems. Minor elements are a bit unclear (you cannot
understand what it is before you click, but for mobile it is almost impossible to reach the
level that Clash Royale shows).
Conclusion: As I mentioned initially - Clash Royale is a perfect example of how you
should make your interface for a mobile game.

23. User eXperience
Logic: Logic is defined by the game core loop, which is simple and
straightforward - you battle (spending nothing but your time), receive
rewards and gain/lose ranking, then use your rewards for increasing
your power and then go to battle again.
Coherence: This is where Clash Royale truly shines - every part of the
game is perfectly intact with the other, especially the tie between
rewards and your ranking (which “forces” you to strive for higher ranks
and disables downrating abuse).
Engagement: Fully relies on the meta-game, so until you see enough
variety and challenge in the core gameplay, you are deeply engaged.
Satisfaction: reward vs efforts is balanced in Clash Royale, so for
most players it should feel very satisfactory, with the only exception of
chests requiring to much time to be opened (delayed reward).
Comfort: This is where UI has a huge influence and since it is very
good, the game comfort is also on a very high level.
Stability: Supercell has always paid a lot of attention to stability of their
games and Clash Royale follows that rule. Game is very responsive
and the only problem I noticed is that sometimes there are connection
issues.

24. Social / Virality
Interaction: Player interaction is somewhat weak (emoji in battle
and clan chat), to be improved in further patches.
Friend Invitation: non-existant and may be not needed due to
huge Clash of Clans audience that poured into Clash Royale.
Result share: you can share your replays with guild mates and
also you can of course attach a Facebook profile.
Group quests: non-existant and will be definitely improved with
future patches (otherwise, clan activity only revolves around
donating cards to clanmates).
Community: Most of in-game community is built on Clan system.
Interesting fact that once tutorial is completed you can immediately
join a clan. Though the TV/replay feature is awesome.
Retention: Retention system is based on rewards that appear
automatically after certain time and for collecting delayed rewards.
Conclusion: social part of Clash Royale is nothing special, except
for the TV/replay option which is also a great learning tool.

25. –John Carmack (the creator of DOOM series)
“The game designer shouldn’t be making a world,
in which the player is just a small part. The player
is the Boss; it’s your duty to entertain him or her. ”