In my experience, more game projects get off track from a lack of creative clarity than from any other cause. This is a set of exercises that I use on my customers' projects to help them clarify and maintain focus on their most critical creative elements.

1. Your Game As
a Poster
Dave Rohrl
Mobile Game Doctor, LLC
Google Game Summit
September 26, 2017

2. Who Am I?
 Dave Rohrl

3. Who Am I?
 Founder and Owner, Mobile Game Doctor
LLC

4. Who Are You?
 Game teams
 Platforms
 Strategy/Biz Dev
 Other Stuff?
 Great!

5. Before We Start
 Something to write with
 Your voice
 A game in mind

7. Why Do Most Games Suck?

8. Lack of Clarity?

13. The Four Questions

14. The Four Questions
1. What is this game’s main mechanic?
2. What is the story of this game?
3. How do you succeed in this game
mechanically?
4. What is the success narrative of this game?

15. The Four Questions: Super Mario
Brothers
1. What is this game’s main mechanic?
 Run and jump through levels, evading or
bouncing on enemies.
2. What is the story of this game?
 Princess Peach has been stolen away to evil
King Bowser’s castle and you must rescue her.

16. The Four Questions: Super Mario
Brothers
3. How do you succeed in this game
mechanically?
 Complete all required levels without running out
of lives.
4. What is the success narrative of this game?
 You finally reach the final castle, beat the boss,
and rescue the princess.

17. Why Was That Good?
 Clear
 Concise
 Compelling
 Cohesive

19. The Four Questions
1. What is this game’s main mechanic?
2. What is the story of this game?
3. How do you succeed in this game
mechanically?
4. What is the success narrative of this game?

20. How Did It Go?
 Were any of the answers mushy or vague?
 Was it hard to focus down? Did you get lost
in a sea of ands?
 Could you do it in a few words?
 Did it sound fun?

21. What Is This Good For?
 Vision holder’s clarity
 Cohesiveness of concept
 Team’s shared vision

22. When Can You Use It?
 Concepting

23. Was That Fun?

24. X Statements

25. X Statements
Two short sentences or phrases:
 Development X: The one-sentence orientation
to mechanics and theme for a new team
member
 Marketing: A truthful phrase or sentence that
describes the game in a way that would get a
customer excited.

26. X Statements: Starcraft
 Development X: Fast-paced single- and multi-
player asymmetrical RTS in an interplanetary
sci-fi setting.
 Marketing X: Infinite fronts, infinite enemies

27. Why Was That Good?
 Clear
 Concise
 Compelling
 Cohesive

29. X Statements
Two short sentences or phrases:
 Development X: The one-sentence orientation
to mechanics and theme for a new team
member
 Marketing: A truthful phrase or sentence that
describes the game in a way that would get a
customer excited.

30. How Did It Go?
 Cases of and-ism?
 Does each statement form a picture? Are
they compatible?
 Reality check: How compelling is your
marketing X?
 And how truthful?

31. What Is This Good For?
 Elevator pitching
 Terse communication
 Momentum building
 Market validation

32. When Can You Use It?
 End of concepting
 Each significant core gameplay shift
 Each significant thematic shift
 Should be settled by start of production

33. Was That Fun?

34. Five Fun Factors

35. Five Fun Factors
 3-5 actions or experiences in your game that
are:
 Incredibly enjoyable
 Highly repeatable
 User knows how to get there

36. Why 3-5?
 <3: Thin soup
 >5: Diffuse and messy

37. Five Fun Factor: Clash Royale
 Pulling off great combos
 Winning battles
 Advancing through arenas
 Unlocking cards
 Improving troops

38. Why Was That Good?
 Fun, juicy experiences
 Highly repeatable
 Clear mental model of how to get there

40. Five Fun Factors
 3-5 actions or experiences in your game that
are:
 Incredibly enjoyable
 Highly repeatable
 User knows how to get there

41. How Did It Go?
 Easy to find 3?
 Hard to limit to 5?
 Be honest: do these things sound fun?
 Be honest: are these things fun now?

42. What Is This Good For?
 Every feature should
 Be a fun factor,
 Support a fun factor,
 Be table stakes for your platform/genre, or
 Get out of dodge

43. When Can You Use It?
 First pass at start of prototyping
 Revise at every major learning cycle
 Stabilize by start of production

44. Was that fun?

45. Your Game As a Poster

46. What Makes a Great Poster?

47. Key
Art
Marketing X:
Development X:
Fun Factor
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Title

48. Marketing X: Build an Empire to Stand
the Test of Time
Development X: 4X game spanning
from prehistory to the future
Fun Factors
1. Exploring the map
2. Expanding your empire
3. Managing resources smartly
4. Unlocking new technology
5. Crushing rivals

49. Marketing X: Deceptively simple,
insanely fun
Development X: Streamlined, digital-
only MtG with lighthearted
WoW theme
Fun Factors
1. Trying out new decks
2. Expanding your collection
3. Winning Matches
4. Ranking up
5. Surprising your enemy

50. Things To Look For
 Is each piece clear, concise, and compelling?
 Does the whole feel cohesive?
 Be honest: do these things sound fun?
 Be honest: are these things fun now?

51. Is This For Real?

53. Why Bother?
 Drives team consensus
 Concise communication for outsiders
 Centers creative debates
 Focuses and prioritizes

57. Dave Rohrl
Mobile Game Doctor LLC
We Make Your Games Better
dave@mobilegamedoctor.com