The JumpStart Blog

-From the Desk of Glenn Seidel, Game Designer-

You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

The final part of our game cake recipe is game play. Game play can take many forms, but I’d like to look at how it works in relationship to character and story. First things first: A game with bad game play cannot be saved by strong characters or story. Good game play draws from the strengths of the characters and story to guide it and the player.

Game play should be inspired by both the character and story. If the player is entertained or cares about a character’s feelings or goals, then the player is motivated to help them. Maybe the character is just plain goofy. For example, Captain Quark from the Ratchet and Clank games is a real buffoon. The clever folks at Insomniac Games use him in the best ways. His overblown exploits inspired a series of two-dimensional platforming levels. The simple game play was fun and easy to pick up. The story was told as “Vid-Comics,” which were essentially flashbacks, and they fit nicely inside a more sophisticated game.  I have always been impressed with Insomniac’s work on this series, and it has been a huge inspiration for me and the work I do on JumpStart.

Game play can be defined by the story that is being told in the game. Go on an undersea adventure? Then it makes sense to ride a manta ray at some point. Is there a mystery to solve? Then the player should be collecting clues and deciphering codes. I find having a good grasp of the storyline as well as the characters goes a long way in helping design the game play.

The same can be said for how game play can support the other two elements. A great puzzle can help inspire the story or characters. I wrote a while ago about a door puzzle we were designing. As we talked about integrating it into the game, the puzzle offered us elements to help lay out the story. The broken old doors set the stage for an ancient undersea culture. Those puzzles also helped us figure out which characters would be the best to send the player on missions related to unlocking the ancient doors.

It is important to note that there are many types of games. Adventure games like Escape from Monkey Island focus on weaving an incredibly fun story. There are platformers (Mario, anyone?), which have easily recognizable characters but very little story. Role-playing games like the Final Fantasy series are often very character- and story-driven. All of them emphasize one of the elements we have discussed but try to balance the others to complement that one element. Finding the balance among these key elements can make the difference between a mediocre game and a great game.