Hi again! Here’s a topic that I am way too opinionated about:
GMTK (for short) is a Youtube channel. It describes itself as such:
The quality of video production is great, and he covers many useful topics. A while back, I subscribed to his Patreon to join his Discord.
Small issue: I do not like his videos… I just wanted to meet other game devs.
This might strike you as odd. And once I realized what I was doing, it struck me as odd, too. Thus, I began the self-interrogation.
I’ve been doing Game Development for 15 years, since I was 8.
This was long before indie game design knowledge was spreading. Major platforms for indie devs hadn’t quite emerged yet.
However, I was very active on a small ProphpBB forum. Many users here were making their own fun games with Gamemaker. Of course, we all blindly shared .exe files for others to run
I joined on the train and made many little game demos for others, for several years! I was getting better every game, too, since I was getting a lot of feedback from others.
No, my games then were hardly ever good…
But I learned so much about player expectations.
In this era, there were never any rules on what constituted a good game. We were simply treating game development as a medium for self expression, the same way any artist would.
I learned everything game design from player feedback.
In comparison, the modern landscape of game design feels foreign. Seems like design rules are currently being parroted as gospel?
Hey… are any of these really true?
These are examples of things I’ve seen folks repeat as true statements about game design. But I can think of many games that are better for not abiding by them.
Say…
What even is true about Game Design?
Behold, my armchair reasoning. I am not a philosopher… just Dog.
Many forms of art have their own fields of theory, for how to produce meaningful works in that medium. Color theory, music theory, porcupine theory, you name it.
But game design (for video games) lacks an equivalent, because indie video games are incredibly freaking new.
Quick aside: When did indie game development start? This is a blurry line, as initial computer games were made in the 1960s, but it was not accessible nor common for people to make video games recreationally until the early 2000s.
I would argue it probably started in the 90s, which would mean indie video game development has existed for…
LIKE FOURTY YEARS?
The conception of music theory has existed for thousands of years across multiple cultures. We’ve been trying to figure out how to make music sound good for so, so long.
So I kinda think we should stop pretending like we know why video games are good? The medium is, literally, too new. We are manifesting the business end of a Dunning-Kruger giraffe (pronounced grrr-raph).
Also I operate under the assumption that video games are a form of art. Like, they are already made of multiple art forms (visual design, audio design). I don't think I need a video essay to convince you of this
So what theory DO we have? Is it really just Youtubers in a big chair trying to explain why some video games are good?
Nope, and this is where my issue begins…
What game design Youtubers peddle is not game theory — but rather game analysis. This distinction is REALLY IMPORTANT.
For video games, game theory should be appealling to the actual process of making games, NOT explaining why they are good.
…
…
What?
…
No, I’m not going to explain to you why Balatro is good.
Do you want to make a game like Balatro?
You cannot possibly do it by copying the result. You do it by copying the process.
No game design Youtuber makes this distinction for me, and that ultimately makes them next-to-useless for a game developer.
Well, “next-to-useless” is not necessarily true.
Good game analysis can inform viable decisions when making a game.
But I think there is way more benefit from deep dives into games, as opposed to “here’s a 15-minute checklist on game bosses”.
Today I watched Joseph Anderson’s videos on Hollow Knight.
(Here’s his main game and DLC critiques respectively.)
Joseph Anderson is not a “game design” channel like GMTK. However, his critique of games offers many unique insights, offering angles on games considered universally good.
And his critiques of Hollow Knight offer incredible ideas about how to make an existing game better.
And if you’re making a video game? You are constantly asking yourself how to make it better.
This kind of analysis is far more applicable to a game developer than repeating some nebulous design gospel.
A 15 minute video covering a topic without depth is not useful analysis. It’s gospel that does not work.
And I do not like how indie developers take it and parrot it.
When you are making a game, the only thing that matters is that you convey a certain experience.