Yesterday, while thumbing through Gamasutra, I came upon a very interesting (and enlightening) post penned by Veteran educator and game designer Ernest Adams entitled The Tao of Game Design.

In that piece, Ernest compares the Asian discipline of Tao to designing games.

First, he elaborates on the evolution of the playing experience. Most novices to game design will concede to the notion that games should be designed so that the players have fun. However, having fun is just a step before enjoyment… and enjoyment will eventually become entertainment.

The problem is, gamers define all those concepts differently. What’s fun to one may be boring to another.

Therefore, the Tao of Game Design is

Know Thyself, Know Thy Player

To know ourselves, we must understand what we seek to express or explore through game design. Do we want to set a puzzle to be solved? Do we want to send a message to be heard?

Do we want to create a system to be studied, or a landscape to be explored? Or do we want to challenge a player to face us in virtual combat? And what can we bring to this process? What are our strengths, our weaknesses, our desires and preferences, our talents? Have we mastered all the jutsu of game design?

All I ask is that, once you have defined your representative player, you think about him. Understand him. Know his desires. Then, when you know your player, you should test every game design decision by asking the question: “How will my player react to this?

This article validates my observations that a lot of games in the industry are merely cookie-cutter builds. There simply is nothing innovative about games nowadays. Graphics is more of a requirement than gameplay. The spirit of the game fails incomparison to rudimentary eye candy.

I wish a lot of designers would read Mr. Adams’ great article and embrace the Tao of Game Design.

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