Gamestorming #5: Revising the Concept
- Caity Kelly
- Feb 25, 2019
- 2 min read

Revision....simplification....editing....
Whether an individual is drafting a paper, creating a presentation, or designing a game, these are imperative processes. They are also one of the most challenging activities to do--particularly when a designer has an idea he or she is particularly attached to. One of the biggest mistakes in any large project, however, is relying on one's own point of view to determine if the end creation works properly.
Feedback is quite helpful for getting into this process. Show your game to colleagues, authority figures, friends, family--anyone who can offer a perspective that is not your own. These individuals can help you to see how your game comes across to an audience, recognize elements that are working well, and pinpoint areas of confusion that you may not have noticed.
To be completely honest, I cannot say that this process is easy. It is difficult to hear criticisms--particularly when they are focused on changing or perhaps even removing a part of your design that you particularly like. However, it is important to hear out your beta testers. Let them give their feedback and decide what she be implemented and what should be disregarded. If you have multiple individuals providing the same feedback, positive OR negative, about an aspect of your game, you will have stronger evidence to support keeping or removing that aspect. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if a single person makes a particular comment that contradicts many others, this is likely something that does not need to be addressed.

In some games, complexity is a vital component--RPGs for example. Players love being able to do a wide variety of actions, interact with countless objects, and make many decisions. Consider the following:
Skyrim: Players traverse through a massive map, interact with unique quests, make decisions, and collect fascinating items
Mass Effect: Players engage in an immersive story with wonderfully-written characters. Every choice they make influences the outcome.
Pathfinder/Dungeons & Dragons: I play this every week with my friends and truly...the limit is practically your imagination. Whatever you want your character to do is likely something that has been given conditions/behaviors in a tabletop RPG book of some sort.
In some cases, however, simplicity is what works the best. Take my game for example--Originally, I had player roles, a reward card system, and an exact way for passing the judge role from player to player during each round. Winners were assessed by the judge's own discretion--flawed or not.
After reading feedback on my work, however, I realized it was best to cut out those unnecessary components. Now, I am left with a much more concise system that I believe is more enjoyable for my players.
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