{"id":4115,"date":"2014-07-26T18:40:25","date_gmt":"2014-07-27T00:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=4115"},"modified":"2014-09-12T11:46:32","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T17:46:32","slug":"an-oldie-but-a-goodie-designing-games-for-the-wage-slave-gamedev-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2014\/07\/26\/an-oldie-but-a-goodie-designing-games-for-the-wage-slave-gamedev-net\/","title":{"rendered":"An Oldie but a Goodie: Designing Games for the Wage Slave &#8211; GameDev.net"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p class=\"diigo-link\"><a title=\"Merrill\u2019s First Principles of Instruction\" href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2007\/06\/08\/5\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4119\" src=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/OFFIC027-300x184.png\" alt=\"OFFIC027\" width=\"300\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/OFFIC027-300x184.png 300w, http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/OFFIC027.png 490w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I&#8217;ve commented on this before (where I translated them into rules for instructional design)<\/a>, but it is so applicable to all kinds of design, I wanted to put it here for safe keeping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"diigo-link\">It&#8217;s worth reading the whole article, but if you want the bullet points, here they are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make every moment the player spends in your game time well spent.<\/li>\n<li>Spend that time entertaining and rewarding the player for choosing your product.<\/li>\n<li>Challenge without frustrating, and guide while still keeping the player in control.<\/li>\n<li>Your world, your choice. If something isn\u2019t fun, don\u2019t put it in the game.<\/li>\n<li>Keep the player in the game as often as possible.<\/li>\n<li>But let him leave whenever he wants.<\/li>\n<li>And remove any barriers that stop him from picking up where he left off..<\/li>\n<li>Keep it simple, keep it accessible, and keep it fun.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t demand a huge time commitment from the player or dictate the length of his sessions; let him take it at his own pace.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t fix things that aren\u2019t broken.<\/li>\n<li>Test with a wide spectrum of players and non-players to find out what\u2019s intuitive and well-received.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"diigo-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gamedev.net\/page\/resources\/_\/creative\/game-design\/designing-games-for-the-wage-slave-r2121\">Designing Games for the Wage Slave &#8211; Game Design &#8211; Articles &#8211; Articles &#8211; GameDev.net<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"diigo-description\">&#8220;&#8221;I can afford to buy any game I like; but I rarely have the opportunity to play them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This sentence embodies the sad reality that has hamstringed my gaming hobby since becoming an unwilling maze-dweller in the rat race of full-time employment. Four years ago, when not otherwise distracted by the mundanities of dodging college work or chores, I could (and did) devote countless hours to the challenges and pleasures of digital worlds. My funding was limited, but I took pride in completing every game, every cover disk demo that I purchased. I reveled in replayability, gloried in gameplay depth, marveled at multiplayer. Life was good.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So why should I care, you nostalgic cretin?&#8221; I hear you ask. Why? Because my cubicle-dwelling cogs and I represent a substantial slice of potential software sales.<\/p>\n<p>We balance on the knife&#8217;s edge between our glorious time-squandered youth, and the commitments of inevitable middle age. However, the needs of independence (and dependents) have forced us to adapt our playing style to meet our circumstances. Most gamers in this range still game whenever they can, but lack the time to maintain their previous commitment, especially when wives, children, and other such distractions enter the mix. If games can adapt to the needs of the working gamer, they can find a lucrative niche. If not, we will have no choice but to leave our childhood behind and surrender to mundane reality. And when we do, we will take our regular monthly salaries with us.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a few suggestions to better accommodate the time-deprived; many of these ideas could also create a more enjoyable gaming experience for all:&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"diigo-tags\">tags:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.diigo.com\/user\/nirtak\/designing\">designing<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diigo.com\/user\/nirtak\/games\">games<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diigo.com\/user\/nirtak\/wage\">wage<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diigo.com\/user\/nirtak\/slave\">slave<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diigo.com\/user\/nirtak\/game design\">game design<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"diigo-ps\">Posted from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diigo.com\">Diigo<\/a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diigo.com\/user\/nirtak\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div class='wp_likes' id='wp_likes_post-4115'><a class='like' href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(4115);\" title='' ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-likes\/images\/like.png\" alt='' border='0'\/><\/a><span class='text'>Be the first to like.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class='like' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(4115);\">Like<\/a><\/div>\n<div class='unlike' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.unlike(4115);\">Unlike<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>I&#8217;ve commented on this before (where I translated them into rules for instructional design), but it is so applicable to all kinds of design, I wanted to put it here for safe keeping. It&#8217;s worth reading the whole article, but &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2014\/07\/26\/an-oldie-but-a-goodie-designing-games-for-the-wage-slave-gamedev-net\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[127,342,16],"class_list":["post-4115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-games","category-general","tag-game-design","tag-games-gaming","tag-instructional-design"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Hsb6-14n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2007\/06\/08\/5\/","url_meta":{"origin":4115,"position":0},"title":"Merrill&#8217;s First Principles of Instruction","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"June 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I have seriously misjudged M. David Merrill. His Component Display Theory was very computer sciencey, and unwieldy, and really turned me off; but First Principles is *really* good. Thank you Gail for pointing me at it! I\u2019ve had this notion for a while: that the process of becoming an expert\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Educational Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Educational Technology","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/educational-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5309,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/08\/14\/where-is-the-line-between-good-instructions-and-hand-holding\/","url_meta":{"origin":4115,"position":1},"title":"Where is the line between good instructions and hand-holding?","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"August 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the great things about games is their potential for delivering just-in-time instruction. Most games require some sort of user assistance,\u00a0whether it be instructions, in-game tutorials, or a help system. Many games\u00a0integrate help and tutorial information into the gameplay as much as possible. As designers, how can we know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/computers-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollowmedia.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/viper1-300x187.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2951,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2012\/10\/09\/theories-of-games-and-interaction-for-design-5-3-responses\/","url_meta":{"origin":4115,"position":2},"title":"Theories of Games and Interaction for Design (5: 3 Responses)","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"October 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These are public postings of my writings for the first course of the Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University. Each week, we are required to post three responses\/reactions to queries posted by other members of the class in the previous week. These are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/computers-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/ch10f009-2-231x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6501,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2017\/08\/05\/5-mistaken-differences-between-education-games-and-the-gamification-of-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":4115,"position":3},"title":"5 mistaken differences between education games and the gamification of education","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"August 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"And 12 ways in which these ideas are problematic. Gamification is generally defined as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts. Fair enough. But this is pretty much where the article goes off the rails. (She's not alone). Source: 5 differences between education games and the gamification of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pearsoned.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Education-games-or-gamification-of-education.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pearsoned.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Education-games-or-gamification-of-education.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pearsoned.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Education-games-or-gamification-of-education.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2812,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2012\/09\/21\/theories-of-games-and-interaction-for-design-3-3-responses\/","url_meta":{"origin":4115,"position":4},"title":"Theories of Games and Interaction for Design (3: 3 Responses)","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"September 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These are public postings of my writings for the first course of the Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University. Each week, we are required to post three responses\/reactions to queries posted by other members of the class in the previous week. These are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/computers-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4883,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/06\/29\/7-ways-to-use-games-in-the-classroom\/","url_meta":{"origin":4115,"position":5},"title":"7 Ways to Use Games in the Classroom","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There are many ways to use games in the classroom.\u00a0Games can be used as: Content -\u00a0The content of the game directly addresses some curricular need. Example\u00a0-\u00a0In this case the game is being used as an example of or an artifact that supports what is being taught. Inspiration -\u00a0Games can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Book","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/book\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ID-10055340.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4115"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4120,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4115\/revisions\/4120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}