EdX

Introduction to Game Design: Game Systems and Balance (edX)

Offered by LaSalle College, LaSalleX,

Learn the deep mechanics of good system design that is both fun and rewarding for the gamer. Game designers create the ideas and worlds of games—they design the environment, characters, game mechanics, goals and user experience. Successful game designers do this by applying the fundamentals of game system design and logic.

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This course explains what game system design is, how it works, and how it relates to game mechanics, designing rules, and logical thinking and reasoning. Game balance is a crucial component of game design and development, so in this course we will focus on what game balance is and why it is important in terms of its relation to simplicity and complexity, dominant strategies, and skill and chance.
This course also dives into game balancing tools you can use to make your game a success, including risk and reward, physical and mental challenges, gameplay duration, and freedom versus control.
Topics covered include:

Game system design and logic
Game balance
Game environments
Game balancing tools

This course is part of the Introduction to Game Design XSeries.

What you'll learn

The categories of game mechanics and how to use them
How to design good rules for your games and how logical thinking relates to game rules
How to achieve game balance through various tools, including fairness, challenge versus success, simplicity and complexity, dominant strategies, and skill versus chance
How to use other game balancing tools to affect game design and the user experience

Syllabus

Module 1: Game system design and logic

Game system design and game mechanics
Rules and logic
Logical thinking and reasoning

Module 2: Game balance

The importance of game balance
Fairness
Challenge versus success

Module 3: Game environments

Simple versus complex
Dominant strategies
Skill versus chance

Module 4: Game balancing tools

Skills versus chance
Risk versus reward
Head versus hands
Too short versus too long

Go to Class

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