EMOTION-DRIVEN GAME DESIGN

2020-06-08

Special thanks to Phoebe Shalloway for helping me with the writing!

There’s a certain way of approaching game design that, while certainly not new, I have only seen discussed in “fragments.” The goal of this text is to piece these fragments together and explain in a tangible and organized way a (somewhat abstract) concept. I’ve named it “Emotion-Driven Design” (EDD for short).

Overall, there are many different approaches to designing a game, none of which are right or wrong per se - which approach a designer should take depends a lot on the project at hand. EDD may suit some projects just right, while it probably wouldn’t work as well on others. However, you can still apply some parts of the concept to a game, or the whole concept to specific parts of a game.

So, what is EDD exactly? EDD is actually divided into two parts that complement each other. The first part is more “technical”, the second part more “personal”. The first part is about finding out which emotions you want to invoke within the player and basing the game around them. EVERY project decision and component - mechanics, art, narrative, audio, everything - HAS to revolve around said emotions and support them. Furthermore, it’s important to focus on one or two “core” emotions - otherwise the association between the emotions and game components may become too diluted to be effective. Let me explain in detail.

One of the defining features of any software is interaction. Chris Crawford¹ states in his “First Law of Software Design” that “Whenever designing any piece of software, the first question you must ask, and the question you must keep asking throughout the development process is, ‘What does the user DO? What are the verbs?’”. In a game, the verbs a player can perform are closely tied with the mechanics, which in turn can be used to invoke emotions through gameplay.

According to Jenova Chen², “The most important thing in evoking emotions in video games as a medium is to treat gameplay mechanics […] as an instrument that contributes to the overall storytelling”. Tanya X Short et al.³ points out that “the game mechanics you design create certain types of player situations that match various motivational needs and in turn trigger emotional reactions”, and that specific emotions attract players, since they “seek out games that produce them”. Tetsuya Mizuguchi also states that “I don’t want for a game to be just entertaining, I want to know what emotions it will bring”.

Following the logic that mechanics may be closely tied with emotions, it’s important to find themes that can be conveyed through mechanics in order to create a cohesive experience throughout the whole game. Marina Díez corroborates this vision, saying that “when I design games, I start thinking on the emotions I want the player to feel before thinking on anything else. If I know that, then the mechanics, sounds, environments, colours and other details are much more easier to think about for me”.

That sums up the more “technical” and “theory-heavy” part of EDD - finding which emotions you want the player to feel, and designing your mechanics (and the whole game) around them. The second part is more “personal” and cannot exactly be translated into a single cohesive explanation, but that’s what I’ll try to do anyway.

On top of applying the concepts previously explained, it’s equally important to “get in the mood” of the emotions you’re aiming to invoke with the game. Just as some actors go out of their way to really get into character by using an emotion-oriented technique known as “method acting”, it’s possible for you to “method develop” when envisioning the game you want to create. A great way to do this is through the use of a moodboard, which is “an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc. intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept”. You don’t need to stop at only images or text, though - music, in my opinion, is one of the most powerful tools for identifying and evoking emotion. Other materials such as movies, other games, life experiences and so on are just as valid.

Essentially, by using this assortment of reference materials, can you actually feel what you want players to feel? Can you clearly envision the game being played in your head, just as if you were playing it that same moment? In doing so, are you actually feeling whichever emotion you’re aiming for? CAN YOU ACTUALLY FEEL AS IF YOUR GAME IS A LIVING ENTITY, AS IF THE DIGITAL BITS THAT COMPOSE IT INTERFLOW WITH THE VERY OXIGEN YOU’RE BREATHING AND THAT IT CAN BREAK INTO YOUR HOUSE DURING YOUR SLEEP TO MURDER YOU, AS IF IT ACTUALLY EXISTS? If you do, that’s when you know you’re going in the right direction when using EDD.

But it doesn’t stop there. You need to actively create the game with such a mindset. For example, if the main emotion you’re aiming for is “rage”, do you create your art assets, write your code or the narrative of your game while ACTUALLY ENRAGED (or at least in a very pissed off mood)? It may seem counterintuitive, unhealthy, not practical at all, unsustainable or even outright impossible. And I never said otherwise. But such is the power of focusing your emotions on what you’re creating at the moment, and feeling the same thing when you look at it aftwerwards. It’s more than just “making a game”. It’s actually LIVING the game. That’s what I meant by “getting into the mood”.

Thus, the emotion-driven aspect of EDD is not only related to the decisions you’ll make in order to invoke certain emotions, but also to developing the game while being driven by said emotions. That covers the second part of Emotion-Driven Game Design, and, as you can see, it’s more abstract (and “emotion-driven” itself) than the first part. And as I said before, this may not work for every project, but if some parts of it works for some parts of a project that’s okay too. EDD is NOT a framework with rigid rules that need to be enforced.

So, to recap and conclude:

And that’s about it.



REFERENCES

1. http://www.erasmatazz.com/personal/self/forty-years-of-failure.html
2. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-12-05-its-the-game-designers-job-to-evoke-different-sides-of-humanity
3. https://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/featured/ph17r3.htm
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0bgZZeOwuM
5. https://twitter.com/Ninfa_dp/status/1221881974392004608
6. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-method-acting/
7. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mood-board