Game Pillars + Game Loop

Game Pillars are the foundational concepts of a game, of which all of its features should circle back to. Smaller projects should have 3-4 pillars, whereas larger ones are more likely to have around 6 – this keeps the team’s focus. Game Pillars are defined very specifically, with a title and 1-2 supporting sentences, and they are adaptive, often changing as the game evolves. Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game by Max Pears for my Week 6 Reading helped me understand what was necessary for my own game pillars by breaking down a couple of other games, so I was able to recognise the importance of having pillars that strengthen each other as well as have their own merits. This was a concept I wasn’t able to get right the first time, but my game feels overall stronger now.

My Game Pillars:

• Stealth
  • Necessary to beat the game, players must avoid being seen on-camera to disguise as much of their movement as possible. The closed world design and puzzle solving aspects should come into conflict with this aspect to make stealth as difficult as possible, and promote a paranoid reaction in players.
• Puzzle solving
  • Clashes with the necessity of stealth in the game as the puzzles within this design, will force the player to get close to cameras. This will also tie into the last pillar of feeling like you’re constantly being watched. The puzzles should have multiple solutions, and no tutorial, forcing the player to learn by assumption
• A closed + claustrophobic world design
  • In conflict with the player’s need for stealth to create a feeling of paranoia. While the gamespaces should be small, they should also be cluttered – in one way giving the player cover to hide, and in another forcing them to squeeze past cameras tightly in some areas. Game physics should be sensitive so objects easily move/fall over, which can be caught on camera.

These 3 pillars should underpin the main emotional reaction I’m trying to get from players: a feeling of constant paranoia over whether or not you are currently being seen.

Core Loop:

Meta Loop: