The Most Important Game Design Element
I called this blog CTRL+Z Evolve for a reason: it is my solid opinion that the gaming industry grows by unlearning some usual ideologies and becoming something greater than it is. I believe that once game studios hit CTRL+Z on their previous strategies, they will begin to learn new ways to appeal to the masses. However, a concept like that leads to a lot of negativity. When step one is "here's everything that's holding you back" it certainly starts to feel like I've got some sort of grudge against the industry. So for this article, we're going to switch things up a bit.
Video games are complex works of art that include a variety of elements to entice and captivate players. From stunning graphics and immersive sound design to intricate storytelling and compelling characters, there are many aspects that contribute to the success of a video game. I'm sure you've thought about this exact topic before and, while I'm more of an "everything is viable if you work hard enough" kind of guy, I think we can logically decode the secret of video games and come up with the most important aspect.
Let's start by breaking video games down to 4 simple aspects: narrative, graphics, gameplay, and audio. Certainly each of these breaks down into more parts. Audio includes music, sfx, and voice acting. Gameplay includes things like level design, balancing mechanics, and progression. Narrative includes the story, the lines, the subtle hints along the way. Graphics includes the color palette, the animation, and the character design. However, like I said, let's keep it simple and discuss these elements as overarching concepts in the game design world and let's think about them with a hardcore gamer mindset: Which element do I lean into the most to get the highest return on investment?
This is a gamer mindset, after all. If I put all my xp in strength, I hit the hardest. If I only get buffs for fire damage, it'll deal the most damage. When the thing that matters most is a single focus to ensure maximum efficiency, it stands to reason that the maximum efficiency required in video game creation comes from finding the aspect that has the best ROI and diving into that head first.
Lore/Narrative
The setting and story of a game can be a crucial element of its success. When a player can relate to the playable character, that player becomes that much more invested, and this isn't a surprise. Lore in video games serves as the intricate tapestry that weaves together the world's history, culture, and characters, providing a rich backdrop to the gameplay. It's the narrative underpinning that transforms a collection of mechanics and objectives into a compelling, immersive experience. When effectively integrated, lore deepens player engagement, lending context and significance to their actions within the game. For instance, games like "The Elder Scrolls" series encapsulate their lore within every quest, character, and location, inviting players to delve deeper into a world that feels alive and storied. This depth enriches the gaming experience, turning routine tasks into chapters of a larger story and fostering a passionate community that cherishes every hidden detail and lore piece.
Beyond enriching the narrative, lore serves as a unifying thread that connects various aspects of the game. It helps in making sense of the game's design choices, from the environment to character behavior. Well-crafted lore aligns with the game’s aesthetics and mechanics, creating a seamless and believable universe. This coherence enhances the player's immersion, making the game world more than just a backdrop but an integral part of the gaming experience.
However, focusing excessively on lore can lead to its own set of challenges. A game that is too lore-heavy may risk overshadowing gameplay, making the experience feel more like a narrative exposition than an interactive adventure. To a certain extent, there's nothing wrong with that. "Visual Novels" are a genre of game, but that has to be your objective and target audience. Players might find themselves inundated with lengthy backstories and expositions, which can disrupt the gaming flow and diminish the excitement of discovery. This overemphasis can be particularly off-putting for players who prefer straightforward gameplay or those who find extensive reading or lengthy cutscenes within a game disruptive to their engagement.
Moreover, convoluted or overly complex lore can lead to player confusion and disengagement. When a game requires understanding intricate histories or relationships to progress or fully appreciate the experience, it risks alienating players not deeply invested in the narrative aspect. Such complexity can transform the game from an enjoyable experience into a cumbersome task, where players feel lost in a labyrinth of narrative details rather than being guided by an engaging story. Lore is important to a game, but not the most important. For those that think lore/narrative is the most important element of a game, allow me to offer this question: What is the lore of chess?
Graphics/Aesthetics
Graphics and aesthetics play a pivotal role in the world of video games, serving as the visual soul that brings a game's universe to life. They are the first elements that capture a player's attention, setting the tone and atmosphere of the gaming experience. Personally, the aesthetics of a game are more quick to capture my attention than any other part of it. If I see a game that is dark fantasy or futuristic, or just looks crisp and clean in a world I can appreciate, I basically already bought it!
The importance of aesthetics extends to user interface and visual coherence, ensuring that the game is not only beautiful but also accessible and intuitive to navigate. Well-designed graphics and UI elements can streamline gameplay, providing essential information seamlessly integrated into the visual design. This integration enhances the player's connection to the game, making interactions feel more natural and less intrusive. Aesthetic consistency across different elements of the game, from character designs to environmental textures, contributes to a cohesive and believable world.
However, an overemphasis on graphics and aesthetics can have its drawbacks. When too much focus is placed on visual elements, it can come at the expense of gameplay quality and depth. Take games like Elden Ring. There are some spells and abilities with BREATHTAKING graphics, but they become wasted for those who appreciate PvP because of how easy they are to read and counter. There's still something out there that takes precedence over graphics.
Furthermore, high graphical fidelity often comes with increased development costs and hardware requirements, potentially limiting the game's accessibility to a wider audience. Players with less powerful hardware may be unable to enjoy the game as intended, or worse, be entirely excluded from experiencing it. This limits the Total Addressable Market (TAM) of the game. Sure, we should strive for games that are visually appealing, but if only 10% of your market can get it because of that, you're not going to sell your game. Additionally, an overreliance on cutting-edge graphics can date a game quickly as technology advances, in contrast to games with a more timeless artistic style. "State-of-the-art" is only true for so long. To those who think graphics/aesthetics are the most important element of a game, allow me to ask this: How realistic are the graphics in Minecraft?
Gameplay Mechanics
Gameplay mechanics are the fundamental building blocks of any video game, defining how players interact with the game world and what makes the experience unique. These mechanics encompass the rules, systems, player capabilities, and objectives that guide the game's flow. Well-designed gameplay mechanics ensure that players are consistently engaged, challenged, and rewarded, making the experience both satisfying and enjoyable. If we strip away everything and play a game with basic dots: can the game still be fun? After all, that's where the industry began with Pong and the like.
The depth and flexibility of gameplay mechanics also allow for creativity and personalization in how players approach challenges. Whether it’s strategizing in a turn-based RPG or improvising in a sandbox game, mechanics provide the framework within which players can express themselves. This versatility is crucial in catering to a diverse player base with varying skills and preferences. Additionally, well-crafted mechanics can give a game longevity, encouraging players to revisit and explore different strategies and playstyles.
I'm sure this is the part where everyone is expecting me to say "THIS is the most important thing, put all your focus here" but alas, I'm not going to say that. Focusing too intensely on gameplay mechanics can lead to potential pitfalls just like the rest. Over-complicating these mechanics may result in a steep learning curve, discouraging new or casual players. Games that are too mechanically dense can feel inaccessible and overwhelming, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment. The key is to strike a balance between complexity and accessibility, ensuring mechanics are challenging enough to be engaging but not so daunting that they deter players.
Not to mention, the concept of planning out every aspect of a game's mechanics remove's the player's ability to experiment and play in a new and interesting way. If there are no variables for the player to mess with, it's essentially just putting together a jigsaw puzzle: sure, I can do it again, but at that point it's just finding pieces. There needs to be more, there needs to be something else. But I'll continue my line of questioning: How complicated of a game is Poker, and how popular is it?
The Risks of Over-Prioritizing Gaming Elements
What are the other elements of a game? Music and SFX? Multiplayer features? Interfacing with different technologies like AR and VR? You can follow the same exercise above for each and we'll get to the same answer: There is no right answer. As with a lot of gaming itself, game design and development is a beautiful balance of each of its elements woven uniquely with each other. As much as we want to put our focus on what makes us feel the best about our work, the only way to create an all around great game is just that: to create an ALL-AROUND great game.
Let's look at it from a business perspective. A studio's main cost (outside of technology which I'm going to assume it already has) is its employees. This is to say that the cost of making a game is directly proportional to the amount of time it takes you to make it. However, that doesn't mean the game is worth that much to the player. That means that every part of your game needs to be on purpose and add to the experience. If your goal is to immerse a player, they should be immersed it what they're seeing, the story they're telling, AND the actual actions they are taking. Just one isn't enough. Furthermore, a lackluster effort on any of them is (given this business model) wasted money that the game now has to make up for in its sales.
I brought up all those other games in the previous sections to make a simple point: there isn't a single model for creating a good game. There are over 5 million games in existence. There's a 0% chance that a single formula is what created the good ones, and those questions prove that. A simple game like poker can capture people's attention just as much as a complicated RPG or strategy game. A low-graphics game like Minecraft can do just as well as FFXIV. A game like chess, with no story whatsoever, can probably sell more than a visual novel can. But those examples don't mean the others are invalid.
Integrating Elements
The point I'm trying to make here is that we, as a community, need to stop focusing on the low level detail when in the creative space, and start focusing on the high level experience we are trying to create with our games. If you want to create an amazing game, the first question should be "what do I want my player to experience?" After that is decided, all decisions should focus on that. If I want my player to feel really cool when they do something in-game, that thing better have cool graphics. If I want someone to feel accomplished once they win my game, the mechanics of that game better teach them how to beat the RELENTLESS challenge I've placed at the end. If I want my player to escape the real world for a while, then I better give them somewhere better to go.
But you see, even THAT is over simplified, because I don't want someone to only feel one thing, I want them to feel ALL the things! I want them to feel cool, accomplished, released, challenged, accepted, respected, powerful, and a whole myriad of other things that someone might not get to always feel in real life. Video games are, at the end of the day, a place for people to go and exist somewhere else for a while. Even in a game about business, the player doesn't have a "job" in this world. Even in a management game, a player doesn't have responsibilities in this world. Even in action games, a player isn't in any danger in this world. We create worlds, we create experiences, we are therapy for those who might not even know they need it, and that requires more than just a cool story or good graphics.
Here it really is
I'm not a fan of clickbait. The title of this article indicated that there would be a "most important element" in gaming, and I'm not here to lie about that then walk away. So, let's figure it out together. We've ruled out six different elements above and we've talked about bringing everything together, so is there a most important element? Well... I think so, yes. Let's look at game design, as a whole, from that high level that I mentioned before. Strip away those low level details and what are we left with? If each of the elements listed before were just parts, then what is the whole? It's a word that means something different to everyone. Some people get it from spending time with friends (maybe on a multiplayer game), some people get it from creation (like a sandbox game), other people get it from putting forth the best they can against others doing the same (like a competitive game). Whatever it means to you, that's the game you create. Find this ONE SINGLE element in any game you make, and prepare to tell the world about it.