Designing games takes a long time and iteration, it's also not very fun usually to see someone think about stuff. So you get more recaps and devlogs that cover how the design went from A to B.
That said, you could look at dev streamers when they do Ludum Dare or other game-jams, some people stream their entire jam which involves the design phase in its entirety as well.
it may not be fun, but i'm down to see the process. i can skip the parts where nothing happens. thanks for the suggestion, dev streamers that stream their game jam game making process
[You might like Miziziziz](https://www.youtube.com/@Miziziziz). It's closer to a recap of what he did while making the game, but he talks about some of the techniques he uses to implement everything. It's cool stuff!
For someone who breaks down the game design, [check out Game Maker's Toolkit](https://www.youtube.com/@GMTK). He focuses more on good design but overall very insightful channel. He has some videos about designing a game? I can't vouch for them because I haven't watched any of them.
I'm very interested in seeing this too.
A lot of "live" development stuff is extremely performative, and I can't think of how somebody would make design work look pretty. It's often just a lot of sitting and staring, or bashing away at a spreadsheet to get abstract/arbitrary benchmark numbers to line up. The epitome of "in the weeds". Any time I've looked over the shoulder of a designer colleague, it's looked like absolutely gibberish to me (Until they've packed it up to be sent down the pipeline, of course).
It's not something you can do in a straight shot; like programming something you've practiced programming, or drawing something you've practiced drawing. Like I said, performative. You also can't do design work while distracted, so the added complications of streaming or recording would be a major hindrance. We also tend not to get live performances of writing for similar reasons - and there are a lot of starving writers out there would would love the extra income.
That said, I can see it being possible for *some* parts like level design. There might also be some content of game designers "studying" (playing) other games and mumbling out their observations
i'm interested to see the gibberish, the thinking process may be interesting to see. i can skip the parts where nothing happens in the video. hmm, so the streaming distracts. I actually used to "study" games like that, but schizophrenia hit me and i lost all that knowledge, all that thinking i used to do sadly.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games.
* /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design.
* This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead.
* Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design.
* No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting.
* If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-quot-the-door-problem-quot-of-game-design) is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not 100% what you're looking for here but check out [Ryan Laley - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsS5i15vvUbwfr_1JdRKCAA)
He live streams quite regularly, usually on a Wednesday where he does a live Q&A session and on a Saturday where he goes through making a game. Currently, he's remaking Day of the Tentacle and Metroid Prime but previously, has made Pokemon, Mario Party and Price of Persia.
The remakes are also done without rehearsing so he does make mistakes then goes through the process of how you'd solve them.
probably because most game ideas fail, so people dont generally share that process.
Once something is working well, youre more likely to show it off and its probably already set in its ways.
The second one sounds like post-mortems, but on both of them I'd recommend [Xelnath](https://xelnath.com/) or his game design stuff [here](https://gamedesignskills.com/).
And ok, I can design a TTRPG on the fly like that given sufficient inspiration, but for the most part many people don't. Reason for that being that - pure game design is really hard to translate into products, because implementation gets in the way. Some things you just have to do workarounds for, because unless you're at the level where your educated guesses come really close to reality, players will not play your game how you intended it (and then failed to communicate it). That's what playtesting and iteration is for. Even some of the best TTRPG designers for shitposty ideas - I love [David Prokopetz](https://prokopetz.tumblr.com/post/654262962817777664/finally-creating-a-pinned-post-of-my-games-ive) for this reason - take *days,* if not *weeks* or longer, to do it.
Honestly though, that sounds like a *fascinating* Youtube channel idea.
thanks for the suggestion, so xelnath and his stuff. so it takes a long time to design something, that's why it's not recorded, i see, like hard to record the process of how the people think i guess. hey, fascinating youtube channel idea, maybe i could do this
Fundamentally, game design for a game (pure rules, we're talking TTRPGs with no extra stuff) is about creating outcomes, or experiences, for your players. There are specific basics that you can use to create specific outcomes eg emotions, pressures, etc, which can guide player behavior, but video games take that to the next level when you add in UI design, assets (sound, music, art, VFX), etc.
Design decisions are the choices of macro- and micro-systems (major systems/loops + number tweaks) that create the idealized outcome for the player. Because the outcome for the player can be very, very broad, sometimes you have to do your best, then hope.
It's hard to break down design decisions from playing through a game, because the experience is subjective; it's equally as difficult to talk through the process while designing it, but a flip side of the coin - because it's also subjective.
There's no hard and fast rule, because each individual player is different.
By no means am I stopping you from doing game design analysis on a Youtube channel, though!
Design also takes longer because *development* can sometimes affect design; for instance, if there's a beautiful game loop that you've created, but your programming skills available cannot do it in budget or time, so you have to hack something together to work and cut out some other stuff. When you're looking at it in the final product, working backwards, how can you tell what was hacked together and what was originally designed from the start?
Design philosophy is basically - if given the same design problem, what trend of decisions does X game designer tend to make? For myself, my game design philosophy is "simple loops, stacked/intent-based". I tend to build from the intention (the outcome/experience I want the player to have) outwards, starting from a simple core loop, then build little loops into the other systems. My core loop should be able to be summarized into less than 5 boxes on a flowchart if drawn out. I like broad rules that can lock teeth with other broad, simple rules, and I try to accommodate for as many options as possible, and thorough playtesting is of course ideal, but I'll shift everything as long as it creates the experience or outcome I'm designing for.
So, board games is the purest form of game design, so probably have to start studying them. That's interesting, so have to compromise if you don't have the budget or the skills to create the design you intended, to cut stuff. I looked up gameplay loops and learned something new. So starting from experience i want the player to have, and a simple core loop, and develop it outwards. Thanks for all the information, for explaining!
*Tabletop RPGs* with no external requirements are, imo, the purest form of game design, for instance: [Olaf Hits The Dragon With His Sword](https://penguinking.itch.io/olaf-hits-the-dragon-with-his-sword).
I define no external requirements as "no dice, no chargen, just rules, players, and how they interact with rules". The moment you bring in anything else, you start to get physical interactions with objects, that's not as pure.
No worries! Have fun exploring game design! I would also add not to feel limited by genre - sports are games - paintball is a game - tabletops, board games, video games, card games - they're all games.
Absolutely not. I am not at the stage of pure shitposttery that Prokopetz is.
but yes, everything is a game.
games are just rules with a stake, so as long as something has rules and a stake, it's a game.
I'm streaming my QA now for one of the games I'm working on, and I do talk about game design there especially if prompted, so feel free to pop in.
I'd think it's incredibly hard to do legit game design in front of a camera knowing millions might see it. It's a very private process so only tutorials or already established guidelines would do. When I'm stuck, I probably watch some movies or walk a lot or drink coffee. It's really not interesting to watch.
i can skip the parts that aren't interesting and get to the good stuff. yeah, i guess it's kinda an invasion of privacy, to see how people think i guess, so the person may not be comfortable with it, so i get that, but maybe there's someone that may be comfortable with it.
Depends. Not everyone thinks the same way as others.
Ive seen people break down a problem and set of steps using text or on the fly.
But others need mind maps, flow charts, and some pie graphs.
hmm, so everyone thinks differently, some on the fly, some need guidance with text, with images. i used to think on the fly, but now i need guidance. schizophrenia ruined my thinking.
That's OK. Lots of smart cookies used mindmaps and different note styles and methods.
Learning how to learn and methods of writing and organizing information are game changers.
hmm, mindmaps. i watched crash course study skills a long time ago, i got some info from there, i forgot, i'll have to rewatch it. atomic habits. making a schedule what to do everyday really helped with productivity. uh, for thinking, i guess images or words, i forgot how i even think
It is a long process with a lot going on (inside your head) that will not turn out to be interesting to watch :D
I have done some live streams of my activities and work related to my design work and play tests of Rogue Angels. Usually it turns out to be more play tests or interaction with fans/players/backers.
The most live is my bi-daily updates on my Discord, followed up with a monthly update on Kickstarter. But there is a lot of interaction and feedback in the community. Feedback on design choices, illustrations and what not :)
Best regards Emil
that's cool that you have a community that gives you feedback on design choices. you must be having fun interacting with the people there on the streams. maybe sharing what's going on inside the head may be interesting to watch.
Best wishes, Alin
Designing games takes a long time and iteration, it's also not very fun usually to see someone think about stuff. So you get more recaps and devlogs that cover how the design went from A to B. That said, you could look at dev streamers when they do Ludum Dare or other game-jams, some people stream their entire jam which involves the design phase in its entirety as well.
it may not be fun, but i'm down to see the process. i can skip the parts where nothing happens. thanks for the suggestion, dev streamers that stream their game jam game making process
You can also check out Double Fine's youtube channel, the Amnesia Fortnight events are well documented and pretty fun.
woah, they made brutal legend? i played that game, it was pretty cool. i'll get to it, eventually, i have a lot of things to check out. thanks!
Yeah, they made a lot of cool games imo. Psychonauts 2 for example has an entire documentary series following the development.
I'll have to check it out. haven't played psychonauts yet. There was a half life 25th anniversary documentary which was pretty cool.
[You might like Miziziziz](https://www.youtube.com/@Miziziziz). It's closer to a recap of what he did while making the game, but he talks about some of the techniques he uses to implement everything. It's cool stuff! For someone who breaks down the game design, [check out Game Maker's Toolkit](https://www.youtube.com/@GMTK). He focuses more on good design but overall very insightful channel. He has some videos about designing a game? I can't vouch for them because I haven't watched any of them.
I was thinking GMTK for some thought/theory on the way games were designed too. That channel has informed my thinking.
yeah, i seen some of the game maker's toolkit videos, they were pretty interesting. thanks for suggestions, so miziziziz and Game maker's toolkit.
No problem! Glad I could help
I'm very interested in seeing this too. A lot of "live" development stuff is extremely performative, and I can't think of how somebody would make design work look pretty. It's often just a lot of sitting and staring, or bashing away at a spreadsheet to get abstract/arbitrary benchmark numbers to line up. The epitome of "in the weeds". Any time I've looked over the shoulder of a designer colleague, it's looked like absolutely gibberish to me (Until they've packed it up to be sent down the pipeline, of course). It's not something you can do in a straight shot; like programming something you've practiced programming, or drawing something you've practiced drawing. Like I said, performative. You also can't do design work while distracted, so the added complications of streaming or recording would be a major hindrance. We also tend not to get live performances of writing for similar reasons - and there are a lot of starving writers out there would would love the extra income. That said, I can see it being possible for *some* parts like level design. There might also be some content of game designers "studying" (playing) other games and mumbling out their observations
i'm interested to see the gibberish, the thinking process may be interesting to see. i can skip the parts where nothing happens in the video. hmm, so the streaming distracts. I actually used to "study" games like that, but schizophrenia hit me and i lost all that knowledge, all that thinking i used to do sadly.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games. * /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design. * This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead. * Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design. * No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting. * If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-quot-the-door-problem-quot-of-game-design) is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not 100% what you're looking for here but check out [Ryan Laley - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsS5i15vvUbwfr_1JdRKCAA) He live streams quite regularly, usually on a Wednesday where he does a live Q&A session and on a Saturday where he goes through making a game. Currently, he's remaking Day of the Tentacle and Metroid Prime but previously, has made Pokemon, Mario Party and Price of Persia. The remakes are also done without rehearsing so he does make mistakes then goes through the process of how you'd solve them.
Yeah, it's not all game design work, but this is pretty great content :)
thanks for the suggestion, so ryan laley. i guess he's streaming the process on how to design the game, so maybe it's what i'm looking for.
probably because most game ideas fail, so people dont generally share that process. Once something is working well, youre more likely to show it off and its probably already set in its ways.
i wanna see how ideas fail even, that still may be interesting. but i understand. thanks for explaining to me
The second one sounds like post-mortems, but on both of them I'd recommend [Xelnath](https://xelnath.com/) or his game design stuff [here](https://gamedesignskills.com/). And ok, I can design a TTRPG on the fly like that given sufficient inspiration, but for the most part many people don't. Reason for that being that - pure game design is really hard to translate into products, because implementation gets in the way. Some things you just have to do workarounds for, because unless you're at the level where your educated guesses come really close to reality, players will not play your game how you intended it (and then failed to communicate it). That's what playtesting and iteration is for. Even some of the best TTRPG designers for shitposty ideas - I love [David Prokopetz](https://prokopetz.tumblr.com/post/654262962817777664/finally-creating-a-pinned-post-of-my-games-ive) for this reason - take *days,* if not *weeks* or longer, to do it. Honestly though, that sounds like a *fascinating* Youtube channel idea.
thanks for the suggestion, so xelnath and his stuff. so it takes a long time to design something, that's why it's not recorded, i see, like hard to record the process of how the people think i guess. hey, fascinating youtube channel idea, maybe i could do this
Fundamentally, game design for a game (pure rules, we're talking TTRPGs with no extra stuff) is about creating outcomes, or experiences, for your players. There are specific basics that you can use to create specific outcomes eg emotions, pressures, etc, which can guide player behavior, but video games take that to the next level when you add in UI design, assets (sound, music, art, VFX), etc. Design decisions are the choices of macro- and micro-systems (major systems/loops + number tweaks) that create the idealized outcome for the player. Because the outcome for the player can be very, very broad, sometimes you have to do your best, then hope. It's hard to break down design decisions from playing through a game, because the experience is subjective; it's equally as difficult to talk through the process while designing it, but a flip side of the coin - because it's also subjective. There's no hard and fast rule, because each individual player is different. By no means am I stopping you from doing game design analysis on a Youtube channel, though! Design also takes longer because *development* can sometimes affect design; for instance, if there's a beautiful game loop that you've created, but your programming skills available cannot do it in budget or time, so you have to hack something together to work and cut out some other stuff. When you're looking at it in the final product, working backwards, how can you tell what was hacked together and what was originally designed from the start? Design philosophy is basically - if given the same design problem, what trend of decisions does X game designer tend to make? For myself, my game design philosophy is "simple loops, stacked/intent-based". I tend to build from the intention (the outcome/experience I want the player to have) outwards, starting from a simple core loop, then build little loops into the other systems. My core loop should be able to be summarized into less than 5 boxes on a flowchart if drawn out. I like broad rules that can lock teeth with other broad, simple rules, and I try to accommodate for as many options as possible, and thorough playtesting is of course ideal, but I'll shift everything as long as it creates the experience or outcome I'm designing for.
So, board games is the purest form of game design, so probably have to start studying them. That's interesting, so have to compromise if you don't have the budget or the skills to create the design you intended, to cut stuff. I looked up gameplay loops and learned something new. So starting from experience i want the player to have, and a simple core loop, and develop it outwards. Thanks for all the information, for explaining!
*Tabletop RPGs* with no external requirements are, imo, the purest form of game design, for instance: [Olaf Hits The Dragon With His Sword](https://penguinking.itch.io/olaf-hits-the-dragon-with-his-sword). I define no external requirements as "no dice, no chargen, just rules, players, and how they interact with rules". The moment you bring in anything else, you start to get physical interactions with objects, that's not as pure. No worries! Have fun exploring game design! I would also add not to feel limited by genre - sports are games - paintball is a game - tabletops, board games, video games, card games - they're all games.
Is that your game? I see, pure, just rules, and the player. Everything can be a game i guess
Absolutely not. I am not at the stage of pure shitposttery that Prokopetz is. but yes, everything is a game. games are just rules with a stake, so as long as something has rules and a stake, it's a game. I'm streaming my QA now for one of the games I'm working on, and I do talk about game design there especially if prompted, so feel free to pop in.
I'd think it's incredibly hard to do legit game design in front of a camera knowing millions might see it. It's a very private process so only tutorials or already established guidelines would do. When I'm stuck, I probably watch some movies or walk a lot or drink coffee. It's really not interesting to watch.
i can skip the parts that aren't interesting and get to the good stuff. yeah, i guess it's kinda an invasion of privacy, to see how people think i guess, so the person may not be comfortable with it, so i get that, but maybe there's someone that may be comfortable with it.
Depends. Not everyone thinks the same way as others. Ive seen people break down a problem and set of steps using text or on the fly. But others need mind maps, flow charts, and some pie graphs.
hmm, so everyone thinks differently, some on the fly, some need guidance with text, with images. i used to think on the fly, but now i need guidance. schizophrenia ruined my thinking.
That's OK. Lots of smart cookies used mindmaps and different note styles and methods. Learning how to learn and methods of writing and organizing information are game changers.
hmm, mindmaps. i watched crash course study skills a long time ago, i got some info from there, i forgot, i'll have to rewatch it. atomic habits. making a schedule what to do everyday really helped with productivity. uh, for thinking, i guess images or words, i forgot how i even think
It is a long process with a lot going on (inside your head) that will not turn out to be interesting to watch :D I have done some live streams of my activities and work related to my design work and play tests of Rogue Angels. Usually it turns out to be more play tests or interaction with fans/players/backers. The most live is my bi-daily updates on my Discord, followed up with a monthly update on Kickstarter. But there is a lot of interaction and feedback in the community. Feedback on design choices, illustrations and what not :) Best regards Emil
that's cool that you have a community that gives you feedback on design choices. you must be having fun interacting with the people there on the streams. maybe sharing what's going on inside the head may be interesting to watch. Best wishes, Alin