The truth of 10 users that game designers need to know

In my effort to be the best game designer, I read the book "Things Every Designer Needs to Know" by Susan Weinschenk, which lists the physical characteristics of human vision, As well as social interactions and patterns of emotional state and many other facts. The book focuses on web design, but many of these facts are also closely related to game design, so I think it is necessary to share with you the experience.

100_things (from Nothingsacredgames)

　1) 9% males and 5% females are color-blind

If you're like me, you know the importance of designing for color-blind users, but you can never be sure how to do that. Weinschenk points out that almost all color-blind users are red-green-blind, which means they have difficulty distinguishing red, green, and yellow, but others do not recognize blue and yellow, or do not see any color at all.

Weinschenk also provides some help for designers to consider color-blind players (whose population ratio will be near 5%!) The tools of demand. Colorblind Web page filter You can view a Web page from a color-blind user (a developer can enter a picture of the game into the page and view its color at the same time).

Color_blind (from Nothingsacredgames)

Are you a successful game designer who can hire a graphic designer to consider the appearance of a game? I suggest you understand the problem of color blindness. This not only allows you to better communicate with the graphic designer, let the other party know more about your plan, but also make sure that your game can be accepted by the color blindness Group.

　　2 people will remember only 4 things at a time

It turns out that people can remember less than 4 things at a time, so keep that in mind when designing a game. It's good to give extra rewards to players who can remember more, but never ask players to remember more than 4 things.

One exception is that people can "block" information. With this strategy, people can integrate things into one thing (game State Note: Remember, for example, "Two blue cards, three red cards" rather than individual memories). It's best to make your game elements scalable, although players don't need to remember more than 4 things at once.

　　3 story form is the best way for people to deal with information, for example, the best practice for people to acquire knowledge

I combine the two because I think they are intimately connected. Stories are one of the original ways people experience the world, and for example, they can transform rules and systems into stories that are easier to digest and understand.

I think this can help game designers in two ways. First, it emphasizes the importance of the theme of the game. Most importantly, the game is just a system, but the theme allows people to understand the system, partly because they turn the game into a story.

Second, you should incorporate examples into your own rules. I am not very good at it personally, but I will do more in this area in the future. Some people can deal with a set of rules, but most people do not, even those who can digest the rules, may benefit from the example of integration.

　4) Sustained attention is only about 10 minutes

It turns out that the internet is not the culprit in destroying the breadth of attention ... The breadth of our attention is inherently fragile. Even if it's a very interesting thing, people will only devote 7-10 minutes to it, and then the thoughts will begin to wander. The good news is that getting people to take a break will give them another 10 minutes of continuous attention.

I have two suggestions for this. First, make sure your players are able to get some rest during the game, especially when the game is lengthy. Controlling the length of the game and allowing players to play games more than once a night may be better.

Second, make your rules simple and clear. It may take more than 10 minutes for the game leader to read the rules, but make sure that the leader can explain the rules to the new player in 10 minutes or less, or else you will only get players who are not focused on the game.

　5 The more people get closer to the target, the more motivated they are.

The more people get closer to accomplishing their goals, the more motivated they are, which means they are more excited and focused when they approach the target. If you want to make a game that contains an ideal theater arc, you need to pay attention to two things:

Goal_motivation_graph (from Nothingsacredgames)

First, make sure that the player has a secondary goal throughout the game. If you expect a player to have only one big goal, the beginning of the game is less appealing because the player is not able to achieve any goals at this point.

Second, make sure your game ends immediately when the player completes a large target. While it's not improper to give players some cool time to calm down from an orgasm, you certainly don't want the game to end up being too sloppy because the player's final experience in the game should generally be one of the most decisive experience segments.

　　6 intrinsic rewards can inspire people's enthusiasm more than external rewards

People play games for a variety of reasons, but accumulating victory points or virtual currencies is not one of them. As a game designer, you can only provide some immediate and meaningless rewards for the player, but the game space you create can instill real meaning into these false rewards.

In designing games, keep in mind the true meaning of people playing games. They play games to boost self-esteem (they want to feel smart, creative and fun). They play games to socialize and meet new people (they like to connect with others and improve their social status by showing off). They play games for excitement and feeling good about themselves (they like to be surprised or have suspense). People play games to experience different personalities and to gain a sense of belonging. Whatever intrinsic rewards you provide in the game, make sure they support the real reason for the player's experience of the game.

　7 Laughter can make people's relationship more closely

Remember, your game is not a system manipulated by robots. Your game is the activity that people play in social situations. People get to know each other by playing your game and spend valuable time together.

Humor is an excellent way to get people closer to the game. You might want to add some jokes, and it's best to let the players create some jokes themselves.

Even serious games can allow players to chat happily by implanting silly interactions or names. Anyway, it's best to make your players laugh ... People love to laugh, so if your game makes them laugh, you can make them happy.

　　8) people like accidents.

This can be seen from almost any modern game with Solitaire or dice, but it can also add some randomness to the game because it makes people feel good. But in addition to randomness, also consider the unexpected elements outside the game. For example, the more people play in the Risk Legacy, the more they will discover something new, and a game like Dominion, which contains a lot of extended content, allows the player to guess what will happen next.

　　9 people are happier when they are busy

It turns out that people don't like to sit idle. I once said that it is one of the most important responsibilities of a game designer to keep players engaged. You should try to make sure that players don't do nothing in the game and assign them something to pass the time. Plan ahead for their next move (but don't expect them to do it), but according to my personal experience, let the players do something (game State Note: For example, the roads and colonies in Settlers of Catan) is a good strategy.

　　10 The more difficult things to achieve, the more people like

When people have to take some time to get something, they will pay more attention to its value. I guess that's why people like to use what they need to buy, not free products.

Overcoming challenges can bring satisfaction to gamers. Setting a killer skill set, or Dickens to defeat the ultimate boss, can make the player more complacent.

The lesson here is, don't let your game be too easy. In the industry there is a tendency to simplify the design of the game ... Creating barriers to users may be one of the reasons why game design is so unique in various design areas. Even so, many game designers today are still willing to make very simple games to get a wide range of users. It is best to keep in mind that making the game simpler is a sacrifice to the joy of the player overcoming the challenge.

Also remember that people will enter the state of mind flow. While it is important to create challenges for players, don't let them be too difficult and frustrating. This is more difficult for non-digital games, but as a game designer, you have to try to make sure that your game doesn't get out of touch with the player's skill level.