When we design games, we tend to think about it in terms of systems and content – that is, as an engineering process. Yet even though games are typically put together in this way, successful games do not attain their success from the quality of the designed systems or their created materials. Success for games, whether commercial or critical, depends upon creating a game that people can fall in love with.

There is a craft to this process, and it’s one that all game designers already understand in their own terms. What this Masterclass offers is frameworks for understanding what you already do as a game designer in terms of three different lenses - Emotions of Play, Player Practices, and Narrative Design - each of which adds clarity not only to how game design takes place, but also as to why players connect to some games and not to others. You can create a brilliant game that will sink without a trace, or a deeply flawed game that gets the wind behind it. This course allows you to understand why the quality of the systems and content is only part of the battle for commercial and artistic success.

Suitable for game designers, narrative designers, and producers at all levels of skill and experience, this Masterclass will level up your own skills and arm you with new weapons and armour to defend you from the slings and arrows of outrageous game development!

Why Take a Masterclass?

Almost anyone can come up with an idea for a game, but not every game ‘works’ in practice. Even the most experienced game designers have to experiment in order to find out what will or won’t bring the thrill of excitement, the warm glow of satisfaction, or the joyous eruption of triumph to their players.

But what if there was another way…

This Masterclass equips you with three insightful perspectives on how and why we enjoy playing games, allowing you to better understand how your own games will satisfy your eventual players. Additionally, by putting into perspective how narrative design is always a part of game design, these workshops will not only help you craft more enjoyable games, they can help you avoid wasting development time on content that isn’t adding value to your eventual players’ experience.

More than this, understanding how the emotions of play integrate with player practices (the actual things that players do in games) can radically increase the chance of your games succeeding, both creatively and commercially.