One of the biggest challenges for game developers who are starting their career, especially Game Designers, is to acquire versatility as a professional when experiencing the development of different genres, on different platforms or simply getting out of their usual place.
Usually, those who start in Game Dev seek to materialize their dreams, create narratives that they have already thought of from beginning to end in that universe, express their art in a project that fully adopts their favorite aesthetics or simply feel represented through a playful experience, since it is very common that they started their career because they loved those same experiences.
Within all this exercise in versatility and almost forced experimentation that takes Devs out of their comfort zone, none is more complicated than leaving the sphere of Entertainment Games.
The main reference when we talk about Games for anyone in the last thirty years will, as a rule, be the reference of AAA products created by big developers or Indie gems that were developed more recently and gained a vast amount of fans for their intimate and empathetic tone. .
Getting out of it, therefore, is almost an affront. It would be like trying to imagine what it would be like to make a game if it were not, in fact, a game, but something that is inside a game platform and uses game commands.
There is a vast discussion about what is or is not a Game and we know where it goes when we start this academic conversation, but putting this dilemma into practice, leaving the mindset of Entertainment Games becomes immensely complicated when Devs are faced with, for example, Games of Impact.
Serious Games, News Games, Gamifications, Simulators… Any type of product that has enough similarities to look like a game, but enough differences to not be treated as an entertainment product already receives natural hostility from a good part of the community. Rancid even, depending on the case.
But the point is that an Impact Game is a great way to break out of the game development bubble into something that can truly enrich you as a professional. It’s almost a journey of discovery, where you go into the unknown and come back with more wisdom and new skills. A Dev Hero’s Journey, if you will.
Impact projects, if done well, demand a strong sense of awareness and purpose on the part of those who develop them. An Educational Game, for example, should not be just a prettier means of transmitting the same content in the same way, but rather an experience that uses the immersion potential of games to enhance the learning outcome.
The same goes for Gamifications, which in the ideal world would be based on a conscious study of the Target Audience, their Motivational Profiles and the triggers that could be provoked through mechanics and systems designed to obtain better engagement results from this audience.
This exercise, although important in the creation of an entertainment project, is constantly neglected in favor of other aspects of the product that are more striking and expressive on the part of the developer, such as a complex narrative or an elaborate work of art direction.
The point is that, while the flashy elements are cool and interesting, they are the first layer of something much more complex, since the differential of a game is exactly in its capacity as an interactive medium. These qualities, on the other hand, are only perceived through a calculated analysis and knowledge, in addition to a more conscious process oriented to the resolution of that challenge, which characterizes Design, by the way.
That said, it’s a shame that Devs have this aversion to this type of project, which in addition to great Game Design exercises are also common alternatives for the financial maintenance of smaller companies that can seek customers easier to reach than large corporations in rounds of international business.
Here’s a tip for anyone interested in Game Design: look for good impact games, play and design some of your own experiences. You will see how this exercise can help a lot to understand how to highlight the best features of your entertainment projects and make them better games!
