I recently gave an hour long webinar on casual game design for the International Game Developers Association. The talk touched on some of the ground I cover in my book, "Casual Game Design." (http://bit.ly/aFDxd7) I also gave a very brief analysis of some of the design decisions that informed our iPhone Gigaputt. The slides provide a visual guide to the ideas illustrated in the talk (though they make much more sense with the audio). If I can get the audio from the IGDA I will post it here as well. In the presentation I try to define casual games and define some defining characteristics of casual play. I also touch on the importance of developing a mental model to explain games before going into the process of being a game designer. After laying this initial groundwork I look at some specific games and the mechanics that comprise the gameplay.

1. Designing Play for the Gamer in All of Us

5. What do I mean by casual games?

7. A history of casual games in three parts

12. Principles of casual game design

14. 1. Rules & goals must be clear.

16. 2. Reach proficiency quickly.

18. 2. Game adapts to player’s life & schedule.

20. 4. Borrow from the familiar.

21. We all know what games are, right?

28. A mental model of games

29. Intrinsic

30. System of Rules

31. Goal

32. Extrinsic

33. Voluntary

34. Separate

35. Uncertain

36. Then there’s the succinct definition:

37. “Voluntary effort to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” Bernard Suits

38. The role of the game designer.

39. Transform the moment of play

40. into a game.

41. Core idea

42. Clear goals

43. Spec/write the rules

44. Build

45. Playtest

46. Iterate

47. Have a broad appetite

52. Journey to the End of the Night

55. Hopscotch Highways

58. Ran some, ransom

60. Mechanics

61. Matching

63. Too little.

64. Too much.

65. New games from tweaks to old mechanics

66. Never forget

67. Constraints are crucial.

68. Sorting

69. Limited choices

70. More legibility

71. More choices

72. Less legibility

73. No replacement

74. With replacement

75. Bouncing, Tossing, Rolling & Stacking

76. Exploring the system

77. Exploring the system

78. Exploring the system

79. Gravity

80. provides

81. drama.

82. Variability allows for skill.

83. Beyond games

85. People love collecting stuff

86. And they like recognition

87. Play to the completist

88. An example of our design process Make a casual real-world game

89. Our challenges

94. Our goals

98. Our answer

119. Study the mechanics

120. Evolve new systems

121. Today’s casual player

122. Is tomorrow’s hardcore gamer.

123. That’s it. Any questions?

124. www.giganticmechanic.com gtrefry@giganticmechanic.com