What are the principles of creating an engaging game? By Andrew Ohonde

 Gaming at its essence is the culmination of humanity’s desire for control and the encapsulating aspiration to escape from our reality and enter one’s fantasy. The escape from the hardships and sorrows of life is what most games offer to their players and is a reason as to why it is so popular with the young generation, acting as a temporary cure to their rising depression. To enable this escape, game developers follow the most fundamental principles of an engaging game – to absorb the player with entertaining mechanics, having an intriguing plot and general playability.

A principal factor in creating fun and intuitive mechanics is movement. Whether it is a side-scroller, or a first-person role-playing game, the movement of the character and/or camera is key to captivating the player and creating the most amusement. An outstanding example of movement in a game is Titanfall 2, which utilizes wall running, double jumps, and sprinting at a fast pace. Its movement is undoubtedly the main appeal of the game and sprung it into popularity. It is also crucial to have mechanics compatible with the game type; redundant mechanics that are futile for the genre create a lack of engagement and appeal for the game.

Furthermore, according to a study conducted in 2007, playability is an important measure of whether a game will be engaging and entertaining. For example, Cyberpunk 2077 was a highly anticipated game in the gaming community and was thought to be the future of gaming. However, the game was contained with horrendous bugs that prevented many players from finishing the game, let alone buying it – it was practically unplayable. This caused majority of the consumers to express disappointment and discourage others from purchasing the game. These issues were a result of inadequate time for the developers because executives at CD PROJEKT RED rushed the game out.

Of course, unique, and engaging mechanics cannot be fully utilized without another principle – an intriguing plot. Games are a fantastic medium to present plots in any fashion. Some games let the story take the forefront, while others have little emphasis on the story or no story at all. The expectations of plotlines differ greatly with the genre and must be met accordingly to ensure player satisfaction. A multiplayer shooter is likely to have no plot and emphasize the gameplay loop instead of captivating the player. This provides longevity for the game as there is no story to finish – the player will not abandon the game because they completed the story but instead will leave when it gets repetitive, which can be managed by the developers. Contrastingly, games that emphasize stories such as Detroit Become Human, often have a shorter average playtime, but can retain the player more than multiplayer games.

It is evident that these three principles of game design (along with others) greatly contribute to the overall enjoyment for the player and must be focused on in game design to ensure that player retention and satisfaction are maximized. Successful games use these principles as a building block before branching out into new and unseen features which are vital to ensuring a game is good.