What Does it Mean to Analyze Game Design?
What Does it Mean to Analyze Game Design?
What Does it Mean to Analyze Game Design?
By Josh Bycer
January 30, 2023
Summary
If there's one aspect of the game industry that is as mysterious as game design, it's game analysis.
A review is meant to put an objective measure on the quality of a game for the consumer, whereas an analysis is meant to study a game and figure out whether or not the design worked as intended.
There is a huge difference when you say, "Game X did this and I liked it more than game Y" vs. "Game X did this, and so game Y is horrible for not doing it."
Growing your understanding of game design and analysis means taking a look at a game you hate and figuring out why someone would like to play it.
Fun = Good, Unfun = Bad. An important aspect of design analysis is being able to look beyond your preference of a game and look at the genre qualifiers and the audience for which the game is aiming.
You can talk about evolutions in the genre and game design practices when examining classic games; especially with UI/UX. But, there is a difference between saying "This classic game doesn't use systems invented 10 years later and is bad because of it" and a more reasonable take like, "While the game worked, later examples of the genre would go on to play like X and hold up better thanks to it."
For more about my analysis on game design genres, check out the "Game Design Deep Dive" series available where books are sold.
Reference
Bycer, J. (2023, January 30). What does it mean to analyze game design? SUPERJUMP. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://www.superjumpmagazine.com/what-does-it-mean-to-analyze-game-design/