Games & Virtual Worlds Series

Designing Games & Interactive Stories

Game pillars are a set of core Elements or themes that define a game and give it structure. They are used during game design to guide the development of the game and ensure that all of the different aspects of the game are cohesive and support the overall vision for the game. These pillars are the supplementary mechanics that round out the primary mechanic. The core mechanics of a game are the fundamental features that are used in virtually every playthrough. The pillars of a game are its less ubiquitous and more conditional gameplay elements, which yet have a significant impact on the overall quality of the game.

There are many different ways to define game pillars, but they are often based on the fundamental gameplay mechanics, the story or setting of the game, the art style and visual design, and the desired player experience. The game pillars provide a foundation for the design of the game and help the development team make decisions about how to implement various features and gameplay elements. By focusing on the game pillars, the team can ensure that the game is consistent and coherent, and that it delivers the intended player experience.

Game designers often use “how,” “what,” and “why” questions to come up with ideas for game pillars because these types of questions help them to identify and explore the underlying mechanics and themes of the game.

For example, a designer might ask “how” questions to explore the gameplay mechanics of the game, such as “How will the player move through the game world?” or “How will the player defeat enemies?”

“What” questions can help designers identify the themes and narrative elements of the game, such as “What is the setting of the game?” or “What is the player’s goal?”

Finally, “why” questions can help designers understand the motivations and goals of the player, such as “Why is the player motivated to progress through the game?” or “Why do certain events or actions take place in the game?”

By using these types of questions, game designers can identify the key components of the game and use them to define the game pillars.

Victory conditions refer to the specific criteria that must be met in order for a player or team to win the game. These conditions may be based on achieving a certain score, completing a specific task or objective, or defeating the other players or teams.

If the bad guy is supposed to be captured alive, but you instead return him dead, you will have accomplished the goal but failed to meet the objective. It is helpful to maintain a separation between these two ideas, goal and objective, despite the inevitable closeness of meaning. Motivation to play a game often requires that participants be aware of the game’s goals, although games can feature hidden goals that are exposed later.

Goals are the broader objectives that a player or team is trying to achieve in a game. Goals may be related to the victory conditions, but they can also be more general or long-term. For example, a goal might be to build the most powerful army in a strategy game, or to reach the highest level in a role-playing game.

Objectives are the specific tasks or challenges that a player or team must complete in order to achieve a goal. Objectives are often more specific and time-limited than goals, and they may be a required step on the way to achieving a larger goal.

Victory conditions are the criteria that must be met to win the game, goals are the broader objectives that a player or team is trying to achieve, and objectives are the specific tasks or challenges that must be completed to achieve those goals.

If you and your co-playing friends are trying to find refuge from zombies, but one of you gets bitten, your objective may suddenly shift to either finding a method to get away fast from your soon-to-turn friend or finding a doctor who has a vaccine that will prevent the zombie transformation. Video games make it simple to implement new objectives like these, but tabletop games can do so, too.

Feature Set

A game feature is a specific aspect or element of a game that contributes to the gameplay or player experience. Features can include gameplay mechanics, story elements, character abilities, visual effects, and many other things.

The goals of a good feature set in a game are to enhance the gameplay, increase replay value, and support the overall theme or vision for the game. A well-designed feature set should be balanced and cohesive, with each feature serving a clear purpose and fitting seamlessly into the overall game design.

Deciding whether to add, keep, or remove a feature during the game design process can be challenging. One way to approach this decision is to consider the impact that the feature will have on the game and how it fits with the other features. If a feature is not contributing to the gameplay or player experience in a meaningful way, it may be worth considering removing it. On the other hand, if a feature adds significantly to the game and fits well with the other features, it may be worth keeping or adding it to the game. Game designers are always referring back to the game’s course and pillars when deciding on features.

One danger in the game design process is “feature creep,” which occurs when too many features are added to the game without proper consideration of how they fit together or whether they are necessary. This can lead to a cluttered, unbalanced, or confusing game, and it can also cause delays in development and increase the cost of the game. To avoid feature creep, it is important for game designers to carefully consider the purpose and impact of each feature and to be selective about which features are included in the final game.

Game designer Brenda Romero is fond of pirate examples in her teaching, and suggests features suitable to a pirate game such as:

Steer and modify your own privateer vessel

Acquire more vessels and strengthen your pirate fleet.

Set sail towards uncharted lands and claim what you find.

Plunder and assault harbor cities and islands.

Brandish a lot of bladed implements like swords, scimitars, daggers, and flint pistols.

Expand your realm through loot sales.

Get some more misfits to join your gang.

Engage in open-sea combat with other pirates

Increase your strength by upgrading your ship.

Acquiring new vessels through capturing and controlling others.

Establish your dominance over the seaports and enrich your supply lines.

Hone your swordsmanship talents.

Produce treasure maps to show your allies.

Your game starts to take shape once you have developed your game core, pillars and their associated feature set.

Game Elements

Game elements are all of the parts of a game that are visible or tangible but not necessarily essential to gameplay. These can include things like the game’s art style, character design, music, sound effects, and user interface.

Game elements are an important part of the overall player experience and can contribute to the immersion and enjoyment of the game. However, they are not essential to the gameplay mechanics or the core goals of the game, and they can be changed or removed without affecting the fundamental gameplay.

Examples of game elements might include:

Art style: The visual design and aesthetics of the game, including the character designs, backgrounds, and overall look and feel of the game.

Sound design: The music and sound effects in the game, which can create atmosphere, enhance immersion, and add to the emotional impact of the game.

User interface: The elements of the game that allow the player to interact with it, such as menus, buttons, and other controls.

Story: The narrative and characters of the game, which can provide context and depth to the gameplay, but are not essential to the core mechanics of the game.

Game elements can be an important part of the game design process, as they help to create a cohesive and immersive player experience. However, it is important to ensure that they support and enhance the gameplay, rather than detracting from it.

Related Articles

Ideation, Brainstorming & Innovation

Audiences, Game Titles & Player Types

Prototyping, Playtesting, Iteration & Fun

Affordances, Game Dynamics, Gameplay & Core Loops

Game Worlds, Dimensionality & Time

Environment, Culture & Emotion

Mapping & Wayfinding

Demographics by Age & Sex

Flowcharting, Algorithms & Pseudocode

Game Documentation

Bibliography & Further Reading

• A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design by Anna Anthropy and Naomi Clark
• A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
• Advanced Game Design: A Systems Approach by Michael Sellers
• An Introduction to Game Studies by Frans Mayra
• Basics of Game Design by Michael Moore
• Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier
• Board Game Design Advice: From the Best in the World vol 1 by Gabe Barrett
• Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: an Encyclopedia Of Mechanisms by Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev
• Character Development and Storytelling for Games by Lee Sheldon
• Chris Crawford on Game Design by Chris Crawford
• Clockwork Game Design by Keith Burgun
• Elements of Game Design by Robert Zubek
• Fundamentals of Game Design by Ernest Adams
• Fundamentals of Puzzle and Casual Game Design by Ernest Adams
• Game Design Foundations by Brenda Romero
• Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton
• Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design by Ernest Adams and Joris Dormans
• Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames edited by Chris Bateman
• Games, Design and Play: A detailed approach to iterative game design by Colleen Macklin and John Sharp
• Introduction to Game Systems Design by Dax Gazaway
• Kobold Guide to Board Game Design by Mike Selinker, David Howell, et al
• Kobold’s Guide to Worldbuilding edited by Janna Silverstein
• Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, 2nd Edition by Scott Rogers
• Narrating Space / Spatializing Narrative: Where Narrative Theory and Geography Meet by Marie-Laure Ryan, Kenneth Foote, et al.
• Narrative Theory: A Critical Introduction by Kent Puckett
• Narrative Theory: Core Concepts and Critical Debates by David Herman, James Phelan, et al.
• Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, Fourth Edition by Mieke Bal
• Practical Game Design by Adam Kramarzewski and Ennio De Nucci
• Procedural Storytelling in Game Design by Tanya X. Short and Tarn Adams
• Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing by Wendy Despain
• Rules of Play by Salen and Zimmerman
• Storyworlds Across Media: Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology (Frontiers of Narrative) by Marie-Laure Ryan, Jan-Noël Thon, et al
• Tabletop Game Design for Video Game Designers by Ethan Ham
• The Art of Game Design, 3rd Edition by Jesse Schell
• The Board Game Designer’s Guide: The Easy 4 Step Process to Create Amazing Games That People Can’t Stop Playing by Joe Slack
• The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative by H. Porter Abbott
• The Grasshopper, by Bernard Suits
• The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies by Bernard Perron and Mark J.P. Wolf
• The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory by David Herman
• The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design by Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten
• Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design by Gordon Calleja
• Video Game Storytelling: What Every Developer Needs to Know about Narrative Techniques by Evan Skolnick
• Writing for Video Game Genres: From FPS to RPG edited by Wendy Despain
• Writing for Video Games by Steve Ince
• 100 Principles of Game Design by DESPAIN

Acknowledgement

This online courseware was co-authored with OpenAI technology in order to produce a clear, succinct writing style that will be accessible to the widest range of readers from a variety of backgrounds.

Pillars, Goals, Features & Elements was originally published in Sound & Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.