What do you do if you want to design games for different genres?

Research! 1. Play several games of the genre - new and old to understand not only the common principles but also to see its evolution. 2. Check out other media with similar themes. 3. Look for examples of those principles in the real world. 4. Create a shortlist of elements necessary for the design to fit into the genre. 5. Prepare a short demo design and a prototype for my friends to test.

I think the first thing you need is a deep understanding of the genre. It does not mean you have to play a lot of games from that genre, rather you have enough understanding to break it down into core parts without which it wouldn't be in the genre. Once you understand the core parts you can start imagining different innovations to that to improve the player experience.

When it comes to making games from different genres, I like to break down some popular games from those genres and see what they have in common with each other, and then what sets them apart from games in other genres. What separates genres from a ludology and narratology standpoint? Once you identify these different elements, you can list them down and start to think about all the ways these pieces connect and merge together. If you want to approach a genre you haven't explored yet, figure out what similarities it has to projects you've previously shipped. Doing some research on the development of popular games in whatever genre is a great starting point too.

While it is definitely useful to have a minimum gaming culture and understand genre basics, nobody plays a game because it's of genre X. Nobody starts a project thinking "hmm I want to make the next generic RTS game", a game should start from a somewhat new and interesting idea or concept then you can find elements from genres that match or add to the concept.

Technological innovation and advancement will further optimize the performance of the products, making it more widely used in downstream applications. Likewise, Consumer behavior analysis and market dynamics (drivers, restraints, opportunities) provides crucial information for knowing the Social Gaming markets. Utilizing industry trends to set SWOT placements is also key for designing the next viral hit

As a game developer, I recognize the importance of immersing myself in the gaming culture in order to stay informed about player preferences and emerging trends. This involves actively engaging with platforms such as gaming forums, conventions, and social media that offer valuable insights into what excites players.

Understanding industry trends is essential for designing games across different genres, but it's equally crucial to explore the motivations and preferences of players within each genre. Simply following mainstream trends may not be enough; immerse yourself in specific communities and subcultures associated with your target genres. Engage with players on forums, attend gaming conventions, and use social media to understand their interests. Thorough research within each genre will reveal nuanced trends and preferences, helping your designs resonate with players and showcasing your adaptability as a game designer.

Don't forget about the content creators. You can learn a lot about the game and its genre, and how the community as a whole feels about them. Not only from the Youtube, Twitch, or TikTok videos themselves, but the various chats and comment reactions to that content. These viewers are likely the same people that may be interested in what you are making.

Step one. Emerge yourself in online communities, like forums and those on platforms. Step two. Distance yourself from the gaming industry at large and observe what happens outside your field of view. Opportunities and Competition don’t just come from the inside, they are present in greater numbers outside your own domain. See what’s new on TV, on social media, and in the world. Games, as an art form, are a carnival mirror image of the world.

Study your competition and innovate, You need to think long-term if you want to maintain constant evolution of your design methods. Consider all the possible outcomes of your actions and plan accordingly.

While it's important to critically play games across various genres, it's equally crucial to analyze the underlying mechanics that drive player engagement. To truly master game mechanics, take a holistic approach by deconstructing gameplay elements like resource management, combat systems, or puzzle-solving mechanics. Understand what makes these mechanics compelling and how they contribute to the overall player experience. By evaluating and synthesizing these mechanics, you'll gain valuable insights to adapt or innovate upon them in your own game designs.

While playing, deconstructing and taking notes on the underlying elements of each game's mechanics is a useful skill, the most important thing to take in mind is the final experience that each mechanic or a combination of mechanics gives to the player. Understanding and being able to describe this final experience is what gives a lot of clarity to the way a game uses those mechanics. Understanding the final experience gives you the power to understand the vision of the game. And this in turn helps you notice the little changes in the way those mechanics are tweaked, which ultimately makes that vision palpable by the player.

Avoid becoming dominated by a singular idea, but instead play games as a study on what makes them thick and unique. Adopt everything common in the industry, then find a niche. There are no games in a genre that are a haven for every need. People who play Baldur’s Gate might not like Diablo or Dungeon Siege, yet all 3 are RPGs.

mechanics empower players to feel like they're in control of their experience. Understanding your target audience's core motivations helps you design mechanics that directly address their desires. Understanding the mechanics of various genres empowers designers to craft experiences tailored to specific player preferences.

Build the baseline story beats for your design, avoid huge sprawling narratives as they often get lost in the shuffle, being an indie dev is about telling more with less

Enhancing your storytelling abilities involves more than just creating a narrative; it's about constructing immersive worlds and meaningful player encounters that leave a lasting impact even after the game ends. While traditional creative writing courses can provide valuable insights, it's worth considering expanding your horizons to explore interactive storytelling techniques specifically tailored to game design. Delve into narrative design workshops or courses that focus on game development to deepen your understanding of how storytelling intertwines with gameplay mechanics.

The narrative is one of the most important factors when it comes to telling a story. Creating a logical and believable world and story is not always easy. The best narratives are the ones that are not influenced by all the "modern" problems. If you already know where the narrative would go, it's helpful to consume as many examples of inspiration as you can, again always looking at the community for what your potential target audience may or may not like within the narrative. If you target core fans from established IPs can take advantage of this fact by respecting the fans and the material.

- Keep the lore vast but vague in order to allow for changes down the road. - Focus on creating a character-rich story. They will be the narrative color of the game. - Make the story players-driven as much as possible but take into consideration your budget and the development time frame. - Don’t get attached to any “good” ideas, stay open. - Add Lateral Thinking when designing player choices. Just because the text, audio, and other feedback says that a player needs to do “this and that”, does not mean that they can’t take a different approach.

Keep in mind that working with narrative also involves implicit information that will influence the player’s experience. A strong implicit narrative can be based on simple factors that give significant meaning to the game. For example, constructing a world similar to Earth already includes various elements like physics and chemistry that players will understand, even if they are not explicitly mentioned in the narrative. This type of storytelling can serve as a solid foundation for creating any coherent world, resulting in even greater player immersion.

GET FEEDBACK From everyone, mostly people who don't even like games. This feedback gives you fresh eyes perspective and will help you build a game for the masses and not just for yourself

Player experience demands also vary by genre and by the context in which the game is played. In single player games the game interaction, sounds etc set the tone of the experience. Many single player adventure and fantasy games aim to grant the player a feeling of mastery and achievement, casting them as an heroic figure. By contrast, players of horror games are seeking a different experience. For this reason, when playtesting it’s important to gather information about player’s emotional responses to the gameplay!

Crafting exceptional player experiences (PX) is essential in game design, going beyond mechanics and narratives. PX covers all aspects of player interaction, from user interface design to the story's emotional impact. To enhance PX, focus on extensive playtesting and feedback from a diverse player base. This approach helps identify issues and ensures your game appeals to a wide audience. Additionally, use UX design principles to improve player interactions and immersion. Prioritizing PX in game design philosophy leads to memorable experiences for players in any genre.

Today player experience is what separates great games from ok games. What is important is to build into your game, prototypes, and playtests an open forum to talk about the player experience of your game. Think of it as UX vs UI. Focus on what makes the game feel fun, and immersive and what players want to see more of in games of that genre. For example, do they want script events, couch co-op, more single-player, or more multiplayer, what would make it feel more immersive and fun? Do the controls make sense with the genre, does the gameplay work, or just feel tacked on? If you are creating puzzles, do they feel intuitive and can be solved, if you are doing survival horror does it feel like a scary game or too much action?

Check the reviews of top earners and low performers on every platform that allows for reviews, like Steam, the Apple Store, and Google Play. You’re looking for the negative reviews on both, as they have more value than the positive ones. Players tend to cry about every inconvenience they find and where multiple converge you end up seeing a pattern. Please take into consideration that reviews may also be tampered with by developers and publishers to make their products look better than reality. So, be cautious when reading good reviews.

Embrace flexibility and adaptability to navigate the dynamic landscape of game design, especially when working across various genres. Understand that each project comes with unique challenges, requiring a customized approach for success. What works in one genre may not work in another, so be open to new tools, techniques, and methods to switch between different design styles. See experimentation as vital to your creative process, encouraging innovation and pushing the boundaries of traditional game design. By maintaining a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation, you can improve your designs and inject excitement and fulfillment into the design process, propelling you to new creative heights.

Nothing is ever fixed. Same applies to Game Design. What today is a novelty for one genre, tomorrow will be a requirement for other games in the same genre. Just like any country, any language, any culture, Game Design is very much alive and evolving each year. Embrace this and you'll be able to adapt to any change in this field.

In order to work on different projects or companies on various projects you have to be able to adapt to the style of the project. Learn and practice different styles like realism, stylized, etc… and you’ll be good to go.

You must learn what strategies work best for your clients' needs. You need to ensure their requirements are met and that you leave them satisfied for your obligation as well as recommendations. Practice the skills necessary for their genre of game and keep them updated on your rough drafts to see what can be improved as well as what they appreciate from your creativity. You can do anything you put your mind to and that includes learning new game design to expand your abilities.

A lot of genres are bloated with games that are very similar or feel like cheap knock-offs of each other. Many games come out that feel like you are just paying for the game it is copying and it isn't as good, so why bother playing it? Recently there have been some games like Atomic Heart that were ill-received because it felt like a cheap knockoff of Bioshock and weren't nearly as good. Dark Souls launches an entire sub-genre, and lots of games that come out that are soul-like are a lot of fun. But some are made to be a bit easier but using the same format, to bring more players to the genre. Some added more stories to the games through cutscenes to be easier to follow, and others added unique mechanics (like guns) to make them feel fresh.

ML algorithms can be trained to analyze games and identify patterns that define different genres. This can help designers understand the core mechanics, themes, and aesthetics that players associate with specific genres. and by analyzing player data(reviews, playtime, engagement metrics), ML can predict how players from different demographics or with certain personality types might respond to various mechanics and genre elements. This can inform design decisions to create targeted experiences within a genre.ML can be used to generate new levels, quests, or even narratives that adhere to the established conventions of a particular genre. This allows designers to focus on the core experience while creating content for a specific genre .

Experiment with each genre by building small prototypes, of the core mechanics. Create a little dev log for each and keep updating your online portfolio with either new prototypes or updates to your existing prototype library. This will not only increase your design vocabulary but also offer an opportunity to find your niche.

ML algorithms can be trained to analyze games and identify patterns that define different genres. This can help designers understand the core mechanics, themes, and aesthetics that players associate with specific genres. and by analyzing player data(reviews, playtime, engagement metrics), ML can predict how players from different demographics or with certain personality types might respond to various mechanics and genre elements. This can inform design decisions to create targeted experiences within a genre.ML can be used to generate new levels, quests, or even narratives that adhere to the established conventions of a particular genre. This allows designers to focus on the core experience while creating content for a specific genre .