Interesting Decisions. Sid Meier's GDC 2012 Lecture

[NeverMind]

GDC Vault published a free video of Sid Meier's GDC 2012 Lecture "Interesting Decisions".

Long, long ago at a GDC far, far away, I introduced the idea that a useful way of looking at gameplay is as "a series of interesting decisions". This comment has since taken on a life and identity of its own and appears irregularly in theoretical discussions of game play and game design. While I have referred to it on occasion in game design talks, I've never really drilled any deeper into this idea. I propose to examine what types/categories of decisions are inherently interesting. How to we recognize or add these types of decisions, how do we maximize their interest, how does pacing affect decisions. What types of information and feedback are essential to fully immerse the player. Using examples from widely known games we'll examine how interesting decisions can improve your game designs in a way applicable to a wide variety of game types.

Link to video

 

[CoolLizy]

I don't always agree with all his game design philosophies, but Sid Meier tends to be one of my favorite speakers on the subject of game design (another would be Will Wright). Doesn't look like there's a whole lot in this one that he hasn't covered before, but I'm only about twenty minutes in, and it's still interesting nonetheless. It's also good to hear some of the same advice over again sometimes, anyway. I often have a habit of forgetting the simple things.