#16 - The Art of Game Design - Chapters 2 and 3

Chapter 2 - The Designer Creates an Experience

The entire purpose to creating a game is to create for the consuming player, a memorable experience that the player can take with them beyond the game.  The question of how to create an experience and even defining an experience are difficult ones.  There are a number of fields involved, and for me, psychology and anthropological views are some of the ones closest to my studies.  The chapter culminates in the very first lens in the book:

Lens #1: The Lens of Essential Experience.  Think about what is most important in the game to relay to them as an experience, and focus on bringing that to life.

Chapter 3 - The Experience Rises out of a Game

In this chapter, we seem to be concerned primarily with defining the field of games itself by describing definitions of key words such as "Game", and "Fun".

Lens #2: The Lens of Surprise: Not everything in your game should be predictable.  Surprise is a necessary element.
Lens #3: The Lens of Fun: Is your game fun?  That is, does it entertain players?
Lens #4: The Lens of Curiosity: Consider player motivations.  Entertainment is also engagement.
Lens #5: The Lends of Endogenous Value: Consider what is valuable to the player in the game, in terms of why the player is even there to begin with.
Lens #6: The Lens of Problem Solving: Challenges are necessary in a game as well.  And problem solving is one way to provide challenges.