Slides from a Tech Tutorial at the Alliance of American Museums annual meeting in Seattle, WA. May 20, 2014. Kellian Pletcher (Green Door Labs), Matt Haselton (Filament Games), and Susan Edwards (J. Paul Getty Trust)

1. “The basics of building games”
(Ten questions to ask yourself and your
collaborators)

2. #1
“Do we want a game?”

3. Let’s define “game”

4. (all games are learning games)

5. 10 (or five) reasons you
want to build a game!

6. #2
“What do you have to
work with?”

7. Three things to consider!

8. “When the game is over, we want players to _______.”
Set Explicit Goals

9. “What luck! We have plenty of __________ to use.”
Identify key resources.

10. “No matter what, we absolutely can’t _________.”
Clarify any restrictions.

11. #3
“What kind of game
achieves our goals?”

12. What experience do
you want?

13. #4
“Can I easily explain my game?”

14. #5
“Who can build this?”

15. Game
Designer
Game
Developers

16. “It takes some people some time to build a game.”
-William Shakespeare

17. #6
“Does it work?”

18. You can
learn lots of
things
before
spending
any money!

19. Your future players will
be your best testers…
and toughest critics.
Does anything need to change?

20. #7
“How do you know when
you’ve got something?”

21. Goals are met?
Game is playable?
Game is balanced?
...everything
checks out!

22. #8
“Do you have time for bad
news?”

23. Mistakes will be made.

24. #9
“Where are the people who care
about it?”

25. “I’m here to talk about
a sweet game I made.”
Traditional advertising
can get really
expensive… consider
alternative options!

26. #10
“How long will it last?”

27. Let’s talk about “maintenance”

28. Now, let’s try it!
We’ll provide GOALS, RESOURCES,
AND RESTRICTIONS.
You provide the game.

29. So…
● Pitch the game in 3 sentences
● Link it to your mission
● Name 3 people you’ll approach
to get buy-in

30. Thanks!
@jolifanta
@GreenDoorLabs
@FilamentGames