How do you make your game idea shine?

This question bogs you down, and you feel overwhelmed by infinite possibilities; you can’t find that missing piece between a good and memorable game. Adding Themes and Messages to your game gives you an unfair advantage. Your game becomes unique, you can create an audience of players loving your perspective, and you turn your game into a meaningful experience.

This week I’ll show you 4 reasons why focusing on Themes and Messages in your design process sets your game apart. If you don’t know what Themes and Messages are, you can check out the previous episode.

A game can be much more than a pastime in a metro.

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Here they are:

• Your Game Has Internal Coherence
• Your Game Has Meaning
• Your Game Can Resonate
• Your Game Direction Is Stronger

Without further ado, let’s jump right in.

#1: Your Game Has Internal Coherence

The internal coherence of a work of art is the key to its aesthetic value.

First things first, what do we mean by Aesthetic? It’s not just the visual look of a game but the overall Player Experience (you can use the 2 terms interchangeably in games).

A good Player Experience is coherent (ideally) in every element. It’s not about making things realistic but believable; so the player can suspend his beliefs and enjoy the experience. Making things coherent in works of art is difficult, especially in games with many diverse elements to match together (Gameplay, Narrative, Visuals, Sound, etc.).

Adding a Theme and a Message into a game will make it easier.

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Themes and Messages act as the pivot for the entire game aesthetic.

How do you make your game elements coherent? A tricky question to answer, but here's a pretty elegant solution.

Coherence always comes from rules you (the Author) impose on your game and hopefully don't break. Our brain wants coherence; whenever those rules don't break, it reaffirms that coherence. To make a game internally coherent, you must make every element coherent with your Theme and Message. If you do it, you will always design for a reason (to support your Message) and won't need to check if individual elements are coherent with each other.

You can call it "Transitive Property of Coherence". If A is coherent with B and B is coherent with C, so A is coherent with C.

We'll see in the future how this coherence practically applies when generating game ideas based on Themes.

Coherence doesn't have rules; choosing and respecting your rules is coherence.

#2: Your Game Has Meaning

Generating meaning is the purpose of a game.

This may turn some people’s noses up. We will further expand on “the goal of games (and art in general)” in future episodes, but let me make a simple point here.

The reason why many exceptional works of art (Guernica, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Hamlet, Odyssey, etc.) have survived centuries of culture to this day is not entertainment but their meaning. Entertainment is certainly an essential element of games, but it’s not the purpose (if you want to be more than a pastime during the day). People hardly seek meaning in everything, and making players think about a concept they’re interested in will make them love the game even more.

But how does Themes and Messages can help?

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Themes and Messages add a layer of meaning on top of the game.

When designing a game, focusing on Themes and Messages means having something to say about a topic. The linking between a game element and the game Theme means creating metaphors that conceptually bridge the gap between the two.

You rarely manage to do it with every game element, but the more, the better. If you do it with enough elements, you create a layer of meaning on top of the game that becomes the main purpose of the existence of the game itself. Your ideal final result is that the player can get the game’s Message by experiencing it through the game.

It seems an abstract process, but we’ll see how it can be put into a usable and powerful framework.

Now, if your game has meaning, something even more powerful can happen.

#3: Your Game Can Resonate

Player Resonance is the core of a meaningful experience.

What is Player Resonance? It’s a complex topic (more on that in the future as well 😁), but it happens when a player interacts with a game with a Theme he’s interested in.

Player Resonance can trigger an emotional response. The player will link the player with the real world (cause the Theme is part of the real world too). This establishes a bi-directional link between the game and the real world where the player remembers the game when something related to that Theme happens (and vice-versa).

The game has gone way beyond the “Quit Game” button.

Ok, but can this happen even without Themes and Messages?

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A game without Themes and Messages can only resonate by accident.

Wait a second! How can you resonate by accident without Themes and Messages if you need them to resonate in the first place?

When a player interprets a game's meaning, he unconsciously selects a Theme to make sense of what he's experiencing. If you (Game Designer) haven't intentionally added a Theme and a Message, the player will ignore them or make them up. Player interpretation is good, but without you focusing on Themes and Messages, this interpretation will be weak, absent, or random.

So, without having control over it, your game will be (at best) a meaningful experience only by accident.

I bet this is not what you want.

#4: Your Game Direction Is Stronger

The Game Direction is the unavoidable foundation of your game experience.

Making a game without a clear and strong Game Direction is a recipe for disaster. The Game Direction best describes your development goal: the Target Game Experience. It's a vital piece of Game Development for solo and team projects and must be carefully chosen before Pre-Production.

Doing it will make decision-making faster, consistent, and you'll avoid useless discussions on your (or your team's members') personal tastes.

But what do Themes and Messages have to do with Game Direction?

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Themes and Messages are one of the major parts of the Game Direction.

In addition to Game Pillars, and Vision Statement, they are the core of your meaningful game experience. When creating the Game Direction, you must choose the Theme your game will be about and the Message it needs to convey through its experience. We’ll see that it’s not something that you do in 5 minutes and that’s done. Since Themes and Messages are the pivot around which the whole game orbit, you must choose them thoroughly and avoid rushing them.

Themes and Messages are one of the most critical pieces of your Game Direction.

And if you manage them right, they will make your game shine.

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Key Takeaways:

• Themes and Messages are the pivot for your entire Player Experience.
• Themes and Messages create a layer of meaning on top of the game.
• A game without Themes and Messages can only resonate by accident.
• Themes and Messages are one of the major parts of the Game Direction.