MicroGames

Level Up! - The Guide to Great Video Game Design

By Scott Rodgers

‘A minigame is a simple game created to provide variety’ and ‘A microgame is a minigame that takes seconds to play’. Reading this, I feel that the games that I am going to make will be leaning towards microgames more than mingames.

The challenge of microgames for the player is figuring out how to play them in the short allotted time. They are quick and easy to make and offend represent more complex player activities. The author believes that any activity could be represented by a minigame and gives a few examples of some that already exist. Lock picking and cooking dinner being two.

He gives several tips on making minigames. Keeping the controls simple is a must as they imply ‘easy-to-learn’ gameplay. Keeping the gameplay short, as I am looking at making microgames, I am going to aim to have the games last 5 – 10 seconds.  

He then goes on to talk about adding new elements to the game with each progression or group progression. I had planned to do something along these lines, when the player completed a set of games, they would progress onto the next difficulty tier. Finally he talks about having a victory or loose condition so the player is not playing forever.

Lastly he talks about some ‘Universal Truths and Clever Ideas’. 

‘Design mechanics, hazards and props that work well with each other’. My understanding of this is that you should not use anything that seems out of place. For example, if you made a game where you were a cat trying to get home by jumping from roof to roof and a load of aliens came down, started shooting everyone that you needed to avoid, they would seem out of place.

‘Good game design is like music: it has a rhythm that the player can feel’. I think this is similar to the above and making sure the game feels nice to play.

‘Games should be challenging but not overly difficult’. This is the one that I will mostly likely struggle with. As I have said before, because I will test the game for bugs again and again, the games to me will feel too easy because I know how to beat them.

‘No rocks on the heads of the player:  be fair when punishing your player’. From other books ive read, it is common knowledge that ‘cheap deaths’ where players are killed without warning, can dishearten some players. However, there have been some games built around the concept of cheap deaths and the other way to win is to die hundreds of times to learn every stage. ‘I want to be the guy’ is a good example of one of these.

‘Be creative: don’t resort to worn-out clichés like crates and whack-a-mole unless you have to.’ I think that this is what the other book was talking about, how to use old ideas but then put your own twist on them.

‘No cat Moustache: don’t make puzzles so cryptic that the player can’t use logic, knowledge, or skill to solve them’. At the start of each of my minigames, I had intended to give a single vague hint along with the controls for the current game. Also, as I am aiming to build micro games, I don’t think there would be enough time for the player to complete a complex challenge.

‘Give the player opportunities to catch their breath by providing plenty of checkpoints’. For my mini games, I have planned them so they will wait until the player chooses to start them. Therefore, if there is a knock at the door or someone starts talking to them, they are able to stop without losing the whole game.

Also in the book, Scott talks about boss battles and progression. I would not include them in the initial pitch but if I had enough time towards the end, I might look at having mini games that acted like boos fights. So when the player completed enough minigames, they had to complete another set game that that was slightly harder before they could play the next tier of minigames. This would give a clear dividing line between difficulties and hopefully a sense of acc