Some Notes on the Nature of Game Design

The focus of this paper is to have a critical look at the current game design literature through the analytic al lenses of the current state of the art in design research. The aim is not to create yet another prescriptive framework fo r game design but rather an attempt to connect the game de sign studies to general design studies in a stimulating way. We first discuss what has been said about design in general, including industrial and graphic design, engineerin g, architecture, and even software design. We will the n continue discussing game design specifically compar ed to the design in general and point out similarities an d especially differences. This leads us to a somewhat obvious claim that doing game design is an activity similar to any other design field but that the form and the conten t are specific to the game design context. Even though th is claim might sound obvious it has some unexpected consequences: firstly, it grounds game design in the large body o f existing design research and, secondly, it helps in identify ing the crucial activities, forms, contents, and contexts t hat determine the nature of game design. We look at six game design books alongside two distinct but mutually supporting models of design in general . Our focus is in understanding game design as a situated activity and to see how this notion is discussed in the game design literature.