Tutorial: A Designer''s Reflection on Game Design Considering Players'' Emotions

Hamna Aslam (University of Toulouse, FranceJ and Joseph Alexander Brown, Abstract: Emotions and perceptions are associated with each play experience. Therefore, players' potential emotional outcomes must be regarded at an early stage of game design. Games are usually designed with a theme or mechanics setup as a starting point. However, only after the theme and mechanics are laid out, the player experience can be investigated. This tutorial entails a process that prioritizes and ensures that gameplay can (to a great extent) achieve the designer�s goal for player experience and emotions along with desired mechanics and settings. This design process includes several questions for the designer. These questions help game designers reflect on the mechanics to identify players� potential emotional outcomes.
This tutorial aims to demonstrate to the audience how to design a game, taking into account the player�s emotional outcomes and the designer�s intended theme and mechanics. Playtesting is a crucial part of the development process; however, a designer can obtain an understanding of a player�s emotional journey at a point when they have only decided on some broader details and ideas about the game. The player�s mental process cannot be assumed without a playtest and investigation as players are diverse, and so are their gameplay experiences. This tutorial aims at helping designers to formulate the game template with possible emotional outcomes that they deem closer to players� mental processes.