From documentation and layout to gameplay and balancing, few are more involved in the game creation process than the designer.

Along the way, you’ll be responsible for making sure the core concept remains intact in every area, including:

• Level design
• Game mechanics
• Enemy design
• And more

All while making tough decisions along the way.

Fortunately, there are several video game design principles that you can use to increase your chances of success.

While different designers may have their own lists for what they believe to be the fundamentals of game design, the following are the most important three.

One of the best ways to understand game design is by studying other games.

The more you study, the more you’ll realize that even the big-budget titles are built with one important gameplay mechanic in mind.

If this mechanic, which players will be performing constantly during your game, is boring or uninteresting, your design has failed.

To give you an idea, here are the core game mechanics for several games in different genres followed by the purpose of the mechanic:

• Banjo-Kazooie – Jump and attack to collect Jiggies
• Hearthstone – Draw and use cards to defeat your opponent
• Portal – Use the portal gun to solve puzzles
• Angry Birds – Catapult birds at pigs to complete the stage

As a game designer, your goal is to come up with a fun, captivating core mechanic and build a game around it.

Even if the player repeats the mechanic over and over, it remains fun because of the cool elements you introduce:

• New enemies
• Harder platforming sections
• Better abilities

Have you ever wondered why chess, a game thought to have been around since the year 500 AD, is still played today?

A more interesting question to ask would be how you think chess and Super Smash Bros. are similar?

Aside from both being competitive games with losers and winners, one thing they have in common is this: they’re accessible, yet have plenty of depth.

Both consist of simple rules that are easy to understand.

In chess, your goal is to capture the opponent’s king while in Super Smash Bros. the goal is to knock opponents off the stage.

This means that anyone can enjoy these games without the need to study a rulebook or take some kind of course beforehand, which is why they are both successes.

The key is that players who dedicate more and more time into these games can learn new playstyles and strategies.

While not every game has to follow this principle to succeed (see: Dark Souls), every game designer should ask if their game idea is easy enough for players of all kinds to pick up and enjoy.

Similarly, the game should have enough depth so that no one starts yawning after only 5 minutes of playtime.