Game Design Overview

Game Design Overview:

Why is there a lack of creativity in game design? Why do so many games seem to be clones of each other? There is a paucity of original ideas. Games like "Sim City", "Tetris" and even "Doom" are engaging but also unique in the games industry. Gaming design technology has never been better but creativity is stagnant. There are perhaps different reasons to explain this lack of creativity. 

Sim City~ An original game concept

                              Source Link                                    

A games designer needs ideas and great programming skills to produce good games but they also require funding. Publishers are traditionally conservative, preferring to fund clones of existing games. Shooter games like; 'Halo 3', 'Overwatch', Battlefield 1' and 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered' are typical of the type of game most likely to be developed these days. This is understandable as producing a game is a long process. However, game designers themselves are repeating the design of games that they played themselves before they became designers and lack any knowledge of what makes a good. They are only immersed in this narrow field and a deeper understanding would help them design better games. Also it's worth considering that designers will opt to play safe in order to secure finance. Designing a game is not an easy process. Excellent programming and artistry skills are necessary. When I was researching this topic I came across an interesting article relating to this topic which you can find here.

              Perhaps another reason that original games designer's are few and far between is  because students studying games design are not learning the proper logical steps that are necessary to enable them to design effectively. In "Pulling the Plug in Defense of Non-Digital Teaching and Learning", Lewis Pulsipher argues that new students who lack the programming skills to produce digital games should start the design process by working on a non-digital prototype. The advantage of this method is that a process that normally requires professional skills is made accessible to the learner. Students without these expert skills can learn to design a game without becoming entangled in a very long process that is bound to fail anyway. Also a non-digital prototype can be altered easily and new ideas implemented. 
              Designers would then be less reluctant to drop bad ideas and try new ones. Every budding games designer should start by creating a non-digital prototype or just one level of a game. They should design basic games at first that are more suitable to their skills. They should not attempt a big project! Designing and learning in this way allows students the time to develop their ideas. Another reason to design non-digital prototypes is to allow students the space to develop their ideas and trash bad ideas before committing to digital design. Students will also focus better on game play rather  than story or visuals, which should be attempted only after you've tried and tested your prototypes many, many times. This is an interesting post that I found here, it's a review on the game 'OverWatch', and how the game represents a lack of creativity in gaming industry.