The Four Most Important Emotions of Game Design

Speakers: Nicole Lazzaro

Track: Game Design

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: All

Description: Great gameplay creates strong player emotions that traditional marketing methods can't measure, other methods can and developers that access player emotions early in game development can innovate with much less risk. Beyond next-gen graphics, players demand next-gen Player Experiences (PX). Come find out how games such as Gears of War, Line Rider and Wii Sports go beyond Fiero to build their signature PX Profiles with gameplay. Starting with new XEODesign research of best selling games, together we dive deep into the world of player emotion to explore a more diagnostic method to sculpt emotional responses to match a genre or play style as early as the design document. Emotions are more than rewards for a job well done. Join us for the full story and add more emotion to your game.

Idea Takeaway: As a result of this session attendees will walk away knowing how to create a broader more emotional play experiences including being able to: A) Identify game mechanics that create the emotions that matter most to players B) Create an emotion profile for their game's Player Experience (PX) C) Choose game mechanics that create a specific PX D) Understand what emotions are required for their genre E) Measure and iterate PX against concrete emotion goals

Intended Audience: Designers, producers, programmers and marketers interested in maximizing emotions from gameplay and broadening their game's emotional response. Familiarity with XEODesign's research on emotion in games is helpful but not required. Free white papers: www.xeodesign.com/whyweplaygames.html