[Musings of a Game Store Owner] Intelligent Design: Art (Part 1)

Last week, I started a series on Intelligent Design in gaming. 

I identified elements that seem to be common among gamers- including our first subject: Art. 

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.- Wikipedia.org 

I find this particular way of expressing art as exceptionally helpful. It gives us a good framework and common ground for understanding- and to me, that's pretty important, because art is resoundingly subjective.


When discussing intelligent design, being consistent and using the same terms throughout the conversation makes reaching a conclusion much easier. The above definition invokes the same premises I mentioned as critical parts of an intelligently made game: one that appeals to us through our senses (art), affects emotions (emotional connection), and touches on our higher level thinking (intellect). That art understands all of this as its own premise brings my ramblings to their knees, yet at the same time confirms my thoughts all along. 


So in discussing art, there are individual parts to the whole. I've found that while other factors matter, as a rule, there are 3 main points to consider when talking about art in games. 





THE COVER-


It happens every single time someone looks at a game on my shelf. The customer picks up the game, looks at it, gains some impression from the cover via the art and text, and then either asks questions or moves to another product. 

One of the prettiest games I've ever seen on my shelf. 

Tsuro is a great example of a cover that beckons someone to look at it again. The game is just beautiful in every aspect, and gets quite a lot of draw on looks alone. A striking piece of art on the cover is going to offer your game a much better chance of getting an interested person than something a bit more generic.

Unless it is beer- then you would all buy it to try it, if nothing else. 

INTERIOR-

What's inside and how it's laid out matters (especially in RPGS) quite a bit as well. As Von pointed out, the 'ease of access' is a big issue for me personally. If the game isn't laid out well, does't have a nice flow, has ridiculously confusing sections (point costs before battle gear, anyone?) or is just downright UGLY inside, it's probably going right back on the shelf.

It should be noted that if it's the reverse: the interior art is spectacular, the layout well considered, the flow works and it's "just pretty", I will probably buy it.


PIECES-

Almost every game has pieces, and what they look like matters just as much as the cover or the interior of the game. Having compelling, lovely pieces makes a gamer much more invested in playing with them- even in a simple game. I sell the new version of "Kill Dr. Lucky" with the little wooden dog piece far more than I did the older paper version.

Anyone remember Masterpiece, the boardgame?

While it's pretty limited in mechanics, I really liked this game because of the miniature paintings of classic works. Holding the replicas was just a neat concept that only emphasizes my point: if it's pretty, people will play it.

-All of these criteria point to existing games. If we want to continue to have a hobby and an industry, we have to innovate. New materials need to come out to encourage people to buy and expand our horizons past paper, pencil and dice. If I want to stay in business, I need to have new product to keep the gamers coming back. Our hobby market can't stay limited, and having new; intelligent games will only help expand it.

So how do we get new games?

In short, by designing them. (Distribution is another series, folks.) In designing them, we take the things we find important and expand or contract them as needed and relevant to the project at hand. In essence, we make what we want.

Making what we want is a lot more than just saying- Hey, I want something different. There are various stages, approaches and processes in creation of art.  Each artist values something unique, and wants to touch alternate aspects, pieces or elements as they work. I'll be talking to a couple artists next week, and we'll see how things get created. Please join in!