Thread by @TurboHermit

IDK if its just my environment, but I've seen an uptick of game education (youtubers/schools) advocate to focus on Verbs in game design. I have some 'Thoughts TM' on that... A thread!

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1/14

If you're not aware, Verbs initially meant a player's (not your character's) input: a human's interaction with a controller. Push A Button in real life will execute a character's Action in-game is the Verb "push button". You can also, hold, drag, gesture, these are all Verbs
2/14

In board game design, this is still the convention. Physical interaction like tapping cards, rolling specific types of dice, putting stuff in your hand, are very important to differentiate from in-game Actions. Here, you rely on Verbs to give each Action context.
3/14

In digital games, that context can be automated. Button presses change interaction based on where your character is, what they are doing, which menus are open, etc. I think because of this, Verbs and Actions started being used interchangeably.
4/14

But here's the thing... I don't think either Verbs OR Actions should be the core of your game design. I recently heard a dev teacher talk about of Verbs should dictate the mechanics of your game. As though you should come up with Verbs FIRST.
5/14

For me, this feels a bit backward. In my opinion, Verbs should facilitate your design choices, not dictate them. Verbs are tools for the player to explore your game's possibility space. Let me illustrate why I think Verbs are secondary:
6/14

An FPS might have Verbs like Move, Aim, Shoot, Reload, Throw Grenade. A racing game has Accelerate, Brake, Drift maybe. A platformer Run, Jump. You see the problem here? Your Verbs are basic and practically only dictate genre conventions, not what is unique about your game.
7/14

If you design mechanics around these Verbs, you tend to design "content-first". You design objects, enemies and levels to make your Verbs interesting. This can balloon your scope incredibly fast, and makes it hard to streamline your core design after.
8/14

It also sets players' interactions early which might not be the best solution for your game. If you have some mechanics that do not fit the genre convention, your Verbs should change because of it. But if you designed content around Verbs you change later, that's more work
9/14

So I have some gripes with designing the core around Verbs. Then, what ARE Verbs good for? Well, they are great for gauging the complexity of your game. Generally speaking, it's good to stick to a small amount of Verbs that apply to a variety of different contexts.
10/14

Hence, why I refer to them as TOOLS before. Having a small amount of tools available to the player makes your game faster and easier to learn. It can also help you smooth out user experience, streamlining the number of different interactions in menus, that sort of thing.
11/14

If you DO stick to Verbs-first design, I advise you to add Adverbs to the mix. They create a more descriptive and visceral sense of what your game is about. If you're in a team context, it can also inform other disciplines about how to make the thing in detail.
12/14

For example, if you Aim Precisely, Move Deliberately, or Shoot Strategically it describes a different game than if you Aim Wildly, Move Stylishly, or Shoot Frantically. The first might be a ASMR Stealth game, the other a Movement Shooter with a lot of bombastic juice.
13/14

Ok that's all for now! There's nothing explicitly wrong with Verbs-first design, but I don't think educators should push it as the only or the best option, because it's neither haha.

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14/14

Thought this thread was interesting? Nice, I have these kind of thoughts often. That's why I run a FREE weekly email newsletter you can just... subscribe to??? Very cool, wow



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