Udemy - Player-Centered Game Design

What you'll learn
Understand why most games fail - and how to avoid the same mistakes.
Think like a player by mastering core usability principles like affordances, constraints, mapping, and causality.
Align your vision with player reality by building and testing accurate mental models.
Design games that match real player expectations and habits, using transfer effects and stereotypes wisely.
Apply the Design Window model (Blue, Red, Orange, Green zones) to manage innovation and player understanding.
Collaborate with players early through participatory design and contextual design techniques.
Catch and fix design errors before they kill your game - reducing development costs and player frustration.
Handle resistance inside teams and organizations when applying player-centered methods.
Build games that are more intuitive, inclusive, and truly player-centered.
Requirements
No game design experience required.
No game development experience required.
Description
Most games fail - not because of bad ideas, but because designers forget about real players.In this course, you'll learn how to design games that players actually understand, love, and want to keep playing.Using principles from Player-Centered Game Design by Janne Tyni, PhD, you'll master a practical, step-by-step method for making your game intuitive, accessible, and player-first.You'll start by discovering why traditional game design often misses the mark, then dive into powerful usability concepts like affordances, constraints, mapping, causality, and mental models.You'll learn how to align your vision with player expectations using the Design Window model - balancing shared understanding, innovation, and emergent gameplay.Through real-world examples, case studies, and clear frameworks, you'll see how the best games stay intuitive while still feeling fresh and innovative.You'll also learn how to collaborate with players early, manage feedback, and design games that work for diverse audiences with different skills and backgrounds.By the end of this course, you'll know how to think like a player, test your designs the right way, prevent costly mistakes, and build games that connect with real people - not just your own ideas.This is a fast-paced, practical course for aspiring game designers, indie developers, and anyone who wants to create games that players actually want.
Who this course is for
Game Designers
Indie Developers
Game Developers
Game Design Students
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