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Learn about game mechanics and how creating a simple prototype can help you figure out if your idea is worth pursuing.
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When you're working with a game concept, it's important
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not to get married to too many ideas early on.
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This is where prototyping lends a hand.
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Prototyping helps us fail quickly to weed out
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weak game mechanics and improve on the promising ones.
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By prototyping we can take our sketches
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one step further, and create something interactive.
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Working with an interactive prototype that you
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can share with friends, family, or even
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strangers will help you quickly identify what works in your game, and what doesn't.
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Let's talk more about game mechanics.
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Now the true definition of game mechanics is widely debated among developers,
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but they are essentially the rules and actions built into the game.
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Every game has its own unique mechanics.
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And if you're already a gamer, you probably know quite a few.
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Points, levels, movement, attacking, bonuses, achievements.
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These are all examples of core game mechanics.
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So, where should we start in deciding which mechanics will best suit our game?
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Let's take a look at Space Cat to put things into perspective.
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Now think about the ultimate goal, or mission of our game.
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In Space Cat, the goal is to shoot down
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the alien dog ships before they reach the moon's surface.
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We've already stated one core mechanic of the game, shooting.
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The next question we should ask is what
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happens when you shoot and hit the dog ships?
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Let's say they explode and you get some points as a reward.
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What if you miss?
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Well, we know we want to incorporate a life bar, so let's decide that
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space cat looses a bit of health when the ships make it to the surface.
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If too many dogs get by, then it's game over.
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We'll be keeping things simple for Space Cat.
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So let's keep him in one place to make shooting straightforward and easy.
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We're working with a touchscreen device.
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So it feels natural to have the user tap anywhere to fire at the dog ships.
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It seems like we have just about everything worked out.
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But the truth is sometimes things don't always go exactly as we had planned.
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One of the most frustrating things about making games is realizing
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that you may have to go back to the drawing board.
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That's why prototyping several versions of your game is one of
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the best ways to learn what's working and what needs to change.
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