So, for tonight's game design topic, let's see...ah, let's discuss designer intentionality. That is, the art of making your game designs do what you want them to do. This is...harder than it sounds. Buckle up! Tweetstorm incoming.

There are a lot of schools of thought on game design - a lot of folks like to go with the flow when designing, or throw things at the fridge to see what sticks. These methods will get you there eventually, but 'there' might not be where you thought it was.

This can be okay. Often, it's more about reaching A goal rather than THE goal. But sometimes, you lose things along the way that are critical for what you're trying to do. This can come out of a lack of focus in the middle of the design process, or growing dispair & panic.

It can be important that a particular emotion be evoked, or a certain element be included. If you ever do design work for a client, there are almost always non-negotiable client mandates as well. In these cases, designer intentionality is key. You must do what you set out to do.

Intentionality is also important when it comes to meeting deadlines. You can't just flail away forever until something finally clicks. You have to reach the goal in the time you're allotted, a skill particularly useful to anyone who wants to earn a living designing games.

That's nice, but how do you do that? The creative process is wild and free and cannot be tamed! Well, that's nonsense, first of all. Although we all have off days, any creative professional learns to harness their creative juices, or else. But many apply that discipline unevenly.

Some designers have very rigorous time management techniques, but very loose design management techniques, and design management is key to what I'm talking about. That is, imagining a player experience and then creating a game that provides that experience.

So, step 1 for design intentionality is visualization. You must have at least a decent idea of what your endpoint is before you start mapping a path to get there. Think about your game concept in broad strokes, then make it a bit more specific, and repeat.

Each time you start to add a mechanic to your imagined player experience, think about WHY you're adding THAT mechanic. HOW does THAT mechanic move you towards your desired experience? Obviously, this requires broad knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of many mechanics.

The best way to get that knowledge initially is to A) play a lot of games, and B) think about what those games did afterwards, in terms of what worked and what didn't. WHY would you add a bluff mechanic to a game? Why WOULDN'T you?

When you understand the 'machine parts' that you are working with, you can more easily build a machine that does exactly what you want it to do, and nothing else. Is there a necessary part of the game you don't want the players to focus on? Put a simple, plain mechanic there.

You don't need to innovate in every portion of your design, and doing so will only vastly increase the learning curve for your players. Choose where to draw their attention and put the shiny bits there. Fade other elements back or eliminate them if possible.

Generally speaking, I try to include 1-2 genuinely unique game elements per design. This can be an interesting way to manipulate a game component, a new twist on a mechanic, or, sometimes, something totally new. But where you focus is where it's most important to be intentional.

In Arkham Horror, although they get maligned as clunky these days, the skill sliders were such an element. They were new and fresh, and I had a very specific purpose behind them - a feeling of player control. Many adventure boardgames lacked that feeling of player agency.

And sure, you couldn't make a perfect plan for the turn, because if you could, the game would lack all drama, but you could decide on some basic strategic elements for your turn, such as balancing speed vs. stealth. The FEELING of control was what was important.

Mind you, it's been over a decade since I came up with that mechanic, and nowadays I would apply it more judiciously. Perhaps every trait pair would have one 'certain' element like speed, and one 'uncertain' element, like 'stealth'.

Then when you failed skill checks, it would feel more like you overextended yourself, and less like RNG screwed you. Back then, I only had the first inklings of what would become my design philosophy though. The point being, even then, I had a solid reason for the mechanic.

So, step 2 of design intentionality is thoughtful refinement. You take that broad concept and keep making it more specific in ways that advance your goals. Eventually, you arrive at a playable game, and sit down and playtest it.

As you playtest, you're not just looking for if the game is fun, but if it meets your specific goals AND is fun. If a goal isn't being met, you need to look and figure out why not. Often, it's because you didn't see through the ramifications of the mechanics you used clearly.

Other times, you may find that several of your goals actually push against each other, and you may need to decide on a compromise. Occasionally, you may decide that a goal was a bad idea in the first place. Analyze the issue, and choose your solution.

Again, however, this is a moment where intentionality will greatly improve your process. WHY are you choosing THAT solution? Understand your motives as you make changes, and it becomes easier to see if the changes were good ones or not.

Don't make changes to make things DIFFERENT. Make changes to make them BETTER; to reach your goals more effectively. Visualize the effects of the changes you make, and then test them to see if you got the results you wanted. If not, revert and try again.

Eventually, you will come to the end of this refinement process, and by this point you should have something that you're pretty happy with, and which meets your goals. And sometimes, depending on time and circumstance, that's it. You're done.

If you have the time, take 1 more step at the end: Review. List out your goals for the game, and sit down and go through every part of the game and see if that part helps meet your goals. Inevitably, there's some drift during the design process, here's when you tighten that up.

I sometimes refer to this process as "Defend your life, game mechanic." For every mechanic, I break down the pros and cons of what it's doing and think about whether it's the very best mechanic I can use there, or if it's even needed at all.

Most of the time, if you've been rigorous up to this point, this step will result in minimal changes, but it's one last sanity check, one last chance to put the ship back on the course you originally set for it. Most importantly, this step serves as a report card for you.

It gets you to look back over the decisions you've made in the design process and re-evaluate them. As you're reviewing the mechanics, you'll also review the path that got you to the end, and this will teach you important lessons for next time.

Did you get hung up on a certain element for too long? Did you accidentally fade an important mechanic back too far? Did you neglect a vital thematic element or worse, undermine it mechanically? Here's where you sit and think and decompress.

Design intentionality, at its most basic, boils down to being mindful at the start, in the middle, and at the end of a project. Be mindful in setting your goals. Be thoughtful in how you meet your goals. And lastly, consider how well you met your goals and how you can improve.