23/3/22, 08:29 Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

Design 7 MIN READ ARTICLE

Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

I discuss how important it is for you as a developer to find the core of your game. To do this you can use the pillars technique.
Originally

posted on: http://www.maxpears.com/category/blog/

Max Pears

Blogger October 12, 2017

Hey Game Gurus,

*Disclaimer, all opinions are my own and do not reflect my

employers*

I hope everyone is well, playing and/or making the games you

love. It has been a long time since my last post sadly. I know our
bond is strong and I am pretty sure that we have both missed
each other……. a lot. It is okay to wipe away those feelings
because we are finally reunited, once more.

In a previous post, I discussed how important documentation is

during the development of the game’s creation.

Documentation A Necessary Evil 

That was just us dipping our toes into the water, so let us go a little bit deeper into this pool.

During the early stages of design, you will be working on creating/answering the question of
SUBSCRIBE LOGIN/REGISTER

“What is the game?”

There are many ways to answer this but the one method I want us to focus on today in this post is the
games ‘Pillars’.

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/design-pillars-the-core-of-your-game 1/7
23/3/22, 08:29 Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

Some of you may be wondering what I mean by this or may not be familiar with this term. What I
mean by this term is think about the 3 – 5 main elements/emotions your game is trying to explore and
make the players feel?

So why is it important to figure this out? Why do I need to limit my game to these amount of
categories? 

“Max, my game is going to tackle and do so many amazing things” Replied the reader. 

Well sir or madam, as always I appreciate the question. The reason behind this is to keep your game
coherent. If you are trying to do everything in one game then players may be getting lost or you will
not be able to deliver all these elements/emotions to a high standard when you have 100s.

Another reason why is it helps all your teammates understand the overall picture of your game. Most
people do not realize that even while in the production stage of the game not all the answers are
there. We all wish they were trust me, it would make game dev a lot smoother. Yet giving your team
these key elements to work with during the production process it allows them to make informed
design decisions. Giving your teammates guidelines will make your team’s life easier and overall a
happier team!

SUBSCRIBE LOGIN/REGISTER

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/design-pillars-the-core-of-your-game 2/7
23/3/22, 08:29 Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

(maybe not this happy, but trust me…happier)

As with these pillars, they can start to ask themselves, does this mechanic/idea serve or fit into the
pillars of our game? If the answer is ‘No’ then it may be best to remove this mechanic. (Now I am not
saying every mechanic must serve these pillars, you can use “off topic” mechanics to create different
emotions and make the player feel a way uncomfortable. Yet these ideas will come later on during
development) The team can focus on the core elements of the game, before working on subverting
the experience.

So now that you have an understanding of a Game Pillar let’s take a look at a few examples of games
and break them down into their core pillars.

The Last of us is one of Naughty dog’s many master pieces. If you have not played it yet (then seriously
why?) go and check it out.

SUBSCRIBE LOGIN/REGISTER

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/design-pillars-the-core-of-your-game 3/7
23/3/22, 08:29 Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

A lot goes into making Last of Us a truly an amazing game, that so many of us enjoyed. So let’s take a
look at the core pillars of this game:

Crafting: Ammo is scarce, so to distract or cause a higher amount of damage to one’s foes it is

better to use items populating the world. This works in unison with the environmental story telling
of how this is not many resources left in this world
Story: Last of Us is a linear game which is heavily narrative lead, they want everything to tie in
with the story as mentioned with crafting. The game focuses on the story of the two main
characters rather than the player’s own story.
AI partners: The game is all about building a relationship between the player’s character with the
AI partner Ellie and other partners you meet throughout your journey
Stealth: Combat is used in this game, but if you were to run and gun, then the game would make
your life extremely difficult. So player are encouraged to play more stealthily

As you can see (if you have played the game) that most of the game fits with these core principles.
Puzzles, requiring AI help, there are stealth section in the missions, the story is king and even in
multiplayer crafting is important to the players.

That is only one game, so let us break down another.

Hhhmm I have recently picked up a Switch

Which means I want to break down Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I am only just passed the tutorial but have seen a lot of videos breaking this down, (If you feel I have
missed anything please Tweet me with your thoughts)

Exploration: Player are encouraged to explore, by being able to go to any area they wish LOGIN/REGISTER
SUBSCRIBE
whenever they wish (Once they have finished the tutorial) the designers have hidden certain
information from the player compared to Ubisoft open world games, where they litter the
player’s HUD with side missions. Meaning players have to look for these.
Traversal:  BoW offers so many modes of transport, each being as fun as one another. From,
climbing, swimming, running, paragliding to the amazing shield surfing. Moving through this
world is made into a fantastic experience through the diversity and (sorry for lack of a better
word) fun of the movement in the world.
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/design-pillars-the-core-of-your-game 4/7
23/3/22, 08:29 Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

Scavenging: Players are constantly needing to go through the world and search for items.
From weapons which break after a few battles, to the food players must use to regain health
or help them traverse through all kind of environmental hazards.
Options: This game is praised all around for a number of options that are given to the
player. From multiple ways to solve puzzles to the combat scenarios or how the player
makes their way around the world. Anything the player can think of in terms of trying, the
most likely will be able to do it. Compared to most games, there is no one way to solve the
issues, which is laid in front of the player.
Combat: I see this as one of the lesser pillars for this game personally. Now you have loads
of combat in this game and a number of enemy types but again my personal opinion is that
the combat is not the most amazing combat system out there. Still, it is a pillar as this is how
you interact with most creatures in the world

Those are two games broken down into their core pillars, I am hoping that you can see how using just
a few pillars it has allowed the creators to focus and push the best part of their game, working around
these to enhance everything. This is a great tool to bring more coherence to your game as well as a
good guideline to help your teammates when working on a game of your own.

I would like to ask you to take a few mins and think about one or two of your favorite games and break
them down into their key pillars. See if you learn from this, how the game actually bases a lot of its
challenges around these pillars.

Please tweet me If you do find anything interesting: @MaxPears

If you have found this useful and have enjoyed what you have read then please subscribe below to be
kept up to date with my latest work and my personal list of reading materials

Console

Get daily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inbox Subscribe

Recommended Content

Unity provides glimpse of Sony buys Haven Studios, the Ubisoft makes big promises
super-realistic digital Canadian developer formed with new Ubisoft Scalar cloud
humans with "Enemies" demo by Jade Raymond tech

The demo shows how Sony previously invested in the Ubisoft today announced a
developers might leverage studio to help it create a AAA new technology dubbed Scalar
Unity to create highly realistic multiplayer title exclusively for —a cloud-based service that SUBSCRIBE LOGIN/REGISTER
digital humans. PlayStation. will be used by Ubisoft studios…

March 21, 2022 March 21, 2022 March 18, 2022

LATEST JOBS

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/design-pillars-the-core-of-your-game 5/7
23/3/22, 08:29 Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

Crate Entertainment Cryptic Studios

REMOTE LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA / REMOTE

01.31.22 01.31.22

SENIOR PROGRAMMER ART DIRECTOR, NEVERWINTER

Disbelief Tilt Five

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS REMOTE

01.31.22 01.31.22

PROGRAMMER GAMES PRODUCER

MORE JOBS   

CONNECT WITH US

Register for a Subscribe to Follow us

Game Developer Game Developer @gamedevdotcom

Account Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE LOGIN/REGISTER
Gain full access to resources Get daily Game Developer top Follow us @gamedevdotcom to
(events, white paper, webinars, stories every morning straight into stay up-to-date with the latest
reports, etc)
your inbox news & insider information about
Single sign-on to all Informa events & more
products SUBSCRIBE

REGISTER

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/design-pillars-the-core-of-your-game 6/7
23/3/22, 08:29 Design Pillars – The Core of Your Game

Discover More From Informa Tech

Game Developers Conference

Game Developer Jobs

GDC Vault

Game Career Guide

Independent Games Festival

Game Developers Choice Awards

Omdia

Working With Us

Contact Us

About Us

Advertise

Follow Game Developer On Social

Home Cookies Privacy Terms

Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC Informa UK Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1072954

whose registered office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/design-pillars-the-core-of-your-game 7/7