When designing a game, there are several approaches we can take to guide the process. The Scientific Method helps us test ideas through experiments and iteration. The Creative Process encourages brainstorming and ideation to explore new directions. Design Thinking adds a human-centered lens, emphasizing empathy, understanding player needs, and iterating solutions that truly resonate.
In game design, specifically, one additional approach, the Playcenteric Design approach, focuses directly on iteration and frequent testing of the player experience.
Playcentric Design Approach
According to game designer and author Tracy Fullerton, the playcentric approach puts the player experience at the center of the design process. The game is not judged solely by how elegant its mechanics are on paper, but by how it feels when played. This means playing the game, as early as possible, and as frequently as possible, is central to the process.
Designers don’t just imagine how players might react; they actively test and observe it by putting prototypes into players’ hands. Even the simplest, roughest version of a game can (and should) be played to check whether it delivers the intended experience.
Playcentric Core Practices
Playcentric design is built around short, repeatable cycles that keep the focus on how the game feels when played. Tracy Fullerton describes this process beginning with ideation, followed by prototyping, playtesting, and evaluation. Each stage feeds into the next, creating an iterative loop that gradually shapes the game around the player’s experience.
- Ideation: Setting player experience goals, brainstorming and narrowing down concepts, and writing short descriptions (or treatments) of top ideas. While Fullerton calls this ideation rather than planning, it’s where priorities and direction are established.
- Prototyping: Build a playable version of the game early, starting with a physical prototype, using paper, placeholders, or minimal assets, to quickly test feasibility and fun. If the final game is digital, transition later to a digital prototype to test systems and interactions unique to software.
- Playtesting: Continuously play the game throughout each iteration. Moving from self-testing to testing with peers and finally target players. Methods can be qualitative (observing reactions, gathering feedback) or quantitative (tracking data like win rates or playtime), each offering insight into the player’s experience.
- Evaluation: Assess the game’s functionality, completeness, balance, and engagement. Use these findings to refine mechanics and rules, then loop back into prototyping and playtesting.
This cycle repeats, each loop producing a clearer and more polished version of the game, always measured against how well it delivers the intended player experience. By keeping play at the center, the design evolves from real player feedback rather than abstract assumptions.
Playcentric design reminds us that games can only be understood through play. By prototyping quickly and playing often, designers ground their decisions in actual experience, ensuring the game evolves toward something engaging, memorable, and fun