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The TLDR Principle: if it takes more than a couple of short sentences to explain how to play then it’s not going to work as a quick, casual game

Kate Gray@hownottodraw.bsky.social

What's your number one personal game design principle? And even better - does it have a cool name?

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Yeah I went off “big” games years back partly because I found it made me more stressed rather than relaxed, and partly because too many games turned into a training course for an unpaid job while also trying to use every button on the controller

Most of the features people suggest adding to my little games have already been rejected during dev, not because they were hard to code but because they’d be cumbersome to explain

Kick The Ball Back has 1 sentence, Styscraper & Big Ben drip-feed you short sentences, Penga & Incredible Shrinking Goalie have 3 short lines, Dog Poo Golf & DayBrix feel a little overloaded

I tell this to people trying to pitch their idea to press. They need a sexy hook; it's your job to hand it to them and let them spread the word! (even if that hook is sometimes "[Game] meets [Other Game]", because that gives the audience a point of reference)