Game Design
& Development.
from a practical perspective
Jonas Heinke
Applied Game Design Course
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
03.03.2026
Jonas.
I make games.
- PlayInsight Studios — serious games & interactive learning
- ProLudens — a collective that studies games for education
You are creating an
experience in the
minds of players.
They are driving
but you are building
the road. And the car.
Ludo-narrative
harmony.
What the game says and what the game does
should be the same thing.
“A game is a series of
interesting choices.”
— Sid Meier
Three questions.
- What is your game about?
- How is it about that?
- How do you reward the player for doing that?
If you can't answer all three, your design has a gap.
Incentives
matter.
Players will always find the optimal path.
Make sure it's the path you want them on.
Rules of three.
- Comprehension. Players need three exposures before it clicks.
- Choice. Three options is a decision. Two is a dilemma. One is none.
- Design. Three stats. Three resources. Three paths.
Do one thing
well.
The game that does one thing brilliantly beats
the game that does five things adequately.
Juice.
Maximum output from minimum input.
Screen shake. Sound. Particles. Bounce. Weight.
The feeling that the world reacts to you.
A juicy game feels alive. A dry game feels like a spreadsheet.
big & broken
→
small & done
Almost every clever
idea can work.
It's 90%
implementation.
Beware
the 80/20.
The last 20% of the work takes 80% of the time.
Plan for it. Or better yet — cut scope so you never get there.
Reduce
complexity.
Every feature you add is a feature you have to
design, build, test, balance, and explain.
Playtesting.
Your game isn't what you designed.
It's what players experience.
Test early. Test ugly. Test often.
Believe your players
about their issues.
Be skeptical
of their solutions.
Q&A
What are you working on?
Let's scope it together.