When communicating a message, brevity
can be more viable than verbosity.
It depends on the message you want to
convey, your delivery method, and your intended audience. As a game developer,
your game is your
message. Minimalism is the brevity of game design: a way to engage your
audience more efficiently by favoring simplicity over complexity.
But don't confuse a lack of
complexity with the lack of challenge or depth, because many successful games
have proven that minimalism and traditional game design philosophies can
coexist beautifully. Examples of this range from the rhythmically challenging,
geometric simplicity of Terry Cavanagh's Super
Hexagon to the epic scale of Fumito
Ueda's emotionally deep Shadow of the Colossus.
Whether it's a straight-forward
aesthetic implementation or a metaphorical, narrative-focused approach, this
article will help you to use minimalism in your projects and prove the old
adage that 'less is more'.
What is Minimalism?
A Brief History
Minimalism, as an art movement, arose
in the 1960s as a by-product of philosophical modernism. Modernism was a
rejection of outdated ways of thinking, and this directly affected artistic
expression.
Previous art movements consisted of
abstraction and subjective metaphors while minimalism focused on objective
literalism. Artwork from this period featured limited colors, geometric shapes,
and a general lack of detail. The aesthetic properties of minimalist art still
exist today, but minimalism in modern game design is ironically much more
complicated.
The Basics
The general purpose of minimalism in
game design is to accentuate a game's specific elements by limiting the scope
or detail of the other surrounding elements. For a simplified 'real world'
example, imagine wearing a blindfold to place a greater emphasis on your sense
of touch.
An entire game can be designed with
minimalism as a core concept, but minimalism can also be invoked only when
needed. Art, sound, gameplay, and narrative can all be subject to minimalist
interpretations.
Examples of Minimalism in Popular
Games
The best way to understand minimalism
as a game developer is to experience great examples of minimalism as a game
player. In fact, an entire book could be written about the history of
minimalism in video games. Whether you play on consoles, PC, handhelds, or
mobile devices, you've undoubtedly encountered a game that was at least
partially designed around these concepts.
Let's take a look at a small
selection of games that feature a wide variety of minimalistic design elements.
Some of these may challenge your idea of what minimalism is and help you think
differently about game design.
Super Hexagon
Terry Cavanagh, the developer of
Super Hexagon describes his work as a “minimal action game”. The player
object is represented by a small triangle, and the game world consists of a
central hexagon that attracts rhythmically moving shapes. All the player has to
do is press left or right to avoid the incoming shapes and survive for as long
as possible.
The art style and gameplay mechanics
utilize minimalism to put extreme focus on the objective, while the pulsing
soundtrack and rhythm-fuelled animations put the player into an almost hypnotic
state. Super Hexagon is the perfect example of a game that features minimalism
as a core design philosophy while maintaining an intense level of difficulty.
Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress, by Tarn and Zach
Adams, is a notoriously challenging simulation game with roguelike elements.
The only thing about Dwarf Fortress that can be considered
minimalistic is the aesthetic design: game objects are represented by ASCII
characters rather than hand-drawn sprites.
In this case, minimalism is used to
trigger a nostalgic response that reminds players of a time when game graphics
required a powerful imagination.
Mirror's Edge
Mirror's Edge, a first-person parkour
action game by EA Dice, combines futuristic architecture and minimalism in a
unique way to assist players with navigation. The city that the player runs
around in is full of bright, sharp edges and the buildings stand like white
monoliths against a blue sky.
Rather than following
screen-cluttering HUD elements, players are instead led through checkpoints by
running towards certain actionable environmental objects that have been painted
red. This type of minimalism is both visually striking and highly intuitive.
Passage
In 2007, Jason Rohrer released a
minimalist art game entitled Passage. This game takes place entirely within a
100x16 window and can be completed in five minutes. With themes of loss,
mortality, and the human condition, Passage manages to pack a powerful punch
despite its limited scope—although with no traditional win condition, it can be
argued that Passage isn't even a game at all.
This type of minimalism is used to
provoke thought and convey a very specific message through metaphors by forcing
the player to reflect on the experience by asking, “why?”
Metal Gear Solid 3
I bet you didn't expect to see a
Metal Gear Solid game in a collection of minimalist games! Hideo Kojima, the
creator of this iconic franchise, is known for drawing from numerous artistic,
historical, and pop-culture influences. A particular scene in Metal Gear
Solid 3 features the game's protagonist climbing an incredibly tall ladder.
After walking down a long, windy tunnel, the player reaches a dead end and is
forced to climb a ladder for two whole minutes. During this climb, an a
cappella version of the game's theme song begins to play. The words “I give my
life. Not for honor, but for you” echo through the tunnel during the song,
creating a haunting moment that sticks with players long after the credits have
rolled.
This is an example of minimalism
being invoked in an otherwise complex and verbose experience to create a
meaningful and poignant moment.
Thomas Was Alone
Thomas Was Alone, by Mike Bithell, is
a game that you will never understand just by looking at screenshots. On the
surface, Thomas Was Alone appears to be a typical puzzle platformer with
simple, polygonal characters devoid of personality. What lies beneath that
minimalistic coat of paint is a deceptively deep and captivating experience
full of character.
This combination of aesthetic
minimalism and compelling narrative design is useful for creators that may lack
advanced visual art skills.
Nintendo Wii / Wii Sports
The Nintendo Wii was a console that
was built entirely around the concept of minimalism. In an effort to attract a
wider audience, Nintendo created a controller with pared down inputs and a
focus on motion control. And with Wii Sports, Nintendo arguably created the
most successful minimalist game of all time. By removing excesses and placing a
larger emphasis on simplistic, yet intuitive gameplay, Nintendo proved that
minimalism could be incredibly popular.
Journey
Journey, the award-winning adventure
game by Thatgamecompany, uses minimalism in several unique ways. Much
like Flower, by the same developer, there is a distinct lack of
exposition, and no explanations to help the player understand exactly what is
transpiring. Players learn through unguided exploration instead of long-winded
tutorials and gratuitous on-screen prompts.
The simplified gameplay mechanics
help to facilitate this, but the true power of Journey's minimalism is found in
the game's multiplayer mode. Players seamlessly drop in to a co-op session
without a notification and with no way to communicate aside from a few simple
emotes. The bonding that occurs between two complete strangers in Journey is a
testament to how powerful human interaction can be, even after removing the
excesses of traditional multiplayer gaming conventions. Visit https://mobilefreetoplay.com/
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus, by Fumito
Ueda and Team Ico, is an adventure game on an epic scale. Players wield a
sword, ride a horse, shoot arrows, and fight enormous bosses in an attempt to
save a loved one. But unlike most adventure games, Shadow of the Colossus does
not feature any smaller enemies—"grunts" that typically exist in
large quantities to challenge the player through dungeons and overworlds.
There are only 16 enemies in Shadow
of the Colossus, and they're all giant puzzle-centric boss encounters. Time
spent between boss battles is somber, quiet, and full of relaxed exploration.
The mood set by this unique combination of elements is unmatched, and is a
trademark style of Ueda's particular brand of minimalist design.
Ludum Dare 26:
Minimalism
If you want even more inspiration,
check out these 2,346 individual interpretations of minimalism in game
design.
Limitation vs. Intention
When talking about the history of
minimalism in games, it's very important to understand the difference
between limitation and intention. By today's standards, Pong
is a minimalist exercise in art, input, sound, and mechanics. But this was not
entirely by design; it was mainly due to hardware limitations.
Early Game Boy games used a
monochrome four-shades color palette, and the Game Boy Color saw an increase to
32,768 colors. Now there are entire gamejams devoted to replicating the limited
palette of the original Game Boy. Are these self-imposed limitations an example
of minimalism, or are they merely exhibitions in retro gaming nostalgia?
The rise in popularity of iOS and
Android devices also saw a rise in gaming minimalism. Touch-screen inputs and
the nature of mobile gaming creates an environment where quick, simple games
get the most attention. The line gets blurry when you begin to differentiate
between casual gaming and minimalist design, and that topic requires an
entirely different discussion.
Minimalism in Game Development
As game developers, we're always
looking for solutions to problems. A straight line is the shortest distance between
two points, and minimalism is often the straightest path to follow when
designing a game. If you find yourself struggling with a problem, start with a
simple solution and work your way up from there. By starting with minimalism,
you are forcing yourself to focus on the more important aspects of your
gameplay experience.
When your game works using minimal
art, sound, and gameplay mechanics, you can slowly begin to integrate more
elements, while maintaining that important balance.
Aesthetic Design
The visual style of your game is
incredibly important. A single screenshot is often a potential player's only
first impression, so it's vital that your game is readable at a glance.
Minimalism can both help and hurt you in this regard due to the possibility of
abstraction, so be careful.
Below are a few ideas to get you
thinking about ways to introduce minimalism into your aesthetic design:
- Use a limited and deliberate color palette.
Colors can represent emotions, moods, locations, temperatures, and
personalities. Being consistent and tasteful in your choice of color is
far more important than using a certain variety of colors.
- Contrast is your friend. When using limited
visual assets, the contrast between those assets becomes just as important
as the assets themselves. Blank space between items should be used to your
advantage when dealing with a limited number of on-screen elements.
- Use simple and recognizable shapes. If you're
not familiar with the intricacies of art and design, you should at least
learn about the importance of silhouettes. Take the most detailed element
in your scene and reduce it to a single color. Is it still readable? By
working with limited colors, you can build recognizable scenes that will
remain readable as you increase the fidelity of those elements over time.
- Lighting is more important than poly count. A
low-poly scene with superb lighting is a beautiful thing.
- Use colors or light to direct players towards
a destination rather than HUD elements, maps, and markers.
- Integrate potential HUD elements into the
game's environment where possible. Think of a digital readout on the side
of a gun to represent ammo, or an inventory system that exists in physical
space within a player's backpack rather than in a menu screen.
- High quality animation on a less detailed
character is far more valuable than a badly animated photo-realistic
character.
- Use real-time lighting to represent time,
rather than an on-screen clock.
- Use damage models or other unique
environmental solutions to represent health instead of on-screen meters.
Think of an enemy moving more slowly or walking with a limp to represent
low health.
- Use animated GIFs to advertise your game if
your minimalist aesthetic design results in unreadable screenshots.
System Design
The way that players interact with
your game should be as minimal as possible. Overly-complicated control schemes
can scare players away from your game and create frustration. A steep learning
curve is often required for specific games, but you should always strive for a
streamlined control scheme. Along with input, your individual game mechanics
will also benefit from being intuitive. Think about these following points when
developing your core gameplay experience:
- Always side with familiarity over uniqueness.
This sounds incredibly counter-productive for anyone trying to create
something new, but it's true. If you're making something that is in any
way familiar to something that already exists, then your players are
going to have pre-existing expectations. Don't reinvent the wheel when your players are already familiar
with driving.
- Use context-sensitive inputs rather than
expansive control schemes. If your player can open chests and doors, the
same button should perform both actions. It is up to you, as a designer,
to make sure that doors and chests never overlap.
- To expand on the context-sensitive inputs: a
single button can be pressed in more than one way. Single tap, double tap,
extended hold, rhythmic tap; these are all different ways to press the
same button. It may be tempting to take advantage of an entire controller,
but try to find ways to limit the number of buttons your player has to press
when it makes sense.
- Use timing and rhythm-based solutions to
puzzles and conflicts. Players can pick up on these gameplay patterns
without having to rely on intrusive instructions or explanations.
- Force players to learn through experimentation
directly after discovering a new ability. Without relying on text boxes
and tutorials, you can immediately require the use of the ability to solve
a problem before the player can continue. Then, as the designer, it's your
job to make sure that this ability remains relevant throughout the rest of
the game so that the player doesn't forget about it.
- Give your players a reason to not press
a button. If shooting endlessly down a hallway is a solution, then not shooting
endlessly down a different hallway can be another solution. Instead of
adding new gameplay mechanics, think of ways to temporarily remove
existing mechanics to add new gameplay experiences.
- Avoid redundancies. Giving players a variety
of choices is usually a good thing, but make sure that a highly preferred
choice doesn't create obsolete solutions. For example, a jet pack power-up
will make your grappling hook and double jump power-ups useless. When one
solution is obviously superior, the other solutions immediately become
pointless and excessive. If you have multiple solutions, make sure that
they each provide a unique and valuable reward.
Narrative Design
As a narrative designer, it is your
duty to direct and control the flow of a game's story. Depending on the type of
story being told, minimalism may or may not be a useful solution. Minimalistic
narrative design requires that significant portions of a game's story be told
through gameplay mechanics, art design, level design, and other methods that
may be out of the writer's hands. Narrative designers have to ensure that every
element of a game comes together to tell the right story, requiring them to
understand multiple aspects of the game development process.
Here are some tips for approaching
narrative design from a minimalist standpoint:
- Avoid extensive exposition. Instead of
starting the game with a voice-over, cut scene, or text crawl, put the
player in an interactive role. Set the scene with mood and atmosphere
rather than words. Introduce characters with actions rather than
biographies.
- Value exploration over explanation. Reward
players for exploring your world rather than burdening them with excessive
pages of lore and back story.
- Avoid optional collectibles that explain
crucial details of your world's history. Find ways to implement this
information into gameplay rather than audio files.
- Silence can be just as valuable as
conversation. Use body language and facial expressions to express feelings
when possible.
- Make the player ask questions and don't be
afraid to never answer them. If every detail of a game is laid out for the
player to discover, then the game has a finite depth. Mysteries and the
unknown represent areas that have never been explored and will exist in
the minds of players long after they put the controller down.
- Complex character progression can be the focus
within an incredibly simple plot. Remember that minimalism can be used as
a contrast between two things to create a deceptively deep experience.
Conclusion
The topic of minimalism in game
design is deep, complex, and always evolving. The next time you play a game,
think about how it could be more or less complicated. Study the game's art and
try to think of ways to make it more simple while still maintaining its
original form. Pay attention to the "empty" areas. Listen to the
silence between important moments. Instead of focusing on the obvious, shift
your attention to the things that have been minimized.
Games are infinitely complicated, and
it can be tempting to dive into that infinite depth in search of solutions. But
as with many of life's problems, the right solution is sometimes the simplest.
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