Some of the most prolific video game mods for any game will be texture packs. Texture packs usually don't re-theme a game or change it mechanically. All they do is make a game look more pleasing to the viewer. This illustrates the importance of aesthetics to players.
I'm not trained in aesthetics in the abstract, but most of my higher education was aesthetics training after a fashion. According to Wikipedia, aesthetics "is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well the philosophy of art."
Denis Dutton describes aesthetics as having six universal indicators: expertise, non-utilitarian pleasure, style, criticism, imitation, and special focus. Previously, I have written that form (as opposed to function) is another term for aesthetics. Remember that our definition of design on this blog is the relationship between form and function (or content). So, we can look at these six indicators as indicators of design as well. Certainly expertise, criticism, and imitation are obviously elements found in the meta-conversation about well-crafted design. Special focus means that the subject of the work is set above the mundanity of life and imbued with a certain level of drama. Achieving a special focus should not be too difficult for board game designers who already have to distill down a theme to what can be supported by mechanics.
Non-utilitarian pleasure is where we start to find some difficulty. This is where fights can break out over whether better looking games are more fun to play. I would argue that mechanics appeal to the analytical side of human nature and theme/art appeal to the emotional side. Which you prefer in a game may say more about you than about the game. In this video, Mark Rosewater shares lessons he's learned in his years designing Magic: the Gathering. He argues that aesthetics matter and that "poor implementation is fighting against human nature" because "humans come pre-loaded with emotional responses." We will never all agree on what is "good" and "bad" in art, but as humans, we all have art/art styles we prefer. And chances are, those preferences are emotional and difficult to quantify. In short, just because you don't mind sparse art doesn't mean that that style is the best choice for a game if you are hoping for broad appeal.
Style in art is the organization of certain distinctives, like color, line-quality, and predominant shapes into categories. In art, we recognize Cubism as distinct from Impressionism. In board game design, we might start by separating games by genre: fantasy, history, horror, modern life, etc. We can look at atmosphere, tension, humor, excitement, peacefulness, drama, heroism, etc. By combining thematic elements and emotional content we see a game's style start to emerge. This can be somewhat separate from the art of a game or can include art and graphic design. Ryan Laukat has a distinctive art style. His games also have a distinctive playfulness and explorative style that would exist even if he were not the artist of his games.
How is this useful? Game designs need to not just be mechanically appealing, but aesthetically as well. Because aesthetics appeals to us on an emotional level, playtesting must take the emotional feedback of players into account. By developing a style that matches the emotional response we desire, we can strengthen the emotional impact of a game.
Remember: theme is fun. Art is fun. Excluding aesthetics from design only shrinks your audience.
I'm not trained in aesthetics in the abstract, but most of my higher education was aesthetics training after a fashion. According to Wikipedia, aesthetics "is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well the philosophy of art."
Denis Dutton describes aesthetics as having six universal indicators: expertise, non-utilitarian pleasure, style, criticism, imitation, and special focus. Previously, I have written that form (as opposed to function) is another term for aesthetics. Remember that our definition of design on this blog is the relationship between form and function (or content). So, we can look at these six indicators as indicators of design as well. Certainly expertise, criticism, and imitation are obviously elements found in the meta-conversation about well-crafted design. Special focus means that the subject of the work is set above the mundanity of life and imbued with a certain level of drama. Achieving a special focus should not be too difficult for board game designers who already have to distill down a theme to what can be supported by mechanics.
Non-utilitarian pleasure is where we start to find some difficulty. This is where fights can break out over whether better looking games are more fun to play. I would argue that mechanics appeal to the analytical side of human nature and theme/art appeal to the emotional side. Which you prefer in a game may say more about you than about the game. In this video, Mark Rosewater shares lessons he's learned in his years designing Magic: the Gathering. He argues that aesthetics matter and that "poor implementation is fighting against human nature" because "humans come pre-loaded with emotional responses." We will never all agree on what is "good" and "bad" in art, but as humans, we all have art/art styles we prefer. And chances are, those preferences are emotional and difficult to quantify. In short, just because you don't mind sparse art doesn't mean that that style is the best choice for a game if you are hoping for broad appeal.
Style in art is the organization of certain distinctives, like color, line-quality, and predominant shapes into categories. In art, we recognize Cubism as distinct from Impressionism. In board game design, we might start by separating games by genre: fantasy, history, horror, modern life, etc. We can look at atmosphere, tension, humor, excitement, peacefulness, drama, heroism, etc. By combining thematic elements and emotional content we see a game's style start to emerge. This can be somewhat separate from the art of a game or can include art and graphic design. Ryan Laukat has a distinctive art style. His games also have a distinctive playfulness and explorative style that would exist even if he were not the artist of his games.
How is this useful? Game designs need to not just be mechanically appealing, but aesthetically as well. Because aesthetics appeals to us on an emotional level, playtesting must take the emotional feedback of players into account. By developing a style that matches the emotional response we desire, we can strengthen the emotional impact of a game.
Remember: theme is fun. Art is fun. Excluding aesthetics from design only shrinks your audience.
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