ABSTRACT
This chapter goes through the profession of game design by summarizing it in practical terms and also introduces the structure that will be used for the rest of the material. First comes four levels for the game design profession, where each summarizes what your responsibilities at that level will be. It starts with Level 0, the Non-Designer. It then details the differences between Level 1, the Opinionated Designer; Level 2, the Proven Designer; Level 3, the Experienced Designer; and Level 4, the Holistic Designer. Second comes six stages of game design, detailing what you need to do at each stage in order to finish your game. The six stages are Ideation, Exploration, Commitment, Problem Solving, Balancing, and Tuning. Those are also the chapter names for the rest of the book and serve as categories for all the tools. Finally, this chapter mentions the Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics (MDA) framework, and details the different kinds of loops you will often encounter in game design.
