ABSTRACT
There are 25 exercises designed to create the beginning of our pattern language. These exercises focus on core game design concepts. If this process proves as useful to other game designers and game design instructors, developers with more domain knowledge may wish to extend this collection of exercises into other areas of game design, from writing to art to sound design. For each exercise, the chapter includes an example pattern and shows the work of completing the exercise to create that pattern. Because each exercise is subtly or even radically different from the last, it’s important to understand how each step of the exercise helps us to uncover and articulate a pattern. The chapter recommends reading the resulting pattern first, then reading through the response to each of the steps provided. It refines the analysis of each game into possible patterns and describes the chosen pattern in the Pattern Template.
