Player-Centered Game Design

Putting Players at the Heart of Game Design

What you'll learn

Understand why most games fail — and how to avoid the same mistakes.

Think like a player by mastering core usability principles like affordances, constraints, mapping, and causality.

Align your vision with player reality by building and testing accurate mental models.

Design games that match real player expectations and habits, using transfer effects and stereotypes wisely.

Apply the Design Window model (Blue, Red, Orange, Green zones) to manage innovation and player understanding.

Collaborate with players early through participatory design and contextual design techniques.

Catch and fix design errors before they kill your game — reducing development costs and player frustration.

Handle resistance inside teams and organizations when applying player-centered methods.

Build games that are more intuitive, inclusive, and truly player-centered.

Requirements

No game design experience required.

No game development experience required.

Description

Most games fail — not because of bad ideas, but because designers forget about real players.In this course, you’ll learn how to design games that players actually understand, love, and want to keep playing.Using principles from Player-Centered Game Design by Janne Tyni, PhD, you’ll master a practical, step-by-step method for making your game intuitive, accessible, and player-first.You’ll start by discovering why traditional game design often misses the mark, then dive into powerful usability concepts like affordances, constraints, mapping, causality, and mental models.You’ll learn how to align your vision with player expectations using the Design Window model — balancing shared understanding, innovation, and emergent gameplay.Through real-world examples, case studies, and clear frameworks, you’ll see how the best games stay intuitive while still feeling fresh and innovative.You’ll also learn how to collaborate with players early, manage feedback, and design games that work for diverse audiences with different skills and backgrounds.By the end of this course, you’ll know how to think like a player, test your designs the right way, prevent costly mistakes, and build games that connect with real people — not just your own ideas.This is a fast-paced, practical course for aspiring game designers, indie developers, and anyone who wants to create games that players actually want.

Overview

Section 1: Why Most Games Fail — And How Yours Won’t

Lecture 1 Welcome and Setup

Lecture 2 Disaster Story - How Good Games Fail

Lecture 3 Why Traditional Game Design Fails

Lecture 4 What is Player-Centered Game Design (PCGD)

Lecture 5 Key Benefits of PCGD

Lecture 6 The Player-Centered Design Cycle

Lecture 7 Where PCGD Impacts Your Game & Conclusion

Section 2: Think Like a Player - Master the Mindset

Lecture 8 What Are Affordances

Lecture 9 Guiding with Constraints

Lecture 10 Mapping: Make Controls Intuitive

Lecture 11 Causality: Make Actions Matter

Lecture 12 Transfer Effects

Lecture 13 Stereotypes and Expectations

Lecture 14 Mental Models Alignment

Lecture 15 Designing for Diverse Players & Section 2 Summary

Section 3: Align Vision with Reality - Build Mental Models That Work

Lecture 16 Introduction to mental models

Lecture 17 Understanding the Design Window

Lecture 18 Expanding Shared Understanding

Lecture 19 Managing Innovations

Lecture 20 Embracing Emergent Gameplay

Lecture 21 Summary & Conclusion

Section 4: Stop Designing for Yourself - Players Are Your Only Audience

Lecture 22 Two Competing Mindsets in Game Design

Lecture 23 Case Studies in Player-Centered vs. Maker-Focused Design

Lecture 24 Summary and Takeaways

Section 5: Create Games With Players Not For Them

Lecture 25 What is Participatory Design

Lecture 26 Importance of Early Involvement

Lecture 27 Phases of Co-Creation

Lecture 28 Overcoming Challenges

Lecture 29 Case Study

Lecture 30 Summary and Conclusion

Section 6: Design for Real Life Not Fantasy

Lecture 31 What is Contextual Design

Lecture 32 Observing Players in Context

Lecture 33 Key Methods

Lecture 34 Practical example

Lecture 35 Summary and Conclusion

Section 7: Catch Errors Before They Kill Your Game

Lecture 36 What Are Design Errors

Lecture 37 Why Design Errors Matter

Lecture 38 Cost of Fixing Design Errors

Lecture 39 How Player-Centered Game Design Prevents Errors

Lecture 40 Case Studies

Lecture 41 Summary and Conclusion

Section 8: Beat Resistance - Build Games Players Actually Want

Lecture 42 Access to Relevant Information and Players

Lecture 43 Applicability of Methods

Lecture 44 Assumptions About Players

Lecture 45 Attitudes and Resistance to Change

Lecture 46 Conflicting Needs of Different Player Groups

Lecture 47 Motivating Players to Provide Feedback

Lecture 48 Organizational Flexibility

Lecture 49 Summary and Conclusion

Section 9: The Future is Player-Centered - Make Games That Matter

Lecture 50 Final Takeaways

Lecture 51 Recommended Readings

Lecture 52 Launch into Player-Centered Practice

Lecture 53 Summary and Conclusion

Game Designers,Indie Developers,Game Developers,Game Design Students