A Manifesto of Constructive Design

The game media, in its effort of understanding games as a medium akin to film or prose, has begun to apply a critical perspective towards games. This pursuit, while valuable in enhancing our understanding of games, is bound by only being able to look at what already exists. The purpose of constructive design is to provide a form by which designers can build and discuss new forms of play; first through constructing systems, but then tested through prototyping, both digitally and paper based.

To build better games, we must break down their parts, and then ask how can we improve those parts. For example, in Assassin’s Creed, the player is limited to pressing one button to control combat. Would the game be more immersive if the player controlled his weapons through the analog stick, along the lines of Age of Conan? At constructive design, we encourage throwing everything on the wall, and seeing what sticks.