Game Design Secrets

Using Prototype Sketches, Storyboards, and Art as Design References

When you are first designing your game’s core gameplay elements, you’ll probably want to convey a lot of these details through prototype sketches and art. As an inspirational reference guide, take a look at the following design prototype sketches and storyboards for Impending’s Hatch, the virtual pet iOS game which was discussed with Phill Ryu in Chapter 13. Because they are early sketches, they represent initial evolutionary steps toward the final game and the team’s beginning design process. Compare these prototypes to what was used in the ultimate game and pay close attention to the design approach Ryu and his team brought to each element.

Prototype Pet Sketches for Hatch

These are early sketches for the Fugu pet in Hatch, by artist David Lanham, and illustrate how much work it takes to create a compelling game character. (See Figure A-1.)

Figure A-1: Early Fugu sketches by David Lanham

“David has been dreaming up cute and fantastical creatures for most of his life,” Ryu explains, “so when we started diving into Hatch, it felt like we were finally letting some of those monsters out of his head. He started by sketching a bunch of different ideas for monsters, and probably came up with enough distinct creature designs and concepts to fill a Pokemon game. We whittled those down to a few promising ones, then filtered ...