Practical Game Design

Limitations of paper prototypes

Of course, like any tools, paper prototypes present some disadvantages:

• Abstraction: To abstract on a system in a way that works on paper before the virtual world, the experience is required. You need to be able to distill the essential elements and leave out everything else. You'd need to make compromises and still create something that can answer real questions for the game as it is going to be on screen. Experience is the only way to master abstraction. The good news is that you can start prototype games right now, without studying any programming language, even away from your computer. You don't even have to invent a game, just pick an existing game and imagine how would you paper prototype some of its ...