- Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan opens his GDC 2013 microtalk on the importance of theme in game design.

Creativity flourishes when constrained, and one of the greatest contraints developers place upon themselves is theme. So how do you find the one that's perfect for your game?

As part of the GDC 2013 Microtalks sessions, Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan hopped up on stage to quickly run down four questions he'd created to help clarify the themes of his games. 

This may seem like a non-issue -- who has trouble finding cool themes for their projects? -- but Fan points out that the value in asking yourself these four questions isn't just to ensure your game has a neat theme. It's also to help you pick the right theme, and clarify why that theme is the best possible fit for your game's design.

Now you can watch his presentation -- a brief segment of the full GDC 2013 Microtalks panel -- for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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