Quality games have been famously described as "a series of interesting decisions." But how do you design games to afford players the opportunity to make those interesting decisions?

Meaningful choice is one of the staples of good and compelling game design, but as a concept it's still poorly understood and rarely explored in detail, especially through the lens of level design.

As part of the GDC 2014 "Level Design In A Day" series of talks, 2K Games' Matthias Worch (former lead designer of the cancelled Star Wars 1313) took a deeper look at choice in games: why it is important, how it ties into the psychological underpinnings of why we play games, and how it connects to other fundamental concepts of game design like the space of possibility, motivation, player agency and the actual level design of a game.

It's a thought-provoking talk worth watching for all developers, especially designers. The free video (embedded above) of 'Decisions That Matter - Meaningful Choice in Game and Level Design' is now available to watch here on the GDC Vault.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault 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.

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