Video Game Design: Making Gameplay Fun

About Raymond

A veteran video game designer with over 10 years of experience, Raymond knew from age 7–when playing on his original PlayStation console–that he wanted to design and create video games for a living. After applying that passion for gaming and problem solving to a degree in Informatics from Indiana University, Raymond has spent his career designing games of all types, from Crowfall and Terrestrial Invaders to games for Legends of Learning and Stanford Medical School. When he’s not designing games, you’ll likely find him playing them or talking about them, such as his role as a Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master and as a teacher of video game design principles with Varsity Tutors.

About the class

It’s a good thing that video game designers love a challenge. Making games fun is harder than it appears: no matter how vibrant the graphics and effects are, a good game needs to be challenging for longtime players yet fun for beginners, full of lots of challenges and interactions but still easy to understand and navigate. And in this live, interactive class, young gamers and aspiring game makers will learn how game designers tackle these immense challenges to make video games fun.

Join veteran video game designer Raymond Stump for a look inside the gamification toolkit. Students will explore the Core Game Loop–the foundational basis for any fun and engaging game–and the elements that keep players challenged, from levels to leaderboards to variable rewards and more. Learners will level up their understanding of video games as they break down their favorite games to see how they were designed to be fun, and as they learn how to craft fun, immersive games of their own.

This class is one of many activities in the Video Game Creation program presented by Codeverse, a free program for Varsity Tutors Learning Members as they learn valuable coding skills by designing, creating, and programming their own games on the Codeverse platform.