To me, a big
part of good game design is not being afraid to let your players feel frustrated, lost or hopeless at times.
In his excellent book on game design, A Theory of Fun, Raph Koster, says the
essence of good game design is teaching — a well constructed level slowly introduces you to its themes, and shows you how to beat them.
By now you have probably noticed that many points are convergent with general
guidelines of good game design and practices that for some time now have been gaining in popularity.
There is a game that is damn popular, but not really treated as a
piece of good game design, but merely a lucky case of good propaganda is HandDrawnGames Desktop Tower Defense.
This is Jotun's most notable
example of good game design, because the boss fights carry over elements from the prerequisite levels, ensuring that the player is not blindsided by new mechanics.
Winner of Best Game Design and Best Mobile Game, and one of four finalists for Best in Show, the game's line to play was rarely empty, but was worth the wait.
The beauty and the madness of this thing is how it nonchalantly violates nearly every
rule of good game design from the past ten years.
Bottom line: Prey has
some of the best game design in recent memory, and is thoroughly unmissable for fans of games like Bioshock, Deus Ex, and Dead Space.