What Makes a Good Game or a Game Good?

Perhaps the most important question for gamers and game developers alike, is what makes a good game or a game good? Why is it that some games do phenomenally well and succeed beyond measure while others do just as enthusiastically bad? Let’s find out.

A Good Game is Intuitive

A good game is at its core intuitive and instinctive. It feels natural and when you get the gist of it and make sense of all that’s happening, you will not need any more learning to play it well and even perfect it. A good example of an intuitive game is Subway Surfers, the mobile game. In Subway Surfers, once you know how to make the character jump just by a simple swipe up and how to run under barriers, then you are set. You will never again need to know how to play the game; it’s as simple and flawless as that. That’s what makes a really good game, its intuitiveness.

A Good Game has a Good Story

We mostly think of gaming just as a pastime, an activity that we do just for the heck of it. However, when a game comes with a good, engaging, and touching story, then we become engaged players and identify with the characters within the game. We become part of the story and the story, in a way, becomes part of our story within the game.

Think of Clash of Clans (CoC) and how personal it feels and honestly, how personal it gets once your village is attacked. You feel enraged and will most certainly feel like you want to revenge and go and destroy your enemies’ villages. Plain and simple. A good story not only draws in the gamer but gives them something to believe in and aspire for within the game.

A Good Game Looks the Part

A good game, one would think, is the game with the best graphics and the most sophisticated infrastructure and environment. However, that is not necessarily true. A good game looks the part. It doesn’t have to have the best graphics and graphical user interface (GUI) but rather, the most fitting and relatable to the gameplay and story of the game.

An excellent example of this is Minecraft. Nobody can blame Minecraft for having the most excellent graphics but its pixelated graphics are everything to die for. The graphics look the part and even without being told, tell the story that on Minecraft you will be building something and you will use a block and that everything is made of blocks. Simple. Mind you, the graphics of Minecraft are far better today than they were before but even when they weren’t as good, gamers were still insanely enjoying the game.

A Good Game is Well and Often Updated

In this age of A. I and 5G, a good game is most definitely the one that is well and constantly updated. Preferably, via the air using the internet and not via physical disks or drives. Updates are essential to the life of the game because they keep on improving its core features and graphics. Think of the FIFA franchise.

If FIFA didn’t get yearly updates and new and exciting features and feature new football stars, would it have become the institution it is? Even though now FIFA will be renamed EA Sports FC, it still retains its pizazz mainly because it is sufficiently and constantly updated each year. By the way, to retain the legacy of FIFA, please make sure you get FIFA 22 and FIFA 23 as the latter will be the last edition under the FIFA name. After the World Cup this year, FIFA will undergo a name change to EA Sports FC as mentioned earlier.

A Good Game Creates Community

Perhaps the most important characteristic of a good game, bringing people together and creating a community is what distinguishes satisfactory games from global masterpieces that everyone is playing. A good game must create this sense of community as it is what brings people together.

A Good Game can be Played Simultaneously by Numerous Players

Can you imagine playing a game today for which you cannot find other players online? Nobody wants to play a game alone all the time. As such, when a game creates a sense of community and is multiplayer, it unites people on a single cause and as a result, creates longtime value both for the players and its developers.

The Importance of Community in Gaming

Even more, a huge community of players will make suggestions on possible future updates, hitches, or glitches within the game, and create virtual or even physical events to meet and share their love of the game. A perfect example of this is Fortnite. Fortnite would possibly not be the franchise that it is had it not created a community. By doing so, it now enjoys millions of players globally and even fantastic tournaments such as the global Fortnite World Cup.

A Good Game has a Broad Set of Levels

A game cannot be good if it’s too short or lacks a broad enough set of levels. Each game should have more levels than the best players can sufficiently complete. As such, a broad set of levels will keep gamers constantly chasing for that win in the next level and, therefore, challenging and engaging them even more. As a result, players fall more and more in love with the game each day and enjoy something that means something to them beyond just fun.

What is a Good Game to You?

What makes a good game for you? What is it that makes you stick to a game and play it for hours on end? Any examples of games that you play whose characteristics you feel epitomize the idea of a good game? Let us know. Cheers.