How to build a game around one core verb

1 The bottom line

Pick one action that feels good on its own, then let every enemy, object, rule and look answer to it. A single strong verb keeps inputs few, interactions many, and the whole game coherent.

2 Key takeaways

• Start from one action and make it satisfying before you add anything else. Every later system rests on that foundation.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:02 built Word Play as a plain spelling game with a shuffle button and letter bag before adding any Balatro-style layers.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:27 notes that Mario's jump is fun and expressive before Nintendo designs a single level.
• Let the verb's own logic write the next design decisions. Each answer raises the next question, so the design grows without guesswork.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:35 describes Into the Breach growing from one enemy that showed its attack tile, which led to protecting buildings, pushing enemies and tricking them into killing each other.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:53 reports Miyamoto asking what the logical way to defeat an enemy is in a game about jumping, and landing on stomping.
• Make nearly every object and scenario interact with the verb. The player learns few actions but gets a huge number of uses for them.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:47 shows Odyssey getting trampolines, attacks, switches and possession from one hat throw on three buttons and a stick.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:12 points out that Super Mario Bros puts the flagpole one brick off the ground so you must jump to finish.
• Echo the verb in the look, theme and characters. When everything suggests how you play, the game is effortless to pick up.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:46 notes that Odyssey has hat-shaped ships and a hat kingdom, and that bosses wearing more hats are harder.
• Guard the verb by cutting what does not serve it and watching its side effects. One change can undermine the feel you wanted.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:17 says Superhot's designers removed everything that did not speak to its core idea, including exploration and realistic textures.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:22 found that a throwable magnet had to be babysat, which slowed a platformer.

This gimmick then becomes the core of the game, with pretty much everything else being used to support and frame that delicious nugget of interactivity.

Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:54

2.1 Find the verb

Start from one action you want to perform, not from a genre, a story or a feature list.

• Borrow one mechanic you love and ask what a whole game built on it would be. Mark Brown, with guest Jonas Tyroller, Game Maker's Toolkit10:37
  • Braid began from the rewind in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and Shovel Knight from the down thrust in Zelda 2.
  • Mind Over Magnet came from the magnetic glove in Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, used to cross a platforming level.
  • Nintendo often begins with a new interaction, like ink in Splatoon or the vacuum in Luigi's Mansion. Odyssey's hat throw was part of the game from the beginning, according to director Kenta Motokura Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:54.
• Think about what the player does before who they are. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:16
  • Gunpei Yokoi replaced the character with a dot and asked what movement would be fun.
  • Mario began as Jumpman, a character defined by his leap.
• Prototype the idea small and let it tell you what it wants to be. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:27
  • Tom Francis first imagined a fridge-dropping robot, then a side-scroller where rewiring was one hacking mini-game. After prototyping the rewire mechanic, it was obvious it should be a puzzle game.
  • Mark Brown, featuring Jonathan Blow, Game Maker's Toolkit0:11: Blow began Braid with rewind by almost any amount. Coding it showed he could exempt objects from the rewind, and a new rule was born.
  • A bug can also be the lead. Hideki Kamiya found an air-juggle bug in Onimusha: Warlords and developed it into the central mechanic of Devil May Cry Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:12.

2.2 Make the verb feel good alone

Before levels, goals or systems, the bare action should already be fun to repeat.

• Build the core activity first and make it juicy. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit0:02
  • Brown set out to build a really good spelling game before adding perks, rounds or a shop.
  • The base was a spelling game with a shuffle button and a letter bag, and the roguelike layers came only once it felt good.
• Test the verb in an empty room. Mark Brown, with Maddy (then Matt) Thorson and Noel Berry, Game Maker's Toolkit13:43
  • Movement should feel good with a controller even when there are no goals.
  • Thorson recalls running around Delfino Plaza in Super Mario Sunshine for hours just because it was fun.
  • When movement is rich, walls and big gaps stop being barriers and become challenges to overcome Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:11.
• Give the verb tactile depth. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit11:27
  • Squeezing the NES controller makes Mario jump higher, and releasing the shoot button in Devil Daggers attracts gems.
  • The raccoon suit's hold-to-float is another expressive twist on a simple input.
• Pick verbs that survive thousands of repeats. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:32
  • One or two verbs repeat for a whole game, so punch, slash, shoot, drive and jump suit repetition better than others.
  • On an abstract pad, deep mechanics must fit in a handful of interactions, or each new action needs its own tutorial.

2.3 Let the verb's logic write the rules and content

Ask what the verb implies, then build enemies, levels and puzzles from the answers.

• Ask what the logical outcome of the verb is. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:53
  • Miyamoto asked how you defeat an enemy in a game about jumping, and landed on stomping.
  • No platformer had done it before Mario, though Sonic and Aladdin copied it later.
  • The question can also say when to swap the verb. Jumping on a tiny Goomba is tough in 3D, so each 3D Mario got its own attack: the kick, FLUDD, the spin and the hat throw Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:28.
• Follow the chain of questions the verb raises. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:35
  • Into the Breach began as an Advance Wars-style game with hidden attacks. One enemy that highlighted its target tile was the most enjoyable part, so Subset focused on telegraphed attacks.
  • If you can dodge, the game becomes about protecting buildings, then pushing enemies so attacks miss, then tricking enemies into killing each other.
• Build enemies and level pieces around the signature move. Mark Brown, with Sean Velasco and David D'Angelo, Game Maker's Toolkit2:56
  • A huge share of Shovel Knight's campaign is built around the Shovel Drop: magic books, floating bushes, sea snakes, giant gears, jellyfish, cannonballs, angler fish and bouncy beetles.
  • Super Mario Bros calls for a jump from bricks, power-up blocks, pipes, platforms and the flagpole. Miyamoto dropped a shoot 'em up stage to focus on jumping action Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:12.
• Choose a verb with enough cleverness to generate many puzzles. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:21
  • The mechanic's rules, and especially its limitations, create the puzzles.
  • Snakebird has a body that follows its head, gravity and growth from fruit. Cosmic Express has tracks that cannot cross.
  • Snake Pass lets you control only Noodle's head. The body grips when wrapped around pillars and drags you off when dangling, so it is both your greatest asset and your biggest enemy Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:31.

2.4 Make everything interact with the verb

The player should learn a tiny set of actions and find uses for them everywhere.

• Involve the verb in nearly every scenario. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit15:06
  • Players said the magnet did not feel like the core of Mind Over Magnet. It sat beside lasers and moving boxes, and some scenarios did not use it at all.
  • The fix is a pillar: this is a game where you overcome problems through clever use of magnetism.
• Let one verb replace many inputs. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:47
  • One hat throw handles trampolines, attacks, switches and possession, so Odyssey needs only three buttons and a stick. If in doubt, throw your hat.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:20: Pikmin is just throwing Pikmin at tasks and calling them back, yet their abilities open broad strategies.
  • This avoids what Anna Anthropy calls orphaned verbs, actions so specific that the player has forgotten them by the time the one situation arrives.
• Allow one transformation at a time. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit3:05
  • You can't be fire Mario in a half bee, half squirrel suit. In Odyssey, capturing a Tropical Wiggler, Gushen or Pokio replaces your move set instead of stacking on it.
  • The game offers many ways to play without a character who has 20 actions on different buttons.
• Keep cutting steps until the verb takes one or two actions. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:44
  • Ultrahand's raft building started at five steps. Designers reworked every part until players could make a boat in one or two actions.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit2:30: Nintendo wanted Lego or Minecraft, not Blender. The more complexity removed upfront, the more freedom later.
  • Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit4:05: a separate item to switch on Zonai devices was replaced by striking any part of the machine, which also lets players activate it from a distance.

2.5 Echo the verb in everything you see and hear

When enemies, style, music and pickups all frame the verb, players start playing without instruction.

• Align every element with the way you play. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:29
  • When enemies, style, locations, music, story and characters all frame the core mechanic, players can pick the game up and get stuck in.
  • Brown argues this makes Nintendo games playful, toylike, accessible and inviting without being less complex.
• Let the theme grow from the mechanic. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:46
  • Splatoon's punky look came from its graffiti ink, and Sunshine's tropical feel from its super soaker.
  • Odyssey has hat-shaped ships, a hat kingdom and hats on everyone.
  • Enemy hats signal that they take two hits to capture, and bosses with more hats are harder.
• Turn the mechanic into a character. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit9:22
  • FLUDD in Sunshine, the Lakitu cameraman in Mario 64 and Cappy in Odyssey ground the idea in the world, so it feels organic, not cold and mechanical.
  • In Galaxy, the Luma under Mario's hat shows the spin has recharged, replacing a UI element.
• Make collectibles and mission givers respect the verb's tempo. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:34
  • Burnout Paradise collectibles are smashable gates and billboards, so you never stop dead to open a fuse box. Mission givers rocket past and goad you into a chase.
  • Catalyst's stop-and-interact collectibles break the momentum a speed game is about.

2.6 Protect the verb as the game grows

Cut what does not serve it, add costs where it breaks balance, and watch what it does to pacing and genre.

• Strip out everything that does not serve the core idea. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit8:17
  • Superhot dropped exploration and realistic textures.
  • Two other major games used time manipulation for a single level each. Superhot built the whole game around it, which made it feel like the most innovative shooter Brown had played in years.
• Add costs when a strong verb makes the game too easy. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:48
  • In Superhot, time flows when you move and nearly freezes when you stand still. But time does not stop completely, firing jerks time forward, you wait between shots, and enemies swarm from every angle.
  • The result is a planning game more intense than many real time shooters.
• Check the verb's side effects on pacing and genre. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit1:22
  • A magnet separated from the character must be picked up and carried along, which slows a speedrunning platformer.
  • Instant recall like Odyssey's cap or God of War's axe was awkward in 2D and ignored magnetic surfaces.
  • Brown wanted a Celeste-style platformer, but the mechanic kept pulling toward puzzles. He concluded the game is best as a puzzle game Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit14:34.
• Take the verb away briefly to surprise players. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:56
  • In Odyssey you hang up your hat in certain areas, explosive enemies grab it, and piranha plants eat Cappy until you stomp their head.
  • Removal forces other abilities and adds a fresh wrinkle.

2.7 Where designers disagree

The one-verb rule has tensions, and some tactics fit only certain games.

• Involve the verb everywhere, or remove it on purpose. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit15:06
  • Mind Over Magnet's fix is to use the magnet in nearly every scenario.
  • Odyssey deliberately takes the hat away in short moments to test other abilities Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit10:56.
• One verb for everything, or a separate button for the actions that halt play. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:04
  • Odyssey routes talking and calling a Jaxi to A, so you never throw your hat at something that would halt the game.
  • The hat still covers nearly every other interaction Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit7:47.
• Make what you want to make, or what the mechanic wants to be. Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit14:34
  • Brown wanted a platformer but chose what is best for the game, a puzzle game.
  • Tom Francis said Gunpoint "just kind of told me what it wanted to be" Mark Brown, Game Maker's Toolkit5:27.