Using the “Center of Attention” in a game is more complicated that it sounds. Bjoern Bergstein highlighted the key elements during his lecture at Casual Connect Europe 2015 in Amsterdam.
Bjoern Bergstein got his first computer in 1984 — and since that time he’s been hooked on games. Still, the former soldier never conceived that he could work in the gaming industry one day. All that changed in 2010 at GamesCom Europe. There, he learned about the professionals behind the games he loved. “I talked to a few guys after the show and my view of the industry changed very fast. From that day on, I wanted to work in the gaming industry.”
Since then, Bjoern has not wasted a single second making his mark on the game industry. Not only did he study game design and game production, but he even started his own indie studio, Bubo Games, where he created the game LabRATory.
The game won the Newcomer Award 2012 and was nominated as Best Casual Mobile Game 2013 in Germany. He marks the game as one of the highlights of his career so far. “A good team and a clear vision led to that,” he says. “I am still proud of that project.”
Bumps Along the Way
Still, it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing. Bjoern recalls one painful experience he had as a student working with other students on an ambitious multiplayer game. “The whole team was so excited about it, and everybody had great ideas for the game design,” he recalls.
The team set up a vision document and put together a prototype — which did not turn out as well as the team hoped. “The first prototype was… bad. Technical problems all the way, the game flow was missing. The artists did a great job trying to find the right style for our vision, but even that didn’t really work out.”
The team did its best to adjust the game to make it work, but in the end it still wasn’t fun to play. After increasing frustration and no improvement, Bjoern gathered the team together to call it quits on a vision that couldn’t be realized and was wasting resources. “That was very hard, because we were so excited in the beginning.”
The game was buried and the team built a new one from scratch shortly after, with the team’s spirit and creativity quickly bouncing back. Bjoern said it was the best decision they could make at the time.
A Perfect Match
Similarly, Bjoern has also continued moving forward. Even with pitfalls, and even with the success of LabRATory and Bubo Games, Bjoern wanted to continue expanding his horizons. Around the same time he was looking for an exciting gaming company with a startup spirit and a motivated team, just such a company was searching for a person with experience in mobile business and game design.
So it was that Bjoern joined up with Tivola Publishing in 2014. The company was founded in 1995 and has extensive experience developing entertaining and educational games for families. Throughout the years, Tivola has managed to keep up with the times and quickly adapt — starting as a retail business, then switching to console gaming, and now focusing on mobile platforms. Their current portfolio includes more than 15 different apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
“It was a perfect match,” Bjoern says of his position at Tivola. As the company’s game designer, he is responsible for the game design and monetization strategies of all of their upcoming games. He also takes part in the company’s business development — traveling around seeking new partners and developers, as well as innovative games which might fit in the Tivola portfolio.
He feels that his past experience working on a game from start to finish, and even beyond, gives him a definite edge. “I am more realistic in setting up visions and game design ideas,” he says. “Perhaps it’s a bit strange for a game designer, but to keep the whole product lifecycle in mind helps me to get a clearer picture of a new game right from the start.”
Seeking Inspiration
Coming up with a new game requires no small amount of inspiration. It may seem counterintuitive, but Bergstein likes to look outside of games for such inspiration. Walks through the city and people-watching are just a couple of the ways he finds inspiration. He also peruses YouTube and ponders emerging trends. “And I like to close my eyes and just listen to music to get in the right mood for inspiration,” he says.
Once he has what he needs in mind — whether it’s a theme or a picture or something else — he lets his mind wander as he goes about his other daily work. “During that time, I notice everything that comes to my mind regarding the topic.”
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He’ll then write everything down in a “mind map” and filter out everything which is not intuitive or easy to understand. “Reduction of complexity is one of the main aspects of my work,” he notes. With the remaining ideas, he’ll set up a vision document and present it to his colleagues, after which the idea is further refined until it is ready to be developed into a game or feature.
He admits it can be challenging to find a vision that everyone on the team can get excited about. “Of course the vision keeper needs to be responsible for the vision,” he says, “but without the commitment and the passion of the whole team, you will not succeed.”
There are also the inevitable creative blocks. When that happens, Bjoern finds it’s best to immediately stop working on the topic at hand and focus your thoughts elsewhere. “I don’t waste any thoughts on actively fixing the issue. From my point of view, you need to accept such blocks if you want to get over them.” Instead he will go about his daily routine and relax himself until there is enough distance between him and the issue to come back to it.
When the creativity, the vision, and the team all line up, it’s music to Bjoern’s ears. Even more than the game creation process though, he loves seeing the initial customer reaction to a new game, app, or feature. “When designing new features I always think of thousands of smiling customers using this new functionality. It’s absolutely satisfying when people have fun with your product — and it’s inspiring when you get honest feedback, even if the idea was not the best one,” he says.
Preparing for the Future
Another absolute must in Bjoern’s job is anticipating new trends. To that end, Bjoern is closely watching two developments. He’s noticed an increasing distaste in society for people constantly staring at their phones. He believes games will need to become more social and physically interactive — such as through toys or other objects the player can connect with using their phone — in order to deal with that issue.
The second trend Bjoern is watching involves the continued merging of the digital realm with the physical world. While things like Google Glass and Oculus Rift are taking big steps toward virtual reality and augmented reality, they are simply “the first forerunners.” In order to help secure their future, Tivola is currently researching how they can take part in this trend as it continues to emerge.
For those looking to secure their own future in the gaming industry, Bjoern offers some advice: “Start with a short internship and try to find the position that fits best to you. You might think that being a game tester seems cool because you can play games all day long. Give it a try and see if reality meets your expectations. Most jobs in the gaming industry are more complex than it might look from an outside perspective.”
He also notes that the game industry is very helpful to those seeking to test the waters. “Many development tools are free — especially for indie developers or students. Check them out and improve your skills step by step.” And above all, he says, “don’t hesitate to ask (questions). There is a great community out there to help you.”
