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Bushnell's Law

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in 1971. Its controls were based on four otherwise equivalent-looking buttons but with different functions, and Bushnell found that this had confused players that were trying to learn the game due to their lack of familiarity with these types of controls. Bushnell kept this in mind in designing their
85:. Parker had said that "Each game must have an exciting, relevant theme and be easy enough for most people to understand. Finally, each game should be so sturdy that it could be played time and again, without wearing out." 218: 255: 163: 140: 321: 77:, to keep the controls simple and easy to grasp while maintaining a challenging gameplay. The concept is also similar to a philosophy developed by 130: 222: 314: 340: 202: 54:
All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master. They should reward the first quarter and the hundredth.
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This principle is also referred to with the sentence "easy to learn, hard to master", which has been adopted by
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Bushnell came up with the concept based on his experience with his first game
334: 168: 190: 126: 19: 250: 135: 35: 279: 164:"Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone" 39: 131:"Persuasive Games: Familiarity, Habituation, and Catchiness" 67: 219:"Bushnell's Theorem: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master" 197:. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 125–133. 332: 315: 246:"GDC: Blizzard's Core Game Design Concepts" 121: 119: 117: 322: 308: 114: 18: 243: 161: 333: 189: 125: 81:, the founder of board game publisher 258:from the original on January 17, 2022 143:from the original on January 18, 2022 274: 193:(2011). "Chapter 18: Habituation". 13: 221:. Wolfshead Online. Archived from 14: 367: 244:Cifaldi, Frank (March 11, 2010). 92:as a motto and design principle. 278: 195:How to Do Things with Videogames 162:Freeman, Will (April 26, 2016). 237: 211: 183: 155: 1: 107: 294:. You can help Knowledge by 7: 95: 10: 372: 273: 65:future games, such as in 341:Video game culture stubs 290:–related article is a 90:Blizzard Entertainment 56: 24: 23:Nolan Bushnell in 2013 52: 22: 16:Game design principle 225:on February 26, 2014 46:, on the subject of 38:often attributed to 346:Video game culture 288:video game culture 25: 351:Video game design 303: 302: 129:(April 2, 2009). 48:video game design 363: 324: 317: 310: 282: 275: 268: 267: 265: 263: 241: 235: 234: 232: 230: 215: 209: 208: 187: 181: 180: 178: 176: 159: 153: 152: 150: 148: 123: 371: 370: 366: 365: 364: 362: 361: 360: 331: 330: 329: 328: 272: 271: 261: 259: 242: 238: 228: 226: 217: 216: 212: 205: 188: 184: 174: 172: 160: 156: 146: 144: 124: 115: 110: 98: 83:Parker Brothers 17: 12: 11: 5: 369: 359: 358: 353: 348: 343: 327: 326: 319: 312: 304: 301: 300: 283: 270: 269: 236: 210: 203: 182: 154: 112: 111: 109: 106: 105: 104: 102:Learning curve 97: 94: 61:Computer Space 44:Nolan Bushnell 28:Bushnell's Law 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 368: 357: 354: 352: 349: 347: 344: 342: 339: 338: 336: 325: 320: 318: 313: 311: 306: 305: 299: 297: 293: 289: 284: 281: 277: 276: 257: 253: 252: 247: 240: 224: 220: 214: 206: 204:9781452933122 200: 196: 192: 186: 175:September 26, 171: 170: 165: 158: 142: 138: 137: 132: 128: 122: 120: 118: 113: 103: 100: 99: 93: 91: 86: 84: 80: 79:George Parker 76: 75: 70: 69: 63: 62: 55: 51: 49: 45: 41: 37: 33: 29: 21: 296:expanding it 285: 262:February 26, 260:. Retrieved 249: 239: 229:February 26, 227:. Retrieved 223:the original 213: 194: 185: 173:. Retrieved 169:The Guardian 167: 157: 147:February 26, 145:. Retrieved 134: 87: 72: 66: 59: 57: 53: 31: 27: 26: 191:Bogost, Ian 127:Bogost, Ian 32:Nolan's Law 335:Categories 108:References 251:Gamasutra 136:Gamasutra 74:Asteroids 256:Archived 141:Archived 96:See also 42:founder 36:aphorism 356:Adages 201:  34:is an 286:This 40:Atari 292:stub 264:2014 231:2014 199:ISBN 177:2021 149:2014 71:and 68:Pong 30:or 337:: 254:. 248:. 166:. 139:. 133:. 116:^ 50:: 323:e 316:t 309:v 298:. 266:. 233:. 207:. 179:. 151:.

Index


aphorism
Atari
Nolan Bushnell
video game design
Computer Space
Pong
Asteroids
George Parker
Parker Brothers
Blizzard Entertainment
Learning curve



Bogost, Ian
"Persuasive Games: Familiarity, Habituation, and Catchiness"
Gamasutra
Archived
"Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone"
The Guardian
Bogost, Ian
ISBN
9781452933122
"Bushnell's Theorem: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master"
the original
"GDC: Blizzard's Core Game Design Concepts"
Gamasutra
Archived
Stub icon

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