Boundaries

This chapter covers assessing elements which create boundaries for the design of a licensed game. If the game design exceeds these boundaries, the game will not be suitable, and time will have been wasted. Design boundaries can come from many factors, such as the game's genre, the target audience requiring a maximum complexity or price point, which parts of the IP can be used, the amount of time available for design, and so on. Boundaries limit what should be designed, and the design space lies within those. Once the design space is known, anything designed within that space will be appropriate. As a result, design boundaries define what should not be made, and it is better to define the boundaries first and design within them, as opposed to designing a game first and then checking to see if it fits within those boundaries.