The 5 Ingredients of Game Town Design

02 – The 5 Ingredients of Game Town Design

Continuing the series on urban design for game environments, let’s start with the basics: the 5 elements of city image from Kevin Lynch’s “The Image of the City”—a foundational text for urban planners and a must-read for anyone looking to build a solid background in urban design. This classic framework can be effectively applied to designing towns and cities in video games, focusing on how players perceive, recognize, remember, and navigate your town.
Here’s how these elements translate into game design:

– 🛤️ Path: The routes players take through the town—main streets, alleyways, and roads. These paths are subject to hierarchy, which we’ll discuss another day, but they should always be unmistakable and recognizable (excluding secret paths and other rule-breaking for gameplay purposes).

– 🚧 Edge: Boundaries that define areas within the town, such as walls, rivers, or changes in elevation. Edges help segment different districts and structure the environment, aiding players in mentally breaking down a large environment into more digestible sections.

– 🏘️ District: The distinct areas within the town, each with its own visual style and purpose. Districts give the town character and diversity. Ideally, a player should be able to spawn randomly in any part of the city and still recognize, more or less, where they are—specifically, in which district.

– 📍 Node: Key points of interest where players naturally converge—like town squares, marketplaces, or major intersections. Nodes create a hierarchy of attention and interest, helping players avoid having to knock on every door in the city to find the important ones.

– 🏰 Landmark: Prominent features that stand out, such as towers, statues, or unique buildings. Landmarks help players orient themselves and make the town more memorable. They are often destinations but can also act as navigational aids (if they are the kind of landmark visible from a distance).

Can you find and identify these elements in the drawing?

Using these elements, you can craft towns that are both immersive and navigable, ensuring players can easily find their way while also engaging with the environment. In the sketch attached, you can see how these concepts come together to form a cohesive town design.

By the way, feel free to ask questions, share your thoughts, or open up any discussion on the topic—I’m more than happy to engage!