Game development has its root in the basic elements and principles of design – here are a few core concepts that are important to anyone looking to develop games.

When it comes to game development, there are many things you can’t learn from simply playing games, but instead need to study in courses and schools to become truly proficient. Not just things like programming languages either - game design online, on PC and console all require a basic understanding of both the elements and principles of design. The building blocks of any education on game making, things like color theory and unity come long before picking out each character’s special attack. Below are just a few of these, all of which have more to do with game design than you may have thought:

1. Color
Color denotes a mood and feel for a game - even the lack thereof. In The Darkness, characters are almost conditioned to fear and avoid color, instead lurking in as much shadow as possible to regenerate their powers. Giving a game just a slightly wrong hue can greatly affect the mood of it, and give players the wrong cues. Entire careers have been devoted to the study of color and its effect on the mind, so it's not something to lightly gloss over in your development process.

2. Balance
With large, high-definition televisions becoming standard, simplicity is coming back to game design - rather than attempting to fill a screen with every possible stat and figure, designers are learning to balance HUDs and onscreen action to keep gamers from sensory overload. Knowing how much is too much is essential, or you might overwhelm and confuse players.

3. Movement
This is no stranger to game development, particularly as it pertains to animation, but there is much more to it than keeping animations smooth and realistic. Movement is affected not just by physical movement, but by our perception of it - it can be tricked or enhanced by repetition and contrast, even deceived completely by still images that anticipate movement or the simple blurring of edges. All of these come into play when creating artificial motion inside of a game.

4. Proportion
Proportion comes into play not just in basic anatomical ways (i.e. a character’s height, versus that of another character, vs. the scale of their environment), but also in the way unassociated object compliment or detract from the harmony of a composition. In many cases size and shape can be distorted to create more visually appealing tableaus that may not even be noticeably skewed. Rather than creating virtual replicas of real life objects, it may be better to consider them as parts of a whole, and adjust proportions accordingly.

5. Space
It’s become a common trend to pack as much space as possible with detail - Skyrim’s caverns, for example, look majestic as lantern light bounces off of every curvature of the rock walls. But don’t forget about the simple eeriness of the Dark Link battle in Ocarina of Time - the dark, ripple-less water melding with the grey sky that appeared to stretch on forever did just as much to create a mood of tension as any detailed dungeon. When space is used dynamically - for instance, a large, seemingly endless pond stuck inside a crowded, stone temple - it can have a huge affect on the player’s sense of scale. In this case, a lack of realism backed by a thoughtful use of basic design principles made for an unforgettable boss fight.