How Should the Eight Filters Be Ordered?

The Eight Filters, from The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell, are a set of constraints that every finished game must pass. They are immensely useful for evaluating your design decisions early and often. I wanted to know what order they should be considered in, but even Jesse did not have the answer. So I decided to explore this question for myself.

One possible answer is that order doesn't matter, because your game must ultimately pass every single one (with rare exceptions). Another answer is that considering the filters in a different order may result in a different game, but not necessarily a better or worse one. There is some truth to both of these answers, but I claim that order is important, because finding the right order is about the efficiency of your process. Resolving issues indicated by a given filter will require changes of varying magnitude to your game. Thus, my ordering will be based on how deep your changes will have to be, and whether those changes will survive the other filters until the game is done. The deepest issues should be addressed first.

This post WILL:

Offer my own default ordering for the Eight Filters
Discuss factors that will help you determine the best order for any particular project

This post will NOT:

Tell you the order in which to disregard filters. For most games, they are not optional! If it is the right decision for your game, you may choose to ignore a particular filter, but that is beyond the scope of this discussion.

From The Art of Game Design - Jesse Schell, 2008

I've found that the filters can be loosely organized into 3 groups based on how deep redesigns will have to be. The first group will help you form a high-level idea and establish a direction that can guide you through the development process. These filters are relevant to the very core of your game. The second group will help you design smaller parts of the game, and ensure that your design is practical and implementable. These filters are relevant to the pieces of your game, which rely on the core. The third group will help you tune your gameplay. These filters are relevant to the feel of your game, which relies on playable pieces.

Keep in mind that even if your design has passed a filter once, it will need to be considered again after changes are made. With this grouping in mind, there may be times during your design process when you hyperfocus on a particular set of filters. Although this can be more productive in the short term, make sure not to lose sight of the filters which came before. In addition, using an ordering does not mean ignoring the last filter until all 7 others have been passed. Check regularly that every filter is within reach of your current design trajectory, even if solving the finer issues will come later. In short: An ideal ordering will make your filtering process more productive by avoiding redundancy.

The Core of the Game

1. Will this game sell?

Assuming that you eventually tackle all of the other filters, there are a limited number of factors that will prevent your game from selling. Is your intended audience too narrow? Is the market for this genre already saturated with strong competitors? Is the platform or technology for your game getting phased out?

These questions can be difficult to answer early in the process, but they are important to catch before tackling the other filters. For example, you don't want to address the filter for intended audience before realizing that it was too narrow, or solve your technical challenges before realizing that you need to switch platforms.

2. Will the intended audience like this game enough?

Once you have established the target audience for your game, you must decide how to deliver on their desires. This filter should be visited and revisited before most of the others, because it affects the fundamental direction of your game.

3. Does this game meet our social and community goals?

This filter should be visited before any development begins, and regularly thereafter, because issues here can lead to major design changes such as swapping platforms or even genres.

4. Is this game novel enough?

Designing your game to be innovative and unique will be more effective at a high level, before the core of the game is established. Even if the novelty of your game will lie in the minutiae, recognizing that early on will be important to the other filters. And if the novelty defines a major component of the game, that makes it all the more urgent.

The Pieces of the Game

5. Is this a well-designed game?

As a game designer, you will develop your own instincts for good design over time. During the design process, you will naturally use those instincts. In fact, it would seem impossible to overcome the other 7 filters without applying your mental model of good design. But when it comes time to use that model explicitly, as a filter of its own, it will be most useful when many core decisions have already been made.

6. Is it technically possible to build this game?

As the game designer, you may or may not be the one that can answer this question. Whether it is you, an engineer, or a client that is tasked with technical feasability, it must be answered before significant implementation time is dedicated. But it will be difficult to ask the question at all before your design has some meat to it.

The Feel of the Game

7. Do the playtesters enjoy this game enough?

Playtesting should be done frequently and thoroughly. It will guide the finer details of your game, but can lead to major design changes as well. So why is it so low in my ordering? Ensuring that your playtesters enjoy this game enough will require many of the other filters to already be solved. And addressing this filter prematurely can lead to polish and tuning which disappears after deeper redesigns. Keep in mind that playtesting can help you evaluate several of the other filters, but this is not the same as playtesting for final-product enjoyment.

8. Does this game feel right?

Feeling out the game for yourself is a critical part of the design process, and you will likely be doing it on a daily basis. However, a gut feeling can vary drastically depending on polish which comes late in the process, such as art, audio, and juice. It is less likely to guide deep changes to your design, and more likely to suggest finer mechanical adjustments. Thus, this filter should not be prioritized above any other.

Closing Thoughts

After all this effort to find the optimal ordering, let's not forget that you can consider multiple filters at once. If you go over the list and determine which ones your game does not pass, you may be able to take two or three into account for your next redesign. In the likely event that you're working with a team, this is especially relevant for parallelization. While someone is working to make the game more novel, another can conduct playtesting. A well-chosen order for the Eight Filters will help to prioritize issues, keep your process efficient, and avoid redundant design.