Top 30 Lenses from The Art of Game Design for God Behind the Throne.

Top 30 Lenses from The Art of Game Design for God Behind the Throne.

🌸 I. Emotional Level — Player and Experience 1. Lens of Emotion — what feeling should the player experience at each moment? 2. Lens of Empathy — does the player feel the pain and joy of their ruler? 3. Lens of Bond — how is the emotional attachment between the player and the ruler formed? 4. Lens of Responsibility — does the player feel guilt or pride for the consequences? 5. Lens of Memory — what will the player remember and think about after exiting? 6. Lens of Transformation — does the game change the player — their views, values, thinking style? 7. Lens of Participation — does the player feel that the world reacts specifically to their presence? 8. Lens of Silence — are there moments in the game where silence speaks louder than actions? 9. Lens of Surprise — where can the game surprise gently but deeply? 10. Lens of Resonance — does a scene or mechanic leave an internal echo?

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⚙️ II. Systemic Level — World, Mechanics, Balance 11. Lens of Essential Experience — what constitutes the "core experience"? 12. Lens of Meaningful Choice — does every choice feel significant and impactful? 13. Lens of Feedback — does the player understand the cause-and-effect relationship of their actions? 14. Lens of Consequence Over Time — how does the game show the long-term effects of decisions? 15. Lens of Conflict — are there internal clashes of good and benefit, faith and reason? 16. Lens of Flow — where is the balance between calm contemplation and sharp decisions? 17. Lens of Functional Space — is the Go board a field of the world or an internal psycholandscape? 18. Lens of Novelty — what is new for the genre or in each era? 19. Lens of Pacing — how do calm, tension, and resolution alternate? 20. Lens of Echo of Decisions — does the player hear the echoes of their past actions?

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🔮 III. Metaphysical Level — Meaning, Philosophy, AI 21. Lens of Creation — does the player feel they are creating life, not just managing it? 22. Lens of Free Will — does the ruler have their own opinion, and how does it affect the player? 23. Lens of Mirror — does the ruler reflect the player's own character? 24. Lens of Letting Go — can the player let go of their creation? 25. Lens of Legacy — how does the game show influence through the ages? 26. Lens of Ethical God — how does the game pose questions of responsibility of influence? 27. Lens of Artificial Soul — how convincingly does the AI personality become "alive"? 28. Lens of Ritual — are there rituals in the game that teach calm and self-reflection? 29. Lens of Time as Character — is time not a counter but a participant in the story; is this felt? 30. Lens of Myth — does the player's story become part of the great myth of the world, woven into the pantheon of rulers?

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🔁 How to Use • When working on each scene or mechanic, take 3–5 lenses from the list and ask yourself: "is this implemented?", "what does the player feel?", "is there resonance?". • Conduct a "lens-review" once a month: go through all 30 and rate on a scale of 0–5 how well each is implemented in the current build (this provides a clear metric of design quality). • Use these lenses in documentation — as a "Design Intent" column next to each level or scene.

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If you want, I can format this as a visual checklist (PDF or Notion table) with fields for notes and comments on each lens — it's convenient to keep in sight during development.

Previous: 🎯 10 "lenses" from The Art of Game Design that are especially useful for your idea

Jesse Schell's book offers over 100 "lenses" — ways to look at a game from different angles. Here's a selection of those I find particularly valuable for your concept — a game where personality, influence, and karma are formed: 1. Lens of Emotion — What emotion should the game evoke? It's important to ensure the player feels connection, grief, responsibility, awe. — Your game should have a dynamic between the warmth and heaviness of influence, the feeling "I'm not just managing, I'm nurturing". 2. Lens of Essential Experience — What from the game experience will be primary and unforgettable? — For you: the moment of awakening when the child's gaze meets the player — this is the "core" experience around which everything else is built. 3. Lens of Surprise — When and how will the player be surprised? — In your game, surprises are not battles but internal changes, breaks in expectations: when the ruler suddenly shows will, when karma returns. 4. Lens of Curiosity — What makes the player ask questions, explore? — Your game should stimulate: "What if...", "Why did he do that?" — exploring personality and its motivations. 5. Lens of Judgment — The player judges themselves and their decisions, but also the world system "judges" the player. — Transparency of consequences is important — so the player can "judge" their decisions and see how they return. 6. Lens of Flow — How to keep the player "in the flow", not overload, not tire them? — Your design should have phases of tension and rest: cutscenes, strategy, periods of reflection. 7. Lens of Needs / Motivation — What drives the player? What are the internal motivators? — It's important to understand motivation: not just "win", but "create a soul, form a personality, see a trace in history". 8. Lens of Novelty — What in the game will be unique and unseen before? — Your project is already conceptually unique, but it's important to maintain novelty in mechanics, presentation, plot. 9. Lens of Functional Space — How is the space (gameplay) arranged, how does the player interact with the map/board, how do they move, where do they place influence. — Your Go board is not just a field — it's a "psychospace". The connection between the board and the world needs to be clearly thought out. 10. Lens of Resonance — What remains after the game? How does the player continue to think about it? — Your goal is to leave a mark: the player remembers the ruler, their character, their decisions, and how they resonated in the world.

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These lenses will help you in design: with each scene or decision, ask yourself — "what emotion?", "where's the surprise?", "is there resonance?", "why should the player do this?" etc.

If you want, I can create your own "top 20 lenses", adapted for God Behind the Throne, which you can constantly keep in sight.

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💵 How much do developers earn on itch.io?

This is a complex question — earnings vary greatly (from almost nothing to quite decent amounts). Here's what I found:

Examples and Statistics • In the platform review for 2023: the total income of many projects on itch.io in 2023 was $641 (gross) for many creators. • In 2024, one developer earned $1,799.22 gross (income before commissions and expenses) for all projects on itch.io. • In the story of one indie developer: over 4 months, he earned $303.50 gross, part of which was tips from users. • In another case: one developer said his income was only about $50 over a long time, mainly because he didn't do marketing and sold on a "pay what you want" basis. • Platform policy: by default, itch.io takes a 10% commission on sales (but you, as a developer, can change the share, giving less), which is more favorable than many platforms.

Conclusion and Recommendations • Most developers on itch.io earn modest amounts, especially on initial projects, often less than $1,000/year. • Those who make one game or an experimental demo often don't receive significant income — not due to poor quality, but due to lack of marketing and visibility. • There are successful cases — games that grew on itch.io, were reworked, released on Steam, and brought more. For example, "The Roottrees Are Dead" — a story of how from a free version on itch.io they moved to a million dollars after porting to Steam. • Key success factors: uniqueness of idea, quality execution, marketing, community activity, updates, conducting devlogs.

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If you want, I can compile a list of developers on itch.io who earned a lot, with specific figures and success stories, and show what factors contributed to this — so you can see patterns and understand what to focus on. Shall I do it?