What Cats Can Teach You About Empathic Game Design

Explore how designing games for house cats can inform game design for humans in this 2019 GDC session. Discover insights from Willem Delventhal of Mew and Me as he shares his journey from prototyping cat games to applying empathic design principles in human-centric game development. Learn about story-first approaches, prototype testing, empathy mapping, and engagement strategies. Gain valuable takeaways on creating more engaging and emotionally resonant games by understanding feline behaviors and preferences. Delve into the process of translating animal-focused design concepts to enhance human player experiences, covering topics such as art style, reward systems, and measuring engagement percentages.

Intro
Story
First Prototype
Fez
Testing Results
Wisdom 20 Conference
Empathy Mapping
Original Prototype
Art Style
Percent Engagement
People Results
Engagement Results
Reward
Key takeaways
Questions