Awesome Per Second - Don't Waste Time - Extra Credits (2015)

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Game design should prioritize 'awesome per second,' a metric that emphasizes the density of high-quality experiences over total play duration.
02
Five minutes of exceptional gameplay is inherently superior to thirty minutes of diluted, mediocre content.
03
Major franchises like Dragon Age and Assassin’s Creed are cited as examples of titles that suffer from the tendency to pad content for the sake of length.
04
Developers must ruthlessly edit their projects to remove content that is merely 'good' rather than 'great' to maintain a consistent interest curve.
05
The industry-wide pressure to inflate play time to justify price points often leads to the inclusion of mediocre filler content.
06
Emotional attachment to development work often prevents teams from discarding sections that fail to meet the highest standards of quality.

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Transcript

as a designer there's one metric that you should consider above all awesome per second not the total quantity of awesome in your game and not the total hours of gameplay awesome per second a great fight an emotional moment a romantic scene even a moment of meaningful calm and Stillness awesome can be delivered in whatever form is appropriate but the important thing is that you're looking for density of awesome not length of play time Time 5 minutes of great is better than 30 minutes of good and two straight hours of awesome is way better than hiding those two hours inside 40 hours of okay games from Dragon Age Inquisition to the Assassin's Creed series succumb to the pressure to deliver on a high number of play hours and all those games are worse for it I'm sure you can think of a thousand other examples of games that pad out their play time because they're afraid of being too short or perhaps worse because the devs don't want to cut anybody's work because they're too close to the project and the people on it to

say look we're throwing out this whole section we made because it's merely good not great don't do that to your projects I know it's hard but you can do better and the game will be better don't fall into the Trap of putting in more content simply to justify your price point and remember that you can deliver on awesomeness even in the quiet low intensity points on your interest curve more game isn't inherently better game and it helps nobody to throw in a bunch of extra content that doesn't deliver the awesome aim for a high APS in everything you make and don't pat things out for fear of making something short awesome per second okay we're done see you next week [Music] [Music]

Summary

Game design should prioritize the density of high-quality experiences over total play duration, a metric defined as awesome per second. Rather than focusing on the quantity of hours, developers must ensure that every moment—whether a combat encounter, an emotional beat, or a period of meaningful stillness—delivers significant value. Five minutes of exceptional gameplay is inherently superior to thirty minutes of mediocre content, and condensing high-quality experiences into a shorter timeframe creates a more impactful product than diluting those same moments across forty hours of filler.

Many modern titles, including major franchises like Dragon Age and Assassin’s Creed, suffer from the industry-wide pressure to inflate play time to justify price points. This tendency often leads to padding, where developers include content that is merely acceptable rather than excellent. This practice is frequently exacerbated by an emotional attachment to the work, making it difficult for teams to discard sections that do not meet the highest standards of quality.

To achieve a high density of engagement, creators must be willing to ruthlessly edit their projects. Removing content that is good but not great is essential for maintaining a consistent interest curve. By shifting the focus away from arbitrary length requirements and toward the concentration of quality, developers can produce more cohesive and memorable experiences. Ultimately, the goal is to maximize the intensity and relevance of every second of gameplay, ensuring that the final product is defined by its excellence rather than its duration.