The Art of the System: How Inspiration Fuels Game Design
In the world of video games, there’s a fundamental tension at play: how do you blend mechanical systems with genuine artistic inspiration? For design director Josh Sawyer, the answer lies not in choosing one over the other, but realizing that artistic influence is an unavoidable constant throughout the entire creation process.
When asked whether game design involves injecting art into design systems or designing systems around art, Sawyer offered a straightforward yet profound response: artistic inspiration is simply everywhere. The true heart of the design process, he argues, is understanding that the goal is to make a person think or feel something about something—not just to keep them entertained.
This philosophy becomes crucial when dealing with games, where players invest hours of their lives into an experience. Unlike a three-hour movie, games demand that systems and moment-to-moment gameplay must reinforce the emotional beats of the story. For Sawyer, this means constantly reevaluating whether the mechanics driving player time—like looping reloads or hammer-fanning animations—are supporting the intended emotional reality, rather than just being functional.
Consider games where player choice is paramount, such as Pentiment. In these narratives, the goal is to make moral decisions feel weighty and agonizing. Sawyer emphasizes that developers must continually ask: Is this decision designed to evoke genuine moral turmoil? Do we want the player to feel the weight of their choices, the reflection on the consequences, or a sense of true consequence?
This quest for emotional effect often influences the world-building itself. In games like 2026 games and others, the names of abilities or systems can be crafted not just for function, but to tap into the collective consciousness—to provoke the player’s imagination about the world they are inhabiting.
This focus on deep psychological impact extends beyond narrative structure. Sawyer notes that while complex systems like inventory management might seem purely cognitive, they still operate within a framework of artistic inspiration. Inventory systems, for instance, force the player to engage in a different kind of evaluation—weighing value and understanding stacks—which changes their cognitive mode away from pure action and into contemplation.
The source of this creative wellspring is incredibly diverse. Sawyer draws inspiration from across history and aesthetics. He looks to the character-writing principles of Robert Bolt, pulling lessons from classical theater—finding the agonizing moral turmoil in Greek plays. His influences also stretch to musical composition, referencing Sondheim musicals, medieval illuminated manuscripts, the striking simplicity of a Rothko painting, and even misinterpreted lyrics from artists like Florence and the Machine.
Whether it’s analyzing the archetypes of classical art or channeling the aesthetic sensibilities of a bronze sculptor father’s collection of Modigliani books, Sawyer believes that inspiration should be continual. It is the ability to pull in “certain symbolism and emotional connection” from anywhere and everywhere that ultimately transforms systems into meaningful experiences.
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Credit: PC Gamer
