An Examination of the Hidden Judging Criteria in the Generative Design in Minecraft Competition

Game content has long been created using procedural generation. However, many of these systems are currently designed in an ad-hoc manner, and there is a lack of knowledge around the design criteria that lead to generators producing the most successful results. In this study, we conduct a qualitative examination of the comments left by judges for the 2018–2020 Generative Design in Minecraft competition. Using the abductive thematic analysis, we identify the core design criteria that contribute to a generator that creates “good” content—here defined as interesting or engaging. By performing this study, we have identified that the core design criteria that create an interesting settlement are the usability of the settlement environment, the thematic coherence within the settlement, and an anchoring in real-world simulacra.