Digital game design lends itself to working "UI down" instead of "data model up" because most of the feel of the game derives from the interface. This is even true if you look at something like Civilization. The first release of that game was primarily built off the feel of the city management - the stats of everything were given very basic tuning. It switched from real time to turn based relatively late in development.
So paper can be used, but mostly in a storyboard kind of way where you're presenting some interactions to testers without coding them up. You don't have to have a full game loop at that stage - the loop is just a hook to stay engaged with those interactions.
The reason why the spreadsheets are relevant now mostly comes down to games having more and more content that needs stat balancing. This was immediately true of Wizardry and derived RPGs, but it's never been necessary for simple arcade games, and it's obviously wrong if your aim is something like a Sokoban puzzle.
Digital game design lends itself to working "UI down" instead of "data model up" because most of the feel of the game derives from the interface. This is even true if you look at something like Civilization. The first release of that game was primarily built off the feel of the city management - the stats of everything were given very basic tuning. It switched from real time to turn based relatively late in development.
So paper can be used, but mostly in a storyboard kind of way where you're presenting some interactions to testers without coding them up. You don't have to have a full game loop at that stage - the loop is just a hook to stay engaged with those interactions.
The reason why the spreadsheets are relevant now mostly comes down to games having more and more content that needs stat balancing. This was immediately true of Wizardry and derived RPGs, but it's never been necessary for simple arcade games, and it's obviously wrong if your aim is something like a Sokoban puzzle.