game design Flashcards
describe the ‘theory of natural funativity’
- All fun derives from practicing skills that (previously) insured species survival.
- Skills may relate to earlier context, but appear disguised in a more modern form.
- Speed, agility, flexibility, hand-eye coordination, reading the state of play, strategy, spatial awareness, pattern recognition, team-work, improvement techniques etc. all relate to this idea.
- Games are a safe way to “practice” skills.
- Applied to Cats: Adult cats need to be able to catch small prey for food and fight for territory/mates.
- Thus kittens practice:
a) Hunting -> Chasing feather, ball of string, tail
b) Fighting -> Attacking each other, ball of string, your leg.
describe funativity and humans
- For most of our species’ history humans have been tribal hunter/gatherers.
- Many current popular games reflect modern incarnations of these ancient skills:
a) Hunting:
i) Shooters, sports games, hand-eye-coordination
b) Gathering:
ii) Pattern games, powerups, resources
c) Pilgrimage
iii) Adventure games
d) Tribal Interaction:
iv) High scores on MMRPG , head-to-head, Sims, MMOin general - In humans, we can identify three overlapping categories into which we can divide aspects of game play.
- People like (or find fun) games that have components that fall into these categories (realms)
1. Spatial reasoning (physical)
2. Pattern recognition (mental)
3. Social
define spatial reasoning (physical)
Reasoning about objects in 3D space and how they might interact (includes your own body, hand-eye coordination).
define pattern recognition (mental)
Recognizing patterns in organized sets of data, remembering chains of linked events that are significant.
define social
Practicing interpersonal communication skills, competing/cooperating with others or modelling dynamics of social situations.
what are things we find in games
- objectives, goals
- outcomes
- uncertainty
- rules and structure
- stories
what is a magic circle in a game
The magic circle of a game is where the game takes place. To play a game means entering into a magic circle where you and the game have a shared reality.
what are 3 rules of applying concrete rules
- Multiple clear achievable goals
- The illusion of choice
- Clear punishments and rewards
explain goals as concrete rules
- We are a goal-driven species and find psychological reward in completing objectives.
- If it takes too long to achieve a goal, player may get bored, so, create many simultaneous goals.
- Players should always have at least one clear objective.
- One “unbeatable” boss or board, one “impossible” jump or goal can ruin a game.
explain choice as concrete rules
- Players want to think that their decisions matter.
If you don’t have choice, game is just a complicated slide presentation. - Different choices or actions sequences that results in identical results will frustrate players.
“linear” gameplay. - Character customization, alternate endings, good vs. evil dynamics.
“Game is a series of interesting choices” - Meier
what is a convergence of choice
it starts with a single choice, widens to many choices and returns to a single choice
explain rewards and punishments as concrete rules
- Value of an item (to an individual) closely correlates with what it cost to acquire (money, time, effort).
- A player who has spent time and effort on completing a task, expects to be rewarded.
- Likewise a player who has failed in an objective, expects to be punished.
- If actions don’t have consequences, then the game-play is meaningless.
what makes a game fun
- applying ‘natural theory of funativity’
a) spatial reasoning
b) pattern recognition
c) social interaction - applying concrete rules
a) multiple clear achievable goals
b) the illusion of choice
c) clear punishments and rewards
what does MDA stand for
mechanics, dynamics & aesthetics
describe the m in MDA
- focuses of rules, systems and interactions
- how the game functions
- it’s essentially the ‘what’ of the game
