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LUCA GALLI @Leyart86 PLAYER ONE Videogame Design for all Dissecting Games

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LUCA GALLI@Leyart86

PLAYER ONEVideogame Design for all

Dissecting Games

Something really bad is

going to happen…

Or not?

WHAT IS PLAY?

Autonomy: play is a voluntary activity.

Safety: during play there are radically reduced serious

consequences in what we do

Exploration: the possibility to experiment and try out new

things

Mastery: the will to improve one’s own skills

GAMES VS PLAY

Games are distinguished from play

– Play is free-form

– Games are rule-based

A game is a closed, formal system that· Engages players in structured conflict and· Resolves its uncertainty in an unequal

outcome.

Fullerton, T.; Swain, C. & Hoffman, S.

Game Design Workshop: A playcentric approach

to creating innovative games, 2008

FLASH INTRODUCTION

TO GAME DESIGN

Mancala, 7th

century AD

Unreal

Tournament 3,

Epic Games,

2007

Turn based boardgame vs Real time action shooter

Handmade physical board vs Personal Computer

Public domain rules vs Copyrighted

1 - PLAYERS

2 - OBJECTIVES

2 - OBJECTIVES: EXAMPLES

Solution: solve a problem or puzzle before (or more accurately) than the competition or following certain constraints

Connect Four, Milton Bradley,

1974

Professor Layton and the

Miracle Mask, Level-5, 2011

2 - OBJECTIVES: EXAMPLES

Alignment: arrange game objects in a spatial or conceptual configuration

Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov, 1984 Puzzle Bobble, Taito

Corporation, 1994

3 – MECHANICS (PROCEDURES)

“Game mechanics are

methods invoked by

agents, designed for

interaction with the game

state.” – M. Sicart

http://gamestudies.org/080

2/articles/sicart

3 – MECHANICS: EXAMPLE

Starting action: Choose a player to go first. Each player chooses a color: red or yellow.

Progression of action: On each turn, a player drops one colored checker down any of the slots in the top of the grid.

Resolving actions: The play alternates until one of the players gets four checkers of one color in a row. The row can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.

Connect Four

4 - RULES

• Define Objects• Restrict Actions• Determine Effects (ECA rules)

Chess: A player cannot move her king into check.

Poker: A straight is five consecutively rankedcards; a straight flush is five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit.

WarCraft II: To create knight units, a player must have upgraded to a keep and built a stable.

5 - RESOURCES

Resources: valuable objects that can help the players to achieve their goals but are scarce in the system.

Lives: number of “trials” that can be attempted to reach a goalUnits: multiple objects that has to be managed instead of livesHealth: represent the status of loss or near loss of lives and unitsPoints: numerical value that represents a measure of the skill and progression of a playerActions: number of possible distinct choices that a player can make within a defined timeframePower-ups: object that gives a boost to the playerItems: used by the player to accomplish an objective, made scarce by the systemTurns: the number of game phases within which a player must accomplish the objectivesTime: restricts player actions or phases in periods of time.

5 – RESOURCES: EXAMPLE

Card Hunter, Blue Manchu Pty Ltd, TBR

Time

Points

Actions

CardHunter

6 - CONFLICTS

Conflicts: emerges from the players trying to accomplish the goals of the game within its rules and boundaries, since procedures and rules tend to deter players from accomplishing goals directly or make players work against each other.The most common conflicts are generated by:Obstacles, objects or rules that limit the freedom of the playersOpponents, since they are usually trying to achieve an objective faster than usMeaningful Choices, players have to make choices that will influence the outcome of the game

7 - BOUNDARIES

Boundaries are what separate the game from everything that is not the game and defines the physical or virtual scopes in which the game is performed.

Example: Football would not be the same game if the boundaries of the football field were not defined.

8 - OUTCOME

Unpredictable!

The unpredictability should derive from three different sources:

• Player Choices• Complex Rules• Elements of Chance

FORMAL ELEMENTS

• Formal elements are the elements that ALL games share and constitute their backbone

• You, as a developer, should explore beyond the basic elements of play and explore new forms of interactivity, mechanics and aesthetics

• Nonetheless it is still important to understand the fundamental role of formal elements in every system that we call “A Game”

• We will dig further into details in the upcoming lessons :)

FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS

PHYSICS

Crayon Physics World of Goo

FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS

INTERNAL ECONOMY

Imperial Settlers Agricola

FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS

PROGRESSION MECHANISM

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Syberia

FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS

TACTICAL MANEUVERING

Starcraft II Age of Wonders III

FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

World of WarcraftCandy Crush Saga

GENRES AND MECHANICS

A comprehensive table describing the relationships between the major game

mechanics and how they define different genres is provided on the website of the

course.

Nonetheless games can be divided in two broad families, sometimes they can also

be mixed together:

GAMES OF EMERGENCE

GAMES OF PROGRESSION

We will focus on games of EMERGENCE in this course, even though some

elements of progressions are often needed.

ENGAGING PLAYERS

• The formal elements provide structure to the experience of games, but what gives these elements meaning for the players?

• What makes one game capture the imagination of players and another one fail completely?

• What allows players to emotionally connect with a game?

• The sense of engagement comes from different things for different players, and not all the games require elaborate means to create it

ENGAGING THE PLAYER

• Challenge

The conflict challenges the player and create tension as well as creates varying level of achievement or frustration

Increasing the challenge as the game goes on increase the tension, but too much challenge causes frustration

• Premise

Overarching premise gives context to the formal elements and creates engagement

Diablo’s premise sees the character in a dark and gothicworld menaced by the threat of the rise of a terrible demon called Diablo

ENGAGING THE PLAYER

• Characters

Agents through which stories are

told with whom players can empathize

• Story

Some games engage players emotionally

by using the power of the story within or

surrounding their formal elements

• How stories can be integrated?

• How much story is too much? Or too little?

• Should the gameplay change the story?

Final Fantasy VII Playable Characters

Lost Odyssey

GAMIFICATION

“The use of game design techniques and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts”

S. Deterding, M. Sicart, L. Nacke, K. O’Hara, and D. Dixon,

“Gamification. Using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts”

Sebastian Deterding Miguel Sicart

ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

Core activity must be already engaging for the user.

Gamification involves defining clear and definitive objectives

that last even past the gaming experience, and are either set

by, or negotiated between the user and the game along with a

progressive path of short and intermediate goals leading to it.

Onboarding

Retention

Virality

Social Dimensions

Additional Mechanics

POINTS

Points or Player Scores are a numerical value that represents a measure of the skill of a player.

•External display of progression• Immediate and lasting feedback• May determine the win state•Connection between progress in the game and rewards

Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement

Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,

Singapore

Werbach, K. & Hunter, D.

For the Win: How Game Thinking

Can Revolutionize Your Business

Wharton Digital Press, 2012

LEADERBOARDS

A Leaderboard is an ordered list of players based on the scores they have obtained in a specific game or system.

• Relates the performance of a player to the others• Fosters competition and participation• Risky: May be demotivating.

Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement

Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,

Singapore

Werbach, K. & Hunter, D.

For the Win: How Game Thinking

Can Revolutionize Your Business

Wharton Digital Press, 2012

ACHIEVEMENTS AND BADGES

37

An Achievement is a set of tasks, defined by a designer, for the player to fulfill so to achieve a milestone and track the progress in a system.

A Badge is an artifact associated to the completion of an achievement and given to a player after its completion, or, in gaming terms, after “unlocking the achievement”.

• Define goals• Onboarding tool• Visual markers for reputation, • Provide lasting rewards

Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement

Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,

Singapore

THIS IS JUST A GLIMPSE OF

WHAT GAMIFICATION IS...

EXAMPLE: ZAMZEE GAMIFICATION

Personalization Rewards

ChallengesSocial Status

A CLASSIC EXAMPLE:

Just how bad is Big Rigs:

Over the Road Racing?

It's as bad as your

mind will allow you to

comprehend.

CONCLUSIONS

•Play is a universal need

•Games and videogames are entertaining and

controlled means to satisfy it

•We can accomplish astonishing results...

•...if we design a good and tailored gaming experience

•Technological improvements cannot fix a gameplay

mined by bad design choices

NEXT WEEK!

LET’S BUILD A CLASSIC TOGETHER

BUILT WITH

CONSTRUCT 2