Let's start from Chapter 1 "The Role of the Game Designer" - Team spirit, communication, creativity......blablabla..... Skip! I have learnt it from other creative art lesson.
okay, back to serious mode, let's talk about the basic elements in game. There are two types of elemnts - formal elements and dramatic elements.
Formal Elements
Formal Elements can also be called Share Elements. They can be found in all kinds of games.
1. Players: They are the participant of the game. Player should have "lusory attitude", which means they are curious and want to reach the end of the game, while they will adopt rules that limits their choices. They accept to play the game under a worse and constrained environment.
2. Objectives: The goals of the game. Once reached the goal, the game will end.
3. Procedures: The ways to achieve objectives
4. Rules: It defines procedures. It restricts the players to achieve the goal in certain ways. Rules should be respected and accepted by the players, so it needs to make players understand those rules are a key element of the game. Without rules, game would not function. In other words, if a rule is not necessary or causing contradiction, players will think it is unreasonable and won't follow the rules, then the game itself can not be established.
5. Resources: These are objects that help players to achieve the goal. Resources should have different values. They should be scarce and not easy to find.
6. Conflict: procedures and rules must cause conflict, something that make players can't reach the goal easily.
7. Boundaries: These are implied limits. It is not the same as rules that each rule is clearly stated and specified for that game, While boundaries refers to a more general and common sense. These are some usual boundaries: The physical ability - the ability to see, to hear, to move your hands; the controller's restrict - you need a mouse, keyboard, special controller, etc.; the limit of the game environment - you are bounded by the underlying code, you can't get out of the world of the game.
From boundaries, rules, lusory attitude, etc., we notice that game is a independent world that differs from real world. We call this world "magic circle". To play a game, players should forget all rules in the reality, and accept the rules in the game apply to them. When they do, they can get into the magic circle and play the game.
8. Outcomes: It refers to result occurs during procedures state. It motivates player to keep on playing.
It is usually measurable, so that player can evaluate their state in game.
It is usually unequal, so that conflict occurs between players and objective.
It better to be unpredictable, so it give hopes to those player who are behind the games. For example, if one player possibly wins, others will give up and surrender easily. However, too unpredictable means the game gives less control to the player, the achievement by their own effort will be less and thus there will be less enjoyment and motivation to play.
Definition of Game
Base on the above elements, we give them meanings from the player's perspective. One important means is Challenge. It should neither be too hard, nor too easy. A game always contains a challenge so that players can play it. However, "play" and "game" are different things. Game is a rigid, well planned structure, while play is a free movement within a rigid structure.
Here is the Game's definition: Game is a closed, formal system that
· Engages players in structured conflict and
· Resolves its uncertainty in an unequal outcome.
For closed and formal system: game has rules, boundaries, players need to follow the procedure to achieve goal. Also, player should have lusory attitude, they need to engage in magic circle, forget the rules in real world.
For structured conflict: game has rules that limit player's actions. Within limited methods to achieve, challenge occurs and player can't easily reach the goal.
For resolves: As there are unequal resources and unequal uncertainty. They brings out unequal outcome, lead to someone can reach the goal, someone can’t.
Characteristic of Game
We can dig deeper into the characteristic of game:
1.Fun
2.has a right answer
"Fun" stated game has a form of play. "has a right answer" represents game include puzzle elements, it distinguishes game from other form of fun.
Way to approach fun:
1. It should be novel (new and original). However, it should also be familiar with the everyday life. It is better to give new meaning to an ordinary thing. So player can enjoy the creative idea, meanwhile they can understand the content to a certain extent. In other words, it should be unexpected, but somewhat reasonable to an extent.
2. challenges that is not too hard or too easy. More details will be covered in the dramatic elements chapter.
3. Tricky: apply perceptual shift, which means player should interpret the game world which differs from the real world or their typical cognition (e.g. Generally, people want to have a good life, and thus protagonists in most stories always reach a positive ending, and game does so. However, some games will reverse the situation, a game called "The Witch's House", developed on the RPG Maker VX, has deceived the players that they are controlling, acting as a positive protagonists. However, in the true end, it reveals that the protagonist is the worst guy in the game.)
Still, fun depends on different people. On the other hand, there is the culture of “spirit of fun”. Players will find their own ways to have fun. In some conditions, players are willing to alter the rules to keep the game fun for everyone. For instance, if an expert player matches with a beginner, the expert player may let the beginner to start with certain advantages. So the game will be more balanced and both of them can also have fun during the game.
Types of Play
There is one more thing I think it is worth to be mentioned, which is the types of play.
I would rather call this module as "the level of plays", since each level built on the previous one. The picture has clearly stated the differences between different levels.
For Story, the "play" just continue without interaction with player. Player has nothing to do to alter the result of the story.
Fort Toy, player can interact with the toy, while there is no implied goal. Player has much more freedom to decide the goal and rules to play.
For Puzzle, it is much more similar to game, it has certain rules and limitation. It has challenges and a right answer, a clear goal. However, there is no opponent. It does not mean a clear player that battles you. An opponent is something that actively blocks the player to achieve the objects. Even in the simulation sandbox game with great freedom, there is the opponent, which is the game system itself. You may need to manage and find precious materials, but the resources are just scarce and make you difficult to collect them . Other examples maybe the coded enemies, "accidental" events, etc.. But for a puzzle like IQ question, there will be no implied opponent, you may say your opponent is yourself, but this type of opponent is not implied in that game specifically to make conflict and block your way to the goal. When reaching the goal, you will have the feelings of achievement, but not winning.
Working with Formal Elements
1. Players
Numer of Players | VS | Game |
1 | Single versus game | |
2 / 2+ | Multiple Individuals versus game | |
2 / 2+ | Cooperative play |
2. Multiple Individuals versus game: Players play the same game simultaneously, but the player has no interaction. There may be effects on emotion between players, but they never interact directly in the game itself. This kind of games usually are not competitive, but rather emphasizes on social arena. e.g. Bingo.
3. Cooperative play: players work together and versus game.
Number of players | VS | Number of players |
1 | Player versus player | 1 |
2 / 2+ (more player's team) | Unilateral competition | 1 / less player team |
All individuals (2+) | Multilateral competition | All individuals (2 / 2+) except yourself |
2 / 2+ | Team competition | 2 / 2+ (both sides have the same number) |
5. Unilateral competition: multiple players VS 1 player. They usually have different roles. The single player has some advantages.
6. Multilateral competition: All players act as individual, each of them versus all other players, require at least 3 players, otherwise it will become 1 VS 1.
7. Team competition: Team VS Team
2. Objectives
There are 10 types of objectives. Base on the objectives, rules and procedures will be different in each game.
1. Capture(kill): E.g. Chess, Action, Real-time strategy game (fighting, battle games)
2. Chase: Catch opponent or elude one
3. Race: reach a physical or conceptual goal
4. Alignment: get specific combination of objects (resources)
5. Rescue or Escape: combined with other partial objectives, you may need to capture, chase, race, make alignment in order to rescue or escape.
6. Forbidden Act: E.g. Everyone goes to tell jokes one by one, the players who laugh will lose. This objective is not often found in digital games because of the difficulty in monitoring fair play (occurrence is determined by the computer, not as persuasive as in reality )
7. Construction: It Differs from Alignment, construction need to be maintained. It is usually determined by strategic choice making rather than chance or physical dexterity. Resource management or/and Trading are core gameplay element. Many construction game will let the player to decide the objective (ultimate success)
8. Exploration: The aim is to explore game areas, but it always combined with a more competitive objective
9. Solution: Solve the puzzle. Solving has a bigger ratio than the competitive objective. Some pure strategy game falls into this category.
10. Outwit: mainly require knowledge and wisdom outside the game itself. (e.g. Jeopardy!, Diplomacy)
3. Procedures
Procedures consists of 4 steps:
1. Starting Action
2. Progression of Action
3. Special Action (tricky procedure): available in special condition
4. Resolving Action: end the gameplay (it is concerned from programming perspective, not really concerned from player’s view)
When considering procedures, we need to think about the limitation.:
For non-digital game, the procedure is calculated by player, so they need to be memorable, need to be simple.
For digital game, it concerns the input devices, output devices, computer system, controller, keyboard , mouse, specific controller, etc..
Procedure will define the objects and concepts in the game.
4. Rules
It restricts action, restrict player's behavior, thus it defines the procedures and gameplay flow. For example, it defines the condition available for special action/special effects occur in the procedure. It is not always applicable so it can create excitement and differences.\
Rules should be easy to understand. Understanding the rules can help the player to get rationally and emotionally deeper into the game. However, sometimes every details need not to be fully understood. Player only need a relatively concept and they will use play experience to feel and manage them.
5. Resources
It helps players to achieve goal, while it still maintain and provide challenge base on the procedure and rules. Resources have -
Utility: Useful to help player to reach the goal
Scarcity: Limited resources but high demand causes opportunity cost and player will think deliberately and value their choices (Dilemmas occur and Thus the outcome will trigger player's emotion, this will be covered in dramatic elements chapter)
6. Conflict
As players trying to accomplish the goals of the game within its rules and boundaries, there will be challenge to overcome. There type of conflicts include -
Obstacles: physical obstacles, mental skills
Opponents: players, non-players (system that is dynamic)
Dilemmas: the opportunity cost of choices, different outcomes occur based on different choices. It make players get closer or far from the objectives.
By overcoming conflict, players gain the ultimate sense of achievement that comes from participating.
7. Boundaries
Define the boundaries of the game and how players will enter and exit the magic circle.
8. Outcome
When the objectives, procedures, rules are set, outcomes will be determined by these elements. Outcome is kind of unpredictable, while its final structure is always related to player interaction patterns.
For example, in a 1 VS 1 game, the outcome will often be Zero-sum game. One player wins and one player loses. But for Multiple Individuals versus game / Multilateral competition pattern, such as the players in MMORPG online game, it would be a non-zero sum game, there are more subtle gradations of reward and loss.
Conclusion
Players, Objectives, Procedures, Rules, Resources, Conflicts, Boundaries, Outcomes, these 8 factors are the formal elements. And there is also some concept to remember such as challenges, ways to approach fun, definition of games. All games include these element. However, we seldom simply list out these formal elements when we talk about games. You may have found that it is boring to simply memorize these formal elements. Yep, it is not useful and practical if we only consider formal elements separately. A game can only be fun when we have "feels" on that game. So, in the next chapter, we will talk about Dramatic Elements and Working with System Dynamics. We will connect these formal elements to some meanings, which makes us to be passionate towards the elements and trigger out emotions.
That's all, meow🐢.
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