1. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Robin Burke

2. Basic Facts Hand-held RPG-Strategy hybrid Final Fantasy cosmos diverse sentient races monsters magic

3. Basic narrative Main character Marche Thrown unexpectedly into a fantasy world Becomes a leader of a clan Fights battles to get back to his real life to defeat those trying to stop him

4. Objects Characters Main character (avatar) Clan members Weapons Clothing/Armor Healing Items Terrain Map Missions Law Cards

5. Attributes: Characters Basic attributes Level Experience Hit Points Magic Points Judge Points Strength Dexterity Speed

6. Attributes: Characters 2 Race limits available jobs Job limits basic attack abilities Abilities Attack Support Response Counter Block Combo

7. Attributes: Characters 3 States Confused random action Poisoned lose HP per turn Charmed work for the other side Defense+ Defense- Speed+ Speed- Attack+ Attack- Auto-Revive Auto-Regen

8. Attributes: Economics Level acquired through experience advances character attributes Experience acquired through successful combat actions used to advance levels Ability acquired through successful mission completion used to acquire abilities Money acquired through successful mission completion used to buy items, weapons, armor Judge points acquired through successful KOs of opponents used to buy powerful "target all" attacks Hit points lost through attack damage

9. Attribute: Artifacts Weapons Attack Defense Elemental special attack feature stronger against certain enemies Enhancements Abilities Taught Range Clothing (includes Armor, Shields, Hats, etc.) Defense Elemental better defense against certain attack types Enhancements

10. Attributes: Terrain Height Obstacles Water Trees/Pillars/etc Laws

11. Map Cities Pubs missions Stores Countryside mountains swamp desert forest Jagd urban but no laws

12. Battle Turn-based order determined by speed stat Facing very important side and behind more likely to hit front only 50/50 at best Attacks range close Effect damage status conditions facing / position changes

13. Laws Battles take place under variable rules Prohibited and rewarded actions Law cards enable laws to be canceled Up to the player to remember what they can't do

14. Laws Explicit "Laws" of Battle Random but predictable Overturnable law cards can be won but not purchased Stages of the game increasing numbers of laws in each battle

15. Laws Consequences Memory task some very difficult like "Copycat" Consequences Requires that you have different clan members with different abilities Requires that you be cautious about engaging in battle

16. Jail Law violations Red card for Marche end of game Red card for other remove from battle must travel to jail and pay to release Yellow card warning

17. Emergence Rule set is very complex many abilities many weapons Environmental variables terrain rules in force monster / opponent abilities Each battle is unique Multiple successful strategies go in swinging cripple with status attacks selective engagement

18. Uncertainty Probability of hit only important random factor Can be manipulated by the user by moving by terrain by acquiring objects by learned abilities Player can trade effort for more certainty

19. "Dispatch" missions Lose the use of a clan member for set period Probability of success differs by mission Best members most likely to succeed Dispatch missions good for building abilities and experience usually well compensated sometimes necessary for game progress Decision lose a useful member high probability of success send a lower level member lower chance may need to do mission again

20. Feedback Negative feedback for experience gain 1 experience point only for defeating opponents of lesser level must continue to take on challenging missions Positive feedback on purchasing power pretty soon you have one of everything but some items can't be purchased Positive feedback with Totema more later

21. Game theoretic aspects "Dispatch" missions Investment decisions which job to level up in different stat growth which abilities to invest AP in determines repertoire of attacks Degeneracies Hunter/Morpher combination Illusionists Mog Knight

22. Conflict individual level fighting monsters and opponents team level fighting groups with mixed abilities quest level to achieve the game goal restoring the "real world"

23. Core Mechanics Battle Provisioning

24. Narrative Borrows heavily from "The Never-Ending Story" Kids enter fantasy world Must try to figure out how to get back and decide whether they want to go back Central narrative element Totema Battles defeat boss monsters holding the world together each defeat adds power that can be called on in battle

25. Narrative cont'd Plot twists former real-world friends become game- world enemies Highly linear fixed plot revelation controlled by "must do" missions After each narrative point new map destinations new battle possibilities harder monsters

26. Pleasures Strategic engagement devising and executing a successful strategy in battle Payoff of provisioning and investment having the appropriate ability to defeat an enemy having the right set of characters even under strict laws Manipulating the law canceling a restriction or imposing one when you have the right law card Achievement advancing your characters getting new abilities cool animations

27. Culture Compare with Asteroids Avatar lone ship leader of a clan Scenario isolated in trackless space in a mapped place Control fire, thrust, rotate economic, strategic and tactical decision multi-leveld

28. Themes Responsibility Player is responsible for clan Must plan and invest to build characters Game as trap Your character is trying to escape from a game that has become too real temptations of the game power adventure fun Reality Characters dispute the reality of the game world Characters dispute the preferability of the real world over the game The hero is a "rebel for reality"