Fundamentals of Game Design, 2 nd Edition by Ernest Adams Chapter 9: Gameplay

Chapter 9 Gameplay2 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Objectives Understand the basic principles that a designer should follow to make games fun Explain how the hierarchy of challenges requires players to complete atomic challenges, sub-missions, and missions to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning the game Define intrinsic skill required and stress and discuss how these factors contribute to the difficulty of the game

Chapter 9 Gameplay3 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Objectives (Cont.) List challenges commonly used in games Define actions in the context of the game world and describe how actions are selected to meet specific challenges or serve other functions in the game Discuss the arguments in favor of and opposed to supplying a saving mechanism and explain the most widely used methods for saving a game

Chapter 9 Gameplay4 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Making Games Fun Execution matters more than innovation  The chief reason a game is not fun is that it contains elementary errors  Aspects of game development that contribute to fun: Avoiding errors; basic craftsmanship is most important Tuning and polishing is second Imaginative variations on the game’s premise is third True design innovation is only 5% of the source of fun

Chapter 9 Gameplay5 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Making Games Fun (Cont.) Finding the fun factor:  Gameplay comes first  Get a feature right or leave it out  Design around the player  Know your target audience  Abstract or automate parts of the game that aren’t fun  Be true to your vision  Strive for harmony, elegance, and beauty

Chapter 9 Gameplay6 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Hierarchy of Challenges Hierarchy from lowest to highest  Atomic challenge  Sub-mission  Mission  Complete the game

Chapter 9 Gameplay7 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Hierarchy of Challenges (Cont.) Informing the player about challenges  Games tell the player about explicit challenges  Players discover implicit challenges on their own  Explicit instructions are given about the victory condition and lowest-level atomic challenges Intermediate-level challenges  The most interesting games offer multiple ways to win  Recognize and reward victory achieved no matter how the player achieves it

Chapter 9 Gameplay8 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Hierarchy of Challenges (Cont.) Simultaneous atomic challenges  Overcoming several atomic challenges at the same time increases the difficulty  Common way of doing this is to bombard the player with enemies  Other games (such as management games) present more complex interrelated simultaneous challenges  The more simultaneous atomic challenges a player faces under time pressure, the greater the stress

Chapter 9 Gameplay9 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Skill, Stress, and Absolute Difficulty Intrinsic skill required is the skill needed to overcome a challenge in an unlimited amount of time Stress is the effect of time pressure on the player’s ability to overcome a challenge Absolute difficulty is skill required plus time pressure

Chapter 9 Gameplay10 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges Physical coordination challenges  Variations Test speed and reaction time Test accuracy and precision Test intuitive understanding of physics Test timing and rhythm Test ability to make combination moves  Reduce time available to increase difficulty

Chapter 9 Gameplay11 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Logic and mathematical challenges  Formal logic puzzles No outside knowledge required To increase difficulty, increase the number of objects and the ways they can be manipulated Players normally get all the time they need to solve Avoid puzzles that can only be solved by trial-and-error  Mathematical challenges Games require players to reason about probabilities Make educated guesses with imperfect knowledge

Chapter 9 Gameplay12 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Races and time pressure  Be first to accomplish a goal  Can be combined with other types of challenges  Time pressure increases stress on the player Factual knowledge challenges  Direct tests of factual knowledge usually occur only in trivia and quiz games  In other kinds of games, all facts must be present in the game or you must make it clear in advance that outside knowledge is required

Chapter 9 Gameplay13 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Memory challenges  Test ability to recall things seen or heard in game  To make it easier, give players longer to memorize and test them soon after they have done so Pattern recognition challenges  Test ability to recognize visible, audible, changing, or behavioral patterns  To increase difficulty, make the pattern longer, more intricate, or more subtle

Chapter 9 Gameplay14 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Exploration challenges  Spatial awareness challenges Test ability to learn and navigate To decrease difficulty, provide a map  Locked doors Any obstacle that prevents the player from proceeding until he disables it Avoid unmarked switches far from the door

Chapter 9 Gameplay15 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Exploration challenges (cont.)  Traps Device that harms the avatar when triggered Fun comes from outwitting the trap  Mazes and illogical spaces Every place looks alike and player must discover relationships between the areas Can be implemented as logic or pattern-recognition puzzles

Chapter 9 Gameplay16 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Exploration challenges (cont.)  Teleporters Mechanism that transports player to a new location To make the challenge easier, make the teleporter predictable and reversible  Finding hidden objects Sometimes hidden in reasonable places player can deduce from clues Sometimes hidden in obscure ones Easter eggs are special rewards in particularly obscure locations

Chapter 9 Gameplay17 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Conflict  Requires direct opposition of forces, some of which are under player control  Conflict challenges can be broken down into: Strategy Tactics Logistics Survival and reduction of enemy forces Defending vulnerable items or units Stealth

Chapter 9 Gameplay18 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Economic challenges  The behavior of resources creates economic challenges Accumulating resources—this can be wealth, points, or anything valuable Achieving balance—this can be a more interesting challenge than simply accumulating resources Caring for living things—challenges the player to meet the needs of each individual

Chapter 9 Gameplay19 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Commonly Used Challenges (Cont.) Conceptual reasoning and lateral thinking puzzles  Conceptual reasoning puzzles require reasoning and knowledge to solve a problem  Lateral thinking uses extrinsic knowledge in unexpected ways

Chapter 9 Gameplay20 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Actions Actions for gameplay  Most actions are intended to meet challenges  Games offer fewer actions than challenges to limit size of user interface and animation costs  Most actions can address more than one type of challenge Define actions  Based on player’s role and actions to overcome challenges

Chapter 9 Gameplay21 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Actions (Cont.) Actions that serve other functions  Actions not related to challenges include actions for: Unstructured play Creation and self-expression Socialization Participating in the story Controlling the game software

Chapter 9 Gameplay22 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Saving the Game Reasons for saving a game  Allow player to leave and return later  Let player recover from mistakes  Encourage player to try alternate strategy Consequences for immersion and storytelling  Harms immersion  Reduces tension

Chapter 9 Gameplay23 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Saving the Game (Cont.) Ways of saving a game  Password to restart a level  Save to a file or save slot  Quick save  Automatic save and checkpoints Always allow players some way to save and reload

Chapter 9 Gameplay24 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Summary You should now understand  Gameplay is the heart of a game’s fun  Challenges can be organized into a hierarchy  Skill and stress determine absolute difficulty  Commonly used challenges test different skills  Few actions can be used to overcome many challenges  Players should be allowed to save and reload