Introduction to the Theory of Game Elements

Introduction to the Theory of Game Elements Aki Järvinen aki@gameswithoutfrontiers.net http://www.gameswithoutfrontiers.net

Contents • Games as systems • Game states and game system behaviour • Game elements as parts of game systems • Game element attributes • Deﬁnitions and examples element by element • Examples of an analysis method • Gamegame: theory meets design meets play Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

All kinds of games allowed! • All games, regardless of the media or technology they employ, contain certain elements • They are not all the same • Or implemented in the same manner or technique • Yet there are underlying similarities: goals, objects to be manipulated, environments, players, etc. Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Same but dierent • How to conceptualise this ‘same but dierent’ qualities of games? • One needs to conceptualise the qualities • And build a framework that brings them together, as in individual games • The notion of System Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Games as systems • System is ‘a dynamic whole with interacting parts’ • In game systems: 1) game elements equal the parts 2) elements have relationships, they interact 3) when players engage with the elements, it gives birth to another kind of interaction: game play • game play gives birth to dynamics; ‘the run- time behavior of the system’ (LeBlanc) Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

The Theory of Game Elements • Conceptualises possible dierent configurations of game systems • i.e. the dierence between one game and another is due to the fact that their systems are configured dierently • configuration of football vs. the configuration of Prince of Persia • The theory is a form of Applied Ludology • Which provides solutions for practical game analysis & design Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Element categories: overview SYSTEMIC BEHAVIORAL game play ELEMENTS ELEMENTS COMPOUND ELEMENTS • A game system in operation, i.e. a game being played, puts these elements into interaction Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Game elements: overview BEHAVIORAL ELEMENTS SYSTEMIC ELEMENTS • components players • • environment game play contexts • rule set • game mechanics • theme • information • COMPOUND interface • ELEMENTS Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Game elements: overview • All game elements have an ownership attribute • There are three kinds of ownership attributes: [game element]-of-self [game element]-of-other(s) [game element]-of-system • Ownership attributes often create inherent tension and competition to a game • Thus, many games revolve around ownerships shifting back and forth Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Components • Components are usually objects that the player is able to manipulate in the course of the game. • What ‘moves’ in the game, in one way or another (physical movement, transactions, etc.) • Components provide a source of identiﬁcation for the player, usually in the shape of possessions, resources, and/or representatives (characters/pieces) • The goals of the game are often embodied into components (’collect 100 rings’, etc.) Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Types of Components • There are three types of components: • components-of-self: components possessed by oneself and controlled by oneself (e.g. your monkey) • components-of-others: components possessed and controlled by other players (e.g. the others’ monkeys) • components-of-system: components possessed and controlled by the game system (Bananas, NPCs, AI, etc.) Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Environment • It is not mandatory yet it is very common (boards, etc.) • The environment element sets speciﬁc spatial boundaries for components and players. • Environment embodies rules that specify the spatial and geometric arrangement of a game. • In some cases, components make up the game environment. • Typical environment attributes: state, scale, vector Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Types of Environments • Game environments can be broadly classiﬁed into two following types: • Boards/ﬁelds: Static individual environments; which mainly function to embody rules by visualising them into a grid with geometrical relations, for example. • Setups: Even if no particular environment is needed (as in, e.g., many card games), the other elements need to be arranged in a fashion that communicates the game state to the players. • World(s): Often these kinds of environments are divided into parts or levels, but game-worlds also exist as seamless, simulated ecosystems. Function shifts towards thematic purposes. Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Rule set • Rules constitute the fundamental compound element, rule set. • Rule set is the glue that keeps a game system together and enables play with the other elements in the ﬁrst place. • Rules make it possible for the system to function in a way that is meaningful for players. Rule set uses other elements as its embodiments. • Usually the rule set states procedures or algorithms, such as how to set up the game in order to start playing, or how players are rewarded for completing a goal. Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Game mechanics • ‘The means’, i.e. always there in relation to goals, ‘the ends’ • Best described with verbs; game mechanics imply (inter) action • Core mechanics (Salen & Zimmerman): what players do in a game, repeatedly • Running and kicking the ball are the core mechanics of football; moving a piece in Chess is its core mechanic • digital games may have multiple mechanics that correspond to the actions and the fantasy world the games simulates: Horseback riding, sword-ﬁghting, running, jumping, etc. Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Types of Game mechanics • generic mechanics classes • that can be actualized in various ways • for example, a Physical mechanic in the ’Contact’ class could be kissing/ hugging/etc! • and combined into sequences and relations: trading is achieved by kissing, etc! Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Theme • theme equals the subject matter of a game • if there is no theme in a game, the system does not represent anything other than its ruleset • theme functions metaphorically, enabling the players to understand rules and goals in terms of another subject matter • the essence of metaphor (Lako & Johnson) : ‘understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another’ • Themes employ schemas: restaurant schema in Diner Dash Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Information • Game systems contain information • The main function of information is to store data about game states • How and to what extent the information is communicated to the players are questions of game design: • Games of perfect information vs. imperfect information • The information element makes games suitable for computers Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Interface • In case players can not access the game system directly there is need for a tool to enable that • i.e. an interface • prominent in digital games • is found also in mechanical games, such as Pinball, Fussball tables, etc. Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Players • There would no games nor play without Players • Players are arguably highly complex psychological entities • Erving Goman (1961): games as focused gatherings • i.e. certain types of social arrangements that occur when persons are in one another’s immediate physical presence. Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Players in focused gatherings • focused gatherings involve for the participants the following ‘communication arrangements’: a single visual and cognitive focus of attention a mutual and preferential openness to verbal communication a heightened mutual relevance of acts an eye-to-eye ecological huddle that maximizes each participants ’s opportunity to perceive the other participants’ monitoring of him/her Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Qualities of Players • For the purposes of analysis players have to abstracted down to a handful of crucial aspects: • Players have • Player possessions: ownership of elements, components in particular • Player strategies: players’ preferences in relation to goal hierarchy • Player agency: player aordances in relation to elements, embodied into game mechanics • Player knowledge: information available for players to use • Player organisation: players’ relation to each other, possibly via dierent roles • Player abilities and skills: sets of cognitive, physical and psychomotor abilities • game systems - i.e. game designers - try to set normative constraints to player qualities Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Contexts • There are several contexts to any game • E.g., the context of football is a cluster of factors having to do both with the game’s popularity, tradition, players, national histories, and the sports industry with its media coverage. • The context of a game can be endlessly expanded to surrounding cultures... • in order to be useful, the line has to be drawn somewhere when embarking on a concrete analysis of a particular game. • Where actually to draw the line is a question of perspective. Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Game elements: summary BEHAVIORAL ELEMENTS SYSTEMIC ELEMENTS • components players • • environment game play contexts • rule set • game mechanics • theme • information • COMPOUND interface • ELEMENTS Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

What ludologists do Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Another visualization Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

Further resources • http://gamegame.blogs.com • Card game / brainstorming theory of tool for game design, based on the game elements • http://www.gameswithoutfrontiers.net • Aki’s Thesis chapters & online analysis tools • aki@gameswithoutfrontiers.net Games without Frontiers A Resource for Game Studies & Design

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Introduction to the Theory of Game Elements

by Aki Järvinen

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