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

http://www.gameswithoutfrontiers.net	204
http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk	140
http://maximumverocity.blogspot.com	19
http://www.slideshare.net	9
http://paper.li	6
http://gameify.posterous.com	4
http://project.cmd.hro.nl	3
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	2
http://74.125.155.132	1
https://twitter.com	1

Introduction to the Theory of Game Elements

by Aki Järvinen on May 06, 2007

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

10 Embeds 389

Statistics

Introduction to the Theory of Game Elements — Presentation Transcript