The document provides an analysis of several games including The Settlers of Catan, Space Invaders, Tetris, and Monopoly. It discusses the goals, components, game mechanics, procedures, probabilities, feedback loops, and emotions evoked by the games. The analysis focuses on using concepts like game elements, emotions, feedback systems, and probabilities to understand the structures and interactions within each game.

1. Game Analysis
Petri Lankoski
aalto.fi

2. Goals
• To develop skills for analyzing, describing, and
discussing games and their structures using concepts
and theories

3. What
Games
• Examples Today
– The Settlers of Catan
– Monopoly
– Space Invaders
– Tetris
• Wed to Fri
– Group assignments &
discussions
• Essay
Theories, Concepts
• Game elements
– Järvinen, 2008. Games without
Frontiers
• Emotions
– Lankoski, unpublished
manuscript
• Feedback systems
– Further reading: Salen &
Zimmerman, 2004. Rules of
Play
• Probabilities

4. Essay
• Choose a game or a part of the game
– Except: example and exercise games
• 8-12 pages, 12 pt Times or equivalent, double spaced
• You should describe the game (or the part) using the
concepts or theories from
– Lankoski, “Computer Games and Emotions”
– Järvinen, “Chapter Four: Theory of Game Elements”
– (Salen & Zimmerman, “Chapter 18: Games as Cybernetic Systems”)
• Deadline Friday 10.12.
– Writing tutoring (at latest) in the week 48
• Missing the deadline will decrease the grade (1/week), unless new
schedule is agreed beforehand!

5. Essay…
• A game analysis essay should be independent work
that should be readable and understandable by a
person who is not expert on subject matter. Essay
should contain:
1. Introduction: a description of the goals of the essay, short
introduction to a game analyzed, description of the main
concept used in the essay (with references);
2. Main part structured by the needs of analysis;
3. Conclusions summarizing main findings;
4. References
• References should be formatted according to Harvard
system.

6. Assignment
• Become familiar with the game
– the Settlers of Catan
• One game box (4 players)
• http://www.playcatan.com/ (introductory game)
– Space Invaders
• Taito Legends, PS 2
• http://www.freespaceinvaders.org/
– Tetris
• http://www.tetris.com/how-to-play-tetris/
• http://www.tetrisfriends.com/games/Marathon/game.php?ref=from-homepage-ad
– Monopoly
• One game box
• 1 hour to play

7. Settlers of Catan: Game Elements
Game Analysis
Environment

8. Settlers of Catan: Game Elements
Game Analysis
Game Mechanics
?
Components

9. Settlers of Catan: Game Elements
• Procedures
– Build Board
– Player Setup -> Game Mechanics: Place the settlements and roads
– Yield
• rand_num = random(1-6) + random(1-6) DICE!
• if rand_num=7:
– player_move_robber -> Game Mechanic: Move Robber & Select Player whom to steal
– all_discard -> Game Mechanic: Select Resources to Discard
• foreach hex=rand_num :
– if hex not disabled_by_robber: collect_yield
– Buy (road, settlement, city, development_card) <- initiated by Game Mechanic
• if player[active] have_enough_resources and can_place:
– place (road, settlement, city) OR add (development_card)
• Not completed list of procedures
Game Analysis

10. Settlers of Catan: Balance
• A multiplayer game is balanced when each player have equal change of
winning in the beginning
– In terms of formal features
• Symmetry creates balance
– Not the only way to balance a game
• Setters of Catan is symmetric in terms of
– Game Mechanics
– Component-of-self
• Not symmetric in terms of setup
– Setup
• Asymmetry is compensated with setup order player1–player2–player3–player4–
player4–player3–player2–player1
• Game board?
Game Analysis

11. Probabilities
1 2 3 4 5 6
Probability 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6
Game Analysis
1D6
2D6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Prob
2 1/36
3 2/36
4 3/36
5 4/36
6 5/36
7 6/36
8 5/36
9 4/36
10 3/36
11 2/36
12 1/36

12. Probabilities
• Dice throws are always independent events
– Previous event does not influence the probability of the
next event!
• But cards are dependent events
– The probability to get two aces from the unused deck is 4/52
(four aces in 52 cards) * 3/51 (three aces and 51 cards left)
Game Analysis

13. Settlers of Catan: Balance…
Game Analysis
5.56%
11.11%
13.89%
3 OR 5 OR 8:
5.56+11.11+13.89 = 30.56%
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
11/36=30.56%
Or calculate using table

14. Settlers of Catan: Balance…
Game Analysis
• Now we can calculate probabilities
for the board
– But what these probabilities tell…
• Does the board afford balanced
play?
– Is there enough good locations to
place initial settlement for all the
players?
– Is there good locations to expand
later?
- YES
- YES, unless on made a
bad choices in the setup

15. Settlers of Catan: Feedback Loops
Game Analysis
Resources
Settlement
& Cities
+
Victory
Points
Positive Feedback Loop Negative Feedback Loop
Probability of Negative feedback
activating 1-4 times in a round:
1-(30/36)^4 = 51,8%
• no robbers in a round: (30/36)^4
Resources
If more than 7 resource
cards in one’s hand & 7
7
-

16. Space Invaders
• Components
– Invaders, the ship, bullets
– Bunkers (or environment?)
• Game mechanics
– Move left, move right, shoot
• Goals
– Shoot invaders, stay alive, high score
• Procedures
– ship move, can shoot?, bullet move, bunker
damage, invader move, ufo appear, ufo move,
invader hit, invader shoot, lost life, new wave,
game over, …
• Feedback loops
– Less the invaders, faster they move, extra lives
Space Invaders, Taito 1978
Image source: Wikipedia

17. Tetris: Emotion
Game Analysis
Success Fail, goal blocked

18. Monopoly
Game Analysis
Change to end up in a square
1/40 = 2,50%?
3 doubles
in a row
1/16 Card takes
to Jail
A player can increase
probability to land to
these squares
(out with doubles)

19. Monopoly
Game Analysis
Land to Jail
If a card moves,
these are not counted

20. Monopoly
Game Analysis
Breakeven Times, assumes short jail stay
Based on data from http://www.tkcs-collins.com/truman/monopoly/monopoly.shtml
There is positive feedback loop
• Gains are insignificant if no monopolies
Prison: conditional negative feedback
• Pay to get out, or
• Staying reduces changes of collecting rents