Surviving Applied Games (2018)

1
SURVIVING
APPLIED
GAMES:
SECRETSPietro Polsinelli for IULM 2018

Supposedly...
Pietro Polsinelli discusses a diverse set of applied
game projects that he curated, focusing on common
mistakes and solutions that are specific to the
applied game process, in particular working with field
experts that have no experience with games. The talk
will consider the (no)estimation, concept, design and
production phases/loops, providing tips, modelling and
conceptual tools to improve the quality of the process
and of the resulting game.
2

Surviving the process as victim of
the process
Surviving by earning your living
with applied games

BIAS: I AM BIASED
I am a craftsman. I come from (and go to) a romantic &
narrative view of game design (vs. say game grammars).
Games can tell stories also without words. For me and
in the following, video game MEANS narrative game.
5

Limited experience
9 years in game
design.
15 projects,
mostly medium
quality
prototypes.

Applied games are games
built on a complex theme that has
nothing to do with “play” or
“entertainment”

… making it more accessible.

But there are applied games -
games games games.

Applied games are
particularly challenging and
not very attractive

You’ve been tricked:
with “complex theme”
I’ve already brought you along a
path that is not “gamification”

A perspective on games
and cultural heritage - I
17

A perspective on games and cultural heritage - II
18

20
MAY DESIGN BEYOND THE LONELY SCREEN

Intro - inclusiveness
http://gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/full-list/
21

WHAT LOOKS
LIKE A
METHODOLOGY
22

Maximizing evocative diegetic connectivity
The principle of our design is summed up by the notion of evocative diegetic
connectivity, as an evolution of what presented in this publication:
https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3116630
27

“task, mechanics, and story are
tightly bound through conceptual
relationships and aesthetic
presentation”
28

Link with the theme along all
dimensions
29

Even physics can become more diegetically connected:
https://twitter.com/bfod/status/947595173600645121
30

Exceptions, distinctions, learn more
(a) Diegetic elements:
“Any game element that is rooted in [is perceivably part of] the story world”.
[Diegetic Connectivity 2017]
(b) Skeuomorphism:
“Skeuomorphism is where an object in software mimics its real world counterpart.
The “trash can” is, perhaps, the most recognizable skeuomorphic object.”
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/skeuomorphism-is-dead-long
-live-skeuomorphism
(a) Refers to any kind of in-game representation of the topic - not necessarily involving
any realistic esthetic.
31

Classical:
remove any number
from the game
32

34
“Lets perpetuate Edu Games’
glorious & solid tradition of not
being fun nor actually teaching
anything”

Intro
Progression is built in the application mechanic / game loop, using an analogy represented in the graph:
The graph is a classical graph on games’ flow often quoted, from Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
36

Solves the problem!
A culture of error, the curse of
knowledge: games are perfect for
dealing with that!
37

38
Fun is overrated?
Learning is not.

40
LEARNING
Koster’s
Fun IS learning

Learning:
Fear, Surprise, Joy
42

44
“Fun is cognitive mechanical
process through which we convert
fear into happiness through
surprise [gaining clarity]”

What does a teaching
game need to do?
45

This is inspired by:
Precision of Emotion: A New Kind of "Fun" Approach
in Educational Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP-LNRtwpb8
https://www.slideshare.net/SeriousGamesAssoc/erin-ho
ffmanjohn-effective-games-why-we-cant-have-nice-thin
gs-yet
[TODO and: your game should… Teach Like A Champion]
47

48
Why your games does not teach?

A-HAMOMENT
Games are not a great media for learning
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Try: micro loop with depth, feedback and a
progression.
"All these go through the micro loop. You need the
pause, the thinking, the coming back.”
Well: replay with feedback (only games!),
permadeath and replayability (only games!). So for
some things...

example
Intro: there are in-between spaces in games
51

See
https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/PietroPolsinelli/201
70126/290010/Inbetween_Spaces_And_Their_Design.php
52

COGNITIVE
SCIENCE
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#learning

Intro
Consider some research results about
learning from cognitive science, as
summarized by Nicky Case here:
How Do We Learn? A Zine.
The referred material is in the
public domain - thanks Nicky!
54

Exercise 1/3:
It’s all about
connections
The exercise consists in trying to map
the learning principles in game dynamics.
This should not be hard: the very
creation of a game mechanic is a new
metaphor, in a different modality. But
what misconceptions do you dispel?
55

Exercise 2/3:
Use it or lose it
“Use it” is achieved by diegetic
connectivity as we know from a
previous exercise.
But how does your game support
SPACING?
Recalling the same content spaced
over time intervals.
56

Exercise 3/3:
Connect deep
See a game as forming a model, a new
kind of explanation. Now, is it so from
the players perspective?
57

http://andrewvs.blogs.com/usu/files/the_spacing_effect.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacing_effect
58

“TEACH LIKE A CHAMPION”
59

example
Intro - Teach like a champion
So much to
learn for
games that
should
teach.
60

PUTTING IT
TOGETHER:
PRODUCTION
61

Customer comes with
“great game design ideas”

We don’t need
your
“game design” ideas

We need
your knowledge
in atomic combinatorial form

66
Minimal combinatorial space
knowledge

Example
You need a choice for say every 30 seconds,
episodes last 1 min and you can have at
most 15 of them. Your total play through is
15 minutes - quite short. I am horribly
simplifying, but it gives you an idea.
67

Cheat like a m*f*r
https://twitter.com/Worthless_Bums

ERRORS FTW!
Coding, and also creating
prototypes, thrives in a culture of
errors. This may not be clear to
your customers.

Beyond the
Game Design Document:
a changing map

73
Daniel Cook, game development is risky:

75
How to create a good applied game
in say three months of work?

It’s not possible!
Use the three months and provide a
working prototype - sort of: both
horizontal and vertical slice of a
release.
Then convince them to go on.

Contracting
Contracting
A free agreement generator for game developers
https://docontract.com/
What is the running cost of this project after first
release? Quarterly?

example
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What is your applied game budget?

Look beyond
Look beyond the game universe (without stepping
on bullshit).
Slack has been built by a game studio.
Your skills can go a long way interacting with social
media and big data.

87
“We just need a playable prototype, not a complete game!”
A playable prototype of the Space
Shuttle is very close to being the
finished Space Shuttle.

88
“We need the game’s total cost upfront!”
Just pay me for the (first) game
design and concept. Minimize risk,
we both win! #noestimates

89
“I have such cool ideas for the game design.”
You didn’t consider: inclusiveness,
this game your kids are playing,
that this will cost immensely…

91
“We have to change this simple thing and you ask for more
money?”
As was stated in the contract, we
cover changes of data. But this is
change of behaviour.

92
“I will pay you only when its finished.”
Go technical. Get money at alpha,
beta, RC. Get 90% of the money
before final.

93
“The game is not teaching what I wanted it to.”
Pair with the customer. Don’t do
anything until she provides you
with a decent Knowledge Base.

96
Actually two secrets.
SECRETS

Second secret:
pair design / code

Surviving game development
https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/CpseOteUEAA3nsp.mp4?_=1

Surviving Applied Games (2018)

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