1. +
Structure of Games
Chapter 2

2. +
 What are different types of games?
Do all games share the same exact structure?
Games Board Games Video Games
Playground games
Street games
Daring games
Guessing games
Singing games
Chess
Backgammon
Card games
Dice games
Miniature games
Pencil-and-paper
games
Tabletop games
Alternate reality
games
Arcade games
Casual games
Computer games
Console games
Handheld games
Mobile games
Online games

3. +
They must share something in order
to be called a game

4. +
Quick Review
Playcentric - focuses on involving the player in your design
process.
 By continually
 keeping the player experience in mind
 testing the gameplay through every phase of development.
 How do we judge whether or not something is a game?

5. +
Players – voluntarily participate in &
consumes the entertainment (game)
 are active
 make decisions
 are invested
 are potential winners
 voluntarily accept the rules & constraints of a game
 Acceptance of the rules of a game, is both psychological and
emotional for players, which must be consider as part of the
playcentric process of game design.

6. +
Objectives - specific goals for players
 In life we set our own objectives and work diligently to achieve them
 In games - the objective is a key element
 without it the experience loses much of its structure
 the need to work toward the objective measures our involvement
in the game.

7. +
Procedures - actions or methods of play
allowed by the rules
 guide player behavior
 create interactions that would never take place outside the
game.
 they must be followed
 confirms that these procedures are an important because they
set games apart from behaviors and experiences.

8. +
Rules - limit player behavior and prohibit
reactive events
 Examples:
 Video game - If nails are for nail guns; you can’t use nails in the
thunderbolt
 Card game – Go Fish: If you have hearts when you are asked for
one, you must give it up

9. +
Rules (continued)
 Must you follow the rules?
 Will the other players force you to follow the rules?
 Why bother?
 The concept of rules & procedures imply authority..
 But where does the authority come from?

10. +
Authority of the rule is:
 The unspoken agreement to submit to the experience of
playing the game
 If you do not follow rules then you are not playing the game
 Respected
 players understand that they are a KEY structural element of the
game;
 without them games would not function.

11. +
Resources
 can be use to further our goal
 they can combined to
 make new products or items
 can be bought & sold in various types of markets.
 These items/objects (resources) are made:
 valuable because they can help players achieve their goal
 but are made scarce in the system by the designers.

12. +
Conflict
 Procedures and rules tend to deter players from accomplishing their
goals
 Example – Go Fish
 you cannot ask everyone at the same time to give you their hearts;
 you must ask each player one at a time
 therefore, risking you might not get a card and lose your turn.
 The relationship between
 objectives of the player & rules and procedures
 limit and guide behavior
 Which creates another element to the game:

13. +
Boundaries - rules and goals that
players apply only within the game and not
in “real life”
 Magic Circle – the physical and/or conceptual space in which
 a game takes place
 it is a temporary world where the rules of the game apply,
 rather than the rules of the real world.

14. +
Outcomes
 are uncertain
 either you win or lose
 The outcome of a game differs from the objective
 all players can achieve the objective
 Only one player can win the game.
 The uncertainty of the outcome is important to the playcentric
process
 it is a key motivator for the player
 If a player can anticipate the outcome of a game they will stop
playing

15. +
Formal Elements
 special equipment,
 digital environments
 complex resource structures
 character definitions these make up the essence (spirit, soul of games,
core, heart, fundamental nature) of games
 They are important for the game designer to understand:
 they provide structure/form
 can help the designer make choices in their design process
 understand problems that arise in their playtesting process.

16. +
Engaging the Player
 Why does one game capture the imagination of players
and another one falls flat?
 Some players like the challenges
 Most players need something to draw them in
 allowing them to connect emotionally with the experience.

17. +
Let us not forget:
 Games are a form of entertainment;
 Which moves us both intellectually and emotionally.
 The sense of engagement comes from different things for
different players
 Not all games require elaborate means to create it.

18. +
Challenges - creating tension and/or
frustration.
 Increased challenges heighten the tension and cause
frustration
 If the challenge remains level or flat players
 think they have conquered the game and stop playing OR
 move on to another game
 There must be a balance
 the amount of challenge is key to keep the player engaged with the
game

19. +
Play – engage with game system
 BUT play itself is not a game
 Eric Zimmerman and Katie Salen define play as:
 free movement within a more rigid structure.
 Which provide:
 opportunities for players to use imagination, fantasy, inspiration &
social skills
 free form types of interaction to achieve objectives within the game
space
 to play within the game
 to engage the challenges it offers.

20. +
Play can be
 Serious – Chess
 Charges & aggressive – Call of Duty
 Fantasy – World of Witchcraft
 To engaging player in your game :
 Play should be appealing
 AND designed for a bit of free play within a rigid game structure

21. +
Puzzles vs Games
 Games are
 rules based systems
 the goal is for one player to win
 Puzzles are
 also rule based systems
 the goals is to find a solution; not to beat an opponent

22. +
What is a puzzle?
 Dictionary definition – a toy or other contrivance designed to
amuse by presenting difficulties to be solved by ingenuity or a
patient effort
 Puzzles are:
 fun & have a right answer
 a form of play – they allow you to suspend the rules of everyday life
& give us permission to do things that are not practical
 tricky –Rubik's cube
 easy they disappoint
 hard they are discouraging

23. +
Four types of play
 Range from the most to the least interactive

24. +
Premise - The basic way a game creates
engagement
 Base-level effect of the premise:
 Is to make it easier for players to scrutinize/review their choices
 Is a powerful tool for involving players emotionally in the interaction
of the formal elements
 What is the premise of Monopoly?
 Why was it so successful in the 1930?

25. +
Classwork – Premise – Exercise 2.7
 What are the premises for the games Risk, Clue, Pit, and
Guitar Hero?
 If you don’t know these games, pick games that you are more
familiar with.

26. +
Characters
 Can be tools of engagement
 video games characters can be:
 vessels for player participation
 allows players to experience situations and conflicts through the
disguise of a mask they create and direct
 What is your favorite video game character?

27. +
Story
 Stories
 are different the premise because they are narrative
 unfold with games
 can engage players emotionally

28. +
The Sum of Parts
 Wrapping it up:
 All the parts that we identified rely on each other
 Games are systems
 Systems are groups of interrelated elements that work together to
form a complex whole
“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts”
Who said this quote?
Aristotle

29. +
In conclusion:
 A game is:
 closed formal system that
 engages players in structured conflict
 resolves its uncertainty in an unequal outcome
 What is in store for future game designers?
 the realm of possibilities is infinite
 good game designers will evolve their game past even their wildest dreams
 they need to push the envelope and transport players to places they didn’t
imagine possible