Is this thing on

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Is this thing on?
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Ready, Aim, Fire!
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Two Games to Play

• Pig Sty
• Ready, Aim, Fire!

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Rules for Pig Sty

• Game starts with 3 Pigs on the board.
• Pig player moves one Pig piece to an empty
  adjacent square, leaving behind a Muck piece.
• Farmer moves one Muck piece to an empty adjacent
  square.
• Continue taking turns until one player wins.
• Farmer wins if all 3 Pigs are in the same row or
  column.
• Pigs win if they are surrounded by Muck and
  cannot move.

Starting Board
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Discussion Questions

• Whats a good strategy for the Pigs?
• For the Farmer?

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Discussion Questions

• What are the aesthetics of Pig Sty?

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Discussion Questions

• When does the dramatic climax of the game occur?

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Discussion Questions

• Can the game stalemate, or will it always end?
  Can we prove it?

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Discussion Questions

• 1. What is the maximum number of choices the pig
  player can have on his turn?
• 2. on his first turn?

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Discussion Questions

• 1. What is the maximum number of choices the pig
  player can have on his turn?
• 2. on his first turn?

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Discussion Questions

• 1. What is the maximum number of choices the pig
  player can have on his turn?
• 2. on his first turn?
• 3. on his last turn?

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Discussion Questions

• What does this graph look like?

Choices
Time
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Discussion Questions
Choices
Time
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The Dramatic Arc
Climax
Falling Action
Rising Action
Time
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Drama is an Aesthetic Goal

• Not all games need it.
• But some want it.

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The Dramatic Arc Pervades Game Aesthetics

• Narrative Conflict/Resolution
• Challenge Obstacle/Triumph
• Discovery Novelty/Mastery
• Submission Toil/Reward, Chaos/Order
• Competition Equality/Supremacy

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Drama in Detail

• Drama Requires
• Dramatic Tension
• Rising and Falling Action

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Drama in Detail

• Drama Requires
• Dramatic Tension
• Uncertainty
• Inevitability
• Rising and Falling Action

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Dramatic Tension

• Uncertainty The outcome is ambiguous
• Inevitability The outcome is imminent.

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Drama in Pig Sty

• Uncertainty Search tree complexity
• Inevitability Depletion of the empty space.
• (consider variants)

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Other Sources of Uncertainty

• Negative Feedback (Crash Team Racing)
• Rising Stakes (Jeopardy)
• Limited Information (Warcraft)

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Other Sources of Inevitability

• Non-reversible processes.
• Non-renewable resources.
• Perception is important.

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Ready, Aim, Fire!

• Each round you have 3 choices
• Shoot another player
• Shoot yourself
• Shoot the air

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Ready, Aim, Fire!

• If anyone shoots you, you are eliminated.
• Except
• If you shoot yourself
• and someone else also shoots you,
• Then you are not eliminated
• but the shooter is eliminated.
• Play until one player remains.

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Exercise

• Design a campaign for Ready, Aim, Fire!, where
  the players play several games.
• Your goal is to create a sense of drama that
  unfolds over the course of the campaign.

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Thats all for Today

• We will finish tomorrow.
• Return to this room in the morning

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Welcome Back

• Yesterday
• We played Pig Sty
• We talked about drama.

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Welcome Back

• Yesterday
• We played Pig Sty
• We talked about drama.

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The Dramatic Arc
Climax
Falling Action
Rising Action
Time
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Drama in Detail

• Drama Requires
• Dramatic Tension
• Uncertainty
• Inevitability
• Rising and Falling Action

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Dramatic Tension

• Uncertainty The outcome is ambiguous
• Inevitability The outcome is imminent.

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Ready, Aim, Fire!

• Each round you have 3 choices
• Shoot another player
• Shoot yourself
• Shoot the air

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Ready, Aim, Fire!

• If anyone shoots you, you are eliminated.
• Except
• If you shoot yourself
• and someone else also shoots you,
• Then you are not eliminated
• but the shooter is eliminated.
• Play until one player remains.

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Exercise

• Design a campaign for Ready, Aim, Fire!, where
  the players play several games.
• Your goal is to create a sense of drama that
  unfolds over the course of the campaign.
• Try to have something playable by 1100

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Exercise

• Get playing quickly!
• Iterate!

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Time for Coffee!

• Take a break, then come back and playtest your
  designs.
• If time permits, give your design to another
  group to try.

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Discussion

• Lets compare solutions. What different
  approaches did we take?
• How did each of our games create uncertainty?
  Inevitability?

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Denouement in Games

• Games need to resolve their tension.
• Some resolution happens outside the game.
• Many digital games build in post-game resolution.

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Any Final Observations?
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Please Come to C3 for the intro to Exercise II.
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So Games are Stories, Right?

• Rather, Play and Narrative intersect.
• The Dramatic Arc is the point of intersection.
• Drama is more primal than narrative.
• Games dont tell stories, they are stories.