Thinking About Games

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Thinking About Games
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What is a Game?

• Work consists of whatever a body is
• obliged to do, and Play consists of
• whatever a body is not obliged to do.
• - Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

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What is a Game?

• There are many ways to define the term game.
  Game researchers still debate even this simple
  point ...
• Were going to look at a few and see what we can
  learn.
• After all, if we cant figure out what a game is,
  how can we possibly design one?

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What is a Game?

• A textbook definition, adapted from Adams
• A game is a type of play activity, conducted in
  the context of a pretended reality, in which the
  participant(s) try to achieve at least one
  arbitrary, nontrivial goal acting in accordance
  with rules.
• Its kind of dry, but gives us a few things to
  think about

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Essential Elements of a Game

• Based on this definition, all games have four
  essential elements
• Play
• Pretending
• Goals
• Rules
• This is regardless of the type of game, and the
  way the game is played.

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Play

• Some forms of entertainment are presentational,
  like books and film.
• They entertain you.
• They do not change over time.
• Play, on the other hand, is an interactive and
  participatory form of entertainment.
• You, in essence, entertain yourself.
• You actively modify the experience and change the
  course of the game through playing it.
• Not all play is for entertainment, just as not
  all books or films are for entertainment.

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Play

• Play must ultimately include some freedom for the
  player.
• This includes the freedom of choosing what to do
  and how to go about doing it.
• Without this freedom, the outcome is
  predetermined, and you are not really playing a
  game.
• Ultimately though, freedom is restricted by the
  rules of the game, as we will see.

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Pretending

• Pretending creates an alternate reality, at least
  in our minds, in which the game is played.
• This alternate reality attempts to recreate or
  simulate some elements of reality, and allows
  fantasy to fill in the rest.

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Pretending

• The type and amount of pretending varies from
  game to game.
• The player can pretend that
• A new world replaces the old one.
• The player is a different person.
• The outcomes of actions are different.
• Artificial significance is attached to various
  situations and events.

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Goals

• A game must have a goal, and it can have more
  than one.
• Some type of challenge prevents the player from
  trivially achieving the goal(s)
• Other players (including any computer agents)
• Elements of game reality (the game environment)
• Time (in the case of races, etc.)
• The players own self (in the case of puzzles,
  etc.)

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Goals

• The goal of a game is defined by its rules.
• This commonly takes many forms
• A victory condition something to be achieved in
  order to win the game.
• A loss condition something to avoid to not
  lose the game.
• A termination condition something that causes
  the game to end (can be necessary when victory or
  loss does not end the game).

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Rules

• Rules are definitions and instructions that
  dictate how the game is played.
• They should be unambiguous and without conflicts
  between them.
• Some will be explicit, while others will be
  implicit.
• There can be many types of rules
• Obligations what you must do
• Permissions what you can do
• Prohibitions what you must not do

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Another Definition

• Schell takes a different approach, starting with
  an incredibly simple definition
• A game is something you play
• While spot on, this definition isnt overly
  useful on its own.
• Recognizing this, Schell examined several
  definitions from top game researchers, and
  identified a collection of common qualities for
  games

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Qualities of Games

• Schell identified 10 qualities in total
• Games are entered willfully
• Games have goals
• Games have conflict
• Games have rules
• Games can be won and lost
• Games are interactive
• Games have challenge
• Games can create their own internal value
• Games engage players
• Games are closed, formal systems

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Going Further

• Is this definition of a game too complex though?
  Arent they simpler than this?
• Schell went back to things, re-examined
  definitions, and talked to players.
• When asked why they play games, a common answer
  emerged again and again
• Players liked solving the problemspresented by
  their games.

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Solving Problems?

• People tend to think of problems as something
  negative.
• Still though, it is hard to come up with a game
  that does not, at some point, boil down to
  problem solving.
• After all, any game with a goal basically has
  presented you with a problem to solve
• Games are more than just problem solving though.
  Often, solving problems are work and not for play
  or fun

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Solving Problems?

• In the end, Schell settled on this definition
• A game is a problem-solving activity, approached
  with a playful attitude.
• This playful attitude usually implies that the
  player comes with a sense of curiosity, looking
  for fun, entertainment, and surprise.
• While simple, this definition is both useful and
  insightful to us as game designers.

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What is Game Design?

• Essentially, game design is the act of deciding
  what a game should be.
• Because its all about decision making, special
  software or equipment is not needed. You only
  need to be able to record and communicate your
  decisions.
• You dont need to be a programmer, or an artist,
  or a writer. Those backgrounds can help you make
  better decisions, or make them faster, but are
  not strictly essential.

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What is Game Design?

• Designing a game involves hundreds or thousands
  of decisions.
• Design almost always continues throughout the
  development of the game, from its start to its
  finish.
• While it is common for a game to have dedicated
  designers, most people involved in development
  make decisions at some point in time, and so are
  also designers.

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Skills for Game Design

• Interestingly, most skills and disciplines can
  be useful and applied to the design of a video
  game.
• This includes (from Schell)
• Animation, anthropology, architecture,
  brainstorming, business, cinematography,
  communication, creative writing, economics,
  engineering, history, management, mathematics,
  music, psychology, public speaking, sound design,
  technical writing,visual arts,

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Skills for Game Design

• What is the most important skill though?
• Creativity?
• Critical thinking?
• Logic?
• Communication?
• These are all important, but most people believe
  something else to be even moreimportant

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Listening

• Not simply hearing, but listening deep
  listening in a way that involves appreciating,
  understanding, and empathy.
• Schell identifies five different kinds of
  listening that are essential to the design of
  video games

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Listening

• To your team Collectively, they have the skills
  and experience needed to make the game.
• To your audience If they arent satisfied with
  your game, you have failed. To know how to
  satisfy them, you have to listen to them.
• To your game Like a mechanic that can tell what
  is wrong with a car by listening to its engine
  run, a good designer will know what is wrong with
  their game by listening to it run.
• To your client If you do not listen to the one
  paying to support development, they will go to
  someone who will. If not now, eventually
• To your self This is how you tap into your own
  creativity. You must be able to do this

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Why do People Play Games?

• There are a lot of generally accepted reasons why
  people play games
• Mastery
• Escapism
• Competition
• Knowledge
• Social interaction
• Physical seclusion
• Addiction
• And others

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Why do People Play Games?

• Mastery.
• Most players play to overcome the problems
  presented to them by the game.
• Some players are motivated further to master the
  game itself, wanting to completely dominate every
  aspect of it.
• This is also to prove ones self by overcoming
  challenges presented within the game, for a sense
  of accomplishment, satisfaction, or
  acknowledgement.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Escapism.
• Players often say that they play games to escape
  or withdraw from the challenges or stresses of
  the real world.
• In essence, games can be a participatory means of
  escape.
• They can also provide fantasy fulfillment and
  exploration, allowing the player to go places and
  do things they couldnt do otherwise.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Competition.
• Simply put, some players enjoy the thrill of
  competing against other players.
• Other players in this case are typically human
  (to provide sufficient challenge) but could be
  driven by artificial intelligence instead.
• This is only a natural extension of the same kind
  of competitive spirit found in sports, only now
  in a virtual space instead.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Knowledge.
• Many of our earliest learning experiences as
  children come in the form of games.
• Many examples of this can be found in the animal
  kingdom as well.
• What is learned depends greatly on the particular
  game in question.
• Learning could be either conscious or
  subconscious, explicit or implicit.
• Some researchers theorize that all games involve
  learning, in one way or another.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Social interaction
• Multiplayer games allow for unique socializing
  and interactions among people that are difficult
  to find elsewhere.
• This can occur both within the same room, and
  remotely through a network.
• This experience can also occur with only two
  people, or thousands, as is the case with
  Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Physical seclusion
• While this might seem to be the opposite of
  social interaction, it need not be.
• For example, in an MMO game, you can have many
  players in the same virtual place, with each in
  their own private physical space.
• Some people do play single player games for this
  reason, but others play multiplayer games to have
  an interactive experience, just in a secluded
  environment.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Addiction.
• Some players indicate they are motivated by an
  addiction a tendency to focus on one activity at
  the expense of others.
• Most game developers argue they want their games
  to be addictive, in that the players are given
  such a compelling experience that they do not
  want to stop playing.
• However, one must also consider the social and
  ethical ramifications when this gets carried too
  far. (More on this later.)

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Why do People Play Games?

• Other reasons
• A form of therapy. Games can provide a safe
  means to relax or relieve stress.
• A form of exercise. Games can provide both
  mental and physical exercise.
• A safe way to thumb ones nose at society and
  overcome social restrictions. Examples
• You can do things in a game that you cannot or
  should not do in reality.
• You can assume a role unacceptable by society or
  engage in unacceptable activity.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Why not? They are fun after all

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Who Plays Games?

• To understand how to make better games, it is
  good to consider the different types of players
  that play games.
• Not all players are the same.
• Not all players experience the samegame in the
  same way.
• Not all players play for the same reasons.
• We are going to examine geographics,
  psychographics, and demographics.

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Who Plays Games?Geographics

• Geographics relate to players locations.
• A players country can affect their attitude
  towards games or particular types of games or
  gameplay.
• In some cases, even the particular region within
  a country can have similar effects.
• Geographic effects must be taken into account
  when developing and marketing games for them to
  be successful.

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Who Plays Games?Geographics

• Examples of geographics issues
• Dominant hardware infrastructure.
• Consoles vs. computers?
• Wired vs. wireless connectivity?
• Dominant platform.
• Tolerance to certain types of content.
• Violence, sex, and so on.
• Use of licenses and licensed properties.
• Genre and gameplay adoption
• And many, many others.

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Who Plays Games?Psychographics

• Psychographics consists of peoples values,
  attitudes, perceptions, lifestyles, and ways of
  thinking.
• This can affect attitudes towards games, game
  genres, and types of gameplay as well, in a wide
  variety of ways.
• Consequently, psychographics must also be
  considered in developing a game.
• There are several ways to look at this

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• In 1996, Richard Bartle wrote a seminal article
  on the types of players who play multi-user
  dungeons (MUDs) or virtual worlds.
• These games were typically Dungeons andDragons
  like games consisting of numerous people playing
  online at the same time.
• Early MUDs were text-based, but newer ones are
  graphical. (Some claim that MUDs led to the
  development of games like Everquest and WoW.)
• The same player classifications extend easily to
  other kinds of video games, and games in general
  as well.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits
Enjoying Acting
Killers
Achievers
WorldOriented
Player Oriented
Socializers
Explorers
Enjoy Interacting
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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• How are virtual worlds seen?
• Achievers see them as games. Their aim is to
  improve, advance, and ultimately win.
• Explorers see them more as pastimes, with rewards
  coming from discovery and furthering
  understanding.
• Socializers see them as entertainment and
  opportunities to communicate with others.
• Killers see them as sport, in the same way that
  hunting and fishing are sports.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• Bartle made several interesting observations
  based on this classification scheme
• A game requires a healthy balance of the
  different types of players to be successful.
  (The exact balance depends heavily upon the game,
  however.)
• In many cases, games will reach an equilibrium of
  player types on their own. This may or may not
  be a good thing!
• The design of a game greatly affects player
  types simple tuning of a game can shift the
  balance of types for better (or worse).
• As players mature, they often change types or
  adapt their roles in the game somewhat.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• More achievers
• Slightly fewer socializers
• More killers
• Fewer achievers
• Slightly fewer socializers
• Fewer killers
• More explorers
• More explorers
• Slightly fewer killers
• Fewer explorers
• Slightly more killers

• More socializers
• More socializers
• More killers
• Fewer socializers
• Fewer socializers
• Fewer killers
• More killers
• Fewer achievers
• Slightly fewer explorers
• Far fewer socializers
• Fewer killers
• More achievers
• Far more socializers

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• Based on these observations Bartle deduced four
  stable configurations
• Killers and achievers in equilibrium, with hardly
  any socializers or explorers.
• Socializers in dominance, with everyone else only
  having bit parts.
• A balance between all four types, with enough
  explorers to keep killers in check.
• An empty virtual world.
• The third configuration is likely the best
  prospect for a worlds longevity, with the first
  and second tending towards the fourth.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• The paper itself is a fascinating read
• Richard Bartle, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades
  Players Who Suit MUDs. Journal of MUD Research,
  Volume 1, Issue 1. June 1996. Available online
  athttp//www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm
• Or, you can check out Bartles book Designing
  Virtual Worlds, published by New Riders. (Its
  in the Western library.)

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Who Plays Games?Four Keys to More Emotion

• In 2004, XEODesign released a report entitled
  Why We Play Games.
• In this report, they discuss their findings from
  a field study of gamers on their experiences and
  emotions during gameplay.
• In the end they found four pathways or keys to
  more emotion in a game without story.
• Each key corresponds closely to a type of player.
• Interestingly enough, they found that the most
  successful and best selling games possessed
  gameplay catering to at least three of the keys.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• Hard fun.
• Emotions are drawn from meaningful challenges,
  strategies, and puzzles.
• This caters to players who play to overcome
  obstacles in their way to derive a feeling of
  accomplishment.
• By providing challenges to the player, the player
  experiences a satisfying level of frustration
  balanced by a sense of triumph over adversity.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• Easy fun.
• Other players focus on the sheer enjoyment of
  experiencing the game activities.
• In this case, there is less focus on achieving
  and success.
• Instead, the game immerses the player in a world
  that inspires curiosity, awe, wonder, and a
  desire to explore the world and all that it has
  to offer.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• Altered states.
• Players using this key play to change from one
  mental state to another. For example, to relieve
  stress, avoid boredom, clear their minds, and so
  on.
• In this case, suitable interactions and gameplay
  elements are required in thegame world external
  to the player tocreate the altered state
  internal to theplayer.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• The People Factor.
• In this case, the game creates opportunities for
  player competition, cooperation, performance, and
  spectacle.
• In this case, enjoyment is derived from playing
  with or against others.
• Players using this key see games as mechanisms
  for social interaction.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• There are quite a few similarities to their
  findings and Bartles observations, although
  there are some differences too.
• An abstract of this report, as well as the
  complete document can be found athttp//www.xeo
  design.com

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• A common way of classifying players is to lump
  them into one of two categories casual or
  hard-core.
• This was studied in more detail by Ernest Adams,
  followed by Scott Kim, and then again by Adams
  and Barry Ip.
• In their latest work, Ip and Adams identify 15
  factors for classifying players as casual or
  hard-core, and develop methods for computing a
  players gamer dedication to produce a scale
  of classification instead of simply two
  categories.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Hard-core gamers are (taken from Kim)
• Technologically savvy.
• Have the latest high-end computers/consoles.
• Willingness to pay (also by Adams).
• Prefer violent/action games.
• Prefer games that have depth and complexity.
• Play games over many long sessions (also by
  Adams).

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Hard-core gamers (taken from Adams)
• Hunger for gaming-related information.
• Discuss games with friends/bulletin boards.
• Play for the exhilaration of defeating (or
  completing) the game.
• Are much more tolerant of frustration.
• Tend to be engaged in competition with him or
  herself, the game, and other players.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Other factors by Ip and Adams
• Age at which first started playing games.
• Comparative knowledge of the industry.
• Indications of early adoption behaviour.
• Desire to modify or extend games in a creative
  way.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Based on these factors, Ip and Adams compute a
  gamer dedication score.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Ip and Adams are continuing their work.
• Looking into formal studies to validate their
  methods and analyses.
• Using gamer dedication as a metric to improve
  games (or game marketing).
• More details can be found athttp//www.gamasutr
  a.com/features/20020605/ip_pfv.htm

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Who Plays Games?VALS Psychotypes

• The Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles Survey
  (VALS) was developed by the Stanford Research
  Institute.
• VALS analyses the consumer market into eight
  segments associated with different motivations
  (ideals, achievement, and self expression) as
  well as access to resources.
• See http//www.sric-bi.com/VALS to test yourself!

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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is built
  upon four pairs of traits considered to be
  complementary.
• All eight traits are present in all people, to
  various degrees.
• Each person is categorized into one of sixteen
  types depending on their tendencies in the
  pairings of traits, although each person can draw
  upon all eight traits in different situations.

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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• ISTJ Trustee
• ISFJ Conservator
• INFJ Author
• INTJ Scientist
• ISTP Artisan
• ISFP Artist
• INFP Questor
• INTP Architect

• ESTP Promoter
• ESFP Entertainer
• ENFP Journalist
• ENTP Inventor
• ESTJ Administrator
• ESFJ Seller
• ENFJ Pedagogue
• ENTJ Field Marshall

Conceptual Summaries of the Sixteen Myers-Briggs
Types
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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• Myers-Briggs types can have many implications on
  game design
• How games are played (E vs. I)
• Learning and problem solving (S vs. N)
• Overall motivation (T vs. F)
• Goal orientation and structure (J vs. P)
• Challenge versus fun (TJ vs. FP)
• And so on
• For a good discussion refer to 21st Century Game
  Design by Bateman and Boon.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi conducted
  interesting research into what he called flow
  or optimal experience.
• The main idea is that in certain mental states we
  feel a complete an energized focus on an
  activity, accompanied by a high level of
  enjoyment and fulfillment in what we do.
• As such, flow is typically defined as the
  experience of devoting total concentration
  effortlessly upon a task.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• Csikszentmihalyi identified seven characteristics
  of the flow experience.
• The subject undertakes an activity they believe
  they can complete.
• The subject can focus their concentration
  completely on the activity.
• The activity has clear goals.
• The activity has direct feedback.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• Characteristics (continued)
• The subject experiences a sense of effortless
  involvement such that worries and concerns seem
  to vanish.
• The subject feels that they are in control of the
  activity.
• Subjective experience of time is altered.
• Not all characteristics need to be present for
  flow to be experienced, but they are common
  traits of a flow experience.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• People that study games recognize these traits as
  common to playing games.
• Consequently, a state of flow can be correlated
  with a highly enjoyable and immersive gameplay
  experience.
• As a result, to provide an enjoyable game
  experience, a game should strive to place the
  player in an optimal experience or provide a
  framework that makes it more likely to occur.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• A central idea to the psychology of optimal
  experience is the flow channel.
• When a subject faces challenges for which they
  have insufficient skills, they experience
  anxiety.
• When a subject faces challenges for which their
  skills are excessive, they experience boredom
  instead.
• The key to reaching the flow channel where an
  optimal experience is achieved is to balance
  challenge and skill.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience
Anxiety
DegreeofChallenge
FlowChannel
Boredom
Degree of Skill
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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• The concept of flow has very important
  implications on good game design.
• Games must strive to balance the challenge they
  provide to the player playing the game.
• How can this be done when every player brings
  different skills, experiences, and tolerances to
  the game?
• How does the game cope and adjust difficulty as
  expected player skill increases, especially when
  the rate of increase varies?

70
Who Plays Games?Demographics

• The demographics of players include statistic
  information including
• Gender
• Age
• Income level
• Education level
• Marital status
• Ethnicity
• And so on.

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Who Plays Games?Demographics

• Understanding demographics can provide valuable
  information on the target audience and market for
  your game.
• Also, if you intended to target a game to a
  particular audience, demographic information on
  that audience can help you tune gameplay to meet
  the needs and wants of that audience.

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Who Plays Games?Demographics

• Demographics can influence games in many ways
• Interface design.
• Story elements such as plot and characters.
• Pace of action.
• Target level of difficulty.
• Multiplayer and online support.
• Appropriateness of content.
• And so on.