Tools for Game Design by Tagxedo

Games vs. Play

Game Specific Hardware

Games now influence the whole of interactive media. At first games encouraged the development of a wide range hardware to support them. Then it encouraged a wide range of game controllers to be able to play them. Currently, it as led to motion control like the Kinect. Games have also influenced the use of interactive media in the realm of what was once e-learning, and offered serious games. Games are even going so far as to influence perspectives on pedagogy. They have even inspired gamification, which uses game principles as a means to revitalizing interactive systems, new technology, marketing and creating a higher rate of user motivation.
  

Making Serious Games

Currently technology cannot even progress without considering how it can be used to facilitate games. Why do games hold such an influence over current technology trends? I explain it as games being trans-medial artifacts. Meaning that games are not fixed to a single medium, and can exist as games in many forms.

Dice for Change [3]

Games are again inspiring new perspectives, but this time it is aimed at toys and playfulness. It has brought these kind questions about, "What is the different between games and play?" It isn't actually possible to see games and play as different or opposite ends of a spectrum. Games are artifacts, while play is a kind of behavior. Games are made so people will 'play' them, and one could even consider games as play facilitators. However there is a difference between paidia and ludus [1], or in more modern terms playing and gaming. Meaning that there is a difference in how people play. In this case, playing and gaming are opposite ends of a gradient. Gaming is motivated through an artifact referred to as a game (rules, challenges, rewards, etc.). Pure play is motivated by the player's attitude and the need to play. 

Playing with Pigs [2]

How would we design a playful artifact (toy)? On reflection of this issue I have considered two aspects as being the most critical to answering this question. First, a deep understanding of play and what keeps people playing. Such as this list: Surprise, Anticipation, Understanding, Pleasure, Mastery, Composure, Empowerment [4]. The other aspect is creating the context for the playful artifact. It should be easiest to design for toddlers since they tend to have an easier time entering play with almost any object. Adding a fictional layer (story or connection to the real-world) helps older children connect to their toys (i.e. Barbie, LEGO, etc.). Adults on the other hand require the correct setting. For example, games naturally create setting and boundaries. The question is how can we create a setting for adults where play becomes a natural response. Creating a context in any case is understanding the location or environment that play will occur; knowing how long a player has to play and the amount of time the player must give before being immersed into the play; and knowing the player's play preference (i.e.  sensation, fantasy, narrative, challenge, fellowship, discovery, expression, submission)[5] Maybe having some general directives towards playful artifacts will help us create the effects that we want.





[1] Man, Play and Games
[2] Playing with Pigs
[3] Dice for Change
[4] Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul
[5] 8KindsOfFun

Using Narratives as Game and Play Mechanics

I typically hold to a 'stories are not games' and 'games are not stories' rhetoric, however there is a grey area in the discussion of narration and game design. Recently I was reading some blogs and articles about games and narratives. I was a bit disappointed because if we analyzed these current discussions, I think that we would find very little progress in the general knowledge concerning narratives in video games and what this means to the game’s design. The typical discourse ranges from narratives are essential to video games, video games are narratives, and video games don’t need narratives. The purpose of this post is to examine the narrative from a game design perspective. In this post I specifically focus on two types of narrative game and play mechanics.

For the most part narratives and games are treated as two separate entities in game design theory, which is not strange because both games and narratives are both trans-medial. Meaning that they can be experienced in various forms of media. For narratives this means: books, films, verbal storytelling, etc. And for games this means: physical activity, computers, board and card games, etc. Typically a game's narrative has no relationship to the game's play expect for attempting to give the overall game-play experience more depth. For example, if you were to skip through the narrative of these games the game could still be completed. Often these game-play experiences feel disjointed which is caused by the conflict between game and narrative. One such pitfall occurs when narrative takes away the control from the player, which is the essential aspect of all games (e.g. even if it is only rolling dice for a random result), especially when the narrative takes away interesting choices from the player. Furthermore, cut-scenes should be a moment for the narrative to elaborate on changes due to the player’s actions or build the context in which the game action is taking place. Lastly, I think that one of biggest pitfalls is when the narrative animation is more exciting than the game action...

Only if the player could find this kind of action in-game...

There are however examples of games where understanding the narrative is essential to finishing the game. Like the genre called "text adventures", which included games like Adventure and Zork. Similarly there are books that allow the reader to “choose your own adventure” like Fighting Fantasy. Currently video games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Heavy Rain, and Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit) are examples of modern games that use narratives as game mechanics.

Zork is an old school text adventure game

When is a narrative a game and play mechanic? The primary way narrative can be used as a game mechanic is by creating critical choices through multiple choice, which can be used as a puzzle (e.g. riddles) or it can influence player properties (e.g. Mass Effect’s Rogue vs. Paragon).

The narrative game and play mechanic challenges the player's ability to comprehend the narrative. Unlike traditional narratives where the reader/viewer is never asked if he/she is able to follow the story line to continue. The play mechanics can be adjusted to make a narrative game mechanic more challenging by time pressure, providing goals (e.g. dilemmas, changing the narrative outcome), and frequency in which the player is confronted with narrative (e.g. critical choices) choices.

Making decisions in Mass Effect

The other kind of game mechanic that a narrative can be is a reward, and while this is not much of a surprise, narratives are most often used exactly for this reason (though i wonder how many designers or writers really understand it from this perspective). The play mechanic aspect of this game mechanic can be adjusted to offer the narrative in various forms of reward schedules (e.g. random, timed, paced, etc.) and provide a context for the ultimate game goal (e.g. finishing the game). In other words a narrative can be used exactly how other rewards are designed into a game. I believe the reward of a narrative is especially strong if it is able to provide the proper cliffhangers at each point it is introduced.

I am sure that there are more ways in which elements of a narrative can become game mechanics. My conclusion is that designers and writers could become more aware of this phenomenon and take advantage of how games and narrative are blended. Furthermore, I hope this can help solve the conflict between designers and writers who see video games as either narrative or game-play.