Introduction to the Theory of Game Elements

Aki Jä[email protected]

http://www.gameswithoutfrontiers.net

Introduction to theTheory of Game Elements

mailto:[email protected]




Games without FrontiersA Resource for Game Studies & Design

Contents• Games as systems

• Game states and game system behaviour

• Game elements as parts of game systems

• Game element attributes

• Definitions and examples element by element

• Examples of an analysis method

• Gamegame: theory meets design meets play


All kinds of games allowed!• All games, regardless of the

media or technology they employ, contain certain elements

• They are not all the same

• Or implemented in the same manner or technique

• Yet there are underlying similarities: goals, objects to be manipulated, environments, players, etc.


Same but different

• How to conceptualise this ‘same but different’ qualities of games?

• One needs to conceptualise the qualities

• And build a framework that brings them together, as in individual games

• The notion of System


Games as systems• System is

‘a dynamic whole with interacting parts’

• In game systems:

1) game elements equal the parts

2) elements have relationships, they interact

3) when players engage with the elements, it gives birth to another kind of interaction: game play

• game play gives birth to dynamics; ‘the run-time behavior of the system’ (LeBlanc)


The Theory of Game Elements• Conceptualises possible different configurations

of game systems

• i.e. the difference between one game and another is due to the fact that their systems are configured differently

• configuration of football vs. the configuration of Prince of Persia

• The theory is a form of Applied Ludology

• Which provides solutions for practical game analysis & design


Element categories: overview

• A game system in operation, i.e. a game being played, puts these elements into interaction

COMPOUND

ELEMENTS

game play

SYSTEMIC

ELEMENTS

BEHAVIORAL

ELEMENTS


Game elements: overview

• players• contexts

• components• environment

• rule set• game mechanics• theme• information• interface

COMPOUND

ELEMENTS

game play

SYSTEMIC ELEMENTS BEHAVIORAL ELEMENTS


• All game elements have an ownership attribute

• There are three kinds of ownership attributes:

[game element]-of-self

[game element]-of-other(s)

[game element]-of-system

• Ownership attributes often create inherent tension and competition to a game

• Thus, many games revolve around ownerships shifting back and forth

Game elements: overview


Components• Components are usually objects that the

player is able to manipulate in the course of the game.

• What ‘moves’ in the game, in one way or another (physical movement, transactions, etc.)

• Components provide a source of identification for the player, usually in the shape of possessions, resources, and/or representatives (characters/pieces)

• The goals of the game are often embodied into components (’collect 100 rings’, etc.)


Types of Components• There are three types of

components:

• components-of-self: components possessed by oneself and controlled by oneself (e.g. your monkey)

• components-of-others: components possessed and controlled by other players (e.g. the others’ monkeys)

• components-of-system: components possessed and controlled by the game system (Bananas, NPCs, AI, etc.)


Environment• It is not mandatory yet it is very

common (boards, etc.)

• The environment element sets specific spatial boundaries for components and players.

• Environment embodies rules that specify the spatial and geometric arrangement of a game.

• In some cases, components make up the game environment.

• Typical environment attributes: state, scale, vector


Types of Environments• Game environments can be broadly classified

into two following types:

• Boards/fields: Static individual environments; which mainly function to embody rules by visualising them into a grid with geometrical relations, for example.

• Setups: Even if no particular environment is needed (as in, e.g., many card games), the other elements need to be arranged in a fashion that communicates the game state to the players.

• World(s): Often these kinds of environments are divided into parts or levels, but game-worlds also exist as seamless, simulated ecosystems. Function shifts towards thematic purposes.


Rule set• Rules constitute the fundamental compound

element, rule set.

• Rule set is the glue that keeps a game system together and enables play with the other elements in the first place.

• Rules make it possible for the system to function in a way that is meaningful for players. Rule set uses other elements as its embodiments.

• Usually the rule set states procedures or algorithms, such as how to set up the game in order to start playing, or how players are rewarded for completing a goal.


Game mechanics• ‘The means’, i.e. always there in relation to goals, ‘the

ends’

• Best described with verbs; game mechanics imply (inter)action

• Core mechanics (Salen & Zimmerman): what players do in a game, repeatedly

• Running and kicking the ball are the core mechanics of football; moving a piece in Chess is its core mechanic

• digital games may have multiple mechanics that correspond to the actions and the fantasy world the games simulates: Horseback riding, sword-fighting, running, jumping, etc.


Types of Game mechanics

• generic mechanics classes

• that can be actualized in various ways

• for example, a Physical mechanic in the ’Contact’ class could be kissing/hugging/etc!

• and combined into sequences and relations: trading is achieved by kissing, etc!


Theme• theme equals the subject matter of a game

• if there is no theme in a game, the system does not represent anything other than its ruleset

• theme functions metaphorically, enabling the players to understand rules and goals in terms of another subject matter

• the essence of metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson) : ‘understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another’

• Themes employ schemas: restaurant schema in Diner Dash


Information• Game systems contain information

• The main function of information is to store data about game states

• How and to what extent the information is communicated to the players are questions of game design:

• Games of perfect information vs. imperfect information

• The information element makes games suitable for computers


Interface• In case players can not access

the game system directly there is need for a tool to enable that

• i.e. an interface

• prominent in digital games

• is found also in mechanical games, such as Pinball, Fussball tables, etc.


Players• There would no games nor play

without Players

• Players are arguably highly complex psychological entities

• Erving Goffman (1961): games as focused gatherings

• i.e. certain types of social arrangements that occur when persons are in one another’s immediate physical presence.


Players in focused gatherings• focused gatherings involve for the participants the

following ‘communication arrangements’:

a single visual and cognitive focus of attention

a mutual and preferential openness to verbal communication

a heightened mutual relevance of acts

an eye-to-eye ecological huddle that maximizes each participants ’s opportunity to perceive the other participants’ monitoring of him/her


Qualities of Players• For the purposes of analysis players have to abstracted down to

a handful of crucial aspects:

• Players have• Player possessions: ownership of elements, components in particular

• Player strategies: players’ preferences in relation to goal hierarchy

• Player agency: player affordances in relation to elements, embodied into game mechanics

• Player knowledge: information available for players to use

• Player organisation: players’ relation to each other, possibly via different roles

• Player abilities and skills: sets of cognitive, physical and psychomotor abilities

• game systems - i.e. game designers - try to set normative constraints to player qualities


Contexts• There are several contexts to any game

• E.g., the context of football is a cluster of factors having to do both with the game’s popularity, tradition, players, national histories, and the sports industry with its media coverage.

• The context of a game can be endlessly expanded to surrounding cultures...

• in order to be useful, the line has to be drawn somewhere when embarking on a concrete analysis of a particular game.

• Where actually to draw the line is a question of perspective.


Game elements: summary

• players• contexts

• components• environment

• rule set• game mechanics• theme• information• interface

COMPOUND

ELEMENTS

game play

SYSTEMIC ELEMENTS BEHAVIORAL ELEMENTS


What ludologists do


Another visualization


Further resources• http://gamegame.blogs.com

• Card game / brainstorming tool for game design, based on the theory of game elements

• http://www.gameswithoutfrontiers.net

• Aki’s Thesis chapters & online analysis tools

• [email protected]

http://gamegame.blogs.com/

http://gamegame.blogs.com/

http://www.gameswithoutfrontiers.net/

http://www.gameswithoutfrontiers.net/



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Introduction to the Theory of Game Elements