First Seminar about game design and game development: introduction to formal elements of the games, different game genres based on their mechanics and some concepts about gamification

1. LUCA GALLI
@Leyart86
PLAYER ONE
Videogame Design for all
Dissecting Games

2. Something really bad is
going to happen…

3. Or not?

4. WHAT IS PLAY?
Autonomy: play is a voluntary activity.
Safety: during play there are radically reduced serious
consequences in what we do
Exploration: the possibility to experiment and try out new
things
Mastery: the will to improve one’s own skills

5. GAMES VS PLAY
Games are distinguished from play
– Play is free-form
– Games are rule-based
A game is a closed, formal system that
· Engages players in structured conflict and
· Resolves its uncertainty in an unequal
outcome.
Fullerton, T.; Swain, C. & Hoffman, S.
Game Design Workshop: A playcentric approach
to creating innovative games, 2008

7. FLASH INTRODUCTION
TO GAME DESIGN

8. Mancala, 7th
century AD

9. Unreal
Tournament 3,
Epic Games,
2007

10. Turn based boardgame vs Real time action shooter
Handmade physical board vs Personal Computer
Public domain rules vs Copyrighted

11. 1 - PLAYERS

12. 2 - OBJECTIVES

13. 2 - OBJECTIVES: EXAMPLES
Solution: solve a problem or puzzle before (or
more accurately) than the competition or
following certain constraints
Connect Four, Milton Bradley,
1974
Professor Layton and the
Miracle Mask, Level-5, 2011

14. 2 - OBJECTIVES: EXAMPLES
Alignment: arrange game objects in a spatial or
conceptual configuration
Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov, 1984 Puzzle Bobble, Taito
Corporation, 1994

15. 3 – MECHANICS (PROCEDURES)
“Game mechanics are
methods invoked by
agents, designed for
interaction with the game
state.” – M. Sicart
http://gamestudies.org/080
2/articles/sicart

16. 3 – MECHANICS: EXAMPLE
Starting action: Choose a player
to go first. Each player chooses a color:
red or yellow.
Progression of action: On each
turn, a player drops one colored
checker down any of the slots in
the top of the grid.
Resolving actions: The play alternates
until one of the players gets four
checkers of one color in a row. The row
can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.
Connect Four

17. 4 - RULES
• Define Objects
• Restrict Actions
• Determine Effects (ECA rules)
Chess: A player cannot move her king into check.
Poker: A straight is five consecutively ranked
cards; a straight flush is five consecutively ranked
cards of the same suit.
WarCraft II: To create knight units, a player must have
upgraded to a keep and built a stable.

18. 5 - RESOURCES
Resources: valuable objects that can help the players to achieve
their goals but are scarce in the system.
Lives: number of “trials” that can be attempted to reach a goal
Units: multiple objects that has to be managed instead of lives
Health: represent the status of loss or near loss of lives and units
Points: numerical value that represents a measure of the skill and
progression of a player
Actions: number of possible distinct choices that a player can
make within a defined timeframe
Power-ups: object that gives a boost to the player
Items: used by the player to accomplish an objective, made
scarce by the system
Turns: the number of game phases within which a player must
accomplish the objectives
Time: restricts player actions or phases in periods of time.

19. 5 – RESOURCES: EXAMPLE
Card Hunter, Blue Manchu Pty Ltd, TBR
Time
Points
Actions
CardHunter

20. 6 - CONFLICTS
Conflicts: emerges from the players trying to
accomplish the goals of the game within its rules and
boundaries, since procedures and rules tend to deter
players from accomplishing goals directly or make
players work against each other.
The most common conflicts are generated by:
Obstacles, objects or rules that limit the freedom of
the players
Opponents, since they are usually trying to achieve an
objective faster than us
Meaningful Choices, players have to make choices
that will influence the outcome of the game

21. 7 - BOUNDARIES
Boundaries are what
separate the game from
everything that is not the
game and defines the
physical or virtual scopes
in which the game is
performed.
Example: Football would
not be the same game if
the boundaries of the
football field were not
defined.

22. 8 - OUTCOME
Unpredictable!
The unpredictability
should derive from three
different sources:
• Player Choices
• Complex Rules
• Elements of Chance

23. FORMAL ELEMENTS
• Formal elements are the elements that ALL games share and
constitute their backbone
• You, as a developer, should explore beyond the basic
elements of play and explore new forms of interactivity,
mechanics and aesthetics
• Nonetheless it is still important to understand the
fundamental role of formal elements in every system that we
call “A Game”
• We will dig further into details in the upcoming lessons :)

24. FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS
PHYSICS
Crayon Physics World of Goo

25. FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS
INTERNAL ECONOMY
Imperial Settlers Agricola

26. FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS
PROGRESSION MECHANISM
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Syberia

27. FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS
TACTICAL MANEUVERING
Starcraft II Age of Wonders III

28. FUNDAMENTAL MECHANICS
SOCIAL INTERACTIONS
World of Warcraft
Candy Crush Saga

29. GENRES AND MECHANICS
A comprehensive table describing the relationships between the major game
mechanics and how they define different genres is provided on the website of the
course.
Nonetheless games can be divided in two broad families, sometimes they can also
be mixed together:
GAMES OF EMERGENCE
GAMES OF PROGRESSION
We will focus on games of EMERGENCE in this course, even though some
elements of progressions are often needed.

30. ENGAGING PLAYERS
• The formal elements provide structure to the experience of
games, but what gives these elements meaning for the
players?
• What makes one game capture the imagination of players and
another one fail completely?
• What allows players to emotionally connect with a game?
• The sense of engagement comes from different things for
different players, and not all the games require elaborate
means to create it

31. ENGAGING THE PLAYER
• Challenge
The conflict challenges the player and create tension
as well as creates varying level of achievement or
frustration
Increasing the challenge as the game goes on increase
the tension, but too much challenge causes frustration
• Premise
Overarching premise gives context to the
formal elements and creates engagement
Diablo’s premise sees the character in a dark and gothic
world menaced by the threat of the rise of a terrible
demon called Diablo

32. ENGAGING THE PLAYER
• Characters
Agents through which stories are
told with whom players can empathize
• Story
Some games engage players emotionally
by using the power of the story within or
surrounding their formal elements
• How stories can be integrated?
• How much story is too much? Or too little?
• Should the gameplay change the story?
Final Fantasy VII Playable Characters
Lost Odyssey

33. GAMIFICATION
“The use of game design techniques and game
mechanics to enhance non-game contexts”
S. Deterding, M. Sicart, L. Nacke, K. O’Hara, and D. Dixon,
“Gamification. Using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts”
Sebastian Deterding Miguel Sicart

34. ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
Core activity must be already engaging for the user.
Gamification involves defining clear and definitive objectives
that last even past the gaming experience, and are either set
by, or negotiated between the user and the game along with a
progressive path of short and intermediate goals leading to it.
Onboarding
Retention
Virality
Social Dimensions
Additional Mechanics

35. POINTS
Points or Player Scores are a numerical value that represents a
measure of the skill of a player.
•External display of progression
• Immediate and lasting feedback
• May determine the win state
•Connection between progress in the game and rewards
Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement
Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,
Singapore
Werbach, K. & Hunter, D.
For the Win: How Game Thinking
Can Revolutionize Your Business
Wharton Digital Press, 2012

36. LEADERBOARDS
A Leaderboard is an ordered list of players based on the scores
they have obtained in a specific game or system.
• Relates the performance of a player to the others
• Fosters competition and participation
• Risky: May be demotivating.
Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement
Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,
Singapore
Werbach, K. & Hunter, D.
For the Win: How Game Thinking
Can Revolutionize Your Business
Wharton Digital Press, 2012

37. ACHIEVEMENTS AND BADGES
37
An Achievement is a set of tasks, defined by a designer, for the
player to fulfill so to achieve a milestone and track the progress
in a system.
A Badge is an artifact associated to the completion of an
achievement and given to a player after its completion, or, in
gaming terms, after “unlocking the achievement”.
• Define goals
• Onboarding tool
• Visual markers for reputation,
• Provide lasting rewards
Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement
Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,
Singapore

38. THIS IS JUST A GLIMPSE OF
WHAT GAMIFICATION IS...

39. EXAMPLE: ZAMZEE GAMIFICATION
Personalization Rewards
Challenges
Social Status

40. A CLASSIC EXAMPLE:
Just how bad is Big Rigs:
Over the Road Racing?
It's as bad as your
mind will allow you to
comprehend.

41. CONCLUSIONS
•Play is a universal need
•Games and videogames are entertaining and
controlled means to satisfy it
•We can accomplish astonishing results...
•...if we design a good and tailored gaming experience
•Technological improvements cannot fix a gameplay
mined by bad design choices

42. NEXT WEEK!
LET’S BUILD A CLASSIC TOGETHER
BUILT WITH
CONSTRUCT 2