1. UNIT 01 AO3
EXPLORE AND DESCRIBE HOW MEANING IS CREATED IN MEDIA
PRODUCTS THROUGH THE INTERACTION OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS
What is a game?
Jesper Juul in The Game, the Player, the World: Looking for a Heart of Gamesness identifies
six characteristics that games have - what he call ‘gamesness’
Crash Bandicoot Call of Duty Minecraft
1. It must have rules You can only kill the
enemy.
You must follow the game
narrative.
You can only kill the
enemy.
You have limited ammo.
You must follow the
storyline.
There are no game rules.
2. There are variable
and quantifiable
outcomes
You can die, or kill
opponents.
You can gather apples
which increase your
points.
You can get power-ups
from masks.
You can die, or kill
opponents.
You can view your kills
earned, and deaths
acquired.
You can die, or kill
anybody else.
You can gather items to
survive, kill and defend
with.
3. There will be
positive/negative values
assigned to the
outcomes.
You will gain lives when
finding special boxes.
You will have to restart
from the beginning or a
checkpoint if you die.
You can unlock new
weapons, game changing
perks, and equipment.
You can lose out on bonus
things if you fail to
complete the outcomes as
required.
You will die or starvation if
you don’t have food.
You loot or create greater
items when adventuring
into harder places.
You lose all items when
you die.
4. The desired outcome
requires effort
If you wish to complete
the level you must avoid
dying and jump into the
portal at the end.
If you wish to win the
game, you must kill, and
complete objectives. If you
don’t, you’re likely to lose
and the outcome will be a
loss.
You must search, kill and
mine for a long period of
time to come across
greater items.
You must build structures
to defend yourself.
5. Player has an
emotional attachment
to the outcome
If you fail, it can be
frustrating.
It can be frustrating when
losing, so people aim to
win as much as possible.
You can die after spending
a lot of time building,
gathering and acquiring
high end content.
6. Negotiable
consequences for real
life
Losing can cause distress
and anger.
Player may become
addicted.
Losing can cause distress
and anger.
Player may become
addicted.
When you die you lose
everything which will be
very frustrating.