The Elements of Games

Hey guys,

I had a nice week off from blogging but now it's time to get back to the good ol' grind. This week in class we went over the topic of different elements that can be found in a game. To introduce these elements, we have the eight discussed in class being: Players, Objectives, Procedures, Rules, Resources, Conflict, Boundaries, and Outcome. Allow me to go into some detail on each of these unique elements.

First let's go over the Player. Games are designed based on the player interaction. The player has options on how they want to be active in the game whether it be partaking in certain game events, consuming objects, investing or potentially winning some sort of objective. The number of players vary or can be fixed based on the game and this can cause different experiences. There are different roles of the player as they can play as a team or go solo in certain games. The player's role can also be reflective in their play style. For example, if a player is very supportive, they would play as a healer in a team based game such as Team Fortress.

The next element is Objectives. Now objectives can be specific goals for the player element such as gathering experience like in more RPG games or staying alive like Left 4 Dead. There are ten different types of objectives a game could have and they are: Capture, Chase, Race, Alignment, Rescue or Escape, Forbidden Act, Construction, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.

Procedures is our next element in a game. These procedures can be actions or methods of play allowed by the game's rules. This would include things such as controls or input, interaction between other players or NPC's, and limitations.

Continuing through the list we have Rules as our next element in games. This sounds similar to procedures but the rules element focuses on the exact objects and concepts in the game. These are essentially the building blocks of the game's system. It defines what the player can and cannot do giving him or her their limits and reactive events. These rules define the objects and conditions in the game along with restricting actions and determining effects.

Resources are next on the list of elements in a game. This element can be described as an object with high value for the player to increase their chance of reaching their objective. These resources become valuable by being scarce and by how much they actually help the player with achieving their goals. Different types of resources can be: Lives, Units, Health, Currency, Actions, Inventory, and even Time in some games. Racing games that allow you to run through checkpoints that add time is a great example of how time can be a resource in a game.

Next element we have is Conflict. This can be created when procedures and rules prevent the player from accomplishing goals directly. A few types of conflict that we covered in class were Obstacles, Opponents, and Dilemmas. Allow me to explain how a simple game like Minesweeper can cause conflict in the game. The game has a goal which is to determine where all of the mines are in the field. The Obstacle that is in place is the fact that all of the tiles are unmarked. So in other words, uncertainty would be the Obstacle. Going to a more complex game such as Starcraft, it also has the Obstacle of uncertainty in regards to what your opponent is doing, but there is also the conflict of the opponent itself trying to destroy you. On top of that there are Dilemmas such as resource management and correct counters to build for what the other player is building.

Nearing the end we have Boundaries as our next element in games. This is the limits in which the player is placed in. Where the rules apply only in the game. We also discussed the topic of Huizinga's Magic Circle, which basically refers to how there is a temporary world for the player to live in where game rules apply. Types of virtual worlds that this "magic circle" could include are: first person shooters, online social environments, and MMORPG's.

Finally, at the end of the list of the elements in a game we have Outcome. This is a measurable and unequal outcome. Now a winning condition is different from and objective. Outcomes rely on uncertainty to motivate the player to reach the outcome. There should be satisfying resolutions to maximize emotional investments of players. For example, completing Portal is a satisfying resolution because you feel accomplished and not relived to no longer be playing the game.

The next blog topic will be covering more elements in games but these ones will be more dramatic.