Games, Design and Play: Elements

Exercise 1. Identify the basic elements in a game of your choice

I chose the game Rainy Attic Room. 

• Actions: Talk to the Friend, collect water, clean spider webs and dust, expand the room, upgrade furniture, and explore places that become available as the game progresses. Players complete these actions by tapping on their device.
• Goals: The main goal is to become more familiar with the Friend. The player can also decorate the home, unlock new content, and complete achievements。
• Rules: Progress is intentionally slow. The player cannot continuously talk to the friend and has to wait before some interactions become available again. Water and other resources are needed to purchase or upgrade things and are given at a slow speed too. 
• Objects: Rainwater, hot water, furniture, food, decorations, spider webs, cats, and other objects found around the home. All furniture have different levels, and can be even colored as player levels up – which give them a sense of achievement.
• Playspace: The friend’s attic, park, city, forest and the sea, but all in a digital environment. At the beginning, only the small attic is accessible but players unlock more space and the Friend becomes willing to go out. Also in the game it’s always raining, reflecting the depressed mood of the Friend. 
• Players: A single player.

Exercise 2. As a thought experiment, swap one element between two games.

I imagined swapping the goal of Animal Crossing with the goal of Tetris. In Animal Crossing, players do not have a particular goal – maybe decorate the island or talk to villagers. In Tetris, the goal is to arrange falling blocks to complete horizontal lines and prevent the blocks from reaching the top.

Thus the swap would greatly change the dynamics of the game. Players would still collect furniture and objects. However, if they collecting objects to cancel them out, how can they even decorate the island according to their taste? Maybe the objects would be given (like refreshed on the island every several hours) and players would focus on efficiency, placement, and how to clear the space. The goal thus would be, you have to clear out the objects you do not like by canceling them out. 

Now instead of experiencing a very relaxing game, players would be under a lot of pressure to prevent overflow of objects. The creativity or self-expression component will also decrease. Therefore, changing just one element of the game could reshape the play experience entirely. 

Exercise 3. Map out the space of possibility of a childhood game.

I chose the game Hide-and-Seek, which is asymmetrical because there are two types of players and each have their own goal and action.

• Players: One player is the seeker, while the other players are hiders.
• Goals: The seeker’s goal is to find all of the hiding players. The hiders’ goal is to remain hidden for as long as possible.
• Actions:
  • The seeker can count, search, walk around the playspace, investigate hiding places, and identify players.
  • The hiders can run, choose hiding places, remain still, move to another location, or sometimes return to a designated safe area.
• Rules: The seeker must close their eyes and count for an agreed amount of time. The other players must hide during this period. The first hiders being found are the seeker for the next round. And the winner is the last one being found.
• Objects: The game does not need objects, but environmental objects such as furniture or walls can become hiding places.
• Playspace: The game can be played anywhere, but players agree on a specific boundary.

Space of Possibility: 

1. Initial state (counting vs hiding): One player is selected as the seeker. The seeker begins counting while all other players search for hiding places. Each hider chooses among many possible locations.
2. Searching state(s): The seeker begins exploring the playspace. Some players may have been found while others are still hidden.
3. End state: The game ends when all players have been found or when another agreed-upon ending condition has been reached.

The space of possibility comes from the large number of decisions available to both sides. Hiders can select different hiding places and strategies, while the seeker can choose different search routes. Even with very simple rules, every round can develop differently because players make different choices.

Exercise 4. Games state logs for a real-time game and a turn-based game.

I picked Mario Kart as the real-time game. It has a large space of possibility because the game state changes constantly. Players must react to opponents, items, obstacles, shortcuts, and changes in position in real time. The combination of rules, objects, actions, and the racetrack creates many unpredictable situations.

Game-state logs:

1. Starting state: All racers are positioned at the starting line.
2. Early race: Players accelerate and compete for position. Some collect item boxes.
3. First item interaction: A player receives an item such as a shell, banana, or mushroom and can decide to throw them at any time. 
4. Position change: One player uses an item, passes another racer, or hits another racer. 
5. Hazard state: A player hits an obstacle or is attacked by another player’s item and temporarily slows down.
6. Finish state: Players cross the finish line and receive their rankings.

Flight Chess is a turn-based game. Players have more time to think because only one player acts at a time. The current positions of the pieces, the die roll, and the rules determine which actions are possible during each turn. 

Example game-state log:

1. Starting state: All players’ airplane pieces are located at their home bases.
2. Each Player’s turn: One player rolls the die. Depending on the number, they may be able to move an airplane onto the board or along the track. And then it goes to the next player. 
3. Interaction: One player’s airplane lands on another player’s, causing the affected piece to return to its starting area.
4. Mid-game: Several pieces belonging to different players are positioned around the board. Some pieces have reached their destination while others remain on the track.
5. Final state: One player successfully moves all of their pieces to the final destination and wins.

Comparison

In Mario Kart, the game state changes continuously because multiple players act simultaneously. Players frequently have to react immediately to unexpected events. Players may feel excited and anxious during the intense game. In Flight Chess, the state changes in separate steps because players take turns. This gives each player more time to observe the current state and make a decision. Even though both game has similar goals of reaching the final destination as fast as possible, the player experience are quite different.

Both games demonstrate the idea of a space of possibility. Designers establish rules, actions, goals, objects, players, and playspaces, but they do not completely determine what will happen during a particular game. The players’ decisions and interactions create the actual play experience. For example, the time limit and continuous road requires constant attention, lead to a shorter and more intense rounds in Mario Kart, while the discrete grids and simplified objects provide players a more relaxed play experience in Flight Chess. This is why game design can be understood as second-order design: designers create the system, while players create the experience by interacting with that system.