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PRESS START
TOWARDS A FORMAL
UNDERSTANDING OF
GAMES
Particles Waves
P
W
Stuff
Mental Models Mental Logic
MM
ML
Mental MetaLogic
Rules Play
R
P
Games
Rules
• Limit player action• Explicit and unambiguous• Shared by all players• Fixed• Binding
• Free movement within a rigid structure
• Expression of the system• The space inside,
between, and among the rules
• Opposes and resists• Uses existing structures
to invent new forms of expression
Play
Learning the Rules (Piaget)
• Stage 1– Begins around age 5, the child does not
understand that there are fixed rules to the game. Children of this age will play Marbles in an improvisational way, possessing a vague notion of rules but not yet understanding the idea of fixed rules
Learning the Rules (Piaget)
• Stage 2– Around ages 8 to 10, the child comes to know
that there are rules, and will regard these rules with a near religious reverence. The rules are felt to have their own implicit authority, which cannot be questioned.
Learning the Rules (Piaget)
• Stage 3– Beginning after age 10, the child comes to
realize that the rules of a game are dependent on a social contract and can be changed if all the players agree to do so. This final stage is generally how adults view the rules of games.
• “He (sic) no longer relies, as do the littlest ones, upon all-wise tradition. He no longer thinks that everything has been arranged for the best in the past and that the only way of avoiding trouble is by religiously respecting the established order. He believes in the value of experiment in so far as it is sanctioned by collective opinion”
-Jean Piaget
Challenges
• Entertainment is not considered to be a topic worthy of serious study
• Being entertained is partially an unconscious process
• Honing entertainment skill is partially an unconscious process
Differences Between Player Types
• Player 1: hey bitch gimme buffs
• Player 2: Sirrah! Dost thou address a lady thus?
Academia
Industry
Understanding Entertainment
• What makes us Entertainable?
1. We can model reality
2. We can focus our attention
3. We are empathic
4. We are imaginative
Modeling Reality
X
X
O
X
OX
X
OX
O
X
OX
O
X
X
OX
O
X O
X
OX
O
X O
X
X
OX
O
X O
X
Focus (Attention)
Our job is to guide it – more later
Empathy
:-D
Imagination
Measuring Interest
t
A Good Interest Curve
Interest
hook
climax
leave ‘emwanting more!
A Bad Interest Curve
t
Interest Change channel,Stop playing!
Three Factors of Interest
• Inherent Interest of Things– Things that involve dramatic change (includes
novelty)
• Poetry of Presentation
• Psychological Proximity
Prox
Me Us Them
InterestInherentInterest Poetry Prox
-Me
-You
-Them
InterestInherentInterest Poetry Prox
-Me
-You
-Them
InterestInherentInterest Poetry Prox
-Me
-You
-Them
Techniques
• Indirect Control• Immersion• Intellectual Problem
Solving• Competition• Social Interaction• Comedy• Thrill of Danger
• Physical Activity• Love• Creation• Power• Discovery• Advancement and
Completion• Application of an
Ability
Indirect Control
Immersion
Intellectual Problem Solving
Competition
Social Interaction
Comedy
Thrill of Danger
Physical Activity
Love
Creation
Power
Discovery
Advancement and Completion
Application of an Ability
Core (10%) Casual (90%)
Authored abdicated(linear) (nonlinear)
Player skill character skill(action) (cerebral)
Escape (AI) Socialize
(MMGs)
GAME OVER
