Game Elements
This week's readings game me an insight on the questions that must be asked when thinking about; players, objectives, rules, resources, game state, information, sequencing, player interaction, theme and games as systems. I found the examples given for each of these very useful and gave me an idea of all the variations there are.
Image 1: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/948574
I think the "Three step process" given for critically analyzing a game will definitely come in hand:
"1. Describe the game’s formal elements. Do not interpret at this point, simply state what is there.
2. Describe the results of the formal elements when put in motion. How do the different elements interact? What is the play of the game like? Is it effective?
3. Try to understand why the designer chose those elements and not others. Why this particular player structure, and why that set of resources? What would have happened if the designer had chosen differently?" (http://md2019.cdmonline.ie/reading-week-04/)
By asking myself these questions, I will be able to correctly examine other people's games, as well as critique my own.
I learnt that "the primary inhibitor of design evolution is the lack of a common design vocabulary." after reading 'Formal Abstract Design Tools' by Doug Church (https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3357/formal_abstract_design_tools.php). He explains that game developers should be able to analyze a game in such a way that they can transfer what they liked into their own ideas and learn from what they didn't like. Doug talks about how beneficial it would be if we all had a good game vocabulary that we could use to "dissect a game into its components, and attempt to understand how these parts balance and fit together."
In summary, we as game developers need to learn how to constructively talk about each other's games when analyzing them.
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