Gamelogs: Blogging About Gameplay Definitions of Games and Play Magic Circle

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Gamelogs Blogging About GameplayDefinitions of
Games and PlayMagic Circle

• Foundations of Interactive Game Design
• Prof. Jim Whitehead
• January 11, 2008

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Upcoming Assignments

• Due Monday (Jan. 14) first Gamelog assignment
• Game of your choice
• Details on web site (Analysis gt Game session
  logging)
• Will discuss this in class today
• Course web site
• http//www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmps080k/Winter08/
  
• Following Friday (Jan. 18) team selection
• Find your partner for your game project
• Pick team name, know contact info

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www.GameLog.cl

• Online blogging tool for games
• www.gamelog.cl
• Multiple, parallel blogs (one per game)
• Can help you
• Increase your vocabulary for discussing games
• Develop skill at analysis of design elements of
  games
• Connect game elements across multiple games
• Gain insight on how the experience of playing a
  game changes over time

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Gamelog Assignment Details

• High level overview
• Play a game for 45minutes to an hour
• Write about this gameplay experience
• Summary of game
• Your gameplay experience
• Play the same game for an additional 45-60min
• Write about the gameplay experience some more
• Your gameplay experience
• Observations on the games design

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Gamelog Template

• First gamelog entry
• Summary
• 1-5 sentences summarizing the game.
• Gameplay style, goals
• Gameplay
• 2-5 paragraphs about personal subjective gameplay
  experience
• DO NOT write a play-by-play description
• Boring!
• Thoughts on emotional state, characters,
  storyline, gameplay, social interactions, whether
  game was fun, etc.

• Second gamelog entry
• Gameplay
• 2-5 more paragraphs about the second round of
  gameplay
• Design
• 2-5 paragraphs about the design of the game
• Your thoughts on
• Innovative aspects
• What makes this a good game
• Challenges
• How game creates conflict
• Level design, use of space
• Emergent complexity
• Reward structure, etc.

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Creating Gamelog Username

• When creating your gamelog site username
• Use any username you want
• Must enter correct name
• Must also select which class youre taking
• If you dont do this, we wont be able to grade
  your gamelogs.
• Demo of gamelog site.

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Gamelog Writing

• Your gamelog entries must
• Use conventions for standard written English
• Correct capitalization, especially I, first
  word of sentences
• Use of paragraphs to organize writing
• Correct punctuation (remember the period?)
• N0 l337 sp33k f0r gamelog n00bs
• First gamelog entries due by midnight, Monday,
  Jan. 14
• Game of your choice
• Many games/consoles available at Science and
  Engineering Library

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Are these games?

• Consider these activities
• Children playing with dolls
• Jumping rope
• Using a slot machine in Las Vegas
• Russian roulette
• Playing Monopoly
• Driving

Kaba Kick Russian roulette for kids. Instead
ofbullets, a pair of feet come out the barrel.
If gun doesnt fire, player earns
points.Source 209.180.204.251/russian-roulette/i
ndex.html
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Challenges in creating definitions of games

• What are unique qualities that make a game a
  game?
• How to differentiate games from play, conflict,
  and merely rule governed activities?
• Some qualities of games
• Has rules
• Has a goal
• Involves decision making
• Safe, outside of ordinary life
• Voluntary
• Outcome is uncertain
• Ideally, definitions of games should address these

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Clark Abt Definition

• In Serious Games, Clark C. Abt defines games as
  follows
• Reduced to its formal essence, a game is an
  activity among two or more independent
  decision-makers seeking to achieve their
  objectives in some limiting context. A more
  conventional definition would say that a game is
  a context with rules among adversaries trying to
  win objectives.
• Key elements of definition
• Activity
• Game is a series of actions taking place over
  time
• Decision makers
• People playing the game are actively making
  decisions
• Objectives
• There is a goal to the game, a desired outcome
• Limiting context
• Rules exist that structure and limit the activity
  of the game

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Abt Definition Applied

• Reduced to its formal essence, a game is an
  activity among two or more independent
  decision-makers seeking to achieve their
  objectives in some limiting context.
• How does this definition apply to the six
  activities from earlier this lecture?
• Children playing with dolls
• Jumping rope
• Using a slot machine in Las Vegas
• Russian roulette
• Playing Monopoly
• Driving
• Which of these would Abt consider to be a game?

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Costikyan Definition

• A game is a form of art in which participants,
  termed players, make decisions in order to manage
  resources through game tokens in pursuit of a
  goal.
• Key elements
• Art
• Games are a form of art, hence creating culture
• Decision making players
• Players actively participating and making choices
• Resource management
• Decisions made depend on resources available, and
  manipulate resources
• Game tokens
• Representation of the state of the game,
  affordances for user action
• Goal
• Objective of the game

costik.com
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Costikyan Definition Applied

• A game is a form of art in which participants,
  termed players, make decisions in order to manage
  resources through game tokens in pursuit of a
  goal.
• Apply to class list of activities
• Children playing with dolls
• Jumping rope
• Using a slot machine in Las Vegas
• Russian roulette
• Playing Monopoly
• Driving
• Which of these would Costikyan consider to be a
  game?

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Jesper Juuls Classic Game Defintion

• From Half-Real, Jesper Juul, MIT Press, 2005, p.
  36
• Rules
• Games are rule-based
• Variable, quantifiable outcome
• Games have varying endings, with different
  numbers assignable to specific outcomes
• Valorization of outcome
• The different potential outcomes of the game are
  assigned different values, some positive and some
  negative
• Player effort
• The player exerts effort in order to influence
  the outcome
• Games are challenging

jesperjuul.net
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Juuls Classic Game Definition (2)

• Player attached to outcome
• The player is emotionally attached to the outcome
  of the game in the sense that a player will be a
  winner and happy in case of a positive outcome,
  but a loser and unhappy in case of a negative
  outcome.
• Negotiable consequences
• The same game set of rules can be played with
  or without real-world consequences.
• Examples
• Poker Can play this game without betting real
  money. Once money is bet, the game has real-world
  consequences.

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Application of Juuls Classic Game Definition

• Juuls Classic Game Definition (overview)
• Rules
• Variable, quantifiable outcome
• Valorization of outcome
• Player effort
• Player attached to outcome
• Negotiable consequences
• Apply to set of six activities
• Children playing with dolls
• Jumping rope
• Using a slot machine in Las Vegas
• Russian roulette
• Playing Monopoly
• Driving

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