Games in General

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Games in General
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What is a Game?

• An active interest or pursuit, especially one
  involving competitive engagement or adherence to
  rules.
  
• It can provide entertainment or be used for
  serious purposes such as education or training,
  for example.
  
• Examples
• Board games, card games, athletic games,
  childrens games, and video games.

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Fundamental Characteristics of Games

• All games have four common elements
• Representation
• Interaction
• Conflict
• Safety
• This is regardless of the type of game, and the
  way the game is played.

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Representation

• A game is a closed formal system that represents
  a subset of reality.
  
• A game is complete and self-sufficient.
• A game has rules, either explicit or implicit.
• A game has a collection of parts that interact
  with each other, often in complex ways.
  
• A game attempts to recreate or simulate some
  elements of reality, and allows fantasy to fill
  in the rest.
  

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Interaction

• Some media for representing reality are static.
• E.g. photos, paintings, sculptures, etc.
• Some are dynamic and change over time.
• E.g. movies, music, etc.
• Games go even further and represent reality in an
  interactive fashion.
  
• Players are allowed to directly affect other
  players and reality itself through their actions.

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Conflict

• Conflict arises naturally from the interaction of
  a game conflict need not be violent.
  
• The player actively pursues some goal while
  obstacles prevent goals from being easily
  achieved. Sources of conflict include
  
• Other players (including any computer agents)
• Elements of game reality (the game environment)
• Time (in the case of races, etc.)
• The players own self (in the case of puzzles,
  etc.)

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Safety

• Conflict implies danger danger means risk of
  harm harm is undesirable.
  
• A game is a safe way to experience reality.
• The results of a game should always be less harsh
  than the situations the game models.
  
• Safety, ironically, is the one element of games
  that players are willing to sacrifice to enhance
  the overall experience.

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Why do People Play Games?

• There are a lot of generally accepted reasons why
  people play games
  
• Social interaction
• Physical seclusion
• Competition
• Knowledge
• Mastery
• Escapism
• Addiction
• And others

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Why do People Play Games?

• Social interaction
• Multiplayer games allow for unique socializing
  and interactions among people that are difficult
  to find elsewhere.
  
• This can occur both within the same room, and
  remotely through a network.
  
• This experience can also occur with only two
  people, or thousands, as is the case with
  Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Physical seclusion
• While this might seem to be the opposite of
  social interaction, it need not be.
  
• For example, in an MMO game, you can have many
  players in the same virtual place, with each in
  their own private physical space.
  
• Some people do play single player games for this
  reason, but others play multiplayer games to have
  an interactive experience, just in a secluded
  environment.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Competition.
• Simply put, some players enjoy the thrill of
  competing against other players.
  
• Other players in this case are typically human
  (to provide sufficient challenge) but could be
  driven by artificial intelligence instead.
  
• This is only a natural extension of the same kind
  of competitive spirit found in sports, only now
  in a virtual space instead.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Knowledge.
• Many of our earliest learning experiences as
  children come in the form of games.
  
• Many examples of this can be found in the animal
  kingdom as well.
  
• What is learned depends greatly on the particular
  game in question.
  
• Learning could be either conscious or
  subconscious, explicit or implicit.
  
• Some researchers theorize that all games involve
  learning, in one way or another.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Mastery.
• Some players are motivated to master the game
  itself, wanting to dominate the game and become
  an advanced or expert player.
  
• This is also to prove ones self by overcoming
  challenges presented within the game, for a sense
  of accomplishment, satisfaction, or
  acknowledgement.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Escapism.
• Players often say that they play games to escape
  or withdraw from the challenges or stresses of
  the real world.
  
• In essence, games can be a participatory means of
  escape.
  
• They can also provide fantasy fulfillment and
  exploration, allowing the player to go places and
  do things they couldnt do otherwise.
  

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Why do People Play Games?

• Addiction.
• Some players indicate they are motivated by an
  addiction a tendency to focus on one activity at
  the expense of others.
  
• Most game developers argue they want their games
  to be addictive, in that the players are given
  such a compelling experience that they do not
  want to stop playing.
• However, one must also consider the social and
  ethical ramifications when this gets carried too
  far. (More on this later.)

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Why do People Play Games?

• Other reasons
• A form of therapy. Games can provide a safe
  means to relax or relieve stress.
  
• A form of exercise. Games can provide both
  mental and physical exercise.
  
• A safe way to thumb ones nose at society and
  overcome social restrictions. Examples
  
• You can do things in a game that you cannot or
  should not do in reality.
  
• You can assume a role unacceptable by society or
  engage in unacceptable activity.

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Why do People Play Games?

• Why not? They are fun after all

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Who Plays Games?

• To understand how to make better games, it is
  good to consider the different types of players
  that play games.
  
• Not all players are the same.
• Not all players experience the samegame in the
  same way.
  
• Not all players play for the same reasons.
• We are going to examine geographics,
  psychographics, and demographics.

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Who Plays Games?Geographics

• Geographics relate to players locations.
• A players country can affect their attitude
  towards games or particular types of games or
  gameplay.
  
• In some cases, even the particular region within
  a country can have similar effects.
  
• Geographic effects must be taken into account
  when developing and marketing games for them to
  be successful.

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Who Plays Games?Geographics

• Examples of geographics issues
• Dominant hardware infrastructure.
• Consoles vs. computers?
• Wired vs. wireless connectivity?
• Dominant platform.
• Tolerance to certain types of content.
• Violence, sex, and so on.
• Use of licenses and licensed properties.
• Genre and gameplay adoption
• And many, many others.

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Who Plays Games?Psychographics

• Psychographics consists of peoples values,
  attitudes, perceptions, lifestyles, and ways of
  thinking.
  
• This can affect attitudes towards games, game
  genres, and types of gameplay as well, in a wide
  variety of ways.
  
• Consequently, psychographics must also be
  considered in developing a game.
  
• There are several ways to look at this

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• In 1996, Richard Bartle wrote a seminal article
  on the types of players who play multi-user
  dungeons (MUDs) or virtual worlds.
  
• These games were typically Dungeons andDragons
  like games consisting of numerous people playing
  online at the same time.
  
• Early MUDs were text-based, but newer ones are
  graphical. (Some people claim that MUDs
  eventually led to the development of games like
  Everquest.)
• The same player classifications extend easily to
  other kinds of video games, and games in general
  as well.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits
Enjoying Acting
Killers
Achievers
WorldOriented
Player Oriented
Socializers
Explorers
Enjoy Interacting
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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• How are virtual worlds seen?
• Achievers see them as games. Their aim is to
  improve, advance, and ultimately win.
  
• Explorers see them more as pastimes, with rewards
  coming from discovery and furthering
  understanding.
  
• Socializers see them as entertainment and
  opportunities to communicate with others.
  
• Killers see them as sport, in the same way that
  hunting and fishing are sports.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• Bartle made several interesting observations
  based on this classification scheme
  
• A game requires a healthy balance of the
  different types of players to be successful.
  (The exact balance depends heavily upon the game,
  however.)
• In many cases, games will reach an equilibrium of
  player types on their own. This may or may not
  be a good thing!
  
• The design of a game greatly affects player
  types simple tuning of a game can shift the
  balance of types for better (or worse).
  
• As players mature, they often change types or
  adapt their roles in the game somewhat.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• More achievers
• Slightly fewer socializers
• More killers
• Fewer achievers
• Slightly fewer socializers
• Fewer killers
• More explorers
• More explorers
• Slightly fewer killers
• Fewer explorers
• Slightly more killers

• More socializers
• More socializers
• More killers
• Fewer socializers
• Fewer socializers
• Fewer killers
• More killers
• Fewer achievers
• Slightly fewer explorers
• Far fewer socializers
• Fewer killers
• More achievers
• Far more socializers

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• Based on these observations Bartle deduced four
  stable configurations
  
• Killers and achievers in equilibrium, with hardly
  any socializers or explorers.
  
• Socializers in dominance, with everyone else only
  having bit parts.
  
• A balance between all four types, with enough
  explorers to keep killers in check.
  
• An empty virtual world.
• The third configuration is likely the best
  prospect for a worlds longevity, with the first
  and second tending towards the fourth.

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Who Plays Games?Bartles Suits

• The paper itself is a fascinating read
• Richard Bartle, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades
  Players Who Suit MUDs. Journal of MUD Research,
  Volume 1, Issue 1. June 1996. Available online
  athttp//www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm
• Or, you can check out Bartles book Designing
  Virtual Worlds, published by New Riders. (Its
  in the Western library.)

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Who Plays Games?Four Keys to More Emotion

• In 2004, XEODesign released a report entitled
  Why We Play Games.
  
• In this report, they discuss their findings from
  a field study of gamers on their experiences and
  emotions during gameplay.
  
• In the end they found four pathways or keys to
  more emotion in a game without story.
  
• Each key corresponds closely to a type of
  player.
  
• Interestingly enough, they found that the most
  successful and best selling games possessed
  gameplay catering to at least three of the keys.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• Hard fun.
• Emotions are drawn from meaningful challenges,
  strategies, and puzzles.
  
• This caters to players who play to overcome
  obstacles in their way to derive a feeling of
  accomplishment.
  
• By providing challenges to the player, the player
  experiences a satisfying level of frustration
  balanced by a sense of triumph over adversity.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• Easy fun.
• Other players focus on the sheer enjoyment of
  experiencing the game activities.
  
• In this case, there is less focus on achieving
  and success.
  
• Instead, the game immerses the player in a world
  that inspires curiosity, awe, wonder, and a
  desire to explore the world and all that it has
  to offer.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• Altered states.
• Players using this key play to change from one
  mental state to another. For example, to relieve
  stress, avoid boredom, clear their minds, and so
  on.
• In this case, suitable interactions and gameplay
  elements are required in thegame world external
  to the player tocreate the altered state
  internal to theplayer.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• The People Factor.
• In this case, the game creates opportunities for
  player competition, cooperation, performance, and
  spectacle.
  
• In this case, enjoyment is derived from playing
  with or against others.
  
• Players using this key see games as mechanisms
  for social interaction.

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Who Plays Games? Four Keys to More Emotion

• There are quite a few similarities to their
  findings and Bartles observations, although
  there are some differences too.
  
• An abstract of this report, as well as the
  complete document can be found athttp//www.xeo
  design.com

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• A common way of classifying players is to lump
  them into one of two categories casual or
  hard-core.
  
• This was studied in more detail by Ernest Adams,
  followed by Scott Kim, and then again by Adams
  and Barry Ip.
  
• In their latest work, Ip and Adams identify 15
  factors for classifying players as casual or
  hard-core, and develop methods for computing a
  players gamer dedication to produce a scale
  of classification instead of simply two
  categories.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Hard-core gamers are (taken from Kim)
• Technologically savvy.
• Have the latest high-end computers/consoles.
• Willingness to pay (also by Adams).
• Prefer violent/action games.
• Prefer games that have depth and complexity.
• Play games over many long sessions (also by
  Adams).

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Hard-core gamers (taken from Adams)
• Hunger for gaming-related information.
• Discuss games with friends/bulletin boards.
• Play for the exhilaration of defeating (or
  completing) the game.
  
• Are much more tolerant of frustration.
• Tend to be engaged in competition with him or
  herself, the game, and other players.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Other factors by Ip and Adams
• Age at which first started playing games.
• Comparative knowledge of the industry.
• Indications of early adoption behaviour.
• Desire to modify or extend games in a creative
  way.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Based on these factors, Ip and Adams compute a
  gamer dedication score.

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Who Plays Games? Casual versus Hard-Core

• Ip and Adams are continuing their work.
• Looking into formal studies to validate their
  methods and analyses.
  
• Using gamer dedication as a metric to improve
  games (or game marketing).
  
• More details can be found athttp//www.gamasutr
  a.com/features/20020605/ip_pfv.htm

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Who Plays Games?VALS Psychotypes

• The Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles Survey
  (VALS) was developed by the Stanford Research
  Institute.
  
• VALS analyses the consumer market into eight
  segments associated with different motivations
  (ideals, achievement, and self expression) as
  well as access to resources.
• See http//www.sric-bi.com/VALS to test yourself!

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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is built
  upon four pairs of traits considered to be
  complementary.
  
• All eight traits are present in all people, to
  various degrees.
  
• Each person is categorized into one of sixteen
  types depending on their tendencies in the
  pairings of traits, although each person can draw
  upon all eight traits in different situations.

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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• ISTJ Trustee
• ISFJ Conservator
• INFJ Author
• INTJ Scientist
• ISTP Artisan
• ISFP Artist
• INFP Questor
• INTP Architect

• ESTP Promoter
• ESFP Entertainer
• ENFP Journalist
• ENTP Inventor
• ESTJ Administrator
• ESFJ Seller
• ENFJ Pedagogue
• ENTJ Field Marshall

Conceptual Summaries of the Sixteen Myers-Briggs
Types
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Who Plays Games?Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• Myers-Briggs types can have many implications on
  game design
  
• How games are played (E vs. I)
• Learning and problem solving (S vs. N)
• Overall motivation (T vs. F)
• Goal orientation and structure (J vs. P)
• Challenge versus fun (TJ vs. FP)
• And so on
• For a good discussion refer to 21st Century Game
  Design by Bateman and Boon.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi conducted
  interesting research into what he called flow
  or optimal experience.
  
• The main idea is that in certain mental states we
  feel a complete an energized focus on an
  activity, accompanied by a high level of
  enjoyment and fulfillment in what we do.
• As such, flow is typically defined as the
  experience of devoting total concentration
  effortlessly upon a task.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• Csikszentmihalyi identified seven characteristics
  of the flow experience.
  
• The subject undertakes an activity they believe
  they can complete.
  
• The subject can focus their concentration
  completely on the activity.
  
• The activity has clear goals.
• The activity has direct feedback.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• Characteristics (continued)
• The subject experiences a sense of effortless
  involvement such that worries and concerns seem
  to vanish.
  
• The subject feels that they are in control of the
  activity.
  
• Subjective experience of time is altered.
• Not all characteristics need to be present for
  flow to be experienced, but they are common
  traits of a flow experience.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• People that study games recognize these traits as
  common to playing games.
  
• Consequently, a state of flow can be correlated
  with a highly enjoyable and immersive gameplay
  experience.
  
• As a result, to provide an enjoyable game
  experience, a game should strive to place the
  player in an optimal experience or provide a
  framework that makes it more likely to occur.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• A central idea to the psychology of optimal
  experience is the flow channel.
  
• When a subject faces challenges for which they
  have insufficient skills, they experience
  anxiety.
  
• When a subject faces challenges for which their
  skills are excessive, they experience boredom
  instead.
  
• The key to reaching the flow channel where an
  optimal experience is achieved is to balance
  challenge and skill.

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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience
Anxiety
DegreeofChallenge
FlowChannel
Boredom
Degree of Skill
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Who Plays Games? Flow and Optimal Experience

• The concept of flow has very important
  implications on good game design.
  
• Games must strive to balance the challenge they
  provide to the player playing the game.
  
• How can this be done when every player brings
  different skills, experiences, and tolerances to
  the game?
  
• How does the game cope and adjust difficulty as
  expected player skill increases, especially when
  the rate of increase varies?

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Who Plays Games?Demographics

• The demographics of players include statistic
  information including
  
• Gender
• Age
• Income level
• Education level
• Marital status
• Ethnicity
• And so on.

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Who Plays Games?Demographics

• Understanding demographics can provide valuable
  information on the target audience and market for
  your game.
  
• Also, if you intended to target a game to a
  particular audience, demographic information on
  that audience can help you tune gameplay to meet
  the needs and wants of that audience.

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Who Plays Games?Demographics

• Demographics can influence games in many ways
• Interface design.
• Story elements such as plot and characters.
• Pace of action.
• Target level of difficulty.
• Multiplayer and online support.
• Appropriateness of content.
• And so on.