I have no words

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I have no words I must designby Greg
CostikyanCurrently a Games researcher at Nokia
2
Context

• I Have No Words was written in the early 1990s,
  at a time when virtually nothing had been written
  on the subject of game design as a discipline,
  before game studies as a discipline or Game
  Developer magazine existed.
• This piece was written with emphasis on decision
  making and may be less applicable to games that
  depend on fast action.
• Greg Costikyan is an inductee of the
• Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame
• For a Lifetime of Accomplishment in the field

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Lots of Games out there

• ITS ALL GAMING!!
• Cart-based
• Computer
• CD-ROM
• Network
• Arcade
• PBM (Play By Mail)
• PBEM
• Mass-Market Adult
• War games
• Card games
• Tabletop RPGs
• LARPs (Live Action Role Playing)
• Freeforms
• Paintball
• Virtual Reality
• Sports
• Horses

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Do these things have anything in common? What is
a game?

• How can you tell a good one from a bad one?
• Good game !!
• Good book does that help you write a better one
• Game designers need to analyze games
• Understand them
• Understand what works
• Understand what makes them interesting

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What is a game anyhow?

• Its not a puzzle Puzzles are static
• Present logic structures to be solved
  w/assistance of clues
• Games are NOT static and change with players
  actions
• Think of games on a continuum
• Crossword 100 puzzle
• Zork 90 puzzle 10 game
• Characters move from setting to setting allowable
  actions vary by setting and inventory changes
  with action.
• Almost all games have some degree of
  puzzle-solving, even military strategy games
  require players to solve puzzle of making optimum
  attack

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Not a toy

• Sim City is not a game at all, but a toy.
• Will Wright makes a comparison to a ball
• Offers many interesting behaviors for your to
  explore
• Bounce It,
• Twirl it,
• Throw it
• Dribble it
• Can play multiple games with it
• It provides a world that the player may
  manipulate, but provides NO objective
• You may chose one
• BUT Sim City itself has no victory conditions, NO
  Goals,
• It is a Software toy.
• A toy is interactive, BUT games have goals

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Not a Story

• Stories are inherently linear
• Games are inherently non-linear
• Depend on decision making
• How would gamers feel if game master says
• I dont want you players to do that, because it
  will ruin the story?
• Gaming is NOT about telling stories

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It Demands Participation

• Traditional art forms have passive audiences.
• Admire a painting, you may imagine things in it,
  you may see something other
  than what the artist intended
• When reading a book Most of it is in your head
• You are receiving the authors words.
• Enter the game.
• Games provide a set of rules
• But players create their own consequences
• Like Music
• The Designers provide the Theme
• The Players provide the Music
• A democratic art form for a democratic age.

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So What is a Game?

• Players make decisions
• Manage resources through game tokes in the
  pursuit of a goal
• Opposition
• Competitive games
• Real interest is about struggling toward a goal.
• After you win you fill the thrill of victory!
• Game Tokens entities you manipulate directly
• Resources are things you manage efficiently to
  achieve a goal
• Tokens are your means of managing them
• Without tokens you have a system that operates
  with out much player input
• Giving the player a sense of control and it makes
  the game more interesting.

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Other Things that Strengthen Games

• Diplomacy
• Whenever multiple players are involved they are
  strengthened with diplomacy
• Games permit diplomacy if players can assist each
  other
• Color
• Color counts a lot and some games work solely
  because color
• Some games suffer because their lack their of.
• Pageantry, detail sense of place can add
  greatly to emotional appeal, BUT dont over do it
  and make it look appealing
• Simulation
• STAR Wars The Role Playing Game
• He adds simulations of the move, to encourage
  players to attempt far-fetched cinematic stunts
• Using the system to reflect something about the
  atmosphere and ethos of the films.
• Can also improve character identification

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Other Things that Strengthen Games

• Variety of Encounter
• Random elements are never wholly random, they are
  within a range of possibilities
• Randomness can be useful.. It is one way to
  provide variety
• Players like to encounter the unexpected
• With inadequate variety, it gets boring quickly
• Positive Identification
• Character identification is a common theme in
  fiction and games
• Lends emotional power to a story
• In a sports game the identifying position is YOU,
• Making the game more important to YOU
• Role Playing provides position identification,
  the feeling that the world is alive and colorful
• Socializing When designing think about social
  issues and how the game encourages or discourages
  socialization.
• How can you encourage better socializing
• Narrative tension- The story should become more
  gripping as it proceeds until climatic resolution

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What do these myriad form of games have in common?

• All involve
• Decision making
• Managing Resources in pursuit of a goal
• How can we tell a good game from a bad one?
• Terms to analyze game appeal
• Decisions
• Variety of encounter
• Compelling
• Narrative Tension
• Role Playing
• Socializing
• Color
• Simulation
• Diplomacy
• Gaming is a artform! Be mindful of what it takes
  to make it GREAT!