Game Design Flashcards

Flashcards of vocabulary words and definitions from the lecture notes.

Mechanics

The basic activities in the game and the rules that govern them.

Poker Mechanics

Activities like dealing cards, betting, and calling, governed by the rules of the game.

Monopoly Mechanics

Moving around the game board, buying/owning property, collecting rent, and upgrading property.

Tekken Mechanics

Melee and ranged attacks, defending via blocking and parrying, timing effects, advancing/retreating.

Game Pieces

The objects that can be acted on or manipulated within the game.

Game Actions

The kinds of actions that can be performed with game pieces.

Game Rules

Determine what actions can be done when, with what pieces, and what the outcomes will be.

Metagame

The goals which game players try to achieve using mechanics; discussed later in chapter 6.

Game Pieces Like Nouns

Since they describe things.

Game Actions Like Verbs

Since they describe what happens.

Game rules like grammar

Since they describe how nouns and verbs can be put together.

Game Pieces

Game board, dice, pawns, cash, properties, houses, hotels, sets of random event cards, etc. (Monopoly)

Game Actions

Rolling dice, moving on the game board, landing, buying, paying rent, drawing random cards, etc. (Monopoly)

Game State

The total state of all game pieces and their properties at a point in time.

Actions

transitions between game states.

State Space

the set of all states that the game could be in, connected by actions that transition from one state to the next

State space size

total number of states in the state space, or, in other words, the number of different states that could be reached from the initial game state

Branching factor for a state

the number of transitions (actions) out of that state

Action Space

Defined formally is the set of all actions that are available to the player; informally, it's the set of actions available at the present state.

Overall action space

All actions that the player can take within the game.

Explicitly Defined Mechanics

Actions and pieces are described in the rule book and the player can see everything that the game has to offer on the table in front of them.

Implicitly Defined Mechanics

Rules are not known to the player ahead of time and often only exist in the computer code that implements them so they cannot be inspected.

Control Mechanics

Relating to controlling one's avatar in the game world.

Progression Mechanics

Relating to understanding and controlling one's advancement in the game.

Uncertainty Mechanics

Relating to trying to understand and predict an uncertain future.

Resource Management Mechanics

Relating to treating elements of the game as resources that can be managed and manipulated in specific ways.

The Three C's of Action Games

Character, Camera, and Control.

Game Feel Mechanics

How player input produces in-game actions, and how their ease or difficulty feels to the player.

Direct Progression Mechanics

Show the player directly how well they are doing, often involving some overt metric that is tied to a player's performance.

Indirect Progression Mechanics

Change up the game in response to the player's progression.

Stationary Random Processes

When probabilities remain unchanged from one random result to the next.

Nonstationary Process

Each generated value can change the probability of the next one.

Resources

Denote the things we can acquire and use to accomplish our goals in the game.

Units (as a resource)

Items in the game world that the player directs, manages, or encounters.

Modifiers

Stat-altering mechanics, called buffs or power-ups.

Buffing

Improving stats for the player's benefit.

Nerfing

Reducing stats.

Game

Series of interesting decisions.

System

Collection of mechanics set up to work together in specific ways.

Layering

How many systems interlock in interesting ways.

Dynamic System

Game and its players as a dynamic system with internal state that changes as players interact.

Mechanic chain

Mechanics end up forming chains of interactions.

Conversion loop

Mechanics end up forming a loop such as those of resource acquisition and conversion.

Dynamic Tuning

Cost is adjusted dynamically (such as by raising prices of ammo) to prevent grinding.

Dynamic tuning

Adjust cost dynamically by raising the prices of ammo / health potions so profit loop doesn't dominate game.

Feedback system

Variant of loops on which past behavior of the system affects its future behavior.

Positive feedback loop

Differences between the current state and the set point are processed and added back to the state causing the differences to increase over time. (e.g. compound interest).

Divergent

Iterations cause the value to diverge further and further from set point. Reinforces and amplifies initial advantages.

Negative feedback loop

Seeks to minimize differences between current and desired state. Feedback opposes what game was already doing and converges towards the set point.

Convergent

Feedback pushes the system to converge toward the set point.

Balancing Loops

Feedback that pushes the system to converge toward the set point.

Emergent Behaviors

Behaviors which arise from, but are not predicted by, the behavior of the constituent elements.

Metastable

Behaviors are are markedly different from behaviors of the constituent elements and yet remain stable even as the individual constituent behaviors changes dynamically.

Chaotic

System where slight changes to the inputs can produce drastically different behavior over time so it becomes difficult to predict analytically how it will behave at a future point.

Gameplay

What happens when we participate in an ongoing interaction with the game's mechanics and systems and potentially other players in multiplayer games.

Gameplay Loops

Cyclical activities--the player keeps making decisions, acting on them, and then coming back to the same decision points.

Onion Diagrams

Diagram that consists of cycles of different speeds to provide variety for game design.

Code

Use loops, and provide multiple levels of decision making.

Core Loop

Minimum level of activity providing meaningful enjoyable reason for player to remain engaged.

Micro level

Level on which players focus on smaller actions most of the time.

Direct Progression Mechanics

Metrics tied to player's performance, show directly how well the player is doing.

Intrinsic Motivation

When the player is inherently interested in the activity / its outcome.

Extrinsic Motivation

Player is driven by sources external to the activity.

Flow

Feeling of "getting into the zone" during intense activity.

Games

Actively trigger the flow state, making an experience attractive.

Uncertainty

Framework for learning how to manage uncertainty.

The Role of Randomness

Informs the game player of odds at blackjack or on the Monopoly board to make decisions for potential benefit.

Dominant Strategies

Strategies that clearly bring out better results than others.

Action

Involvement in movement and battle creates both interest and progress.

Ressource

Can improve as result of upgrades by the player, or can be won.

Reward

Given to acknowledge progress and encourage play.

Reward Schedules

Specific plan for how rewards get generated over time.

Level Curves

Formulas for how character experience points (XP) translate into increases in character level.

Gamification

Application of progression mechanics to domains outside of games.

Reward and Progress

Help guide engagement in play and create reason for involvement.

Long Term

Rewards and objectives create deeper involvement in game.

Continuous

Reward the subject for each action directly. Extinguishes interest the fastest of all options.

Fixed interval

Reward the subject every 'n' seconds. Has better results, though not great.

Fixed ratio

Reward for every 'n' actions. Creates better performance, yet ends quickly.

Variable interval

Rewards the subject at randomized points in time. Better results again, and lasts.

Variable ratio

Rewards the subject every randomized number of actions. The best result as it reinforces by mixing ratios.

Level Curves

Each change requires the reward becomes more important to improve value.

Game Fiction

Thematic vision or background story which explains the motivation behind the player's actions in the game.

Game

Can provide players a specific story or narrative, such as by giving players an identity and role and unfolding the story of the character's game action.

Fantacy

Gives context and meaning to players' actions, and makes game desirable.

Agency Definition

Players acting intentionally, formulates a goal and then acts purposefully towards that goal.

Player Desires

Players want to experiment and see what comes from their action.

Visual Novels

Provide lots of enjoyment of story, but little interaction during the story.

Fantasy Contradiction

Power up should align to action. Limits make enjoyment less strong.

Ludonarrative Dissonance

Contradiction between gameplay and a good story.

Three-Act Model

Description of how a game looks relative to gameplay structure: how things feel during early, mid, and late game periods.

Arc

Theatre and literature metaphor that sees macro structures based rising intensity of the challenge along long plot lines up to the endgame.

Episode

Multiple segments, that contain arc structures to move though each segment of the game building toward next and eventual goal.

Pacing

How the game intensity varies over time by challenging, but not making frustration.

Intentional Actions

Player finds to test how something works to form gameplay.

Structure of a Game Session

Actions based on explicit rewards for activity and progress.

Elevator Pitch

To find funders, must be quick and pithy.

Prototype Approach

A clear idea to build small individual segments of design to learn best approach.

Game Design

Requires testing to confirm its purpose.

Level-based Games

Create layouts wqith untextured boxes to prototype.