CISC 3667 Game Design & Development Midterm Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, theories, frameworks, and mechanics for CISC 3667 Midterm Review.

Game Design

The practice of creating a game's rules, mechanics, and experiences.

Iterative Design

The process of repeatedly designing, testing, evaluating, and revising a game.

Lusory Attitude

The psychological state of willingly accepting a game's rules and limitations to participate in play.

Game (Kevin Maroney)

A form of play characterized by goals and structure.

Four Traits of Games (Jane McGonigal)

The four defining characteristics shared by all games: goals, rules, feedback systems, and voluntary participation.

Game (Jesse Schell)

A problem-solving activity approached with a playful attitude.

Game (Bernard Suits)

An activity that involves voluntarily attempting to overcome unnecessary obstacles.

Crawford's Taxonomy

A classification system that distinguishes toys, challenges, puzzles, conflicts, competitions, and games based on goals, active opponents, and player interaction.

Sensation (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on sensory enjoyment.

Fantasy (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on make-believe and imagined worlds.

Narrative (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on story and drama.

Challenge (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on overcoming obstacles.

Fellowship (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on social interaction.

Discovery (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on exploration and uncovering secrets.

Expression (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on creativity and self-expression.

Submission (LeBlanc)

One of LeBlanc's eight kinds of fun, centered on relaxation and pastime.

Hard Fun (Lazzaro)

One of Lazzaro's Four Keys 2 Fun, focusing on challenge, mastery, and accomplishment.

Easy Fun (Lazzaro)

One of Lazzaro's Four Keys 2 Fun, focusing on curiosity, exploration, and discovery.

Serious Fun (Lazzaro)

One of Lazzaro's Four Keys 2 Fun, focusing on meaning, personal value, and emotional impact.

People Fun (Lazzaro)

One of Lazzaro's Four Keys 2 Fun, focusing on social interaction and shared experiences.

Achievers (Bartle)

A Bartle player type motivated by accomplishments, points, progress, and completion.

Explorers (Bartle)

A Bartle player type motivated by discovering game worlds and systems.

Socializers (Bartle)

A Bartle player type motivated by interacting and forming relationships with other players.

Killers (Bartle)

A Bartle player type motivated by competition, dominance, and acting on other players.

Elemental Tetrad

A game design framework comprising four interconnected elements: Mechanics, Story, Aesthetics, and Technology.

Mechanics (Elemental Tetrad)

The rules, procedures, and actions that dictate how a game operates.

Story (Elemental Tetrad)

The events and narrative structure contained within a game.

Aesthetics (Elemental Tetrad)

The sensory presentation and direct experiential elements of a game.

Technology (Elemental Tetrad)

The tools and materials that provide the underlying medium to make a game possible.

Object

An entity within a game, such as a player or an enemy.

Attribute

A property belonging to a game object, such as health or speed.

State

The current value of an object's attribute at a given time, such as $50\text{ HP}$.

Basic Actions

Actions directly permitted and defined by the rules of a game.

Strategic Actions

Higher-level decisions made by players that combine basic actions to achieve a goal.

Operational Rules

Instructions explaining how to play the game.

Foundational Rules

The underlying mathematical or formal structure governing a game.

Behavioral Rules

Implicit expectations regarding appropriate player conduct and sportsmanship.

Written Rules

Rules that are explicitly documented for players.

House Rules

Modifications or custom rules established by players rather than the original game design.

Standard Player

A player who follows the rules and plays the game as intended.

Dedicated Player

A player who follows the rules while strongly pursuing mastery and victory.

Unsportsmanlike Player

A player who abides by the formal rules but violates the spirit of play.

Cheat

A player who breaks the formal rules of a game to gain an advantage.

Spoil-Sport

A person who rejects or disrupts the game itself.

Degenerate Strategy

A strategy that is consistently effective and undermines meaningful choices by making other strategies less viable.

Exploit

The use of an unintended feature or interaction within a game's system to gain an advantage.

Feedback Loop

A system state where an output influences its future behavior.

Positive Feedback

A feedback dynamic that amplifies an advantage or change, potentially leading to a snowball effect.

Negative Feedback

A feedback dynamic that counteracts differences to move the system toward equilibrium, often implemented via rubberbanding or catch-up mechanics.

Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA)

A game system that automatically alters the level of challenge based on player performance.

Theoretical Probability

The mathematically expected likelihood of an outcome occurring.

Practical Probability

The relative frequency of an outcome observed during actual trials.

Expected Value (EV)

The average outcome anticipated over many occurrences, expressed mathematically as $EV = \sum(\text{Outcome} \times \text{Probability})$.

Gambler's Fallacy

The mistaken belief that an outcome is more likely to occur simply because it has not occurred recently.

Lucky Streak Fallacy

The mistaken belief that an outcome is more likely to continue simply because it has occurred repeatedly.

Bayes' Theorem

A formula used to update the probability of an event or hypothesis based on new evidence, calculated as $P(A|B) = \frac{P(B|A) \times P(A)}{P(B)}$.

Game Balance

The practice of adjusting game elements to create an intended experience while preventing unintended dominant strategies.

Symmetrical Balance

A balance state where all players possess identical or equivalent resources and abilities.

Asymmetrical Balance

A balance state where players have different abilities or resources while remaining competitively viable.

Circular Balance

A balance structure where each option has clear advantages and disadvantages against other options, such as in Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Meaningful Choice

A player decision that significantly influences gameplay or game outcomes.

Dominant Strategy

An option that is consistently superior to alternatives, potentially reducing meaningful choices.

Triangularity

The game design relationship balancing risk, reward, and certainty.

Game Logic

Programming instructions that enforce rules, process player actions, and update the game state.

Game Loop

A core programming pattern that repeatedly processes user input, updates the game state, and renders the screen.

Collision Detection

A computational process that determines whether two or more objects touch or overlap to trigger rule-defined consequences.

Delta Time

The measurement of elapsed time between consecutive frames, used to ensure smooth and consistent movement across different frame rates.

Document Object Model (DOM)

A programming interface that allows JavaScript to inspect, access, and modify HTML elements.