Ok, this will be a thread on CAMP as it applies to game design, especially C is for Context. medium.com/@cwodtke/a-uni…
This is me thinking through tomorrow's class topic.
This is me thinking through tomorrow's class topic.
I've been looking for a good model to hold the ideas around what context elements should be considered as we design a game. I'm going to try out the 5 W's.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws
These are somewhat intertwingled, but twitter is linear, or <shrug>
WHO: who are your players. This is multi-dimensional. We have to think about things like how many players and what is their relationship in the game:
WHO: who are your players. This is multi-dimensional. We have to think about things like how many players and what is their relationship in the game:
WHO: What is their game play history? Do they play a lot of games, or very few? Do they play your type of game but not another: for example FLUXX is a wildly popular card game, yet if you port it to mobile, will that work? What if goes to xbox? Ps4? What conventions are familiar?
WHERE: do they play games on the weeks on a console? Do they play games in line for the grocery store? Do they play games with family on holidays? WHERE informs HOW LONG and how you scaffold play sessions.
WHAT: What device do they play on? If digital, what sort of inputs and outputs can you exploit for affordances and feedback? How does direct manipulation change play? An accelometer? Full immersion in VR?
WHO can also refer to player engagement style (or player types, if you prefer.) How do your target audience members like to interact? How will you deal with undesirable behavior?
WHEN is all about time and how your game fits into people's lives. This is often informed by a device. Is it always with you (phone) or something you go to when you have time "to kill" (console)
WHEN do people play, and what else are they doing while they play?
WHEN do people play, and what else are they doing while they play?
And since HOW is modifying CONTEXT, HOW do players enter your game and exit it? HOW do they find out about their game? HOW do they save progress? How do they return (HOW do they remember they are playing? Cliffhangers or notifs? What works best?)
Clearly this applies to Boardgames as well. But how about UX? I'd say it's pretty straightforward, and almost identical questions.
Let's say I'm making YAPSA (yet another photo sharing app.)
WHO: middle schoolers who want to share their passions.
WHAT: mobile bc camera.
WHEN: after school and during stolen free time.
WHERE: Bus, walking, biking? Carpooling? Sofa in evening?
HOW: invite system.
WHO: middle schoolers who want to share their passions.
WHAT: mobile bc camera.
WHEN: after school and during stolen free time.
WHERE: Bus, walking, biking? Carpooling? Sofa in evening?
HOW: invite system.
Well, if middle schoolers I need to deal with COPPA. Also, looking at where, I probably want an offline mode. I also might want a img and gif library, since they are often places they can't take pics.
And so on.
And so on.
Context is king, good questions lead to good apps, and game design is not so different as some people think.
Another good CONTEXT question: How does your game support itself. Was it made via a grant or kickstarter? Do you need to charge for it in a lump sum (often done for games that are played in long sessions) or micropayments in a F2P? How you make money changes gameplay.
A in CAMP is for ARCHITECTURE. This is my favorite article on that lostgarden.home.blog/2012/04/30/loo…
Architecture is how the mechanics will be organized to create an experience. Narrative driven can take a temporal form or a geographic form (at least!) eleganthack.com/story-in-space/
In Branching fiction/Twine, you have time and choices and you use the same architecture you't use for fiction. eleganthack.com/the-shape-of-s…
But in many games, narrative is geographic. eleganthack.com/story-in-space/
But in many games, narrative is geographic. eleganthack.com/story-in-space/
Traditional narrative (novels, movies etc) and games share a core pattern: escalating difficulty. In a book, it's the protagonist. In the game it's you (either as yourself or in your role.)
Walking sims in particular lean into geography as story architecture. You walk the way a detective walks.
Geography has long been used as a way to keep players "on rails" and manage a progression curve. Unlocks let you access harder levels or new information.
Making maps visible to the player are often a good choice because they allow you to map the user's mental model to your system model.
@jesseschell Good collection of mechanics (and some non-mechanics) though hardly MECE
via techcrunch.com/2010/08/25/scv…
via techcrunch.com/2010/08/25/scv…
Twitter won't let me remove someone I mention in a thread, so I'm branching. Mechanics are what I'd call
"play strategies" If games (unlike free play) are formal systems, mechanics are what makes them formal. They are rules & procedures. I've head them include much more tho.
"play strategies" If games (unlike free play) are formal systems, mechanics are what makes them formal. They are rules & procedures. I've head them include much more tho.
In writing, I'd call mechanics engagement and messaging strategies, from foreshadowing to repetition to bookending to reversal of fortune. There are N mechanics in both books and games - there is no set known list, and more show up all the time.
So Schell's 6 families become a useful way to explore existing mechanics and brainstorm new ones.
Space, Objects that have attributes and states, Actions, Rules (includes goals,) Skills (physical, mental, social) and Chance.
Are these Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive?
Space, Objects that have attributes and states, Actions, Rules (includes goals,) Skills (physical, mental, social) and Chance.
Are these Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive?
One could also argue that Fullerton's formal & dramatic elements are a taxonomy of mechanics. But do we want a taxonomy for prescriptive or descriptive purposes? I find these useful in the moment you begin to expand and/or balance a game.
Most games, I've seen, come from an obsession with something tiny. A curious mechanic, like Unfinished Swan. A story, or the feeling you get from a story, like Life is Strange. Or a wish "what if I could turn back time" as Braid & LIS do. Game start small but don't stay that way.
In @mattleacock wonderful talk, Designing with an onion, and @IanSchreiber's 4 parter on playtesting gamedesignconcepts.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/lev… testing changes as the game grows. Designers can get stuck along the way!
@mattleacock @IanSchreiber So you can turn to formal elements to help you examine what's missing or not working.
@mattleacock @IanSchreiber I love the Formal Elements as a tool to mess around early stages. What if this game was coop instead? What if there were multiple winners? What if a simple game got harder via forbidden object?
@mattleacock @IanSchreiber Once again, I cannot continue this thread without bringing the people I mentioned along! Am I missing something? @odannyboy
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