Raph Koster’s book A Theory of Fun for Game Design is indeed a very easily read and interesting book. As the title suggests, it presents several theories on why certain games are fun, and the cognitive processes in the human mind related to this. He speaks of balances and patterns that are crucial in order to make a successful game. I have written a great deal of notes from the book, and are now working on trying to extract the elements that are the most important. Trouble is, that the book is so well written and full of good points, that I’m having trouble letting things out.
I want to focus on the elements that work as guidelines for great game design. However, I might also include some topics that are meant to reflect on game design, the designer’s role and games in general. I have found a great deal of literary sources, and found that I have really taken on a very big task. I think I’m going to focus on design elements that are of use to a “rookie” game designer, such as myself. I’ll try to gather the very core elements of game design, and reflect on these. Also, I’ll try to connect them to our production Trollblod.
Here I present a few of the core topics that’s presented in Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun for Game Design:
Patterns, patterns, patterns
Our brains specializes in learning patterns and chunking them into our subconsciousness. When we sit down with a new game, playing it, our brains will immediately begin searching for the rules of play – the patterns. Most of us has played computer games before, and we will look for patterns that we are used to from other games. This process is otherwise known as learning. As patterns are learned, we need new ones to keep our interest up. Practicing could extend the gaming experience, however we will reach a point where we’ll move on to other things. Perhaps unless the game is dynamic, like an online game that gets new content, most games will become boring at one point.
Fun is learning, learning is fun!
Yes, learning, although not in the edutainment sense of the word. We feel good when our brains get their fixes of endorphines. This could happen at several occasions, among them the feeling of triumph or accomplishing a task.
Fun happens when it absorbs certain patterns, learning them. The feeling of wanting to learn more and enjoy new things triggers the brain. Fun is challenges that are at the margin of our ability, to quote Koster. Our brains experience little “jolts of pleasure” when we master the patterns, although it is very important to keep the level of difficulty on a adjusted level. Having too easy or too difficult patterns would result in our brains not getting their desired jolts. In ideal gameplay, the player will get these jolts of pleasure throughout the whole game, thus reflecting the importance of having a good flow in the game.
When does a game become boring?
According to Koster, here are some ways in which boredom might strike in a game design:
– Too easy. The players fully masters the game from the beginning. “Child’s game”.
- The players might recognize some depth, however it isn’t interesting enough to keep them playing.
- The patterns aren’t apparent to the players. They simply don’t know what to do.
- Variations in patterns arrive too seldom. The players gets the feeling that the game is just repetitive and boring. They crave more “jolts of pleasure”.
- The patterns are unveiled too quickly. The progress in the game goes too fast, and players lose control. They get the feeling that game got too hard too fast.
- The gamer has mastered all patterns – the game is over. This is probably something that it’s hard to not encounter – unless you’re making an MMORPG…
Reward is one of the key components for successful game activity
There has to be a quantifiable reward. If there’s not an advantage of doing something, there’s a chance brain will discard it. The players simply won’t feel the need to accomplish a task if there is no reward for doing it.
Successful games tends to incorporate the following elements:
-Preparation
Before the actual game sets in, the player is often able to affect their odds of success. This could be as practicing, healing up or making team tactics before the actual game sets in.
Examples: in Team Fortress 2, the medic is able to heal up his team members before battle begins. Demomen can place around their sticky bombs, and engineers will build their sentry guns. All these factors will affect the outcome of the round.
-A sense of space
Could be as concrete as a level or a chess board. Or as the network of relationships between the players of a bridge game.
-A solid core mechanic
Core gameplay. Half-Life 2’s mechanics could be aiming and shooting, vehicle maneuvering and physics puzzles. A game could have several of these mechanics, or just a few very good ones. A trend in modern gaming is that games feature more and more of these mechanics, or “ludemes”. Koster points out that in order to push gaming forward, we need to stop focusing on graphics and technology, “the dressing”, and invent new ludemes that are able to alter people’s views on the world around them.
-A range of challenges
Each challenge operates within the rules of the game, and does not change them. A boss enemy in a shoot-em-up is a different challenge than regular enemies, however the core mechanic remains the same.
-A range of abilities required to solve the encounter
One should be able to solve problems in several ways. An example of this could be in a strategy game, where the player will be able to choose from many types of units to attack his/her enemy. The game will be dull if there is no variation in how to play. The several classes in Team Fortress 2 could also be a good example of this.
-Skill required in using the abilities
Skill should be essential. If you play badly, you should get a negative reaction, as opposed to when you play good, where you should be rewarded. Not requiring skill from a player should be considered a cardinal sin in game design. But not too much skill. Then the player will choose not to play.
These are just a few topics that are adressed in Koster’s book A Theory of Fun for Game Design. I will work more on extracting the essentials of this and other prominent books on game design in order to accomplish my task in “Selvbestemt Pensum”. Finally, I can recommend Koster’s book to anyone that is remotely interested in games or game design.
