Meaning in Games
Designing a videogame is a careful balance between the desire of the designer to express an idea and the players’ expectations of what they will find in the game. Being able to negotiate a shared meaning with the player is fundamental.
A rule of thumb in game design is "easy to learn, difficult to master." When people start playing the game, it should have a very shallow learning curve and should be as self-explanatory as possible.
Games as Systems and Composed Texts
In the same way that a writer combines a myriad of ideas into a coherent whole while writing an essay or a novel, designing a game requires mixing a set of meaningful elements into a coherent interactive system.
Designers must balance five core elements during the development process:
- Rules: These are statements that usually limit or enable action explicitly in the game (e.g., Mario can jump on top of mushrooms, but he cannot touch them sideways). They define the space of possibility for the game and the choices the player will make.
- Space: This is the "physical" area in which the game will be played. For a game of virtual chess, the physical space would be the board. In the case of World of Warcraft, it would be the virtual world of Azeroth.
- Components: These are all the visible elements that interact in the game. Mario, Koopa, the coins, blocks and Bowser are all components of Super Mario Brothers. It is in the interactions between these elements that the rules are enacted.
- Goals: This defines the win and loss condition of the game. In a level of Super Mario Brothers, the goal is to reach the flagpole at the end of the level. In chess, to checkmate the opposing king.
- Core mechanics: This defines the relationship that the player’s character, or avatar, will have with other components of the game. It defines the possible interactions that could exist between the player and the game and, more importantly, define the repetitive action that players will constantly engage in while playing.