rules

Emergence: Learning to Love the Unintentional

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Kingslanding Emergence Learning to Love the Unintentional

Emergence in Games

Emergence is a well-known concept in game design. Emergent gameplay comes when players interact with the mechanics of the game creating situations that have not been deliberately designed.

This could be part of the game design or it could be unintentional. For instance, the game may offer several tools to solve a puzzle, but allow the player to use them in any way they see fit. If the puzzle requires you to reach an item that is high up, there could be an infinite number of ways to get it. Use a grapple hook, build a tower, make a jetpack and so on. Read More ...

A framework for creating play-like systems

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Enterprise Play Like System Framework A framework for creating play like systems

Separating Games from Play and using it

All of this research into play and talking about play has been for a reason. I wanted to try and open up the idea of making more play-like experiences rather than more game-like experiences. I was trying to introduce some of the basics that separate games and play. For this there are three important differences between play and games that we need to keep in mind.

  • Games have prelusory goals – ie, goals that you must achieve that have been set by the system.
  • Games have rules that define how you have to achieve the prelusory goals (Lusory Means).
  • They also have rules that create challenges to achieve the goals. Rather than going from A to B in a straight line, you have to overcome obstacles and solve puzzles going A to Z to E to B and back again! (Constitutive Rules)

In play, the goals are often less defined or not consciously apparent. Whilst there may be rules that dictate how play progresses (social rules, physical rules and so on), there are not that are there to deliberately challenge you or make things harder. Read More ...

Introducing Lusory Attitude

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Ludo 1426677384 e1426687741932 Introducing Lusory Attitude

As I have been researching play, there is a term or really a word and concept that has been hard to ignore. Ludic. It comes up a lot in papers and articles about play. It comes from the Latin for play and is defined as;

Showing spontaneous and undirected playfulness.

Let me set the scene. You are in a system that follows the path outlined below.

  • You start with a tutorial. It sets the context for what you are doing as well as giving you the basic skills you need to start.
  • You are given a set of tasks to complete and goals to achieve.
  • Next you start grinding, completing the simpler tasks as you develop your skills and learn more about the system.
  • As your level of skill increases, new challenges become available and new goals are set. These may require you to learn new skills and increase your abilities.
  • Along the way there are surprises and unexpected events. You will meet new people, some will be friends and you will need to work together with them to a bribe certain goals and some won’t!
  • All the while you will be collecting experience and currency as you complete new challenges.

I’ll come back to that. Ludic turns up in various forms when academics speak about play. Here are a few examples.

  • Ludos: this is the original Latin for play
  • Ludeme: this is a concept that Raph Koster speaks about. In their simplest form a ludeme is a unit of play.
  • Prelusory goals: goals set by the game.
  • Lusory means: rules set by the game.
  • Lusory attitude: a playful mindset. An understanding that you are entering play.

The last three are from Bernard Suits definition of a game from his seminal book The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia. Read More ...

Play, games, toys, playfulness and gamification

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Game vs play Play games toys playfulness and gamification

Lately I have been thinking about play a lot. This is probably because of watching my children growing up and seeing how play changes into games as they develop. I have written about play before and it does form part of my general Game Thinking framework, but it is lumped with toys and games – rather lazily.

I wanted to give play and my surrounding thoughts on it its own post.

Play

Play is free form and unlike a game does not need to have a point or a goal to it. It exists within a set of rules created by the person or people playing and is born in the imagination.  Often it is a way of exploring the boundaries and extremes of something, in search for new and novel experiences.  It is undertaken for its own sake often for fun and joy. Read More ...

7 Rules for Gamification

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Rules rule 7 Rules for Gamification

I just thought as I had not written a post for a few days (researching for a couple of good ones!), I would put up my 7 rules  for gamification.

  • Be sure that adding gamification adds benefit for the end users.
  • Extrinsic rewards (points, prizes etc) can engage over short periods such as onboarding / enrol and enthuse phases.
  • Intrinsic motivation is essential for long term engagement and if you are looking for quality and creativity over quantity.
  • Be open about what data is collected and why. Trust is essential.
  • Define clear goals.
  • Define and collect metrics.
  • Be flexible and adapt as user needs and behaviours change.
    • Read More ...