In this article, I will briefly list the most interesting conclusions and checklists that I found in Raf Koster's book Theory of Fun for Game Design.
But first, a little background information:
— I liked the book.
The book is short, easy to read and interesting. Almost like a fiction book.
— Raf Koster is an experienced game designer who also has competencies in music and literature. But he is not a programmer, so there are “other” accents to development, especially noticeable for the programmer reading him. Started with MUDs.
— The book was published in 2004, which means that the phrases in the book about the current state of the industry should be viewed with a fair amount of skepticism.
— Official website of the book: theoryoffun.com [].
— Translated version of the book: Raf Coster: Game Development and Entertainment Theory []. I read the English version, so I can't say anything about the quality of the Russian translation, but at least it exists.
There are quite a few reviews for this book.]. However, I set myself the task of collecting a brief subjective summary of his recommendations, so this article should not be considered a review.
- This book is regularly recommended, including on Habré: 25 books for a game developer [].
What is it about
According to its semantic structure, the book is divided into two approximately equal parts:
First. Structured study of what is interesting in games: an attempt to define; why is it interesting to play; when interest is gone. Very entertaining and educational. There are many analogies and comparisons with other types of art: music, books, cinema.
Second. Reasoning about the maturity of the industry, the purpose of games, the responsibility of game developers to society. There are rare interesting moments, but mostly boring and uninformative. The phrase amused: “Now, finally, the time has come when you can freely talk about gender differences without the risk of being accused of sexism.” And he talked about these differences quite freely.
The main stated value of the book: to tell how to achieve interestingness in the game. And the book really talks about it.
But here I have difficulty with the translation of the fun keyword into Russian. Russian publishers translated it as "entertainment". Google suggests "fun". I'll use the words "interest" and "interesting", although contentment and fun might also be appropriate.
But, in my opinion, this is one of those words that does not have an exact Russian translation, and all the translations presented are unsuccessful. This interestingness can be not only fun, but also depressing. In English, the word "funny" can mean "weird", and the phrase "funny words" can mean obscene words.
Patterns in games
Patterns in games are basic patterns of behavior that our brain learns to recognize and train in. The process of learning patterns is the main source of interest in games. When the player learns something new, they receive a chemical reward in the form of pleasure hormones. Once the player has fully experienced all that the game has to offer, the organism ceases to receive such a reward. This is the main idea of the first half of the book, which is revealed from different sides with the help of different examples.
That is, the pleasure of the game comes from knowledge. Cognition is the training of skills that the brain perceives as useful for the survival of a person or his tribe since ancient times, which means that a person should be rewarded for such training. New mechanics provide food for knowledge (new genre or gaming platform) and content (plot, entourage, music).
From this it is concluded that any game is doomed to boredom when the player draws everything new from it and becomes a master in it. If the main source of new knowledge for the game lies in the content (the author calls this clothing on patterns), then the game will become boring after the first passage or viewing on YouTube (The dangers of YouTube for story-driven games weren't so obvious back then). But the new elements of the mechanics not only last longer, but also attract new players who have seen someone else's game. Largely due to monkeying: when a person sees someone else's success (fun), then he also wants to repeat it and compete.
(The usual translation of the word patterns is patterns, they don’t fit well in meaning. This is most likely the same analogy as with design patterns in OOP)
Brief phrases and ideas taken from the book
- The brain thinks in patterns, not real objects;
- The brain is greedy for new patterns;
- Patterns that are too new can be perceived by the brain as noise and discarded as too unfamiliar and complex. So the older generation often refuses new technologies or fashion;
- A completely new experience may be too unfamiliar and repulsive, so an updated old pattern is safer (in science there is an analogy "too far ahead of his time");
- Repeatedly repeated old patterns lead to boredom due to routine;
- The process of pattern perfection is rewarded with hormones of pleasure, but after perfection is achieved, the pleasure is given out for the last time and the issue stops;
- Boredom is when the brain requires new information to learn. The brain does not necessarily require new sensations (unexplored experience), often new data is enough for it (a new set of enemies, bosses);
- A player can recognize an old pattern in a new game in 5 minutes. Clothes and entourage will not deceive him. If he does not find anything new, he will consider it boring and close it;
- The player may recognize the tremendous depth in the game, but may find it irrelevant to him. Hence - boredom and exit;
- You can't please everyone. Too slow to reveal new mechanics -> the player will notice that there is nothing new for a long time -> boring -> exit. Uncovering new mechanics too fast -> too hard, patterns not recognised -> boring -> quit.
- The most basic source of pleasure in games: from honing skills in patterns - that is, from knowledge. But there are other additional ones: aesthetic; reflex; social.
- Aesthetic pleasure. Based on recognizing old patterns rather than learning them, for example as a result of a plot twist (example: the movie Planet of the Apes, when the main character sees the Statue of Liberty at the end).
- Social interest (optional multiplayer):
1) gloating, when the enemy messes up in something;
2) praise, triumph for completing a difficult task, as a signal to the rest of the tribe that you are useful, significant and significant;
3) patronage, when a student succeeds, this is important for the survival of your tribe;
4) pride, boasting of one's student. This is a signal to the tribe about your importance and general usefulness;
5) intimate courtship, indicating relative / local social significance;
6) generosity, for example, sponsorship for other members of the clan, an important social signal for the tribe about the benefits of having such a tribesman.
Elements of an interesting game
1) Preparation. That is, the player must be able to preliminarily increase the chances of winning;
2) Stable mechanics. A set of rules that is understood and accepted by the players;
3) A set of obstacles, conflicts. Players must face various obstacles that interfere with the achievement of the goal;
4) Many ways to overcome obstacles. For example, you can get past the guards by: performing heroic tasks, bribery, intimidation, or cunning climbing over the wall;
5) Player skill affects success. That is, the decisions made by the player do matter and lead to different outcomes;
6) The world around. That is, there is room for expanse and / or clear boundaries. It is not very good if you throw a player into an open field without any introductory information.
For the gaming experience to be educational, there should be:
1) Variable feedback on the player's actions: there should be a better reward for better decisions;
2) An experienced player in solving the easiest problems should receive as little reward as possible. For example, if a player preys on other players who are significantly weaker than him, then it should be “economically” unprofitable for him;
3) Failure must have its cost. In older games, this is a complete Game Over, but now it should at least be a replay requirement or a lost profit.
Checklist of questions for an interesting game
1) Do I need to prepare for an obstacle? (make preliminary reconnaissance)
2) Is it possible to prepare differently and still succeed? (bribe or intimidate guards)
3) Does the environment of the obstacle affect the obstacle itself? (the guards at the entrance to the castle and the small town behave differently?)
4) Are there clear rules of the game and its mechanics for overcoming obstacles? (not good if guards unpredictably either react to open theft or ignore criminal behavior)
5) Can a set of rules support a variety of obstacles? (too strict/poor rules limit the possibilities in level design)
6) Can the player use different skills to succeed? (become a master negotiator or brutal bouncer)
7) At higher difficulty levels, is the player required to use multiple skills to be successful? (that is, will he really have to sweat, and not just grind a dozen levels on boars)
8) Is skill required in the use of abilities? (clicking should not be an effective strategy)
9) Are there multiple possible outcomes from success so that there is not one guaranteed outcome? (it's boring to look for the tenth time at the identical pissing of the guards when intimidating)
10) Advanced players don't benefit from obstacles/challenges that are too easy? (for boars, you can generally stop giving a reward)
11) Does failure make the player suffer in any way? (failure, bad ending or lost profits)
12) If graphics, sounds, history are removed from the game, will it still be interesting to play? (i.e. is the core game mechanic still interesting?)
13) All systems used in the game must work for the main idea (morality or idea of the game). If the system does not contribute to the solution of the idea, the system should be discarded. So did the developer RimWorld [], which did not add mechanics that did not improve its "story generation system". Therefore, he did not begin to add complex crafting systems.
14) Players almost always tend to take the easy route: cheating, skipping story and dialogue that doesn't work for their core interest for which they downloaded this game. People are lazy. Does the game take into account such "lazy" behavior? For example, if a player launched your action RPG to swing a sword, and not for the sake of the plot, then perhaps you should give him this opportunity, without loading him with long backstories (especially if they are banal and repetitive in the game).
Conclusion
It took only 8 hours to read the book. I indicated what I myself considered the most valuable, so I could well have missed other important ideas. The book is easy to read and interesting, so I strongly recommend it to all video game developers. Especially for those who make games as a hobby and don't have the resources for the traditional methods of pulling attention with stunning images, mountains of high-quality content, and tons of professional advertising. If you are interested in such material, then please consider subscribing to my subsequent articles.
References
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Source: habr.com