Rules of Play: chapters 3,7,8,9,11-13

Chapter 3
Meaningful play is the goal of successful game design. MP can be described as descriptive – how games create meaning through play – and evaluative – describes why some games are more meaningful than others.
Official definitions:
Descriptive MP: comes about when a player takes action within the game and the game responds to that action.
Evaluative MP: occurs when relationships between actions and outcomes are evident and integrated in the game.

Chapter 7
Games are a subset of play – lots of playful activities but not all of them are games
Play is a subset of games – games are complex and contain rules, play and culture – play is contained within games.
Games: A system with conflict, rules and an outcome.

Chapter 8
Digital games are one aspect of a larger game system
Digital games have four traits: 1 immediate but narrow interactivity 2 manipulation of information 3 automated complex systems 4 networked communication
It doesn’t matter what type of game one is designing – core elements of games remain the same

Chapter 9
Magic circle: space in which a game takes place where rules create meaning.
Lusory attitude: state of mind one needs to have to enter a game where one subjects themselves to the rules of the game.

Chapter 11
Rules of a game make up its formal structure. They limit player action, are explicit and unambiguous, shared by others, are fixed and binding and are repeatable

Chapter 12
Three levels of game rules
1 constitutive – abstract mathematical  2 operational – general ones that are followed during play 3 implicit – house rules / etiquette that is understood

Chapter 13
Rules of the game are generally the same as non-digital games

Game Design Reader

What is a game? pp. 77-81
Discusses different philosophers definitions of a game: Bjork Holopainen: the definition is a design tool. For Suits it is a philosophical device. For Juul, Caillois. The definition creates a new field of study. For Costikyan it justifies creative practice. In the end, there are many different, overlapping game definitions.

Definition of play and classification of games. pp 122-155
More tennents of play – they must be activities that are free, separate, uncertain, unproductive, governed by rules, make-believe.
- Leyden J. Huizinga “The Cultural Limits of Play and the Serious”

Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomenon pp. 96-120
Essay that served as the opening chapter of Huizinga’s book Homo Ludens: A study of Play Element in Culture.  Published in 1938, the title is a play on Homo Sapiens where Ludens means player – thus man the player.  He discusses more elements of play – that it is free and not ordinary. Discusses the magic circle, play-ground with rules, limited time and space. Players must be absorbed in gameplay. Play includes action, representation and recreation.

The Game, the Player, the World Looking for the Heart of Gameness – J, Juul

This article reviews previous definitions of games and then proposes a new definition with six game features: 1 Games are rule based, 2 have variable quantifiable outcomes  3 with value, 4 players must put forth effort,  5 the player is attached to the outcome and 6 there are negotiable consequences.

Game play analysis for this week: Physical Poker vs. Online Poker