Reading: I have no words & I must design.

  I have recently read a document by Greg Costikyan, where he describes that “a game is an interactive structure of endogenous meaning that requires players to struggle towards goals”.

He goes into incredible detail deciphering exactly what that means; delving into the nature of games, what they consist of and how they can keep a player entertained and wanting more without that feeling of boredom that no game designer would want to be encountered.

So, what are they, and how do they apply to us?

  A game wouldn’t be a game if it wasn’t interactive in some way or another.  Interaction is key in games, without it, you’d have a lot of pixels with nothing to do, as well as the player. Would there be a player at all, without interaction itself?  Interaction is purposeful, when we interact with something, as result must occur, we are changing the state of something.

  What is Struggle?  Struggle is a way of challenging the player, giving them an experience, something to work towards, much like in Chess.  The idea being strategy, you must think two or three moves ahead of your opponent to try and win.  To give the player an experience, they must have an objective, be it getting from A to B, killing something, or even winning.

  Let’s move on to Game Structure, what does it mean?  “Game structure has to do with the means by which the game shapes player behaviour”, the game shapes the player behaviour but it does not determine it.  That’s what you are for, if you cannot determine your player’s behaviour, are you even playing a game at all?  “Structure is a complex interacting system that does not dictate outcomes but guides behaviour through the need to achieve a single goal”.

  Endogenous meaning, this is caused by factors inside the system.  Let’s talk here about Capital and Achievements, these are assets in-game that affect how your player is perceived by you or others, but unfortunately, have no meaning in the real world.  Much like trying to deposit your Monopoly money in the bank, it has no real world value, but in a game, can make or break you.

I think I’ll end here with a quote from Costikyan that I thought apt for this post.

“One of the most difficult tasks people can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games”.