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tools to visually model and simulate different aspects of game design on an
abstract level (see, e.g., [3, 10, 11]).
In this paper we present an investigation into whether the widely supported
workflow patterns [12] are a suitable way to model the succession of tasks players
have to perform in a game. In a similar manner to Van Der Aalst et al. [12], we
have sought to use a pattern analysis approach to identifying recurring structures
within lists of activities performed by players in computer games. Such a pattern
approach provides independence from the underlying game implementation en-
vironments, and the underlying theoretical languages used to describe such flows
of activities. A workflow patterns approach enables us to specify abstractly the
tasks to be performed by players within game environments, as the tasks given
to players may share similarities in structure to tasks in business systems. The
future benefits of such an approach are thus the ability to define such gameplay
activity patterns in a rigorous and formal manner (drawing from the Petri net
formalisms of workflow patterns) giving us both the power to deeply analyze
their correct execution, and then execute them in Petri net based systems.
2 Related Work
To date a lot of work has been conducted to establish a common design vo-
cabulary, for instance, in the formofdesignpatternsusedto
express clearly
intentions, analyses, and opinions regarding gameplay
[13].
While design patterns are usually expressed in natural language, some game
researchers have argued for more visual models to more clearly and compactly
express and communicate ideas about game design (see the recent survey of
Almeida and Silva [1] for a discussion on this subject). For example, Koster [5]
presented a graphical notation system as a complement to classic game design
documents to better communicate the game design. Bura [6], building upon the
work of Koster [5], proposed a visual grammar which was influenced by Petri
nets resembling data-flow representations of processes (whereas we are concerned
with a control-flow perspective). Araujo and Roque [10] also applied Petri nets
to model games and emphasized that the formal semantics of Petri nets can be
leveraged to formally analyze and simulate game design elements already in an
early design stage (e.g., to detect unwanted behavior).
Recently, Dormans [3] developed the
Machinations
tool, a graphical notation
framework to express the rules of and simulate game economies in order to
balance a game's economy or to prevent dominant strategies. While borrowing
concepts from Petri nets,
Machinations
diagrams are aimed to be less complex
and more accessible to designers. The work has been later extended by Klint
and van Rozen [11] to allow not only for simulation but also for formal analysis
of game designs. While the above mentioned works aim at expressing game
mechanics, Cook [7] focused on the player experience and proposed
skill chain
diagrams
to visually represent how players learn and acquire skills.
Workflow software technology has been applied to games by Brown et al. [14]
who used a workflow language to script game tasks.
