Design patterns - Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design - page 152

Each description includes the following items:

n Name. Every pattern has a descriptive name. Sometimes a few alternative names
are listed under Also Known As.

n Intent. This is a short statement that describes what the pattern does.

n Motivation. The motivation describes the use of the pattern more elaborately
and suggests a few use-case scenarios.

n Applicability. The section describes in what situations the pattern is best used;
it describes the problems the pattern might solve.

n Structure. This is a graphical representation of the pattern using Machinations
diagrams.

n Participants. This describes and names the elements, mechanisms, and com-
pound structures that are identifiable parts of the pattern. These names are used
throughout the pattern's description.

n Collaborations. Identifies the most important structural relationships between
the pattern's participants.

n Consequences. This section describes what you might expect if you apply this
pattern to your design, including potential trade-offs and possible risks.

NOTE To make the
diagrams illustrating
the patterns as generic
as possible, we have
avoided precise num-
bers. many resource
connections are simply
labeled with n, and
many state connections
are labeled with + or -.
To run these diagrams
in the machinations
Tool, you would have
to supply additional
details.

n Implementation. For most patterns there are many different ways to imple-
ment them. This section describes a few alternative ways of implementing a pattern,
including the effects of randomness on it.

n Examples. This section lists at least two examples of the pattern in published
games.

n Related Patterns. Most patterns are related to another one. Some patterns act
against each other, while others complement each other. These and other relation-
ships are described here.

In the next few sections, we'll introduce the design patterns that we have collected.
The patterns described here include a diagram and are organized into categories.
This is only a brief synopsis, however. You can find full descriptions of each pattern,
along with examples of games that use it, in Appendix B.