Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
We use the vocabulary of written and spoken language to communicate with other people.
The vocabulary of games allows us to express ourselves in tremendously powerful ways, saying
things with systems in ways that words can't. It lets us create different kinds of dialogue with
each other. We're lucky to live in a time when expressive systems—another way of thinking
about games—are being explored by creators and players in all sorts of new ways, to converse
about and reflect on our every idea.
It's compelling to think of a game as a conversation: players make choices and use verbs within
a system. In multiplayer games, these choices can communicate with other players. A single
press of a button or move of a chess piece can convey aggression or uncertainty or less obvious
concepts that are specific to a particular game. Players who are highly conversant in a system
can read the moves of an opponent, whether human- or computer-controlled, and understand
what's being said even without words.
As the creator of a game, you also participate in the conversation, but in an unusual and special
way. Unlike the times I peered over my sister's shoulder and watched her play Lode Runner ,
you're usually not there to watch your players. Instead, you've facilitated a conversation by
deciding many aspects of how it will work beforehand. As a game creator, you craft the particu-
lar vocabulary of its conversation, deciding how verbs will develop and shaping the space of
possibilities in which the conversation will happen. As creators, we try to shape a space where
a good conversation with or between players could happen; we hope that players won't throw
their hands up in frustration and leave or get bored and drift away.
During a play session of a single-player game—the kind of game that's the primary focus of this
book—all the conversation is happening between the creators of the game and the player. It's
a tricky kind of conversation to have. As the creator, you have to hope that what you're saying
in the conversation—through the rules and shaping of the experience as well as the words,
images, or sounds you've added to the mix—gets across and finds a player, somewhere out
there, who responds with choices, thoughts, and maybe even interesting strategies and emo-
tional engagement.
This challenge can feel like a gamble, like sealing a letter in a bottle and hoping someone fig-
ures out how to open that bottle and understands what you wrote. If you're drawn to creating
games—if you've ever felt the spark of excitement that I did when I started making Lode Runner
levels for my sister—then maybe you have things to say which can't simply be expressed in
words, but which could find a compelling form in the systems of a game. Take the gamble! The
good news is that in recent decades, many others have gone before you. We've tried, failed,
succeeded, and tried again. Despite the fact that we're all still learning exactly how to talk about
games, finding words to use and models to think with, creators of games have found a lot of
techniques and tricks to get our “letters in a bottle” read.
 
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