Just an Ordinary Day - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 94

Figure 7.4 Third SinCity screen shot. (See color insert.)

Other intentions, such as collecting health or ammo, might well form part of a
larger intention such as the one identifi ed above. Here the intention might be to get
to the parapet above the highlighted ladder using that ladder and another hidden
from view so as to satisfy the intention “gain a position of advantage.” There might
also be another intention, “collect some ammo,” which can be planned for and
attained on the way. On the parapet there is another gun and access to the movable
girder so as to get to the unfi nished building furthest from view. All of these are
further rewards for exercising agency.

REWARDS

Gaining rewards cumulatively delivers the objectives of a game and collectively,
therefore, its purpose: to win, gain power, build up your character, and so on. A
reward might be simply walking over some ammo to collect it or it might be a whole
mini-mission such as a fi re fi ght. Rewards come in three forms:

• Local: They seek to keep players in a particular place in the game.
• Dynamic: They may be encountered unexpectedly by players.
• Peripatetic: They may be offered wherever players are in the game.

As we already suggested, rewards are the connotations we place on perceivable
consequences, the benefi cial changes that result from exercising agency.