Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 9
Gameplay
Chapter 1, “Games and Video Games,” defined gameplay as consisting of the chal-
lenges and actions that a game offers: challenges for the player to overcome and
actions that let her overcome them. Games also include actions unrelated to game-
play, but the essence of gameplay remains the relationship between the challenges
and the actions available to surmount them.
This chapter begins by discussing how we make games fun, setting out some things
you need to be aware of and principles you need to observe. Next we'll look at some
important ideas related to gameplay: the hierarchy of challenges and the concepts
of skill, stress, and difficulty. The bulk of the chapter consists of a long list of types
of challenges that video games offer, with some observations about how you might
present them, mistakes you should avoid, and how you can adjust their difficulty.
We'll turn next to actions, listing a number of common types found in games.
Finally, we'll examine the questions of if, when, and how to save the game.
Making Games Fun
As Chapter 1 asserted, the game designer's primary goal is to provide entertain-
ment, and gameplay is the primary means by which games entertain; without
gameplay, an activity may be fun, but it is not a game. Entertainment is a richer
and more manifold idea than fun is. Nevertheless, most games concentrate on
delivering fun rather than offering moving, thought-provoking, or enlightening
entertainment. How, then, do we provide fun?
Execution Matters More Than Innovation
Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.
—T
HOMAS
E
DISON
(
ATTRIBUTED
)
For games, the proportions are a little different from Edison's proportions for
genius, but the idea is the same. Most of what makes a game fun has nothing to do
with imagination or creativity. The vast majority of things that make a game
not
fun—boring or frustrating or irritating or simply ugly and awkward—result from
bad execution rather than a bad idea. A surprising amount of the job of making a
game fun, therefore, simply consists of avoiding those things that reduce fun.
Here's a list, from most to least important, showing how the different aspects of
game development contribute to fun:
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