GLOSSARY - Fundamentals of Game Design - page 647

primary gameplay mode The gameplay mode in which the player spends the larg-
est part of her time in the game. In a few games, the player divides her time equally
between two or more gameplay modes, but these are rare.
production mechanism A mechanic that either is a source of a resource or con-
verts an unusable resource (such as buried gold) into a usable one.
purchase-and-place A construction play mechanic in which the player purchases
a new object by expending some resource and immediately places it in the game
world. Contrast with plan-and-build .
puzzle A mental challenge with at least one correct solution state that the player
must find.
PvE Short for player-versus-environment. A type of game in which the player seeks
to overcome challenges provided by the game's environment but does not directly
compete with or oppose other players. Most single-player non-
networked games are PvE games.
PvP Short for player-versus-player. A type of game in which multiple players com-
pete to see who will be the winner or, in a persistent world , who will prevail in a
particular conflict between players. In a single-player PvP game, the sole human
player plays against an artificial opponent simulated by the computer.
realism A continuous scale upon which the game's relationship to the real world is
measured. One end of the scale is abstract (little or no relationship); the other end
is representational (very close relationship). Different aspects of the game may have
their own levels of realism (such as the graphics and the physics), which combine
to form the game's overall level of realism.
relative difficulty A measure of the difficulty of a challenge relative to the power
provided by the game to meet the challenge. Relative difficulty is computed from
the absolute difficulty of the challenge and the power provided.
representational A quality of a game such that the game represents ideas and rela-
tionships familiar from the real world , such as gravity, money, death, parenthood,
or fear, and presents its game world in a photorealistic way. Representational games
expect players to apply some of their understanding of the real world to the game
world. The opposite end of the realism scale from abstract .
resources Entities in the game world that may be created, destroyed, gained, lost,
transferred from place to place or from player to player, or converted into other
entities. Resources must be measured in numeric quantities. If an entity in a game
never changes and cannot be traded, such as a hill in a war game, then the entity is
not a resource.
rigging The process part of level design that involves deciding where key events
will take place in that level and what will trigger their occurrence.