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GAMEPLAY DEFINITION: A GAME DESIGN PERSPECTIVE

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Abstract

Game design research and game studies regularly define the notion of gameplay even if it is sometime considered an elusive word. These definitions are built on past game and play research in humanities or on a few game designers' opinions. In the second case, the handbooks or material used are limited. In this paper, we analyse a sample of 24 game design handbooks to compare their formal definitions of Gameplay and the way they use the word. We identify several common notions or characteristics in their approaches that may help us to build a more accurate definition of gameplay.
GAMEPLAY DEFINITION: A GAME DESIGN PERSPECTIVE
Emmanuel Guardiola
Cologne Game Lab
TH Köln
51063, Cologne,
Germany
E-mail: eg@colognegamelab.de
KEYWORDS
Gameplay, Game Design, Handbooks
ABSTRACT
Game design research and game studies regularly define the
notion of gameplay even if it is sometime considered an
elusive word. These definitions are built on past game and
play research in humanities or on a few game designers’
opinions. In the second case, the handbooks or material used
are limited. In this paper, we analyse a sample of 24 game
design handbooks to compare their formal definitions of
Gameplay and the way they use the word. We identify
several common notions or characteristics in their
approaches that may help us to build a more accurate
definition of gameplay.
INTRODUCTION
In the game design research field Gameplay seems to be a
magic word that avoids clear meaning. Its elusive aspect is
mentioned in game design books as in Rollings and Adams
(2003) or Crawford (1982). For Hiwiller (2016) it should
even be totally ban from game design discussion during the
making of a game: instead of saying that the gameplay is not
working it’s more efficient to identify the precise source of
an issue, as for instance the camera setting, or a parameter of
a game object. If this position sounds legitimate, the word
gameplay is widely used in discussion about game. As an
illustration, in the 24 game design handbooks that are the
core material of this study, the word gameplay is cited more
than 4.500 times, with an average one citation per 2.5 page.
Even if this word seems elusive, it is also necessary to
communicate about game. It has a role in the game lexical,
for design and production, but also for critics, players and
game studies.
When game studies delimit the meaning of gameplay it often
starts with definitions from game design handbooks,
considered as representative material from the practice. For
instance Juul (2005) starts with Rouse (2004), Ermi (2005)
used Crawford (1982). If sometimes the authors use multiple
game design books as sources as Guardiola (2016), it is still
far from an exhaustive state of art. A good starting point to
improve the understanding of gameplay can be to explore a
larger sample of game design handbooks instead of using a
few. In our research we propose to go deeper into the
resource coming from the practice and see how their authors
are dealing with gameplay. Are there common notions or
characteristics in their approaches that could help us to build
a more accurate definition?
METHODOLOGY
The core method is to explore a large sample of game design
books to compare their use of the word “gameplay” or, if
available, compare their formal definitions of it. This section
presents how we choose the books and collect the material.
A Selection Of 24 Handbooks
The selection have to be composed of game design books in
English and available in a digital format to allow research in
the text. We try to be as exhaustive as possible.
The eligible titles must offer tools, models or methodologies
for game designers, in other words handbooks providing
examples from the industry. The content must concern game
design in general, without specialization in a type of game
(ie board games, serious game, casual games etc.). They
should avoid partial approach of the task. For instance it
excludes books exclusively on narrative or level design. One
of the author must have released at least one game on the
market. This fact was checked through the author bio and,
when possible, with web site dedicated to game credits as
Moby Games (www.mobygames.com)
The selection includes game design books widely cited by
academics works and popular titles. By popular we mean
that users are recommending them on online reviews or
rankings
We get digital copies of most of the identified titles (.pdf,
.epub, .chm). When the digital versions were not available,
we contacted directly the authors to ask for these files. On
the 26 book identified, we end up with 24 useful files.
Analyse The Books
The digital copies of the books allow to track the presence of
the words gameplay, game play or game-play. The
hits includes the variations gameplayer and
gameplaying”.
The main goal is to extract a definition from each of the 24
books. There are three situations. Some of the books offer
formal definitions, for instance in specific section on
gameplay or in the glossary. Some others don’t. For these
ones we have to go through the numerous citations looking
for an explicit reference that could be used as a definition.
For instance, the reference could be integrated in the
description of the template of a game design document, in
which the author explains what is expected in the gameplay
section. Some books does not provide any definition or side
definition. Then the method consists in looking for typical
use of the word gameplay as in sentences like “the gameplay
of this game is”.
During the analysis, the method is to identify common
notions, terms or principles shared by several definition.
Then we want to weight each these notion by counting how
many time they appear among the 24 definitions.
The definitions are split in two tables in annexes of this
papers. Annexe 1 for the books with formal definitions of
gameplay, and Annexe 2 for the books without it.
ANALYSIS
General Comments
The final selection of 24 books is covering a period of time
from 1982 to 2016. There are 26 different authors involved,
with multiple apparitions of Adams, Rollings or Crawford.
On the 24 books 11 provide formal definitions, 6 have side
definitions, and the remaining 7 require to use other type of
citations, most of the time an extract where the author
describes an example of gameplay from a game.
Annexe 3 shows the books with their number of pages, the
number of “gameplay” citations, and if it is present in the
index or in the glossary. Note that the citations include the
ones in summaries, index, or chapters titles repeated on
several pages. Nevertheless the first observation is the
surprising low number of formal definitions (7) or presence
of “Gameplay” in the glossary (2) regarding the important
amount of citations in the books (4566). “Gameplay” is
widely used, sometime presented as a critical part of the
design and production work, even if it is not often explicitly
defined. Rouse, Adams and Rollings are the most likely to
cite it, and they also provide definitions. Hiwiller has the
lowest ratio of “gameplay” citation per pages (1 per 34
pages) due to his position on the elusive aspect of the word.
From The Definitions
Exploring the 24 definition (or use of the word gameplay)
we identify several notions that are shared. Sometimes the
notion is represented by a word (ie. “player” “Challenge”),
sometimes it’s a principle that takes many forms (ie
“Permitted by or emerging from”).
The “Player” is directly mentioned in most of the definitions.
With 17 occurrences, the player is the most shared aspect of
gameplay. The notion of player is also present indirectly.
For instance “you” in Todd (2007) definition could refer to
the player.
By “Action, verbs” we consider several aspects of it. It could
be a cognitive or sensorimotor task (thinking, choosing,
looking), it could describe the use of an input (press fire), or
can be cited as an in-game manifestation (jumping). Action
or verbs are directly present in 15 definitions.
“Interaction with” includes expressions like “interaction
with an object”, but also the presence word like
“interactivity”. It is cited 8 times directly, and could
potentially be interpreted from Koster (2013) citation
“exercising power over content”.
“Challenge, performance” are named 7 times directly. It
could also been perceived in Crawford (1984) “Cognitive
effort” or Koster (2013) “Mastering responses to situations”
“Permitted by or emerging from” is a more elaborated
notion. This principle is evoked in different manners in the
definitions. It refers to the fact that gameplay is permitted by
or emerges from mechanics/ rules/ object. It could sometime
be directly stated as in Adams and Dormans (2012) “The
actions that are related to challenges are governed by the
game mechanics”, or in Sylvester (2013) “Core Gameplay is
what emerges from the irreducible mechanics of a game”, or
in Rogers (2014) “Video game mechanics are objects that
create gameplay when the player interacts with them”. With
different wordings, other authors evoke the causality
between certain game elements and the gameplay. In Bartle
(2003) “the means by which the environment introduces
goals for the players is called gameplay”. For Rouse (2004)
“gameplay is the degree and nature of the interactivity that
the game includes”. For Anthropy and Clark (2014)
gameplay could be seen as the result of the combinations of
verbs and objects, gameplay emerging from rules. 7 extracts
from the definitions seems to share this causality.
The 6 “Environment” or “game world” or “simulated
environment” mean the space where the gameplay takes
place. It could also be the target of the interaction.
The 5 “Emotion” cover any sort of reference to emotion. It
includes “pleasure” “felt” “enjoyable”.
Other words are shared a very few times by some
definitions. For instance, “Goal” “Choices” and
“Feedbacks” appeared 3 times each.
Some Insight From The Others Citations Of Gameplay
A large set of gameplay citations was explored in the 24
books. Aside the main work on definition we also
investigate the connection of gameplay to other topics as for
instance level design or narration for further researches.
Doing this we cross some other interesting notions related to
gameplay.
Some aspects of gameplay are presented by several authors
as obvious statements. Gameplay has a qualitative level,
could be good, bad, and everything in the middle. The nature
of the criteria could diverge. Also gameplay is a critical
aspect of the game design task, but not always the most
important one. Rollings and Morris (2003) rank interactivity
first.
We also regularly found expressions like “during gameplay”
“duration of gameplay” that frame it into a moment in time.
Mention to space as “gameplay areas” or “arena” is also
frequent, in particular when it comes to level design. Time
and space perception of gameplay is formally connected to
the game content. It seems natural that the game design
defines phases, durations, triggers, environments where the
gameplay takes place. This position reinforce the Permitted
by or emerging from notion that we identify in several
definitions.
DEFINITION PROPOSAL AND DISCUSSION
From the 7 most shared notions identified in the definitions
we can try to set up a new one, reflecting the game design
perspective on gameplay. A first try is to simply cite the list
of elements. Something like: Gameplay consist in the player,
actions, challenges, interaction, emergence, environment
and emotion.
To come with a more meaningful one, we try to articulate
the notions. We order the elements to be in line with the way
theses notions are expressed in the original set of definitions.
This is our proposition:
The Gameplay consists of the actions performed by the
player when involved in a challenge. It emerges from the
emotionally-charged interaction between the player and the
game components.
“Actions” should be understood as all type of player’s
intentional activities, including pure cognitive ones, making
choices, use of the senses (etc). Also, the expression “game
components” suggests the game world, the rules, the objects
and other potential constitutive formal elements. If these
terms do not fit well, we would appreciate suggestions for
more inclusive solutions. Another approach could be to
expend the definition to integrate all the meaning of notion.
In the field is game design research, one of the goal is to
offer a better understanding of the models involved in the
design processes. Did these components and this definition
reflect the practice?
During the development of a game, it could be asked to
define the gameplay of it. The answer is often an action in a
challenge like “jumping over enemies to reach the end of the
level”. These “player’s actions” are visible in formal
representations of gameplay. For instance in some game
design documents this visualisation takes the form of a flow
chart that connects cells named by the player’s actions
(Guardiola 2016). The “interaction with” is an obvious
central aspect of the production of gameplay. As an example
among many others: the design, coding and art production of
feedbacks. These formal components of the interaction help
the player to understand the impacts of her/his actions in-
game or, should I say, during gameplay. About the
“emerging from game elements” characteristic: the designers
set up the challenges by assembling elements of the game as
objects, mechanisms, and balance their parameters. This
process of facing player’s skills to game elements is
sometime rationalize into processes, as for instance the
rational design method applied Rayman Origins (McEntee
2102).
If all the previous characteristics of the definition have some
visible existence in game production, the emotion aspect is
not systematically documented or managed. Creating the
engagement, the tension of challenge or the pleasure of play
is less formalized but still present. In most of the cases
developers want to induce these emotions. Playtests and
focus groups are eventually conducted to try to evaluate
these aspects of the experience, using questionnaires.
To open the discussion, we can compare the definition and
components to those given by several books with a high
impact in game studies. Are there interesting mismatches?
“Game play is the formalized interaction that occurs when
players follow the rules of a game and experience its system
through play.” (Salen and Zimmerman 2004)
“The way the game is actually played when the player tries
to overcome its challenges it its gameplay. The gameplay is
an interaction between the rules and the player's attempt at
playing the game as well as possible.” (Juul 2005)
“For the sake of this discussion we define gameplay simply
as the structures of player interaction with the game system
and with the other players in the game. Thus, gameplay
includes the possibilities, results, and the reasons for the
players to interact within the game.” (Bjork and Holopainen
2005)
The “permitted/emerging” aspect is never mentioned
explicitly in these definitions. The challenge is only named
in Juul’s proposal. The emotional aspect of gameplay does
not appear in any of these three contributions. The reason of
these absences can be the small amount of resources on
gameplay available at the time. Exploring a larger sample of
game design handbooks, with many published after 2005,
can add some characteristics to the previous game studies
definitions of gameplay.
We can also confront this definition or this ensemble of
notions to the current gameplay analysis methodologies. For
instance: in their proposal of formal analysis of gameplay
Lankoski and Björk (2015) introduce “Components”,
“Actions” and “Goals” as primitives. If “Components” and
“Actions” are resonning with the findings from the game
design books, the “goals” is not. We might be abble to
investigate new approach for analysis, taking in accounts the
characteristics identified.
CONCLUSION
“Gameplay” is considered as a word that covers a large
range of meaning but is widely cited in the game design
work. Investigating how it is used and defined in a large
sample of handbooks, we find many common characteristics
and a possible common definition.
24 game design books were selected to conduct our analysis.
From their definitions of gameplay, or their typical use of
the word, we found 7 characteristics that are shared from 5
to 17 times. From this material, a new definition is
suggested: The Gameplay consists of the actions performed
by the player when involved in a challenge. It emerges from
the emotionally-charged interaction between the player and
the game components. Compared to the game design task,
this definition and the characteristics fit with the practice.
Even if our contribution provides a framework to think
about the gameplay, it does not reduce neither handicap the
creative aspect of it. The player’s actions, the nature of the
interaction, the game elements, and the emotions are as
many elements that could be interpreted subjectively or in an
infinite number of perspectives.
In comparison to some past definitions from the game
studies this contribution increases the range of the
characteristics of gameplay. We hope also that it can help
for the design of future methods for the visualization,
formalisation, and analyse of gameplay.
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Adams, E. 2009. Fundamentals of game design - 2nd edition. New
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Koster, R. 2013. Theory of Fun for Game Design, 10th
anniversary, 2nd edition. O'Reilly Sebastopol, CA, USA.
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detailed approach to iterative game design. Addison-Wesley,
Boston.
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https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/167214/rational_desi
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Perry, D., and DeMaria, R. 2009. David Perry on Game Design: A
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Rogers S. 2014 Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design
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ANNEXES
Annexe 1: Game design books with formal definition of
gameplay
Books with
definitions
Gameplay definitions
Andrew Rollings and
Ernest Adams on
Game Design
(Rollings and Adams
2003)
chapter 7 in the section Defining Gameplay: One or
more causally linked series of challenges in a
simulated environment
(later in chap 7:) You will recall from Chapter 2 that
gameplay consists of the challenges the player faces,
plus the actions she can take to overcome them. As
we said previously, designing the gameplay is one of
your most important design tasks.
Game Mechanics
Advanced Game
Design (Adams and
Dormans 2012
Chap3 p43: We define gameplay as the challenges
that a game poses to a player and the actions the
player can perform in the game. Most actions enable
the player to overcome challenges, although a few
actions (such as changing the color of a racing car or
chatting) may not be related to challenges. The
actions that are related to challenges are governed by
the game mechanics. An avatar can jump only when a
jumping mechanic has been implemented in the game,
for example.
Designing Virtual
Worlds (Bartle 2003)
Chap 1, Section Some Definitions, p2: the human
beings who interact with the simulated environment
are known as players rather than users; the means by
which the environment introduces goals for the
players is called gameplay; the activity of interacting
with the environment is referred to as playing
Gameplay and Design
(Oxland, 2004)
p7: I believe gameplay is the components that make
up a rewarding, absorbing, challenging experience
that compels the player to return for more, time and
time again. It sits at the heart of a game that cannot be
seen as a dimensional entity, but only felt from a
superbly woven and captivating world of interactive
challenges that stimulates your every sense.
Game Design Theory
and Practice, 2nd
Edition (Rouse 2004)
pXX, section What Is Gameplay?: A game’s
gameplay is the degree and nature of the interactivity
that the game includes, i.e., how players are able to
interact with the game-world and how that game-
world reacts to the choices players make.
The art of computer
game design
(Crawford 1984)
p20 gameplay section: Game play is a crucial element
in any skill-and-action game. This term has been used
for some years, but no clear consensus has arisen as to
its meaning. Everyone agrees that good game play is
essential to the success of a game, and that game play
has something to do with the quality of the player’s
interaction with the game. Beyond that, nuances of
meaning are as numerous as users of the phrase. The
term is losing descriptive value because of its
ambiguity. I therefore present here a more precise,
more limited, and (I hope) more useful meaning for
the term "game play". I suggest that this elusive trait
is derived from the combination of pace and
cognitive effort required by the game.
Basics of Game
Design (Moore 2011)
P4: The actions a player performs during a game
constitute the game play. Each game genre has its
own set of actions, although many games share
common action, such as moving objects around on the
screen. Simples games have few actions for the player
to perform while complex games can have many
actions. In the classic arcade game pong, for example,
the players only have to move a paddle up and down
the screen to intercept a moving ball and send it
flying back at, and hopefully by, the other player (see
figure 1.1). In a first-person shooter, the primary
focuses are on moving a character through the game
world and shooting AI-controlled enemies - and
sometimes other players in deathmatches). There
might be several different kinds of movement -
running, walking, jumping, learning, crouching, and
so on. There are also a number of different weapons
the player can collect and wield during play.
Game Architecture
and Design - A New
Edition (Rollings and
Morris 2003)
Dedicated section P59 (...) Now, suppose the priest
has two kinds of spells, each of which cost him the
same number of magic points. One spell injures the
enemy (we’ll call those “E-Bolts”), and the other
heals injuries to your own group (we’ll call those
“Band-Aids”). Which should he cast during a fight?
(...) There’s no easy answer. It depends on lots of
things. That makes it an interesting choice. And
that’s what gameplay is all about. (…) Sid Meier
said, “A game is a series of interesting choices.” To
be worthwhile, gameplay choices must be non-trivial.
fundamentals of game
design - 2nd edition
(Adams 2009)
In part one chap 9 dedicated + in glossary p640:
gameplay The challenges presented to a player and
the actions the player is permitted to take, both to
overcome those challenges and to perform other
enjoyable activities in the game world.
21st Century Game
Design (Batemann and
Boon) 2005
In section Gameplay versus Toyplay, p54: We would
therefore choose to define a toy as a ‘tool for
entertainment’, and a game as ‘a toy with some
degree of performance’. Every game that can be
conceived will include some degree of performance,
either in the form of victory conditions to be
achieved, failure conditions to be avoided, or metrics
to measure progress. This in turn leads to two useful
definitions: gameplay, defined as ‘performance-
oriented stimulation’ and toyplay, defined as
‘unorganised stimulation’.
Players Making
Decisions (Hiwiller
2015)
p78: in A NOTE ON “GAMEPLAY”: I try to avoid
using the word gameplay. What is usually meant by
the term is the experience of playing a game.
however, it is a milquetoast cop-out of a word that
keeps the writer or designer from really explaining
what he is talking about. When you say a game has
“good gameplay,” what does that even mean? that it
controls fluidly? that it has interesting dynamics? that
the rules make sense? that it is fun for its target
players? that it meshes with its theme well? these are
all more precise and useful descriptions.
Annexe 2: Side definitions and sample of the use of
“Gameplay” in Game design books without formal
definitions
Books without
definitions
Side definitions or meaningful samples using
“Gameplay”
Designing Games
(Sylvester 2013)
p332: CORE GAMEPLAY is what emerges from the
irreducible mechanics of a game at the bottom of its
dependency stack. Remove everything that can be
removed without making a game emotionally
worthless, and what’s left is core gameplay.
Game Design
Workshop - 2nd
Edition (Fullerton
2008)
p209: The core gameplay mechanism, or “core
mechanic,” can be defined as the actions that a player
repeats most often while striving to achieve the
game’s overall goal.
Game Design - Second
edition (Bates 2004)
Section on concept document p205: Gameplay -
Describe what the player will do while he’s playing
the game. Emphasize any new twists to the genre that
your game provides.
And p274 in Game proposal document template: 3.
Gameplay - A paragraph that describes what kinds of
actions the player can perform during the game.
David Perry on Game
Design (Perry and
DeMaria, 2009)
What is expected as gameplay in a pitch: P515: It
always surprises me that someone can work for hours,
weeks, and even months on a game concept and not
be able to describe the gameplay to me. I ask them,
“Can you describe in detail what the player will be
doing when playing your game?”
Games, Design and
Play (Macklin and
Sharp 2016)
About the use of play/gameplay, epub p16: One of the
first things you will notice about this book is the
emphasis on play and play experiences. In fact,
throughout the book we use gameplay and play
experience interchangeably. We do this to challenge
our mind-set about games. Instead of focusing on the
idea that we are designing games, we prefer to think
about designing opportunities for play. By play, we
mean the thinking and actions that emerge when
we engage with games.
Chris Crawford on
Game Design
(Crawford 2003)
Side definition in Chapter 6 on interactivity, section
"History": Interactivity (sometimes called
"gameplay") is the real schwerpunkt of games.
(schwerpunkt: center of gravity)
Typical use of gameplay: Chapter 19 section
Implementation Woes: The gameplay was simple: The
player would use a cursor to designate a person to be
called. Pressing the button would select that person,
whose telephone would ring with an appropriate
jangling sound and the handset jiggling on the
telephone base. The person called would pick up the
handset with a simple three-step animation, hold it to
his or her ear, and say something like "Air-oh?",(…)
A Game Design
Vocabulary (Anthropy
and Clark 2014)
Sample of "gameplay" citation: P38, description of a
group activity than: Using one of the verbs that you
just discussed, come up with an idea for a game that
develops this verb. This could involve special objects
that help develop the verb, such as an object that the
player can jump on to change the direction of gravity
or the entire view of the game world or multiple verbs
in conjunction with each other, such as a gun that
changes objects into jumping platforms. Talk about
what kind of gameplay might result from these
combinations of verbs and objects.
Game Design
Foundations (Pedersen
2003)
Describing gameplay of Delta Force Urban Warfare
p76: Diverse, intense gameplay includes wild shoot-
outs combined with stealth tactics, close quarters
combat (CQC) with strategic infiltration, time-
sensitive ops, sniping, and demolition.
Game Design From
Blue Sky To Green
Light (Todd 2007)
Describing game elements of halo3 p113: And
because environment artists are coming up with the
themes for these crazy spaces, we’re also figuring out
if there are special gameplay elements, like force
fields you can’t shoot through, or jump pads that can
get you places very quickly, and how those relate to
the overall theme of the environment.
Game Feel (Swink
2008)
About mario64 gameplay prototype, p269:
Anecdotally, the prototype form of Mario 64 was a
“gameplay garden,” a test level which included a
near-final version of Mario, complete with animations
and moves, and a wealth of different things for him to
interact with. p322: In a video game, some
obfuscation is necessary and desirable; if intent and
action merge, there’s no challenge and no learning,
and much of the fundamental pleasure of gameplay is
lost.
Theory of Fun for
Game Design, 10th
anniversary, 2nd
edition (Koster 2013)
Samples of "gameplay" citation: p70: Early platform
videogames followed a few basic gameplay
paradigms: • “Get to the other side” games: Frogger,
Donkey Kong, Kangaroo. These are not really very
dissimilar. Some of these featured a time limit, some
didn’t. • “Visit every location” games: Probably the
best-known early platformer like this was Miner
2049er.* Pac-Man and Q Bert also made use of this
mechanic.
p164: The core of gameplay may be about the
emotion I am terming “fun,” the emotion that is about
learning puzzles and mastering responses to
situations, but this doesn’t mean that the other sorts of
things we lump under fun do not contribute to the
overall experience.
The Art of Game
Design, Second
Edition (Schell 2014)
Samples of "gameplay" citation: space invader
gameplay p53: The gameplay mechanic of Space
Invaders was new, which is always exciting. But more
than that, it was interesting and well balanced. Not
only does a player shoot at advancing aliens that
shoot back at him, the player can hide behind shields
that the aliens can destroy (or that the player can
choose to destroy himself). Further, there is the
possibility to earn bonus points by shooting a
mysterious flying saucer.
p167: Gameplaying is decision making. Decisions are
made based on information. Deciding the different
attributes, their states, and what changes them is core
to the mechanics of your game.
Level Up! (Roger
2014)
Samples of "gameplay" citation: p16: Game genre
describes the type of gameplay (…) The game genre
describes the play, not the art or story (…) ■ Action -
Action games rely on eye/hand coordination and skill
to play. (…) ■ Augmented RealityAugmented
Reality (or AR games) incorporate peripheral devices
like cameras and global positioning (GPS) into
gameplay
p353: Video game mechanics are objects that create
gameplay when the player interacts with them. They
can be jumped on, activated with a button press, or
pushed around.
Annexe 3: gameplay citations per book
Books
Pages
In
Index
In
Glossary
(Rollings and Adams
2003)
648
Yes
N/A
(Adams and Dormans
2012
360
Yes
N/A
(Bartle 2003)
768
Yes
N/A
(Oxland, 2004)
368
Yes
No
(Rouse 2004)
704
Yes
Yes
(Crawford 1984)
120
N/A
N/A
(Moore 2011)
400
N/A
N/A
(Rollings and Morris
2003)
960
Yes
No
(Adams 2009)
700
Yes
Yes
(Batemann and Boon
2005)
332
No
(Hiwiller 2015)
480
Yes
N/A
(Sylvester 2013)
416
No
N/A
(Fullerton 2008)
496
Yes
N/A
(Bates 2004)
450
"gamepl
ay
element
s"
No
(Perry and DeMaria,
2009)
1040
No
N/A
(Macklin and Sharp
2016)
288
No
No
(Crawford 2003)
504
N/A
No
(Anthropy and Clark
2014)
240
No
N/A
(Pedersen 2003)
384
No
N/A
(Todd 2007)
304
N/A
N/A
(Swink 2008)
376
No
N/A
(Koster 2013)
304
N/A
N/A
(Schell 2014)
600
N/A
N/A
(Roger 2014)
550
Yes
N/A
... Considering the possible consequences of players' actions, we can distinguish "disruptive" 3 from "harmful" behavior. Actions such as going "AFK," "intentional feeding," "negative attitude," and "cheating" are disruptive in the sense that they can negatively affect a player's gameplay, that is "the actions performed by the player when involved in a challenge" (Guardiola, 2019). Since gameplay is the result of the "emotionally-charged interaction between the player and the game components" (Guardiola, 2019), the highlighted behaviors can result in making the game too challenging for the affected player, breaking the balanced sense of struggle that games should pose to be enjoyable (Costikyan, 2002). ...
... Actions such as going "AFK," "intentional feeding," "negative attitude," and "cheating" are disruptive in the sense that they can negatively affect a player's gameplay, that is "the actions performed by the player when involved in a challenge" (Guardiola, 2019). Since gameplay is the result of the "emotionally-charged interaction between the player and the game components" (Guardiola, 2019), the highlighted behaviors can result in making the game too challenging for the affected player, breaking the balanced sense of struggle that games should pose to be enjoyable (Costikyan, 2002). ...
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