Book/Article Readings - Chance & Skill

Week 4 Reading

The information and references for this weeks reading was obtained from "Brenda Braithwaite & Ian Schreiber (2008) Challenges for Games Designers. Charles River Media" - chapters 5 & 6.

Chance

Chance games include card games, most  RPG's (through the use of variable damage and random encounters), and rock-paper-scissors. Chance games are created to encompass a wider audience as they become winnable by anybody regardless of player skill.

Where chance is not used in games, they become solvable, meaning the entire possibility space is known ahead of time. This causes such games to be exploited and then less compelling. Once the player solves the game, it looses part of what makes it a game in the first place. However not all solvable games are automatically bad, such as chess, it is solvable but the possibility space is large enough to stay entertaining. The smaller the solvability space there is in a game, the less interesting the game becomes. Adding random elements into these games helps keep it fresh due to preventing players from 'mastering' the game.

Competitive games do not suit all audiences, such as a parent and child, as the matching is not equal. This would lead to repeated defeat, boredom or frustration. Adding random elements into this type of game would give less experienced players a chance to win. It also softens the blow of a defeat.

Games with no random elements will often start in the same way and players will make the same strategic choices throughout the game. Adding in a random element to this would make players encounter a wider variety of situations, therefore if used in the right way it can increase the players experience and thus increasing re-playability.

Random elements also create dramatic tension, this helps with games such as RPG's and RTS's which rely on this tension, creating exciting and compelling circumstances.


Mechanics of Chance:

A variety of game mechanics used to implement chance are as follows:

• Dice
• Cards
• Other Game Bits - such as spinners, coin flipping and a dreidel.
• Psuedo-Random Number Generators - although computers are driven by non random instructions, using specific algorithms it becomes close enough to chance (such as random encounters and damage numbers in RPG's).
• Hidden Information - It is non-random information but when concealed from the players, it is random from their perspective.

Randomness is not created equal. 'Measured Randomness' is where the nature of the random elements are known and can be planned for by the players. An example of this is dice rolls - the more dice there are the higher the outcome of a result.

Skill

Strategy is powerful as it makes the players come back to play again, this is due to players wanting to master the game based on varying strategies formed from their understanding of the game's dynamics. Game designers pre-plan and create this into their games wherever possible.

From it's core, a good game is a series of interesting decisions, and good games cause players to use and test their skills but then rewarding them with immediate and obvious feedback.

When players and constantly making decisions, they enter a state of 'flow' (as per psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi). 'Flow' is an optimal play style and one which games designers work hard to achieve.

Types of Decision:

A players skill in a game is determined by the decisions the player makes and the weight of those decisions, to how those decisions affect the outcome of the game.

• Obvious Decision - having a choice but choosing the 'obvious' outcome required to progress or win, as the alternative choice may lead to a negative outcome.
• Meaningless Decision - A choice with no right or wrong answer, having no outcome in the game therefore making the choice irrelevant.
• Blind Choices - A choice made with no previous information provided, equally important but not very interesting. These choices can be turned into other choices by giving the player enough information.
• Tradeoffs - A decision made when a player doesn't have enough resources to accomplish all their goals. This type of choice can lead to important decisions but can become obvious if the choice is not evenly weighted.
• Dilemnas - All choices lead to the players harm. (An example of this choice would be the video we watched in class on 13/11/12).
• Risk Versus Reward (Tradeoff) - A choice from a situation with multiple outcomes with each choice having different levels of risk but greater rewards given to the higher the risk taken.

Mechanics of Skill:

• Tradeoff - Used via auctions and purchases. Where a player must sacrifice something to gain another.
• (Dynamic) / Limited Use Special Abilities - The choice of when to use a specific skill as it may be a one time use.
• Explicit Choices - Choice by giving the player the information for both outcomes.
• Limited Actions - An example of this would be choosing to move a specific play piece over all others given that only one play piece can be moved per turn.
• Trading and Negotiation - Used in games with multiple players, it is used in both competition and co-operation.

Conclusion

This reading has given me examples of existing tools in the field that I will be able to utilise in designing and  creating my games during my course.

Most of the tools listed and examples given are ones which are self explanatory that we as designers would take for granted, but from this reading we understand their full meaning and where we should expect to use them. Some of the tools described, we would expect to see in most if not all of today's games.