VI - Building Blocks of a Game.

I recently read a few extracts related to the parts required to make a game, in these writings, topics are listed and evaluated on how they help to make that game good and how they can be translated to other games. In “Challenges for Games Designers”, there is a chapter titled Game Design Atoms. This chapter of the book is all about the parts that make up a game, all the ‘atoms’ that are made separately and then added together to form the full entity that is the game.

It starts out with the Game State, which is a collection of all the relevant information in the game which is subject to change. It not only includes the current, but possible as well, so every possible move, every previous change, every score and stat change all that sort of information makes up the game state. Game state decides how the world works and what the player can do, the player isn’t aware of the entire game state, even in older games; all of this information is readily available to an enthusiastic gamer but isn’t required to play. In modern games, understanding the game state, even if only partially can enable the player more control over the game world and give him the ability to predict and influence the games actions the way he wants.

The Game View is what the player can see; it is defined and caused by the game state. The game view is an immensely important aspect of a game as it shows the player what he is seeing, instead of reading a book to understand the state of the world the game is set on, the player is shown. It is a much more powerful way of conveying a view and meaning to the player than having them read it as if they were playing D&D. 

Game Space is the entire area of the game, including all the areas the player doesn’t get a chance to see. It includes every area in a game, accessible or not. Game space provides a fantasy setting, giving the option for the player to get involved in a game and believe in it. If there is more than what the player can see at one time, then it can seem interesting as it is natural to want to know the unknown, see everything that’s out there. 

Avatars are the digital representation of the real life player. Some games have no visual avatar in which case it usually has the player being in control of something, so they are managing the world as a behind the scenes leader of an empire, or city builder etc. 

Game Bits make up all the items inside a game world. Everything that the player interacts with is a ‘game bit’, npc’s to swords to rivers. It all comes under the category of things that fill up the world and make it more believable.

Game Mechanics are the rules to which the world and the player must abide. If the game world does not follow the same set of rules that the player does, then they will feel cheated and that their efforts are meaningless as the enemy only needs to work half as hard. This can be very frustrating in the newer 3D games when you move around an object one way, and the enemy can run through half of it, it makes the world feel broken and the player wont adjust to the rules in the correct fashion. Getting game mechanics incorporated into a game correctly can be a very long daunting task, as they each must compliment the other – if they clash then things won’t work well. 

A metagame is everything outside the game state, things that happen in real life or in other media forms like a forum. These things can add a social aspect to a game; even things like a fighter where there is no need for a large universe, or a thrilling storyline. It gives the chance for players to talk and discuss the game state and its various mechanics.

This is a list of all the different aspects that make up a game. Without going into too much detail in each point as they can all be broken down for any specific genre, this list is compatible for any game. In my next blog post I will discuss Doug Church and his view on a very similar topic.

SM – iHK

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