Formal Elements in Games

Throughout the history of game design, it has always been an important practice to observe the players engaged and try to understand how and why they react the way they do. It is difficult to think abstractly about what formal elements would come together to create the experience of play.  According to some thinkers on the subject, the only way for game design to evolve is if we can concisely discuss exactly what it is that makes Football an exciting play experience with the same language we would use to explain the same things about Super Mario.Fortunately the necessity for such a language has been addressed several times since it was first conjectured almost 14 years ago. and I would like to present some of the most distinguished "formal abstract design tools" that can be used to discuss nearly any game and how they can be utilized and combined to create new refreshing gameplay experiences.I will warn you there's a lot to cover here so I am going to jump into a brief overview of the most important design tools and then leave a link for further reading if anyone is interested.So without further ado, I present to you what could be considered 8 different Formal Abstract Design tools (or formal elements for short).

• Players

Players can be used to define any in-game object that the person playing the game interacts with directly using a keyboard or controller. Players may also be an artificial intelligence created by the game.This makes sense to use as a tool because it is the most basic and fundamental inclusion of any game, without the player there would be no system to interact with. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. after all some games require very little "system" to operate, for example "tag" is a game in which players are forced to abide by certain rules and only have each other to interact with. Several player interaction patterns can be observed when we start to break up games in this way. The most popular examples are-Player vs. Game (system)-Multiple players vs. Game-Player vs. Player-Unilateral competition-Multilateral competition-Cooperative play-Team CompetitionNow it becomes a little easier to describe and compare the radically different play experiences of Super Mario and Football. Super Mario contends a Player vs. Game interaction. The single player must traverse the Game world and face all its obstacles whereas football players act together in a team competition. There is no one person in a football game otherwise it would not work, but my absolute favourite example of how a game uses the concept of Players in its game design would have to be the Chinese Card game "三国杀" (which literally translates to three kingdom kill) or as it is known in English "legends of the three kingdoms"in which there can be up to 10 players, who must choose a role from: 1 lord, 1-3 ministers, 1-4 rebels, 1-2 turncoats, without anyone but the monarch revealing their role. The rebels must discover and eliminate the monarch before the ministers and monarch eliminate the rebels, and the turn coats must not allow the king to die until the very end of the game to claim their victory.What makes this game so special is the suspense and anticipation you have while making a move. You never want to do something that will give you a way to the other players. However you don't want to play too conservatively and not make any progress towards victory. A very interesting conflict is created out of the way the players must interact with each other and this adds to the gameplay experience in a positive exciting way. Check out a review of the game for more info.

• Objectives

The next Formal element I would like to discuss is Objectives. Objectives (or intentions) are what the player uses to discern what their next course action will be. Perhaps the player has just discovered that in order to progress the plot, a major enemy must be defeated, now the player may choose to climb the mountain and face the monster head on, or perhaps he/she will want to grind a few levels before doing so. Objectives can be something very clearly defined by the system or Game to let you know how you should progress, or it could be something completely player defined. Online games tend to see more of the latter where people’s online avatars and their objectives can almost be viewed as an extension of their personality. In fact, Richard Bartle described 4 different types of players you can discern just based on their objectives in the online world: explorers, achievers, socializers and killers.Furthermore the different types of objectives in games can be broken down even more to encapsulate the wide range of games that exist between the immersive worlds of the mushroom kingdom and Super bowl Sunday. This list is by no means complete but serves as a good starting pointCapture- in which you are trying to capture or eliminate your enemy’s resources (a bomb, other players, land etc.)Chase - you want to find/catch your opponent or get away from them.Race - reach the goal or finish line before any other player in this objective type.Alignment - get three in a row, or a line from point A to point B. essentially align your game pieces appropriately to win!Rescue or Escape- In this objective type you want find the prize (could be a princess or a chocolate bar) and then furiously escape any challenge the game throws at you.Forbidden act- This objective has you trying to trick another player into making the wrong move, like putting his fire guy in water, or attacking you without realizing you have a reflective shield.Tactical RPGs have some of the most interesting uses for objectives my recommended game for this is Yggdra Union

• ProceduresOk so now you have a clear objective in mind but... how do you go about completing it?This is where procedure becomes extremely important. Procedures are the rules defined by the game system that allow you to make certain moves. This can be as simple as pressing "up" to move your character forward past the finish line, but it can be as complicated as a 10 button combo to perform the final combo in killer instinct.
  • RulesRules falls logically into place after procedures as it determines what your game world will allow you to do with these procedures. There are rules which define certain aspects of the game's world that describe the nature in which certain objects come in to play like the effect of a healing potion or the role of a linebacker in football. You can also have restrictive rules; these are in place so that you intentionally can't do something. A good example would be like in StarCraft you may not build a certain amount of units unless you have built the appropriate amount of supply depots to support them all. Rules Determining Effects is another type of rule that relates more closely to triggering events. This is like in final fantasy when you get hit by poison and then that poison starts to eat away at your health.
  • Resources

  Resources are one of the most interesting aspects of games. When used correctly they are one of the most satisfying and can also create a sense of expression depending on how the resource is used.Common examples of resources in games areLivesUnitsHealthCurrencyActionsPower-UpsTimejust to give you a general idea, of course this list could go on much more. One of the best uses of resources I have seen in a game comes from the Atelier series of games. Which are famous for really forcing you to manage your resources wisely and time efficiently.

• ConflictThis is what moves things forward, and forces you as a player to make decisions in the game you are playing whether you are facing certain obstacles or opponents you may need to take a moment and thing about what your next move will be before you make it. Some games create actual Dilemmas in which 2 or more distinct paths will be available like the dialogues trees in Fallout. Or some of the social links in Persona 3/4
• BoundariesBoundaries are very simple. If you are not playing the game, you are not within the boundary. A boundary is defined as anywhere you can be considered playing the game, and as soon as you break the immersion you are not within the boundary. The best way to describe it is when you are really focused playing an online game and then you hear the toaster go off for your pop tarts. As exciting and pleasurable those pop tarts may be, they are not within the boundary of the game.Most digital games are bound to a screen, or to be more specific in a software application on the computer. However there does seem some push for experimenting with boundaries using technology like Kinect and WiiU.
• Outcomeand of course why are you even playing this game in the first place?Outcome is very important because it’s what the user gained from the experience. Perhaps it was the fun experience of jumping on monsters and saving princesses, or perhaps a more novel experience that hinged on narrative. Many sporting events have cheering crowds and endorsement as an outcome, something that has only recently creeped into digital games with the e-sporting craze.I hope in the future that more games are able to create more enriching outcomes that teach us valuable lessons, and really force us to think about the experience they just had.

This is just a brief list of elements that make games interesting but is by no means all inclusive. It is important to remember that there are many different views on how play really works and there are an endless number of angles the very broad topic of game design can be approached. In my next post I would like to focus on the different dramatic elements in games as an approach to designing games.