Homework for Next Class

1. Homework for Next Class Reading: Chapter 13 For a digital game of your choice (*): • Give an example of an element in the graphical user interface of the game that is part of the game’s rules • Give an example of an element in the graphical user interface that is not part of the game’s rules • Regarding your response to Question 2, does this element affects the play experience? • Give an example of an implicit rule for this game (*) describe this game in one paragraph including name, what type of game it is - RPG, RTS, etc-, and what is the objective of the game

2. Defining Rules and Levels of Rules(Chs. 11 & 12)

3. Rules: Example • Let us define the rules for Tic-Tac-Toe • These rules describe the formal system (i.e., neither the experience nor the cultural context) • Does the game change if we use “” instead of “X”, and “” instead of “O”? • What about if we use a nice background? • Does the experience change?

4. Characteristics of Game Rules • Rules limit player action • Rules are explicit and unambiguous • Is this ambiguous: “roll the dice and move forward as many positions as indicated by the resulting roll”? • Rule are shared by all players • Rules are fixed • But high level players in RPGs can do stuff that lower levels can’t. Does this means rules are not fixed in RPGs? • Rules are binding • Rules are repeatable

5. Rules and Strategy • We now know the characteristics of rules • What is an strategy? • What is the difference between an strategy and a rule?

6. Idea: Abstraction • A non-gaming example: Formulate a property or “formal structure” that is common to the following 2 sets of numbers: A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10} B = {1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014} • Formulating such properties provides a better understanding of sets, models, and systems • Surprisingly the same idea can be applied to games…

7. Another Game • Lets play these two games: • Tic-Tac-Toe • “3-to-15” game: • Two players alternate turns • On your turn pick a number between 1 and 9 that has not been picked before • The first player to pick exactly 3 numbers that add to 15 wins • These two games have a common formal structure • Don’t believe me? See next slide “Operational Rules”

8. Formal Structure or “Constitutive Rules” for Tic-Tac-Toe and 3-to-15 Which is more appealing: Tic-Tac-Toe or 3-to-15? • 9 4 • 7 5 3 • 6 1 8 • Both games have the same constitutive rules: • Players alternate making a unique selection from a grid of 3 x 3 • First player to select 3 in a row, column, diagonal wins • Otherwise, it is a draw “Constitutive Rules”

9. Level 1: Operational Rules • They delineate precisely how a player manipulates and interpret objects in the game • Describe specific actions that player takes • These are the rules that players read to understand what is the game about • These are the rules that are typically printed in the manual or instructions of the game

10. Level 2: Constitutive Rules • Describe the mathematical logic of the game • Actions are more general; can fit many games • Another Example: “Chutes and Ladders” • We know the operational rules • But what are the constitutive rules?

11. Constitutive Rules of “Chutes and Ladders” • Players begin with a value of 0 • Players alternate turns adding a random number from 1 to 6 • First to reach 100 wins • When player reaches certain numbers (e.g., 62) it adds or subtracts a certain amount (e.g., subtract 43)

12. Why not using rules close to the constitutive rules? • Why do we need the board in “Chutes and Ladders”? • Why not use the 1-to-100 rules? • Why this specific set of operational rules? • What are the constructive rules for RTS, RPG, FPS games? • Elegant design: no need for calculator • Meaningful: discernable • Meaningful: integrated • Some answers will be provided in the design analysis project • How can I tell if a set of constitutive rules is “right”? • Those rules should be the same for any other game in that Genre: Example 1 and Example 2

13. Level 3: Implicit Rules • Unwritten rules. Examples for Tic-Tac-Toe? • Fair play (“no cheating”!) • Etiquette • … • Unwritten rules. Examples for Warcraft? • Other examples: •  When teaching another player to play chess one may avoid certain rules • Sometimes an implicit rule is actually written. Example?

14. Summary • Games are structured activities • Rules determine the structure • An integral part of game design is therefore creating (and testing) the rules • Beta testing • Problems tuning rules can be game breaking • “More than a procedure for designing games, the three kinds of rules provide a framework for understanding how rules operate”