Formal Elements - Players
Players
Games are experiences designed for players.
Without players, games have no reason to exist.
It is important when designing a game that you
consider how to structure the involvement of
players in your game.
How many players does the game require?
How many total players does the game support?
Do various players have different roles?
Do players compete, cooperate, or both?
Number of Players
A game designed for one player is
different than a game designed for two,
four, or 10,000 players.
A game designed for a specific number of
players has different considerations than a
game designed for a variable number of
players.
Players
(cont.)
Solitaire and tic-tac-toe are games that
require an exact number of players.
Solitaire supports only one player – no
more, no less – the system will not
function otherwise.
Single player games supports one player
competing against the game system.
Players
(cont.)
Some games are designed to be played
with a range of players.
Parcheesi is a game designed for two –
four players.
Monopoly is designed for two – eight
players.
Massively multiplayer games are designed
to function with the number of players
ranging into the tens of thousands.
Roles of Players
Most games have uniform roles for all players in
the game.
Some games have more than one role for
players to choose between. In Mastermind, one
player chooses to be the code-breaker, while the
other chooses to be the code-maker.
Role Playing Games (RPG’s) have a variety of
roles for players to choose between.
Player Interaction Patterns
When you design a game, what will be the
interaction between a player, the game system
and any other players?
There are seven major player patterns:
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Single player versus game
Multiple individual players versus game
Player versus player
Unilateral competition
Multilateral competition
Cooperative play
Team competition
Single Player vs Game
Most common pattern for digital gaming
Includes puzzles and other game
structures to create conflict.
Multiple Individual Players vs
Game
Multiple players compete against the game in the
company of each other.
Action is not directed at each other.
No interaction between players is required.
Essentially, this pattern is a single-player game
played in the company of others.
Player vs Player
A game where two players directly compete.
Classic structure for strategy games.
Works well for competitive players.
One-on-one makes competition a personal contest.
The intense competition marks this pattern for focused, head-tohead play.
Unilateral Competition
Two or players compete against one player.
Examples include tag and dodge ball.
Interesting model for combining cooperative and
competitive gameplay.
Multilateral Competition
Game structure in which three or more players directly compete.
This pattern is what people think of when they think of multiplayer
games.
Board games are multilateral for between three – six players usually.
Cooperative Play
Two or more players cooperate against
the game system.
Often found in children’s board games.
Team Competition
Game structure in which two or more groups compete.
Includes soccer, basketball and charades.
This game structure can provide fun for fans of the
teams as well as the players.