Game Objectives
Provide Challenges
Set the tone of the game
Affects formal game system
Affects game dramatics
Consider the following:
What are some of the objectives of games you
have played?
What impact do these objectives have on the
tone of the game?
Do certain genres of play lend themselves to
certain objectives?
What are player-determined
objectives?
What is an Objective?
The objective of the game is
what players strive for.
They define what players
are trying to accomplish with
the game.
In the best games,
objectives are challenging
just obtainable.
Examples of Game Objectives
Clue: Be the first
player to deduce
who, where, and
how a murder was
committed.
Examples of Game Objectives
Battleship: Be
the first player
to sink all five of
your opponent’s
battleships.
Examples of Game Objectives
Connect Four: Be
the first player to
place four units in
a contiguous line
on the playing
grid.
Examples of Game Objectives
Chess: Checkmate
your opponent’s
king.
Examples of Game Objectives
Super Mario Brothers:
Rescue Princess
Toadstool from the evil
Bowser by completing
all eight worlds.
Examples of Game Objectives
Civilization: Conquer all other
civilizations on the board.
Categories of Game Objectives
Capture
Chase
Race
Alignment
Rescue or Escape
Forbidden Act
Construction
Exploration
Solution
Outwit
Capture Game Objective
The objective is to take or
capture something of the
opponent’s while avoiding being
captured or killed.
Real-time strategy games.
Examples: checkers and chess.
Also in this category are realtime strategy games.
The concept of capturing or
killing the opponent’s forces in
one ingrained in games.
Capture Game Examples:
Battleship
Capture the Flag
Civilization
Chase Game Objective
Catch or elude an opponent
Can be single-player vs game, player vs
player, or unilateral competition.
Determined by:
– Speed or physical dexterity
– Stealth and strategy
– Logic and deduction
Chase Game Examples
Tag
Laser Tag
Fox and Geese
Maximum Chase
Race Game Objective
Reach a goal –
physical or conceptual
–Examples could be a
footrace, a board
game like Uncle
Wiggly or Parcheesi.
Determined by
physical dexterity, or
by a mix of strategy
and chance – like
Backgammon.
Race Game Examples
Uncle Wiggily
Backgammon
Sorry
Chinese Chickers
Alignment Game Objective
Arrange your game is to
arrange your game pieces in a
certain configuration or create
conceptual alignment between
categories of pieces.
Often puzzle-like because they
require “solving” spatial or
organizational problems.
Determined by:
– logic and calculation
– Chance opportunity
Alignment Game Examples
Bejeweled
Connct 4
Jenga
Tic Tac Toe
Tetris
Rescue or Escape Game Objective
Get a defined unit or units
to safety or escape from a
boundary or mental
challenge.
Can be combined with
other partial-objectives.
Rescue or Escape Game Objective
Super Mario brothers
Great Dinosaur
Rescue
Turtix Rescue
Adventure
Forbidden Act Game Objective
Get competition to “break
the rules” by laughing,
talking, letting go, making
wrong moves, or doing
something they shouldn’t.
Not often found in digital
games.
Sometimes involves
stamina or flexibility.
Forbidden Act Game Examples
Twister
Ker Plunk
Operation
Pick up sticks
Construction Game Objective
Build, maintain, or manage
objects
May be directly competitive
or indirectly competitive.
Often make use of resource
management or trading as
a game element.
Construction Game Examples
SimCity
Civilization
Animal Crossing
Second Life
Magnext
Exploration Game Objective
Explore game areas –
usually combined with a
competitive objective.
Sometimes multiple
objectives such as
exploration, puzzle solving,
and combat intertwine to
form multifaceted
gameplay.
Exploration Game Examples
Zelda
EverQuest
Goldland
Solution Game Objective
Solve a problem or
puzzle before your
opponents or against
the computer
Solution Game Examples
Myst
World of Goo
Pipes
Outwit Game Objective
Gain and use
knowledge in a way that
defeats the other
players.
Sometimes “extragame” knowledge
comes into gameplay
(Jeopardy or Trivial
Pursuit).
May provoke interesting
social dynamics.
Outwit Game Examples
Trivial Pursuit
Survivor
Win Lose or Draw
Jeopardy
Turn the Tide