The Conceptual Relationship Model: Understanding Patterns and Mechanics in Game Design


Olsson Carl Magnus Björk Staffan Dahlskog Steve
2014 DiGRA '14 - Proceedings of the 2014 DiGRA International Conference

Rooted in the complexity of purposeful design, this paper embraces a phenomenological perspective of design as both a process and artifact. We use this perspective to interpret why the conceptualization and realization of design intentions can be difficult to achieve and why design is often perceived as a so called ‘wicked problem’. This paper revisits the concepts of game design patterns and game mechanics, arguing that refactoring these concepts is needed to clarify their relationships and motivations. We outline the separation of concerns between them and suggest that an additional contextualizing layer should be added to the discourse. Using this, we define and reflect upon what we refer to as the conceptual relationship model.

 

Isomorphic Game Interaction Technique Patterns for Single Button: Definition and Evaluation


Breyer Felipe Macêdo Samuel Kelner Judith
2014 DiGRA '14 - Proceedings of the 2014 DiGRA International Conference

Awkward control schemes or nonsense button-mashing are common complaints from gamers worldwide. Assigning actions to buttons can be a complicated task for the game designer due to the limited quantity of buttons available on the joystick used in the current generation of video games. Along the years, the industry has increased the number of buttons in the controllers, but despite this a more permanent solution is still required as one cannot simply keep adding new buttons. Note that there are only ten fingers to operate them, Therefore, studying new ways for game designers to make intelligent use of the available buttons and analog sticks is required in order to create more enjoyable interactions for games. In this paper, we investigate third-person view games with a humanoid avatar and propose an isomorphic approach with the objective of increasing the connection between the player and his character. We established three categories of action and, by crossing these; we created eight isomorphic interaction technique patterns. In addition to these, we also developed two prototypes. The first one applies the identified usage patterns whereas the second one presents a hybrid version. Next, we perform preference tests jointly with users in order to investigate the impact of our approach on user perception of the two games. The results have shown a higher level of approval towards the prototype that applied the patterns.

 

Exploring anonymity in cooperative board games


Linderoth Jonas
2011 DiGRA '11 - Proceedings of the 2011 DiGRA International Conference: Think Design Play

This study was done as a part of a larger research project where the interest was on exploring if and how gameplay design could give informative principles to the design of educational activities. The researchers conducted a series of studies trying to map game mechanics that had the special quality of being inclusive, i.e., playable by a diverse group of players. This specific study focused on designing a cooperative board game with the goal of implementing anonymity as a game mechanic. Inspired by the gameplay design patterns methodology (Björk & Holopainen 2005a; 2005b; Holopainen & Björk 2008), mechanics from existing cooperative board games were extracted and analyzed in order to inform the design process. The results from prototyping and play testing indicated that it is possible to implement anonymous actions in cooperative board games and that this mechanic made rather unique forms of gameplay possible. These design patterns can be further developed in order to address inclusive educational practices.