Game Elements Reading

Having read "Formal Abstract Design Tools" by Doug Church, published in July of 1999, I have opened my eyes a little more to the fast progression of games in the past two decades. It is amazing to see how the same design principles that we use today were only being termed around the time of games like Mario 64 (1996), which is used as an example in the article.

Some of the tools that Church talks about in the article are "Cooperation, Conflict and Confusion". Church talks about how the player of a game like Mario 64 or others, will experience intention or consequence. When performing tasks in the game there are only so many ways a task or action can be performed (which are created by the game designers) so it is up to the designers to create tasks that are challenging enough that the consequence is not completing the task to advance in the game, but that the player can work out the intentional action to perform the task and progress.

This is all about the balance between the players having control and the designer having control. Finding the perfect balance between the two can be tricky but when it works, and the player is totally engrossed in your game, that is the payoff. That is the most important thing that I believe I have taken from the article.

Super Mario logo - Source

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