a talk about game&play
TRANSCRIPT
A talk about
Game & Play
Arif YassineCo-Founder of MGD / Game designer at Ubisoft
Overview
• Evolution of Game/play
• Yes We play!
• Let’s start the game
EVOLUTION OF GAME/PLAY
Antiquity
Middle Age
Modern
From a static tiles to a dynamic freespace moving
Digital Era
Democratization of video game development
YES WE PLAY!
PLAY is older than culture, for culture, however inadequately defined, always
presupposes human society, and animals have not waited for man to teach them
their playing
Johan Huizinga
The Magic circle
Game world
RealitySub-
Reality
Unstructured and spontaneous activities (Playfulness)
structured activities with explicit rules
(Games)
Paida Ludus
Roger Caillois, Man ,play and Games
4 Type of Play
Roger Caillois, Man ,play and Games
Play Vs Serious
5 characteristics of play
• Play is free, is in fact freedom.
• Play is not “ordinary” or “real” life.
• Play is distinct from “ordinary” life both as to
locality and duration
• Play creates order, is order. Play demands order absolute and supreme.
• Play is connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained from it
Roger Caillois, Man ,play and Games
A TALK ABOUT GAMES
What games aren’t
Definition of Game
“A game is a system in which playersengage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome” Eric Zimmerman and Katie Salen
System
http://pixelsordeath.com/
Bartle Player type
Killer Focus on
winning, Rank and competition
AchieverFocus on finishinggoals quickly or
completly
SocializerFocus on
socializing and develop a network
of friends
ExplorerFocus on
discovering the game system
Players
Interacting
World
Acting
Artificial Conflict
Rules
• Rules limit player action
• Rules are explicit and unambiguous
• Rules are shared by all players
• Rules are fixed
• Rules are binding
• Rules are repeatable
Rules of Play, Eric Zimmerman and Katie Salen
Quantifiable outcome
Art games you say ?
What would a game like this be ?
• It would thought provoking
• It would be revelatory
• It might contribute to the betterment of society
• It would force us to reexamine assumptions
• It would gives us different experience each time we tried it
• It would allow each of us to approach it in our own ways
• It would forgive misinterpretation – In fact, it might evenencourage it
• It would not dictate
• It would immerse and impose a world view
Raph Koster
Reference
• Art of Game design by Jesse Schell
• Theory of Fun by Raph Koster
• Rules of play by Eric Zichermann
• Man, Play, and society by Roger Caillois
• Homoludens by Johan Huizinga
