Games and rules : game mechanics for the 'magic circle'
René Bauer (Editor), Mela Kocher (Editor), Beat Suter (Editor)
Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of Games and Rules take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games are control circuits that organize the game world with their (joint) players and establish motivations in a dedicated space, a Magic Circle, whereas game mechanics are constructs of rules designed for interactions that provide gameplay. Those rules form the base for all the excitement and frustration we experience in games. This anthology contains individual essays by authors with backgrounds in Game Design and Game Studies, who lead the discourse to get to the bottom of game mechanics in video games and the real world
1 online resource (321 pages) : illustrations
9783837643046, 9783839443040, 3837643042, 3839443040
1090813986
Play motivation. Rules of play as a framework for the "magic circle" / Beat Suter
Games as a special zone : motivation mechanics of games / René Bauer
Play computers : a letter to the reader / Miguel Sicart
Game mechanics. Requirements for a general game mechanics framework / Imre Hoffmann
Underneath and beyond mechanics : an activity-theoretical perspective on meaning-making in gameplay / Carlo Fabricatore
Guidance systems. Hansel and Gretel : design and reception of orientation cues in game space / Hiloko Kato and René Bauer
The spectacular space : rules and guiding principles of irrational spaces in games / René Bauer and Hiloko Kato
Nonverbal guidance systems : seamless player-leading in open-world games / Francine Rotzetter
Ethics. Ethics as a game mechanism / Wolfgang Walk
The player as puppet : visualized decisions as a challenge for computer games / Hiloko Kato and René Bauer
The ethical avatar / Wolfgang Walk and Mark L. Barrett
Game spaces. Rules shape spaces, spaces shape rules / Ulrich Götz
Game mechanics of serious urban games : designing for the Ludic City / Mela Kocher
NPC and non-human game design. NPC and me : how to become a non-player character / Günter Hack
When game mechanics come crawling out of ant colonies / Michelle Westerlaken