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Among Us Mechanics (Sicart) | Gameplay Design Patterns | MDA Worked Example: Among Us Mechanics (Sicart) | Gameplay Design Patterns | MDA Anders Sivertsson Preface ◼ My approach and interpretation ◼ Not the One Way to rule them all ◼ Rules of thumb, potentially good practices ◼ Subjective interpretation ◼ Especially when it comes to formatting, writing style etc ◼ Pick a way which suits you ◼ Make sure it’s clearly distinguishable from each other and clearly used ◼ Stay consistent – don’t mark just the first occurrence Assignment 2 ◼ Requirements of the text: ◼ Have descriptions of the games and their gameplay making use of game mechanics and gameplay design patterns (core gameplay should be covered, the whole games cannot be covered) and relate these to the MDA model ◼ Have clear explicit use of game mechanics and gameplay design patterns ◼ Patterns and mechanics that you have identified should be defined, others should have references ◼ Have a discussion what you could not capture in the models due to limitations in the tools Different Tools, Different Uses ◼ Gameplay Design Patterns ◼ Language of concepts, each pattern a device or trope for gameplay ◼ Identify similarities to existing (other) gameplay ◼ Build on / break expectations; intuit how the game will play out ◼ Motivate design choices and trace their effects ◼ Game Mechanics (Sicart) ◼ (inter)action descriptors ◼ How players (agents) interact to change the game state ◼ Focuses on actions and agents, rather than rules ◼ Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics (MDA) ◼ Categorization of game elements and gameplay aspects ◼ Connect rules to behaviours to player emotions ◼ Determine what a designer can and can’t control ◼ trace back to what we can control Be clear with what is which! ◼ They have different but overlapping uses ◼ Patterns can include Sicart mechanics and be on any MDA level ◼ Sicart mechanics are not (all) the same as MDA mechanics! ◼ Show that you understand the differences ◼ Indicate(e.g. formatting) which tool you’re using when you use them ◼ Keep indicating – otherwise it’s ambiguous that you’re still using the tool. The teachers will not guess. Among Us More in-depth gameplay example: https://youtu.be/8C3_9ovC5oQ Introducing the Game ◼ Who are we? ◼ Contextualize the player(s) ◼ What do we do? ◼ What will the (core) gameplay look like ◼ How do we win? ◼ What are our goals ◼ Why is it ”fun”? ◼ Interesting choices and standout experiences ◼ Unique selling points Inspired by Quintin Smith, Shut Up & Sit Down Introducing the Game ◼ Who are we? ◼ Crewmates and Impostors ◼ What do we do? Crewmates Perform tasks, report bodies, call meetings, vote people out, resolve crises Impostors Kill crewmates, sabotage, teleport (through vents), lie about innocence ◼ How do we win? ◼ Crewmates: ◼ Vote off impostors ◼ Finish all tasks ◼ Impostors: ◼ Kill all crewmates ◼ Crewmates fail to resolve crisis ◼ ”Why is it fun?” (Standout experiences) ◼ Deception, stress, suspense, mistrustful, replayable ◼ killed players remain in the game The tools in use: ”Before” The players are divided into secret teams of “crewmates”, whose goal it is to finish all their tasks, and “impostors” who attempt to kill all crewmates. They all navigate to different locations on the level, where the crewmates perform tasks and resolve crises. The impostors, meanwhile, look for isolated crewmates to kill, use vents to teleport across the map, and sabotage to delay the crewmates with doors to open and crises to resolve. If someone walks up to a body, they can report it which starts a meeting. They can also call a meeting by pressing the emergency meeting button at the meeting table at any time, except for during crises. When a meeting starts, all players are teleported to the meeting table and can communicate (through chat channels) and try to determine who is lying about being innocent. As the meeting draws to a close, players vote to either eject a specific player, or to skip ejecting. This is the crewmates’ only way to kill imposters. Killed players carry on as ghosts which can move through walls and perform tasks (crewmates) or sabotage (impostors), but who cannot interact with (and are invisible to) the alive players. Game Mechanics (according to Sicart) (inter)action descriptors Sicart Game Mechanics ◼ Describe how players (agents) act to influence the game state Crewmates Perform tasks, report bodies, call meetings, vote people out, resolve crises Impostors Kill crewmates, sabotage, teleport (through vents), lie about innocence Good Less good Perform tasks Lie Report bodies (Communicate) Call meetings (Survive) Vote (Follow others) Resolve crises These don’t interact with the game state but with other agents, only Kill indirectly affecting the game state. Sabotage Teleport (Walk) The tools in use The players are divided into secret teams of “crewmates”, whose goal it is to finish all their tasks, and “impostors” who attempt to kill all crewmates. They all navigate to different locations on the level, where the crewmates perform tasks and resolve crises. The impostors, meanwhile, look for isolated crewmates to kill, use vents to teleport across the map, and sabotage to delay the crewmates with doors to open and crises to resolve. If someone walks up to a body, they can report it which starts a meeting. They can also call a meeting by pressing the emergency meeting button at the meeting table at any time, except for during crises. When a meeting starts, all players are teleported to the meeting table and can communicate (through chat channels) and try to determine who is lying about being innocent. As the meeting draws to a close, players vote to either eject a specific player, or to skip ejecting. This is the crewmates’ only way to kill imposters. Killed players carry on as ghosts which can move through walls and perform tasks (crewmates) or sabotage (impostors), but who cannot interact with (and are invisible to) the alive players. The tools in use: Mechanics The players are divided into secret teams of “crewmates”, whose goal it is to finish all their tasks, and “impostors” who attempt to kill all crewmates. They all navigate to different locations on the level, where the crewmates perform tasks and resolve crises. The impostors, meanwhile, look for isolated crewmates to kill, use vents to teleport across the map, and sabotage to delay the crewmates with doors to open and crises to resolve. If someone walks up to a body, they can report it which starts a meeting. They can also call a meeting by pressing the emergency meeting button at any time, except for during crises. When a meeting starts, all players are teleported to the meeting table and communicate (through chat channels) and try to determine who is lying about being innocent. As the meeting draws to a close, players vote to either eject a specific player, or to skip ejecting. This is the crewmates’ only way to kill imposters. Killed players carry on as ghosts which can move through walls and perform tasks (crewmates) or sabotage (impostors), but who cannot interact with (and are invisible to) the alive players. Gameplay Design Patterns Design devices/tropes for gameplay Gameplay Design Patterns ◼ Many uses ◼ Identify similarities to existing (other) gameplay ◼ Motivate design choices/paradigms ◼ Trace how design choices affect each other ◼ Very extensive! ◼ Use the questions to focus on subsections of the game ◼ Core patterns still useful to consider, since they affect the gameplay much Identifying a Pattern ◼ Look for something that you’ve seen in other games, or could imagine being used in other gameplay ◼ Lying, Venting, Impostors, Killing, Teams, Fog of War, Voting, … ◼ The more games you know, the more you’ll recognize ◼ Does not have to be games in the same medium! ◼ Switch to more generic language, not specific to the game ◼ Lying, Teleporting, Traitors, Killing, Teams, Fog of War, Voting, … ◼ Helps increasing recognizability between games, easier to find if in wiki ◼ Check the Wiki: www.gameplaydesignpatterns.org/ ◼ Search for your term, e.g. “Lying” ◼ Can’t find it? Try synonyms, e.g. “Bluffing” ◼ Still can’t find it? Define your own! With a one-sentence definition. ◼ If it’s there, use a reference. A general reference works if you use the names as is. Identifying a Pattern, cont. ◼ Check the Wiki: www.gameplaydesignpatterns.org/ ◼ Use existing pattern categories on the wiki! ◼ Especially helpful when designing games ◼ Browse along, but don’t think you’ll manage to read it all! ◼ There are over 600 patterns ◼ Can you guess what it’s about by the name? ◼ Does the one sentence definition (in italic) help? ◼ If it’s near what you’re looking for, read on! The tools in use The players are divided into secret teams of “crewmates”, whose goal it is to finish all their tasks, and “impostors” who attempt to kill all crewmates. They all navigate to different locations on the level, where the crewmates perform tasks and resolve crises. The impostors, meanwhile, look for isolated crewmates to kill, use vents to teleport across the map, and sabotage to delay the crewmates with doors to open and crises to resolve. If someone walks up to a body, they can report it which starts a meeting. They can also call a meeting by pressing the emergency meeting button at any time, except for during crises. When a meeting starts, all players are teleported to the meeting table and communicate (through chat channels) and try to determine who is lying about being innocent. As the meeting draws to a close, players vote to either eject a specific player, or to skip ejecting. This is the crewmates’ only way to kill imposters. Killed players carry on as ghosts which can move through walls and perform tasks (crewmates) or sabotage (impostors), but who cannot interact with (and are invisible to) the alive players. The tools in use: Patterns Unless otherwise stated, the patterns are from the gameplay design wiki [REFERENCE] The players are divided into secret teams of “crewmates”, whose goal it is to finish all their tasks, and “impostors” who attempt to kill all crewmates.
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