[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Symmetry Patterns]]
[[Category:Resource Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs work]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Needs examples]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
[[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
[[Category:Stub]]
[[Category:To be Published]]
[[Category:Staffan's current workpage]]
''The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.''

This pattern is a still a stub.

=== Examples ===

==== Anti-Examples ====
optional

== Using the pattern ==

=== Diegetic Aspects ===

=== Interface Aspects ===

=== Narration Aspects ===

== Consequences ==

== Relations ==

=== Can Instantiate ===
-

==== with ... ====

=== Can Modulate ===
-

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
-

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
-

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
-

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''...'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

''or''

New pattern created in this wiki.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) ''Patterns in Game Design''. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
-

Trading

2023-03-15T10:27:43Z

Staffan Björk:

[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Resource Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs work]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Needs examples]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
[[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
[[Category:Stub]]
[[Category:To be Published]]
[[Category:Staffan's current workpage]]
''The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.''

This pattern is a still a stub.

=== Examples ===

==== Anti-Examples ====
optional

== Using the pattern ==

=== Diegetic Aspects ===

=== Interface Aspects ===

=== Narration Aspects ===

== Consequences ==

== Relations ==
[[Resource Sources]]

=== Can Instantiate ===
-

==== with ... ====

=== Can Modulate ===
-

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
-

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
-

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
-

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''...'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

''or''

New pattern created in this wiki.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) ''Patterns in Game Design''. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
-

Scores

2023-03-08T09:24:08Z

Staffan Björk: /* Can Modulate */

[[Category:Mechanical Patterns]]
[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
[[Category:To be Published]]
''Numerical values used in games to determine winners.''

Many games determine a winner for each game instance, or at least an ordering of how well players managed to reach the goals offered by the game (which can include having people tied in how well they succeeded). Games that do this through providing each player or team with a numerical value uses [[Scores]].

=== Examples ===
Many [[:Category:Board Games|Board Games]] use [[Scores]] to determine a winner. Some, e.g. [[Hare and Tortoise]] and [[Settlers of Catan]], end when a player has a high enough [[Scores|Score]] while others, e.g. [[Carcassonne]], [[Egizia]], [[Race for the Galaxy]], and [[Ticket to Ride]], end due to specific requirements and [[Scores]] are then counted. Scenarios in [[Memoir '44]] are typically not balanced between the two sides but through using scores for each game players can switch sides after a first game instance and compare their results of two game instances to get a balanced combined score.

[[Scores]] are used to determine the winner in [[Go]] but not in [[Chess]] (unless someone surrenders in [[Go]]). However, in tournaments [[Scores]] can be used based on winning individual game instances, and the rankings one can achieve through participating in organized games and tournaments can be seen as a type of meta [[Scores|Score]].

Several [[:Category:Computer Games|Computer Games]] use [[Scores]] as ways of letting players of single-player games be able to compare themselves to other players and previous times they have played. Examples of such games include [[Bejeweled]], [[Icy Tower]], and [[Staries]]. "Deathmatch" version of [[:Category:FPS Games|FPS Games]] such as the [[Quake series]] and the [[Unreal Tournament series]] have the number of kills one has made as [[Scores]] (killing oneself is typically counted as -1 kill). Other games, e.g. [[Candy Crush Saga]], don't have global [[Scores]] but which level a player has reached can function as a form of [[Scores|Score]] in them since it does show how far players have managed to progress.

Team vs. team play in the [[Left 4 Dead series]] give points to the infected team based on how far they managed to traverse a level. Since the teams have asymmetrical abilities and starting positions (like [[Memoir '44]]), the roles as reversed so both teams play as infected and the [[Scores]] they get are compared to determine winners.

The "ticket system" in the [[Battlefield series]] can be seen as an inverse [[Scores|Score]]. Each time starts with a certain amount and lose 1 ticket for each death in their team and not controlling enough flags result in tickets being removed at regular intervals. The amount of tickets the winning team has is through this basically a [[Scores|Score]] like [[Scores]] in other games.

== Using the pattern ==
Designing a system for [[Scores]] in a game consists of deciding when players [[Scores]] are adjusted, how much they are adjusted by, and if there are certain [[Scores|Score]] values which activate events, including ending the game. The last case is shows how [[Scores]] often can become [[Races]] (but see [[King of the Hill]] for an alternative).

[[Scores]] are typically a numeric value attached to individual players or [[Teams]]. In games where [[Collections]] of [[Resources]] are used to calculate victory, this combination of patterns create a type of [[Scores|Score]] system. However, some other attributes can be viewed as [[Scores]] so games without explicit [[Scores]] can have them implicitly. [[Character Levels]] is one such example since they can represent how much effort and skill players have put into the gameplay. [[Handicap Systems]] used in [[Go]] and [[Golf]] is another example since these can be seen as [[Scores]] in the [[Meta Games|Meta Game]] of being a good player in these games. In games where players progress in unlimited by lives over time and try to complete [[Levels]], e.g. [[Candy Crush Saga]] or [[Peggle]], the scoring of which [[Levels]] one has completed in [[Abstract Player Constructs]] serve a similar function to [[Scores]] in other [[Single-Player Games]].

Generalizing, [[Scores]] are typically increased as [[Rewards]] for succeeding with goals and decreased as [[Penalties]] for failing to succeed with goals. [[Pick-Ups]] and [[Combos]] are two patterns which quite often are directly linked to providing increased [[Scores]]. The actual update or finalization of [[Scores]] may be a [[Death Consequences]] but dying may in itself result in [[Scores]] decreasing so the patterns can modify each other. [[Handicap Systems]] can be used to both offer different starting [[Scores]] for players or to modify how they are given and removed, in both cases to create [[Player Balance]]. [[Revoke Rules]] are a special case of [[Penalties]] that apply to players for failing to follow rules (typically in games with [[Trick Taking]]).

While increasing one's [[Scores|Score]] can be a goal in itself, games sometimes provides [[Rewards]] for reaching certain [[Scores]]. A common examples is increasing the number of [[Lives]] one has when reaching certain [[Scores]]; [[Pinball Dreams]] does this through providing a jackpot value common for all players that can provide [[Lives]].

[[Scores]] can be seen as [[Investments]] in games where players have choices between trying to improve their possibilities to affect future gameplay, i.e. create [[Gameplay Engines]], and getting points for their [[Scores]]. Players of both [[Dominion]] and [[Race for the Galaxy]] need to make decisions of this nature as part of considering to do a [[Construction/Scoring Phase Shift]]. When [[Scores]] can intentionally be decreased by players as a way of performing others actions ([[Murano]] is an example of this), [[Scores]] become [[Resources]] (so they can be both [[Resources]] and [[Investments]] at the same time).

[[Scores]] can affect all types of [[:Category:Winning Patterns|Winning Patterns]]. For games with [[Winning by Ending Gameplay]], they can either be the cause of gameplay ending when a player reaches a certain [[Scores|Score]] or be [[Tiebreakers]] if several players can end gameplay at the same time. For [[Unwinnable Games]] they are a form of [[Progress Indicators]] while they are typically the prime way of determining winners in games using [[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]] but may be complemented by [[Tiebreakers]]. While [[Scores]] in [[Multiplayer Games]] rather obviously give players ways of having [[Competition]] against each other, they can work the same way in [[Single-Player Games]] through the use of [[High Score Lists]] to let players compete against themselves or others through comparing [[Scores]] between game instances (an example of using [[Scores]] as [[Trans-Game Information]]).

The possibilities of increasing [[Scores]] can be set up so that they become [[Risk/Reward]] choices, typically that one takes higher risks of not getting any points (or a risk of getting negative points) for the chance of getting more points if one gets any points at all. The distribution of individual ways of increasing (or decreasing) [[Scores]] can be set up to follow [[Arithmetic Progression|Arithmetic]], [[Geometric Progression|Geometric]], or [[Discontinuous Progression]]. Motivations for which of these progression schemes as most suitable depend very much on the specifics of a game design but [[Geometric Progression]] may be more suitable in cases where a design should have [[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]]. [[Time Limited Game Instances]] can be used to put implicit maximum limits to the [[Scores]] possible and let players compete on being as quick as possible in gathering points rather than as efficient as possible.

[[End State Scoring]] and [[Secret Scoring Mechanisms]] are two general ways of modifying how [[Scores]] work in a game, both promoting [[Tension]] and [[Uncertainty of Outcome]]. [[Scores]] can easily be tied to [[Extra-Game Consequences]] through [[Gambling]], i.e. through requiring payment in money to play and offering payment back as [[Rewards]].

When tying events and [[Extra-Game Consequences]] to [[Scores]] it may be necessary to consider if [[Tied Results]] are possible and should be allowed. [[Tiebreakers]] is the solution to avoid having [[Tied Results]].

=== Diegetic Aspects ===
[[Scores]] are often difficult to explain within a game's theme, so using it easily breaks [[Thematic Consistency]] and often thereby also [[Diegetic Consistency]].

=== Interface Aspects ===
[[Scores]] are typically important information in games where they are used, and for this reason often part of [[Gameplay Statistics]] and [[Game State Indicators]]. [[Score Tracks]] is a specific interface (or visualization) component dedicated for this.

== Consequences ==
[[Scores]] are probably the most basic and one of the most used elements in [[Abstract Player Constructs]]. They make games have the [[Continuous Goals|Continuous Goal]] of [[Collecting]] points which can also be seen as a [[Races|Race]] to either first reach a certain [[Scores|Score]] or have the highest [[Scores|Score]] when gameplay ends. Through this they act as [[Facilitating Rewards]] in the sense that they facilitate players in being able to end or win games. They make easy values to use as [[Trans-Game Information]] in [[Tournaments]] which can result in [[Player Elimination]] for those with low [[Scores]], and can easily act as [[Tiebreakers]] in games built to use [[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]] ([[Memoir '44]] being an example of this). In games with phases, a focus on increasing one's [[Scores|Score]] as much as possible it typically a characteristics of an [[Exploitation]] phase.

If [[Scores]] can be used as [[Resources]], they are typically [[Non-Localized Resources]]. When publicly accessible, they simultaneously are a type of [[Progress Indicators]] and [[Game State Overviews]] which create [[Stimulated Planning]] and [[Tension]]. This can give rise to [[Dynamic Alliances]] working against a [[Predictable Winner]] in [[Multiplayer Games]]. While wanting to win over other players can be sufficient reason for [[Multiplayer]] games to have [[Replayability]], [[Scores]] in [[Single-Player Games]] can promote [[Replayability]] in trying to beat one's own [[Scores|Score]] from previous game instances and this can be seen as a weak use of [[Trans-Game Information]] (a stronger such use of [[Scores]] is through the use of [[High Score Lists]]).

[[Save Points]] and [[Save-Load Cycles]] tend to not work well with [[Scores]] since players can go back repeatedly in attempts to maximize their scores.

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Abstract Player Constructs]],
[[Collecting]],
[[Continuous Goals]],
[[Exploitation]],
[[Facilitating Rewards]],
[[Game State Overviews]],
[[High Score Lists]],
[[Investments]],
[[Non-Localized Resources]],
[[Player Elimination]],
[[Progress Indicators]],
[[Races]],
[[Replayability]],
[[Resources]],
[[Rewards]],
[[Stimulated Planning]],
[[Tension]],
[[Tied Results]],
[[Trans-Game Information]],
[[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]

==== with [[Extra-Game Consequences]] ====
[[Gambling]]

==== with [[Gameplay Engines]] ====
[[Construction/Scoring Phase Shift]]

==== with [[Multiplayer Games]] ====
[[Dynamic Alliances]],
[[Predictable Winner]]

==== with [[Winning by Ending Gameplay]] ====
[[Tiebreakers]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]],
[[Death Consequences]],
[[King of the Hill]],
[[Lives]],
[[Main Goals]],
[[Multiplayer Games]],
[[Single-Player Games]],
[[Teams]],
[[Tournaments]],
[[Unwinnable Games]],
[[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]],
[[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Character Levels]]

[[Collections]] together with [[Resources]]

[[Handicap Systems]] together with [[Meta Games]]

[[Abstract Player Constructs]] together with [[Levels]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Arithmetic Progression]],
[[Combos]],
[[Death Consequences]],
[[Discontinuous Progression]],
[[End State Scoring]],
[[Extra-Game Consequences]],
[[Gameplay Statistics]],
[[Game State Indicators]],
[[Geometric Progression]],
[[Handicap Systems]],
[[Penalties]],
[[Pick-Ups]],
[[Revoke Rules]],
[[Risk/Reward]],
[[Score Tracks]],
[[Secret Scoring Mechanisms]],
[[Tiebreakers]],
[[Time Limited Game Instances]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Diegetic Consistency]],
[[Save Points]],
[[Save-Load Cycles]],
[[Thematic Consistency]]

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''Score'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) ''Patterns in Game Design''. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
-

Scores

2023-03-08T09:23:24Z

Staffan Björk: /* Consequences */

[[Category:Mechanical Patterns]]
[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
[[Category:To be Published]]
''Numerical values used in games to determine winners.''

Many games determine a winner for each game instance, or at least an ordering of how well players managed to reach the goals offered by the game (which can include having people tied in how well they succeeded). Games that do this through providing each player or team with a numerical value uses [[Scores]].

=== Examples ===
Many [[:Category:Board Games|Board Games]] use [[Scores]] to determine a winner. Some, e.g. [[Hare and Tortoise]] and [[Settlers of Catan]], end when a player has a high enough [[Scores|Score]] while others, e.g. [[Carcassonne]], [[Egizia]], [[Race for the Galaxy]], and [[Ticket to Ride]], end due to specific requirements and [[Scores]] are then counted. Scenarios in [[Memoir '44]] are typically not balanced between the two sides but through using scores for each game players can switch sides after a first game instance and compare their results of two game instances to get a balanced combined score.

[[Scores]] are used to determine the winner in [[Go]] but not in [[Chess]] (unless someone surrenders in [[Go]]). However, in tournaments [[Scores]] can be used based on winning individual game instances, and the rankings one can achieve through participating in organized games and tournaments can be seen as a type of meta [[Scores|Score]].

Several [[:Category:Computer Games|Computer Games]] use [[Scores]] as ways of letting players of single-player games be able to compare themselves to other players and previous times they have played. Examples of such games include [[Bejeweled]], [[Icy Tower]], and [[Staries]]. "Deathmatch" version of [[:Category:FPS Games|FPS Games]] such as the [[Quake series]] and the [[Unreal Tournament series]] have the number of kills one has made as [[Scores]] (killing oneself is typically counted as -1 kill). Other games, e.g. [[Candy Crush Saga]], don't have global [[Scores]] but which level a player has reached can function as a form of [[Scores|Score]] in them since it does show how far players have managed to progress.

Team vs. team play in the [[Left 4 Dead series]] give points to the infected team based on how far they managed to traverse a level. Since the teams have asymmetrical abilities and starting positions (like [[Memoir '44]]), the roles as reversed so both teams play as infected and the [[Scores]] they get are compared to determine winners.

The "ticket system" in the [[Battlefield series]] can be seen as an inverse [[Scores|Score]]. Each time starts with a certain amount and lose 1 ticket for each death in their team and not controlling enough flags result in tickets being removed at regular intervals. The amount of tickets the winning team has is through this basically a [[Scores|Score]] like [[Scores]] in other games.

== Using the pattern ==
Designing a system for [[Scores]] in a game consists of deciding when players [[Scores]] are adjusted, how much they are adjusted by, and if there are certain [[Scores|Score]] values which activate events, including ending the game. The last case is shows how [[Scores]] often can become [[Races]] (but see [[King of the Hill]] for an alternative).

[[Scores]] are typically a numeric value attached to individual players or [[Teams]]. In games where [[Collections]] of [[Resources]] are used to calculate victory, this combination of patterns create a type of [[Scores|Score]] system. However, some other attributes can be viewed as [[Scores]] so games without explicit [[Scores]] can have them implicitly. [[Character Levels]] is one such example since they can represent how much effort and skill players have put into the gameplay. [[Handicap Systems]] used in [[Go]] and [[Golf]] is another example since these can be seen as [[Scores]] in the [[Meta Games|Meta Game]] of being a good player in these games. In games where players progress in unlimited by lives over time and try to complete [[Levels]], e.g. [[Candy Crush Saga]] or [[Peggle]], the scoring of which [[Levels]] one has completed in [[Abstract Player Constructs]] serve a similar function to [[Scores]] in other [[Single-Player Games]].

Generalizing, [[Scores]] are typically increased as [[Rewards]] for succeeding with goals and decreased as [[Penalties]] for failing to succeed with goals. [[Pick-Ups]] and [[Combos]] are two patterns which quite often are directly linked to providing increased [[Scores]]. The actual update or finalization of [[Scores]] may be a [[Death Consequences]] but dying may in itself result in [[Scores]] decreasing so the patterns can modify each other. [[Handicap Systems]] can be used to both offer different starting [[Scores]] for players or to modify how they are given and removed, in both cases to create [[Player Balance]]. [[Revoke Rules]] are a special case of [[Penalties]] that apply to players for failing to follow rules (typically in games with [[Trick Taking]]).

While increasing one's [[Scores|Score]] can be a goal in itself, games sometimes provides [[Rewards]] for reaching certain [[Scores]]. A common examples is increasing the number of [[Lives]] one has when reaching certain [[Scores]]; [[Pinball Dreams]] does this through providing a jackpot value common for all players that can provide [[Lives]].

[[Scores]] can be seen as [[Investments]] in games where players have choices between trying to improve their possibilities to affect future gameplay, i.e. create [[Gameplay Engines]], and getting points for their [[Scores]]. Players of both [[Dominion]] and [[Race for the Galaxy]] need to make decisions of this nature as part of considering to do a [[Construction/Scoring Phase Shift]]. When [[Scores]] can intentionally be decreased by players as a way of performing others actions ([[Murano]] is an example of this), [[Scores]] become [[Resources]] (so they can be both [[Resources]] and [[Investments]] at the same time).

[[Scores]] can affect all types of [[:Category:Winning Patterns|Winning Patterns]]. For games with [[Winning by Ending Gameplay]], they can either be the cause of gameplay ending when a player reaches a certain [[Scores|Score]] or be [[Tiebreakers]] if several players can end gameplay at the same time. For [[Unwinnable Games]] they are a form of [[Progress Indicators]] while they are typically the prime way of determining winners in games using [[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]] but may be complemented by [[Tiebreakers]]. While [[Scores]] in [[Multiplayer Games]] rather obviously give players ways of having [[Competition]] against each other, they can work the same way in [[Single-Player Games]] through the use of [[High Score Lists]] to let players compete against themselves or others through comparing [[Scores]] between game instances (an example of using [[Scores]] as [[Trans-Game Information]]).

The possibilities of increasing [[Scores]] can be set up so that they become [[Risk/Reward]] choices, typically that one takes higher risks of not getting any points (or a risk of getting negative points) for the chance of getting more points if one gets any points at all. The distribution of individual ways of increasing (or decreasing) [[Scores]] can be set up to follow [[Arithmetic Progression|Arithmetic]], [[Geometric Progression|Geometric]], or [[Discontinuous Progression]]. Motivations for which of these progression schemes as most suitable depend very much on the specifics of a game design but [[Geometric Progression]] may be more suitable in cases where a design should have [[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]]. [[Time Limited Game Instances]] can be used to put implicit maximum limits to the [[Scores]] possible and let players compete on being as quick as possible in gathering points rather than as efficient as possible.

[[End State Scoring]] and [[Secret Scoring Mechanisms]] are two general ways of modifying how [[Scores]] work in a game, both promoting [[Tension]] and [[Uncertainty of Outcome]]. [[Scores]] can easily be tied to [[Extra-Game Consequences]] through [[Gambling]], i.e. through requiring payment in money to play and offering payment back as [[Rewards]].

When tying events and [[Extra-Game Consequences]] to [[Scores]] it may be necessary to consider if [[Tied Results]] are possible and should be allowed. [[Tiebreakers]] is the solution to avoid having [[Tied Results]].

=== Diegetic Aspects ===
[[Scores]] are often difficult to explain within a game's theme, so using it easily breaks [[Thematic Consistency]] and often thereby also [[Diegetic Consistency]].

=== Interface Aspects ===
[[Scores]] are typically important information in games where they are used, and for this reason often part of [[Gameplay Statistics]] and [[Game State Indicators]]. [[Score Tracks]] is a specific interface (or visualization) component dedicated for this.

== Consequences ==
[[Scores]] are probably the most basic and one of the most used elements in [[Abstract Player Constructs]]. They make games have the [[Continuous Goals|Continuous Goal]] of [[Collecting]] points which can also be seen as a [[Races|Race]] to either first reach a certain [[Scores|Score]] or have the highest [[Scores|Score]] when gameplay ends. Through this they act as [[Facilitating Rewards]] in the sense that they facilitate players in being able to end or win games. They make easy values to use as [[Trans-Game Information]] in [[Tournaments]] which can result in [[Player Elimination]] for those with low [[Scores]], and can easily act as [[Tiebreakers]] in games built to use [[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]] ([[Memoir '44]] being an example of this). In games with phases, a focus on increasing one's [[Scores|Score]] as much as possible it typically a characteristics of an [[Exploitation]] phase.

If [[Scores]] can be used as [[Resources]], they are typically [[Non-Localized Resources]]. When publicly accessible, they simultaneously are a type of [[Progress Indicators]] and [[Game State Overviews]] which create [[Stimulated Planning]] and [[Tension]]. This can give rise to [[Dynamic Alliances]] working against a [[Predictable Winner]] in [[Multiplayer Games]]. While wanting to win over other players can be sufficient reason for [[Multiplayer]] games to have [[Replayability]], [[Scores]] in [[Single-Player Games]] can promote [[Replayability]] in trying to beat one's own [[Scores|Score]] from previous game instances and this can be seen as a weak use of [[Trans-Game Information]] (a stronger such use of [[Scores]] is through the use of [[High Score Lists]]).

[[Save Points]] and [[Save-Load Cycles]] tend to not work well with [[Scores]] since players can go back repeatedly in attempts to maximize their scores.

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Abstract Player Constructs]],
[[Collecting]],
[[Continuous Goals]],
[[Exploitation]],
[[Facilitating Rewards]],
[[Game State Overviews]],
[[High Score Lists]],
[[Investments]],
[[Non-Localized Resources]],
[[Player Elimination]],
[[Progress Indicators]],
[[Races]],
[[Replayability]],
[[Resources]],
[[Rewards]],
[[Stimulated Planning]],
[[Tension]],
[[Tied Results]],
[[Trans-Game Information]],
[[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]

==== with [[Extra-Game Consequences]] ====
[[Gambling]]

==== with [[Gameplay Engines]] ====
[[Construction/Scoring Phase Shift]]

==== with [[Multiplayer Games]] ====
[[Dynamic Alliances]],
[[Predictable Winner]]

==== with [[Winning by Ending Gameplay]] ====
[[Tiebreakers]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]],
[[Death Consequences]],
[[King of the Hill]],
[[Lives]],
[[Multiplayer Games]],
[[Single-Player Games]],
[[Teams]],
[[Tournaments]],
[[Unwinnable Games]],
[[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]],
[[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Character Levels]]

[[Collections]] together with [[Resources]]

[[Handicap Systems]] together with [[Meta Games]]

[[Abstract Player Constructs]] together with [[Levels]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Arithmetic Progression]],
[[Combos]],
[[Death Consequences]],
[[Discontinuous Progression]],
[[End State Scoring]],
[[Extra-Game Consequences]],
[[Gameplay Statistics]],
[[Game State Indicators]],
[[Geometric Progression]],
[[Handicap Systems]],
[[Penalties]],
[[Pick-Ups]],
[[Revoke Rules]],
[[Risk/Reward]],
[[Score Tracks]],
[[Secret Scoring Mechanisms]],
[[Tiebreakers]],
[[Time Limited Game Instances]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Diegetic Consistency]],
[[Save Points]],
[[Save-Load Cycles]],
[[Thematic Consistency]]

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''Score'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) ''Patterns in Game Design''. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
-

Unwinnable Games

2023-03-08T09:22:28Z

Staffan Björk:

[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Gameplay Arc Patterns]]
[[Category:Aesthetic Patterns]]
[[Category:Winning Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
''Games that do not have any winning conditions.''

Some games are not possible to win regardless of how well one performs. This is because the systems they use have no state defined as winning or no way to get there. Such games can still pose interesting challenges to players either by letting players could their own goals and winning conditions or by letting players compare their performance with previous performances by themselves or others.

Carse divides human activities into ''Finite Games and Infinite Games'' in his book with the same name<ref name="Carse"/>, and simplified his view of ''Infinite Games'' are [[Unwinnable Games]] that are played with the goal of continuing to play the game.

=== Examples ===
Early computer games such as [[Asteroids]] and [[Space Invaders]] were [[Unwinnable Games]] in that gamers were constantly given new obstacles as soon as they overcame their current ones. [[Pac-Man]] is designed in the same fashion but the original version has a software bug making it allegedly impossible to complete its 256th level[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man], making it open for interpretation if reaching the highest possible level in a game equals winning over it. The casual games [[Staries]] and [[Icy Tower]] are later examples of games that have no winning conditions.

Roleplaying games such as [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and [[GURPS]] do not have general winning conditions. Individual campaign might be winnable but the gameplay of improving one's character can continue and may likely be in the players interest. The 4th Edition of [[Dungeons and Dragons]] have structures of retiring characters when they reach level 30 (through gaining some form of immortality) but not even this needs to be seen as having completely beating the game since gameplay can continue with a new character. While simply surviving [[Paranoia]] scenarios with at least one of one's clones alive can be considered victories, the publishers of the roleplaying game published ''Code 7'' missions that required one more clone that players have.

Massively multiplayer online games such as [[World of Warcraft]] and [[Eve Online]] have similar structures but add challenges of fighting other players, accessing the best available equipment and gaining achievements.

[[September 12th]] and [[Hell Tetris]] are examples of games that make the realization that they are unwinnable one of the main experiences of playing them.

== Using the pattern ==
Games may be unwinnable to specific people because of lack of time, interest, or competence. This is however more a question of the players' possibilities than the design of a game, and when it is an effect of the design (rather than say the people not being the targeted audience) it is often seen as a problem with that design. [[Unwinnable Games]] in contrast are games whose system is design so that their is no winning condition and no players regardless of skills and devotion can achieve a certain game state designated as the winning one. Both [[Multiplayer Games]] and [[Single-Player Games]] can be [[Unwinnable Games]].

Three main - and compatible - ways of creating [[Unwinnable Games]] are [[Ever Increasing Difficulty]], [[Continuous Goals]], and [[Grinding]]. [[Ever Increasing Difficulty]] ensure that players at some point will lose due to not having enough competence (given that the game system can provide challenges beyond any player's competence). [[Continuous Goals]] that are necessary for continued gameplay rely on players at some time failing in competence or attention to a goal (e.g., a [[Survive]] goal for a player's [[Focus Loci]]). [[Grinding]] that lets players continuously do actions for little or no progress in the game, relying primarily on players losing interest in the gameplay and quitting for being unwinnable.

There are two typical reasons for creating [[Unwinnable Games]]. The first reason is that one may wish to reinforce the [[Replayability]] by not making it possible to ever beat the game completely. In this case there exists enforced end conditions, e.g. by strict [[Time Limits]] or [[Steadily Decreasing Resources]] and to make it possible to compare ones performance with earlier game session there typically also exists [[Trans-Game Information]] (e.g. [[Achievements]] or [[High Score Lists]]) so that [[Meta Games]] are possible. The second reason is to create [[Never Ending Stories]], that is, games without any end condition at all. Common in [[Roleplaying]] games, these games cannot have a winning condition for the whole game but instead needs to provide incentives to play in other ways. This is typically done through offering smaller local goals, either [[Ephemeral Goals]] or [[Player-Defined Goals]], or simple through the [[Social Interaction]] offered by the game or play activity. An issue with non-ending games is how to balance increased [[Gameplay Mastery]] and [[Improved Abilities]] with challenges so that the [[Challenging Gameplay]] is maintained. [[Red Queen Dilemmas]] is a possible solution to this by adding the difficulty as players gain more power to influence the game. However, non-ending games are incompatible with [[Time Limited Game Instances]] but this may not be a problem if [[Game Pauses]] are used since then the game and play sessions can be regulated instead.

While [[Unwinnable Games]] cannot end due to completing the game, they can have [[Game Termination Penalties]] and [[Game Over]] through dying, in fact this is common in many early examples of using the pattern.

One design possibility that is more suitable to [[Unwinnable Games]] than others is that of [[Entitled Players]]; it is less problematic to trust players with powers affecting how the game is played if they have less reason to misuse that power.

== Consequences ==
Every game state in an [[Unwinnable Games|Unwinnable Game]] is a [[Unwinnable Game States|Unwinnable Game State]]. At first glance it can seem strange that one can have or would want games which cannot be won since it removes what is typically the reason for activities to become meaningful in them. While other reasons for playing games exists, many games can however be the basis for [[Meta Games]] through [[Trans-Game Information]] (such as [[Achievements]] or [[High Score Lists]]) or [[Progress Indicators]] and can then still provide meaningful gameplay concerned with measuring how well one has performed. When [[Unwinnable Games]] allow this kind of gameplay, they somewhat paradoxically promote [[Replayability]]. Sometimes realizing the unwinnable nature of a game is an intention in the design; the [[:Category:Serious Games|Serious Game]] [[September 12th]] uses the impossibility of winning it to argue the futility in the struggle thematized by the game and the (earlier) movie War Games appropriates [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] to make a similar argument. Providing [[Illusionary Rewards]] can also make parts of [[Unwinnable Games]] meaningful since players may appreciate these challenges even if they are not affecting the game state.

When players notice that games are unwinnable they may see this as revealing an [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] in the game design. This may cause them to stop playing (which in a sense was the intention with the serious games mentioned in the previous paragraph since this would make the point that one should stop with the activity portrayed) but may also cause players to set up their own [[Player-Defined Goals]] that they consider win (and end) conditions. Regardless of when and why players stop playing [[Unwinnable Games]], they do so by [[Surrendering]] (to the game design).

Although [[Narration Structures]] can support players the gameplay structure in [[Unwinnable Games]], the narrative aspects are likely to not attract interest unless they change in significant ways between game sessions. More specifically, [[Predetermined Story Structures]] are difficult to have in [[Unwinnable Games]] since their content is limited and this may be exhausted by sufficiently long gameplay and [[Main Goals]] and [[Main Quests|Quests]] are in direct conflict with [[Unwinnable Games]] since completing these are ways of ''winning'' the game even if gameplay continues afterwards. That said, [[Main Goals]] are can be useful to give players motivation on what actions should be attempted in [[Unwinnable Games]], especially if there are ways of measuring or comparing who far players have come towards reaching the [[Main Goals]] (e.g. by having [[Scores]]).

[[Unwinnable Games]] may be seen as a rather easy way to avoid having a [[Predictable Winner]] at any point in a game, but this is not strictly true. First, the [[Predictable Winner]] may be nobody as the [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] example shows and second players may set up their own winning conditions between themselves, e.g. who can get the highest [[Scores|Score]] in a game of [[Pac-Man]] (so [[Scores]] can be used to modulate [[Unwinnable Games]]). Even so, [[Unwinnable Games]] can be used as part of a design strategy to make players less likely to identify any specific player as being able to reach the winning conditions set up by a game.

[[Multiplayer Games]] which are also unwinnable, e.g. most [[:Category:Tabletop Roleplaying Games|Tabletop Roleplaying Games]], will need to deal with [[Early Leaving Players]] since this will occur in all game instances except the ones where all players simultaneously stop playing.

For rather obvious reasons, i.e. having no winner, [[Unwinnable Games]] are incompatible with [[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]] and [[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]. It is also not possible for [[Unwinnable Games]] to have [[Endgame]] phases. [[Unwinnable Games]] can only appear to have [[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]] to those that do not know that the games are [[Unwinnable Games]], so the patterns are generally incompatible.

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Never Ending Stories]],
[[Replayability]],
[[Surrendering]],
[[Unwinnable Game States]]

==== with [[Multiplayer Games]] ====
[[Early Leaving Players]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Multiplayer Games]],
[[Single-Player Games]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Continuous Goals]],
[[Ever Increasing Difficulty]],
[[Grinding]],
[[Time Limits]],
[[Steadily Decreasing Resources]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Achievements]],
[[Entitled Players]],
[[Ephemeral Goals]],
[[Game Pauses]],
[[Game Over]],
[[Game Termination Penalties]],
[[High Score Lists]],
[[Illusionary Rewards]],
[[Main Goals]],
[[Meta Games]],
[[Player-Defined Goals]],
[[Progress Indicators]],
[[Red Queen Dilemmas]],
[[Scores]],
[[Trans-Game Information]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Challenging Gameplay]],
[[Endgame]],
[[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]],
[[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]],
[[Main Goals]],
[[Main Quests]],
[[Predetermined Story Structures]],
[[Predictable Winner]],
[[Time Limited Game Instances]],
[[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]],
[[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]

== History ==
New pattern created in this wiki.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Carse">. Carse, J.P. 1986. ''Finite and Infinite Games''. Penguin Books.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgments ==
-

Unwinnable Games

2023-03-08T09:19:47Z

Staffan Björk: /* Consequences */

[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Gameplay Arc Patterns]]
[[Category:Aesthetic Patterns]]
[[Category:Winning Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
''Games that do not have any winning conditions.''

Some games are not possible to win regardless of how well one performs. This is because the systems they use have no state defined as winning or no way to get there. Such games can still pose interesting challenges to players either by letting players could their own goals and winning conditions or by letting players compare their performance with previous performances by themselves or others.

Carse divides human activities into ''Finite Games and Infinite Games'' in his book with the same name<ref name="Carse"/>, and simplified his view of ''Infinite Games'' are [[Unwinnable Games]] that are played with the goal of continuing to play the game.

=== Examples ===
Early computer games such as [[Asteroids]] and [[Space Invaders]] were [[Unwinnable Games]] in that gamers were constantly given new obstacles as soon as they overcame their current ones. [[Pac-Man]] is designed in the same fashion but the original version has a software bug making it allegedly impossible to complete its 256th level[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man], making it open for interpretation if reaching the highest possible level in a game equals winning over it. The casual games [[Staries]] and [[Icy Tower]] are later examples of games that have no winning conditions.

Roleplaying games such as [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and [[GURPS]] do not have general winning conditions. Individual campaign might be winnable but the gameplay of improving one's character can continue and may likely be in the players interest. The 4th Edition of [[Dungeons and Dragons]] have structures of retiring characters when they reach level 30 (through gaining some form of immortality) but not even this needs to be seen as having completely beating the game since gameplay can continue with a new character. While simply surviving [[Paranoia]] scenarios with at least one of one's clones alive can be considered victories, the publishers of the roleplaying game published ''Code 7'' missions that required one more clone that players have.

Massively multiplayer online games such as [[World of Warcraft]] and [[Eve Online]] have similar structures but add challenges of fighting other players, accessing the best available equipment and gaining achievements.

[[September 12th]] and [[Hell Tetris]] are examples of games that make the realization that they are unwinnable one of the main experiences of playing them.

== Using the pattern ==
Games may be unwinnable to specific people because of lack of time, interest, or competence. This is however more a question of the players' possibilities than the design of a game, and when it is an effect of the design (rather than say the people not being the targeted audience) it is often seen as a problem with that design. [[Unwinnable Games]] in contrast are games whose system is design so that their is no winning condition and no players regardless of skills and devotion can achieve a certain game state designated as the winning one. Both [[Multiplayer Games]] and [[Single-Player Games]] can be [[Unwinnable Games]].

Three main - and compatible - ways of creating [[Unwinnable Games]] are [[Ever Increasing Difficulty]], [[Continuous Goals]], and [[Grinding]]. [[Ever Increasing Difficulty]] ensure that players at some point will lose due to not having enough competence (given that the game system can provide challenges beyond any player's competence). [[Continuous Goals]] that are necessary for continued gameplay rely on players at some time failing in competence or attention to a goal (e.g., a [[Survive]] goal for a player's [[Focus Loci]]). [[Grinding]] that lets players continuously do actions for little or no progress in the game, relying primarily on players losing interest in the gameplay and quitting for being unwinnable.

There are two typical reasons for creating [[Unwinnable Games]]. The first reason is that one may wish to reinforce the [[Replayability]] by not making it possible to ever beat the game completely. In this case there exists enforced end conditions, e.g. by strict [[Time Limits]] or [[Steadily Decreasing Resources]] and to make it possible to compare ones performance with earlier game session there typically also exists [[Trans-Game Information]] (e.g. [[Achievements]] or [[High Score Lists]]) so that [[Meta Games]] are possible. The second reason is to create [[Never Ending Stories]], that is, games without any end condition at all. Common in [[Roleplaying]] games, these games cannot have a winning condition for the whole game but instead needs to provide incentives to play in other ways. This is typically done through offering smaller local goals, either [[Ephemeral Goals]] or [[Player-Defined Goals]], or simple through the [[Social Interaction]] offered by the game or play activity. An issue with non-ending games is how to balance increased [[Gameplay Mastery]] and [[Improved Abilities]] with challenges so that the [[Challenging Gameplay]] is maintained. [[Red Queen Dilemmas]] is a possible solution to this by adding the difficulty as players gain more power to influence the game. However, non-ending games are incompatible with [[Time Limited Game Instances]] but this may not be a problem if [[Game Pauses]] are used since then the game and play sessions can be regulated instead.

While [[Unwinnable Games]] cannot end due to completing the game, they can have [[Game Termination Penalties]] and [[Game Over]] through dying, in fact this is common in many early examples of using the pattern.

One design possibility that is more suitable to [[Unwinnable Games]] than others is that of [[Entitled Players]]; it is less problematic to trust players with powers affecting how the game is played if they have less reason to misuse that power.

== Consequences ==
Every game state in an [[Unwinnable Games|Unwinnable Game]] is a [[Unwinnable Game States|Unwinnable Game State]]. At first glance it can seem strange that one can have or would want games which cannot be won since it removes what is typically the reason for activities to become meaningful in them. While other reasons for playing games exists, many games can however be the basis for [[Meta Games]] through [[Trans-Game Information]] (such as [[Achievements]] or [[High Score Lists]]) or [[Progress Indicators]] and can then still provide meaningful gameplay concerned with measuring how well one has performed. When [[Unwinnable Games]] allow this kind of gameplay, they somewhat paradoxically promote [[Replayability]]. Sometimes realizing the unwinnable nature of a game is an intention in the design; the [[:Category:Serious Games|Serious Game]] [[September 12th]] uses the impossibility of winning it to argue the futility in the struggle thematized by the game and the (earlier) movie War Games appropriates [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] to make a similar argument. Providing [[Illusionary Rewards]] can also make parts of [[Unwinnable Games]] meaningful since players may appreciate these challenges even if they are not affecting the game state.

When players notice that games are unwinnable they may see this as revealing an [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] in the game design. This may cause them to stop playing (which in a sense was the intention with the serious games mentioned in the previous paragraph since this would make the point that one should stop with the activity portrayed) but may also cause players to set up their own [[Player-Defined Goals]] that they consider win (and end) conditions. Regardless of when and why players stop playing [[Unwinnable Games]], they do so by [[Surrendering]] (to the game design).

Although [[Narration Structures]] can support players the gameplay structure in [[Unwinnable Games]], the narrative aspects are likely to not attract interest unless they change in significant ways between game sessions. More specifically, [[Predetermined Story Structures]] are difficult to have in [[Unwinnable Games]] since their content is limited and this may be exhausted by sufficiently long gameplay and [[Main Goals]] and [[Main Quests|Quests]] are in direct conflict with [[Unwinnable Games]] since completing these are ways of ''winning'' the game even if gameplay continues afterwards. That said, [[Main Goals]]

[[Unwinnable Games]] may be seen as a rather easy way to avoid having a [[Predictable Winner]] at any point in a game, but this is not strictly true. First, the [[Predictable Winner]] may be nobody as the [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] example shows and second players may set up their own winning conditions between themselves, e.g. who can get the highest [[Scores|Score]] in a game of [[Pac-Man]] (so [[Scores]] can be used to modulate [[Unwinnable Games]]). Even so, [[Unwinnable Games]] can be used as part of a design strategy to make players less likely to identify any specific player as being able to reach the winning conditions set up by a game.

[[Multiplayer Games]] which are also unwinnable, e.g. most [[:Category:Tabletop Roleplaying Games|Tabletop Roleplaying Games]], will need to deal with [[Early Leaving Players]] since this will occur in all game instances except the ones where all players simultaneously stop playing.

For rather obvious reasons, i.e. having no winner, [[Unwinnable Games]] are incompatible with [[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]] and [[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]. It is also not possible for [[Unwinnable Games]] to have [[Endgame]] phases. [[Unwinnable Games]] can only appear to have [[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]] to those that do not know that the games are [[Unwinnable Games]], so the patterns are generally incompatible.

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Never Ending Stories]],
[[Replayability]],
[[Surrendering]],
[[Unwinnable Game States]]

==== with [[Multiplayer Games]] ====
[[Early Leaving Players]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Multiplayer Games]],
[[Single-Player Games]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Continuous Goals]],
[[Ever Increasing Difficulty]],
[[Grinding]],
[[Time Limits]],
[[Steadily Decreasing Resources]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Achievements]],
[[Entitled Players]],
[[Ephemeral Goals]],
[[Game Pauses]],
[[Game Over]],
[[Game Termination Penalties]],
[[High Score Lists]],
[[Illusionary Rewards]],
[[Meta Games]],
[[Player-Defined Goals]],
[[Progress Indicators]],
[[Red Queen Dilemmas]],
[[Scores]],
[[Trans-Game Information]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Challenging Gameplay]],
[[Endgame]],
[[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]],
[[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]],
[[Main Goals]],
[[Main Quests]],
[[Predetermined Story Structures]],
[[Predictable Winner]],
[[Time Limited Game Instances]],
[[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]],
[[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]

== History ==
New pattern created in this wiki.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Carse">. Carse, J.P. 1986. ''Finite and Infinite Games''. Penguin Books.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgments ==
-

Main Goals

2023-03-08T09:19:39Z

Staffan Björk:

Unwinnable Games

2023-03-08T09:18:08Z

Staffan Björk: /* Relations */

[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Gameplay Arc Patterns]]
[[Category:Aesthetic Patterns]]
[[Category:Winning Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
''Games that do not have any winning conditions.''

Some games are not possible to win regardless of how well one performs. This is because the systems they use have no state defined as winning or no way to get there. Such games can still pose interesting challenges to players either by letting players could their own goals and winning conditions or by letting players compare their performance with previous performances by themselves or others.

Carse divides human activities into ''Finite Games and Infinite Games'' in his book with the same name<ref name="Carse"/>, and simplified his view of ''Infinite Games'' are [[Unwinnable Games]] that are played with the goal of continuing to play the game.

=== Examples ===
Early computer games such as [[Asteroids]] and [[Space Invaders]] were [[Unwinnable Games]] in that gamers were constantly given new obstacles as soon as they overcame their current ones. [[Pac-Man]] is designed in the same fashion but the original version has a software bug making it allegedly impossible to complete its 256th level[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man], making it open for interpretation if reaching the highest possible level in a game equals winning over it. The casual games [[Staries]] and [[Icy Tower]] are later examples of games that have no winning conditions.

Roleplaying games such as [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and [[GURPS]] do not have general winning conditions. Individual campaign might be winnable but the gameplay of improving one's character can continue and may likely be in the players interest. The 4th Edition of [[Dungeons and Dragons]] have structures of retiring characters when they reach level 30 (through gaining some form of immortality) but not even this needs to be seen as having completely beating the game since gameplay can continue with a new character. While simply surviving [[Paranoia]] scenarios with at least one of one's clones alive can be considered victories, the publishers of the roleplaying game published ''Code 7'' missions that required one more clone that players have.

Massively multiplayer online games such as [[World of Warcraft]] and [[Eve Online]] have similar structures but add challenges of fighting other players, accessing the best available equipment and gaining achievements.

[[September 12th]] and [[Hell Tetris]] are examples of games that make the realization that they are unwinnable one of the main experiences of playing them.

== Using the pattern ==
Games may be unwinnable to specific people because of lack of time, interest, or competence. This is however more a question of the players' possibilities than the design of a game, and when it is an effect of the design (rather than say the people not being the targeted audience) it is often seen as a problem with that design. [[Unwinnable Games]] in contrast are games whose system is design so that their is no winning condition and no players regardless of skills and devotion can achieve a certain game state designated as the winning one. Both [[Multiplayer Games]] and [[Single-Player Games]] can be [[Unwinnable Games]].

Three main - and compatible - ways of creating [[Unwinnable Games]] are [[Ever Increasing Difficulty]], [[Continuous Goals]], and [[Grinding]]. [[Ever Increasing Difficulty]] ensure that players at some point will lose due to not having enough competence (given that the game system can provide challenges beyond any player's competence). [[Continuous Goals]] that are necessary for continued gameplay rely on players at some time failing in competence or attention to a goal (e.g., a [[Survive]] goal for a player's [[Focus Loci]]). [[Grinding]] that lets players continuously do actions for little or no progress in the game, relying primarily on players losing interest in the gameplay and quitting for being unwinnable.

There are two typical reasons for creating [[Unwinnable Games]]. The first reason is that one may wish to reinforce the [[Replayability]] by not making it possible to ever beat the game completely. In this case there exists enforced end conditions, e.g. by strict [[Time Limits]] or [[Steadily Decreasing Resources]] and to make it possible to compare ones performance with earlier game session there typically also exists [[Trans-Game Information]] (e.g. [[Achievements]] or [[High Score Lists]]) so that [[Meta Games]] are possible. The second reason is to create [[Never Ending Stories]], that is, games without any end condition at all. Common in [[Roleplaying]] games, these games cannot have a winning condition for the whole game but instead needs to provide incentives to play in other ways. This is typically done through offering smaller local goals, either [[Ephemeral Goals]] or [[Player-Defined Goals]], or simple through the [[Social Interaction]] offered by the game or play activity. An issue with non-ending games is how to balance increased [[Gameplay Mastery]] and [[Improved Abilities]] with challenges so that the [[Challenging Gameplay]] is maintained. [[Red Queen Dilemmas]] is a possible solution to this by adding the difficulty as players gain more power to influence the game. However, non-ending games are incompatible with [[Time Limited Game Instances]] but this may not be a problem if [[Game Pauses]] are used since then the game and play sessions can be regulated instead.

While [[Unwinnable Games]] cannot end due to completing the game, they can have [[Game Termination Penalties]] and [[Game Over]] through dying, in fact this is common in many early examples of using the pattern.

One design possibility that is more suitable to [[Unwinnable Games]] than others is that of [[Entitled Players]]; it is less problematic to trust players with powers affecting how the game is played if they have less reason to misuse that power.

== Consequences ==
Every game state in an [[Unwinnable Games|Unwinnable Game]] is a [[Unwinnable Game States|Unwinnable Game State]]. At first glance it can seem strange that one can have or would want games which cannot be won since it removes what is typically the reason for activities to become meaningful in them. While other reasons for playing games exists, many games can however be the basis for [[Meta Games]] through [[Trans-Game Information]] (such as [[Achievements]] or [[High Score Lists]]) or [[Progress Indicators]] and can then still provide meaningful gameplay concerned with measuring how well one has performed. When [[Unwinnable Games]] allow this kind of gameplay, they somewhat paradoxically promote [[Replayability]]. Sometimes realizing the unwinnable nature of a game is an intention in the design; the [[:Category:Serious Games|Serious Game]] [[September 12th]] uses the impossibility of winning it to argue the futility in the struggle thematized by the game and the (earlier) movie War Games appropriates [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] to make a similar argument. Providing [[Illusionary Rewards]] can also make parts of [[Unwinnable Games]] meaningful since players may appreciate these challenges even if they are not affecting the game state.

When players notice that games are unwinnable they may see this as revealing an [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] in the game design. This may cause them to stop playing (which in a sense was the intention with the serious games mentioned in the previous paragraph since this would make the point that one should stop with the activity portrayed) but may also cause players to set up their own [[Player-Defined Goals]] that they consider win (and end) conditions. Regardless of when and why players stop playing [[Unwinnable Games]], they do so by [[Surrendering]] (to the game design).

Although [[Narration Structures]] can support players the gameplay structure in [[Unwinnable Games]], the narrative aspects are likely to not attract interest unless they change in significant ways between game sessions. More specifically, [[Predetermined Story Structures]] are difficult to have in [[Unwinnable Games]] since their content is limited and this may be exhausted by sufficiently long gameplay and [[Main Quests]] are in direct conflict with [[Unwinnable Games]] since completing the [[Main Quests]] are ways of ''winning'' the game even if gameplay continues afterwards.

[[Unwinnable Games]] may be seen as a rather easy way to avoid having a [[Predictable Winner]] at any point in a game, but this is not strictly true. First, the [[Predictable Winner]] may be nobody as the [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] example shows and second players may set up their own winning conditions between themselves, e.g. who can get the highest [[Scores|Score]] in a game of [[Pac-Man]] (so [[Scores]] can be used to modulate [[Unwinnable Games]]). Even so, [[Unwinnable Games]] can be used as part of a design strategy to make players less likely to identify any specific player as being able to reach the winning conditions set up by a game.

[[Multiplayer Games]] which are also unwinnable, e.g. most [[:Category:Tabletop Roleplaying Games|Tabletop Roleplaying Games]], will need to deal with [[Early Leaving Players]] since this will occur in all game instances except the ones where all players simultaneously stop playing.

For rather obvious reasons, i.e. having no winner, [[Unwinnable Games]] are incompatible with [[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]] and [[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]. It is also not possible for [[Unwinnable Games]] to have [[Endgame]] phases. [[Unwinnable Games]] can only appear to have [[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]] to those that do not know that the games are [[Unwinnable Games]], so the patterns are generally incompatible.

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Never Ending Stories]],
[[Replayability]],
[[Surrendering]],
[[Unwinnable Game States]]

==== with [[Multiplayer Games]] ====
[[Early Leaving Players]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Multiplayer Games]],
[[Single-Player Games]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Continuous Goals]],
[[Ever Increasing Difficulty]],
[[Grinding]],
[[Time Limits]],
[[Steadily Decreasing Resources]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Achievements]],
[[Entitled Players]],
[[Ephemeral Goals]],
[[Game Pauses]],
[[Game Over]],
[[Game Termination Penalties]],
[[High Score Lists]],
[[Illusionary Rewards]],
[[Meta Games]],
[[Player-Defined Goals]],
[[Progress Indicators]],
[[Red Queen Dilemmas]],
[[Scores]],
[[Trans-Game Information]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Challenging Gameplay]],
[[Endgame]],
[[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]],
[[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]],
[[Main Goals]],
[[Main Quests]],
[[Predetermined Story Structures]],
[[Predictable Winner]],
[[Time Limited Game Instances]],
[[Winner determined after Gameplay Ends]],
[[Winning by Ending Gameplay]]

== History ==
New pattern created in this wiki.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Carse">. Carse, J.P. 1986. ''Finite and Infinite Games''. Penguin Books.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgments ==
-

Main Goals

2023-03-08T09:16:45Z

Staffan Björk: /* Relations */