View source for Extra-Game Actions

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''Actions that are motivated by a game state or a game design but that do not affect any ongoing game instance.''

This pattern is a still a stub.

Note: ''Actions that aren't part of gameplay but needed for gameplay to be able to be performed is discussed under [[Excise]].''

=== Examples ===
Example: Betting on the outcome of a game is a typical form of Extra-Game Actions that creates a meta game based upon a game. Note that games such as Poker do not have betting as an Extra-Game Action since folding in that game affects the game state.

Example: loading and saving in computer games are Extra-Game Actions which save or restores the entire game state of a game instance. As the whole game state is affected these actions are not considered parts of gameplay but rather ways of setting up play sessions.

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

== Using the pattern ==
There are several reasons why games may have [[Extra-Game Actions]]. One is to make it possible to plan or prepare for gameplay before play sessions have begun. Another is to let players document or otherwise make use of the game state and game events that have taken place after a play session is finished. A third is to provide [[Extra-Game Consequences]]. In addition, they may support [[Meta Games]] with the actions that those [[Meta Games]] need from inside the inner games ([[Minigames]] are examples of this). For games that [[Sanctioned Cheating]], the actions they are used to cheat need to be [[Extra-Game Actions]] so motivate that they are actually cheating actions; they for this reason also need to be do as part of [[Conceal]] goals so these two patterns are needed together to support [[Sanctioned Cheating]]. [[Extra-Game Actions]] are especially common in [[Multiplayer Games]] as players may need to do [[Negotiation]] or perform [[Collaborative Actions]]. [[Self-Facilitated Rules]] requires players to do [[Extra-Game Actions]] to run the game. In the case of games with [[Persistent Game Worlds]] these action are [[Investments]] but typically give players large amounts of [[Creative Control]].

Games can promote players to perform [[Extra-Game Actions]] before play sessions begin by making it possible to do [[Stimulated Planning|Stimulated]] and [[Strategic Planning]] by making [[Strategic Knowledge]] useful. One example of this is to let players know their [[Privileged Abilities]] well in advance while another is to let players communicate about [[Combos]] when these are not explicitly described through the game (i.e. when they are part of a game's [[Hidden Rules]]). This preparatory actions often lets players have [[Creative Control]] over [[Characters]] or game elements used. This [[Creative Control]] is especially common in roleplaying games where players can engage in [[Extra-Game Actions]] to design their own characters or, in the case of live action roleplaying games, design the physical clothes and props used in the games. Thus, [[Extra-Game Actions]] can give rise to [[Player-Planned Development]]. In [[Multiplayer Games]] with [[Teams]], [[Extra-Game Actions]] can provide or support [[Team Development]] since the [[Teams]] may be able to use the actions to discuss or reflect on how they have played previously before starting to play again. [[Collectible Card Games]] and [[Pre-Customized Decks]] allows players to create their own [[Decks]] by adding or removing [[Cards]] as well as simulating gameplay to test the [[Decks]]. [[Game Element Trading]] allow players to exchange game elements with each other before gameplay starts (and is quite common with games that have [[Pre-Customized Decks]]). Generalizing from trading, [[Purchasable Game Advantages]] are [[Extra-Game Actions]] that players can engage in before specific game instances in order to better their chances in those instances. [[Crafting]] is quite often [[Extra-Game Actions]] for [[:Category:Live Action Roleplaying Games|Live Action Roleplaying Games]] since players may want or need specific [[Game Items]] for their [[Characters]] (without the [[Game Items]] necessarily having an effect on gameplay).

There are a number of more specific types of [[Extra-Game Actions]]. Manipulating [[Bookkeeping Tokens]] are [[Extra-Game Actions]] that likely change players' perception of the game state since the actions change the game state. Changing how players are informed about the game state can either be done directly through manipulating [[Cameras]] or by changing the set-up of an user interface, but in both cases modify the [[Game State Overviews|Game State Overview]] players have. [[Save Files]] allow for the [[Extra-Game Actions]] of saving and loading game states, and thereby make [[Save-Load Cycles]] (including [[Save Scumming]]) and [[Reversability]] to previous game states possible. Player initiated [[Game Pauses]] are other simple cases of [[Extra-Game Actions]]. [[Storytelling]] based upon how gameplay unfolds in a type of [[Extra-Game Actions|Extra-Game Action]] that can occur in any game since players can describe the story of them playing a game. However, games can encourage the [[Storytelling]] through supporting specific [[Extra-Game Actions]] (e.g. communicating to others through [[Communication Channels]] or documenting the events) as well as by having [[Characters]] that let players have describe the stories from the point of view of these [[Characters]] instead of their own. 

One special form of [[Extra-Game Actions]] is those that allow for [[Non-Player Help]]. This typically requires [[Spectators]] (and thereby some form of [[Public Information]]), for example when [[Spectators]] should be able to provide information about the game state or other information relevant to succeed in goals. Generally, [[Spectators]] also modifies the use of [[Extra-Game Actions]] since players know they somebody could be observing these actions (as well as ordinary game actions).

Another special form of [[Extra-Game Actions]] relate to how players can affect when a game is played and how plays it. Several aspects of [[Negotiation]] are included in this, namely [[Negotiable Game Instance Duration]], [[Negotiable Game Sessions]], and [[Negotiable Play Sessions]]. [[Invites]] and [[Player Kicking]] are examples of patterns that causes the existence of [[Extra-Game Actions]] related to who plays the game. 

The actions supported by [[Communication Channels]] are typically not game actions but [[Extra-Game Actions]], and these action can support many of the aspects of [[Extra-Game Actions]] discussed above. For example, they can support players in communicating with each other (e.g. for [[Team Development]]), let them tell their gameplay experience as part of [[Storytelling]], and can let [[Spectators]] provide [[Non-Player Help]]. While not all [[Replays]] are [[Extra-Game Actions]], the games that allow players to make, send, or manipulate [[Replays]] do provide [[Extra-Game Actions]] and they can be used in similar ways as [[Communication Channels]] (this does not even require that the [[Replays]] can be transmitted to others since [[Spectators]] can view the [[Replays]] locally at a future point in time).

Finally, the presence of [[Extra-Game Input]] in a game is likely to promote [[Extra-Game Actions]]. This since players can be able to see that performing certain [[Extra-Game Actions]] will influence the [[Extra-Game Input]] and thereby allow them additional ways of affecting the game state. If such possible influence means that the scope of what is considered the game should be enlarged or not may primarily depend on how the game is presented to players (designers may have considered this but may present the game as a smaller part to let players discover the additional ways of influencing the game states). 

By definition, [[Extra-Game Actions]] are not [[Excise]] and vice versa.

== Consequences ==
[[Extra-Game Actions]] provide players with an additional level of [[Freedom of Choice]] in games which can be done without necessarily affecting the development of the game. Except for [[Storytelling]], [[Extra-Game Actions]] typically causes players to lose [[Engrossment]] since they force players to consider the mechanical or formal structure of the game. [[Cognitive Engrossment]] is the form of [[Engrossment]] least affected, since both saving and restoring game states and manipulating information presentation may be motivated by players' interpretations of the game state. However, [[Extra-Game Actions]] that let players develop attachments to the game, be it to future strategies, [[Characters]] in the game, or the thematic aspects, can give players [[Emotional Engrossment]]. [[Storytelling]], and especially [[Game Instance Stories]],  is an example of how both [[Characters]] and thematic aspects can developed by players and thereby let them feel they are theirs. This is one example of how performing [[Extra-Game Actions]] can be considered [[Investments]] in games although they do not need to be parts of specific game instances or explicitly related to changes in the game state. Another is supporting [[Player Created Game Elements]], which also similarly can allow players to have [[Emotional Engrossment]]. Games which allow much [[Extra-Game Actions]] can create [[Grinding]]. 

Games with [[Teams]] can make use of [[Extra-Game Actions]] to communicate. By enabling [[Teams]] to improve how they play this can support [[Team Development]], especially if the [[Extra-Game Actions]] can be performed (also) before or after actual game instances. 

Some games with [[Extra-Game Actions]] encourage players to perform [[Extra-Game Actions]] that affect things outside the game due to the game state of a game instance. This may make players have [[Changes in Perception of Real World Phenomena due to Gameplay]] (especially when a game also has [[Extra-Game Input]].

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Changes in Perception of Real World Phenomena due to Gameplay]], 
[[Creative Control]],
[[Emotional Engrossment]], 
[[Extra-Game Consequences]], 
[[Freedom of Choice]], 
[[Game Instance Stories]], 
[[Grinding]], 
[[Player Created Game Elements]], 
[[Investments]], 
[[Meta Games]], 
[[Reversibility]], 
[[Save-Load Cycles]] 

==== with [[Conceal]] ====
[[Sanctioned Cheating]]

==== with [[Spectators]] ====
[[Non-Player Help]]

==== with [[Teams]] ====
[[Team Development]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Cognitive Engrossment]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Bookkeeping Tokens]], 
[[Cameras]], 
[[Collaborative Actions]], 
[[Collectible Card Games]], 
[[Communication Channels]], 
[[Crafting]], 
[[Extra-Game Input]], 
[[Game Element Trading]], 
[[Game Pauses]], 
[[Invites]], 
[[Minigames]], 
[[Multiplayer Games]], 
[[Negotiation]], 
[[Negotiable Game Instance Duration]], 
[[Negotiable Game Sessions]], 
[[Negotiable Play Sessions]], 
[[Persistent Game Worlds]], 
[[Player Kicking]], 
[[Player-Planned Development]], 
[[Pre-Customized Decks]], 
[[Purchasable Game Advantages]], 
[[Replays]], 
[[Save Files]], 
[[Save Scumming]], 
[[Self-Facilitated Rules]], 
[[Stimulated Planning]], 
[[Storytelling]], 
[[Strategic Knowledge]], 
[[Strategic Planning]]

[[Combos]] together with [[Hidden Rules]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Game State Overviews]], 
[[Public Information]], 
[[Spectators]] 

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Engrossment]], 
[[Excise]]

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''Extra-Game Actions'' 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 ==
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