Difference between revisions of "Alignment"
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=== Examples === | === Examples === | ||
| − | A well known, and perhaps the simplest, game of [[Alignment]] is [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] where the winner is the first to have three markers in horizontal, vertical or diagonal [[Alignment]] in a three by three board. [[Hnefatafl]] and other 'Tafl games'<ref name=" | + | A well known, and perhaps the simplest, game of [[Alignment]] is [[Tic-Tac-Toe]] where the winner is the first to have three markers in horizontal, vertical or diagonal [[Alignment]] in a three by three board. [[Hnefatafl]] and other 'Tafl games'<ref name="Tafl"/> are believed to have rules that allow captures by |
'Match 3' games such as [[Bejeweled]], [[Starries]] and [[Zoo Keeper]] all lets players swap game elements which are neighbors, removing them and rewarding the player with points if three or more game elements become aligned. | 'Match 3' games such as [[Bejeweled]], [[Starries]] and [[Zoo Keeper]] all lets players swap game elements which are neighbors, removing them and rewarding the player with points if three or more game elements become aligned. | ||
Revision as of 15:32, 9 January 2011
The goal of forming a linear alignment of game elements.
Using the term Matching Tile Games, Jesper Juul provides an analysis of a group of games using a form of the pattern in the fourth chapter of his book A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players[1]
Contents
Examples
A well known, and perhaps the simplest, game of Alignment is Tic-Tac-Toe where the winner is the first to have three markers in horizontal, vertical or diagonal Alignment in a three by three board. Hnefatafl and other 'Tafl games'[2] are believed to have rules that allow captures by
'Match 3' games such as Bejeweled, Starries and Zoo Keeper all lets players swap game elements which are neighbors, removing them and rewarding the player with points if three or more game elements become aligned.
Tetris uses the horizontal Alignment of blocks to remove them from the screen and increase the player's score.
Using the pattern
The requirements for using Alignment are to have a Game World that allows spatial arrangements and to have a Game State Overview for players of the whole area which is to be used. The prime challenges that can be designed for Alignment goals consist of how players can move the necessary game elements into the correct position and how game elements can be removed in order to hinder the completion of the Alignment. The difficulty of the goal can easily be increased by making the game elements move on their own or making them moveable by other players and introducing Preventing Goals.
Alignment is used in many ways in board games to create Capture, with approach and withdrawal as two specific cases [Parlett, p.232-233]. In approach the piece is captured by moving towards it in a straight line and stopping right next to it. Withdrawal is, obviously, the reverse of approach: the piece is captured by moving an adjacent piece away from it in a straight line. Intervention and custodianship are other methods of Capture listed by Parlett, also using Alignment as the base pattern. Intervention involves capturing enemy pieces by moving a piece between them to form a line. The captured piece in custodianship is flanked by friendly pieces in such a way that the pieces form a line, as for example is the case in Hnefatafl or Othello where several pieces can be captured by flanking.
Alignment is a form of Configuration, and offers one of the strongest possibilities for Hovering Closures by offering players clear visual Progress Indicators using the gestalt law of connectivity. Alignment can be a case of Connection, but does not have to be so, since the game elements involved in the Alignment do not necessarily need to have Connection between each other.
In games where shots move instantaneously to the target, or the target is stationary, the action of Aim & Shoot has Alignment as a goal.
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Relations
Can Instantiate
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
Potentially Conflicting With
History
An updated version of the pattern Alignment that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design[3].
