Difference between revisions of "Spectacular Failure Enjoyment"
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== Consequences == | == Consequences == | ||
| − | [[Storytelling]] | + | [[Spectacular Failure Enjoyment]] typically create a comical or remarkable sequences of events. This makes it more likely that the players experiencing them are going to engage in [[Storytelling]] to let others know about them than for other gameplay sequences. |
| − | [[Togetherness]] | + | |
| + | The rememberability of [[Spectacular Failure Enjoyment]] make it likely to help create [[Togetherness]] between players that experience the spectacular failure together. | ||
== Relations == | == Relations == | ||
Revision as of 11:44, 15 July 2014
The enjoyment to be had when failing in a spectacular way in a game.
Things do not always do the way players wants in games. However, sometimes things go horribly bad that it becomes a perverse form of entertainment, especially if players cannot do anything to correct or avoid problems. Such Spectacular Failure Enjoyment can be as interesting as winning the games, are typically more interesting to retell to others since they are more unique.
Contents
Examples
RoboRally and Space Alert are two Board Games where players need to commit to several actions that will then be executed in sequence. Since mistakes can have been made, especially concerning what other players are doing at the same time, it is quite likely that players will realize they have a faulty plan but cannot do anything to correct this. Since even the smallest mistakes can cause large problems, this is likely to force players to have Spectacular Failure Enjoyment.
Some Tabletop Roleplaying Games like Paranoia and Fiasco embrace Spectacular Failure Enjoyment, most often in a dark humorous way. This is sometimes done in Live Action Roleplaying Games, most often in the Nordic LARP style where players may be "playing to lose" to create good stories. Examples of LARPs where this has happened include the Monitor Celestra.
Both the X-COM and the Left 4 Dead series often require that all characters work in conjunction, and failing to do this can so quickly cause total failures that this can become Spectacular Failure Enjoyment.
Players that have contributed to the wiki of Slaves to Armok II: Dwarf Fortress consider fun equal to losing, having a redirect link from "Fun"[1] to "Losing"[2] and on the "Losing" page discuss the reasoning behind this[2]. For those that fail to lose, and thereby have fun, they offer suggestion on how to sabotage your own chances by taking on additional challenges[3].
Using the pattern
This pattern reflects that a failure which distinguishes itself in some way – e.g. as the result of exceptional bad luck, gross ineptness or overwhelming opposition – can have an aesthetic quality of its own. Here, the magnitude of the failure lessens the fact that it was a failure and can probably in many cases be as entertaining as a victory, or at least results in a memorable occasion (an aesthetic experience in Dewey’s [9] terminology) apt for retelling. CHALLENGING GAMEPLAY is one way to promote SPECTACULAR FAILURE ENJOYMENT, either because the players find their misjudgment of opposition entertaining or because slight mistakes quickly made a situation spiral out of control. A second reason can be lack of COORDINATION, either in failure to take advantages of possible TEAM COMBOS or failure to meet SIMULTANEOUS CHALLENGES. Another issue is that having the same type of failure many times is unlikely to be enjoyable. This gives the requirement that the failure should be unexpected and not have been experienced before, something difficult to design for in games which are intended to be replayed many times. using the mechanical pattern RANDOMNESS may lead to the desire type of SPECTACULAR FAILURE ENJOYMENT, either due to very unlikely combinations of the mechanical patterns CARDS, DICE, ENEMIES, etc. (and thereby extra CHALLENGING GAMEPLAY) or simply by allowing series of very unlucky die rolls.
Action Programming, Anticipation, Critical Misses, Challenging Gameplay, Randomness, Playing to Lose, Tension
Diegetic Aspects
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Interface Aspects
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Narrative Aspects
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Consequences
Spectacular Failure Enjoyment typically create a comical or remarkable sequences of events. This makes it more likely that the players experiencing them are going to engage in Storytelling to let others know about them than for other gameplay sequences.
The rememberability of Spectacular Failure Enjoyment make it likely to help create Togetherness between players that experience the spectacular failure together.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Can Modulate
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Can Be Instantiated By
Action Programming, Anticipation, Critical Misses, Challenging Gameplay, Randomness, Playing to Lose, Tension
Can Be Modulated By
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Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
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History
Updated version of the pattern "Spectacular Failure Enjoyment" first described in the paper Exploring aesthetical gameplay design patterns: camaraderie in four games[4].
References
- ↑ Entry for "Fun" on the Dwarf Fortress wiki.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Entry for "Losing" on the Dwarf Fortress wiki.
- ↑ Entry for "Challenges" on the Dwarf Fortress wiki.
- ↑ Bergström, K., Björk, S. & Lundgren, S. 2010. Exploring aesthetical gameplay design patterns: camaraderie in four games. In Proceedings of MindTrek 2010.
Acknowledgments
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