Difference between revisions of "Gameplay Mastery"

Revision as of 18:27, 11 August 2016

The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Left 4 Dead series

Quake

Chess Go

Poker Texas Hold'em

Street Fighter series

League of Legends Defense of the Ancients

Anti-Examples

As a game with no gameplay, Gameplay Mastery is impossible to achieve Progress Quest. Story-driven games, e.g. Adventure Games, e.g. Day of the Tentacle, Fahrenheit, Grim Fandango, and the Walking Dead series, have little or no gameplay that allows specific skills or knowledge to develop that can be re-used so claiming Gameplay Mastery in these are difficult to do. The exception may be in general puzzle solving based on the types of puzzle that exist in a particular genre or that a particular game designer creates.

Using the pattern

Given that Gameplay Mastery is mastering the specific gameplay of a game, there are as many ways of supporting Gameplay Mastery as there are gameplay which involve some type of skill or knowledge. On a general level, Complex Gameplay makes knowing the rules of a game part of reaching Gameplay Mastery while Challenging Gameplay guarantees that there is something to train at getting good at (or makes it more difficult to achieve Gameplay Mastery).

One aspect of Gameplay Mastery concerns being able to plan what to do in a game. This makes Predictable Consequences, Risk/Reward, Stimulated Planning, Strategic Knowledge, Tactical Planning, and Trade-Offs ways of allowing Gameplay Mastery to develop among players. More specific design features that support this are Deck Building, Puzzle Solving, and Resource Management. While the two latter of these taken place during gameplay, Deck Building can also occur before gameplay proper begins. Knowing when to do Construction/Scoring Phase Shifts or Speedending are specific examples, and players that know this will affect the Middlegame of games. Planning and creating Flip-Flop Events is another specific aspect of Gameplay Mastery which is possible in games with mutable Turn Taking. Another, related, aspect of Gameplay Mastery is having the information or knowledge needed to perform gameplay actions. Having Real World Knowledge Advantages or keeping track of Trans-Game Information can allow for Gameplay Mastery before gameplay begin, while Memorizing allows it to take place during gameplay.

Being able to perform gameplay actions is also often a part of having Gameplay Mastery. The numerous ways this can be tested include Betting, Dexterity-Based Actions, Enactment, Negotiation, Player Physical Prowess, Rhythm-Based Actions, Storytelling, Timing, and controlling Vehicles. Slightly more general, avoiding Obstacles or Overcoming enemies require gameplay actions that performing well signals Gameplay Mastery.

Can Be Instantiated By

Achievements, Competence Areas, Collaborative Actions, Difficulty Levels, Experimenting, Extended Actions, FUBAR Enjoyment, Further Player Improvement Potential, Limited Resources, Multiplayer Games, Paper-Rock-Scissors, Perceivable Margins, Player Unpredictability, Pre-Customized Decks, Predefined Goals, Seamful Gameplay, Smooth Learning Curves, Social Skills, Speedruns,

AI Players together with Difficulty Levels

Anonymous Actions together with Roleplaying

Combos together with Challenging Gameplay or Complex Gameplay

Construction together with with Combos or Emergent Gameplay

Can Be Modulated By

Asymmetric Abilities, Clickability, Engrossment, Excluding Goals, Goal Achievements, Handicap Achievements, High Score Lists, Illusionary Rewards, Levels, Meta Games, Multiplayer Games, Penalties, Player Balance, Public Player Statistics, Red Queen Dilemmas, Rewards, Sidegrades, Spectators, Symmetry, Tournaments, Uncertainty of Outcome, Varied Gameplay

Repeat Combos together with Goal Achievements or Spectators

Potentially Conflicting With

Auto-Aim, Balancing Effects, Challenging Gameplay, Difficulty Levels, Exaggerated Perception of Influence, Freedom of Choice, Luck, Player Augmentations, Player/Character Skill Composites, Purchasable Game Advantages, Randomness, Vision Modes

Emotional Engrossment in games with Algorithmic Agents

Player/Character Skill Composites together with Character Development or Player Balance

Player Balance in Multiplayer Games

Can Modulate

Performance Uncertainty, Player/Character Skill Composites

Consequences

Allowing players to feel Gameplay Mastery or at least see that they can have it in the future can have several consequences for a game. It can give players Emotional Engrossment and a sense of Empowerment and Player Agency, and provide Value of Effort when players experience having it. In general, it provides Replayability to a game since players may wish to play the game many times to reach Gameplay Mastery. A negative effect of Gameplay Mastery is that players that have it can lead to games having a Predictable Winner.

Having Gameplay Mastery can be a Social Reward if others can notice it and can support Actor Detachment. For games with Cooperation and different possible roles for players to take, Gameplay Mastery can lead to Role Fulfillment and through this fulfilling Social Roles and making Team Development happen.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Actor Detachment, Emotional Engrossment, Empowerment, Player Agency, Predictable Winner, Social Roles, Replayability, Role Fulfillment, Social Rewards, Team Development, Value of Effort

Can Modulate

Middlegame, Performance Uncertainty, Player/Character Skill Composites

Can Be Instantiated By

Achievements, Betting, Challenging Gameplay, Competence Areas, Complex Gameplay, Construction/Scoring Phase Shift, Collaborative Actions, Deck Building, Dexterity-Based Actions, Difficulty Levels, Enactment, Experimenting, Extended Actions, Flip-Flop Events, FUBAR Enjoyment, Further Player Improvement Potential, Limited Resources, Memorizing, Multiplayer Games, Negotiation, Obstacles, Overcome, Paper-Rock-Scissors, Perceivable Margins, Player Physical Prowess, Player Unpredictability, Pre-Customized Decks, Predefined Goals, Predictable Consequences, Puzzle Solving, Real World Knowledge Advantages, Resource Management, Rhythm-Based Actions, Risk/Reward, Seamful Gameplay, Smooth Learning Curves, Social Skills, Speedending, Speedruns, Stimulated Planning, Storytelling, Strategic Knowledge, Tactical Planning, Timing, Trade-Offs, Trans-Game Information, Vehicles

AI Players together with Difficulty Levels

Anonymous Actions together with Roleplaying

Combos together with Challenging Gameplay or Complex Gameplay

Construction together with with Combos or Emergent Gameplay

Can Be Modulated By

Asymmetric Abilities, Clickability, Engrossment, Excluding Goals, Goal Achievements, Handicap Achievements, High Score Lists, Illusionary Rewards, Levels, Meta Games, Multiplayer Games, Penalties, Player Balance, Public Player Statistics, Red Queen Dilemmas, Rewards, Sidegrades, Spectators, Symmetry, Tournaments, Uncertainty of Outcome, Varied Gameplay

Repeat Combos together with Goal Achievements or Spectators

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Auto-Aim, Balancing Effects, Challenging Gameplay, Difficulty Levels, Exaggerated Perception of Influence, Freedom of Choice, Luck, Player Augmentations, Player/Character Skill Composites, Purchasable Game Advantages, Randomness, Vision Modes

Emotional Engrossment in games with Algorithmic Agents

Player/Character Skill Composites together with Character Development or Player Balance

Player Balance in Multiplayer Games

History

An updated version of the pattern Gameplay Mastery that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design^[1].

References

1. ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.

Acknowledgements

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