Difference between revisions of "Gain Information"

Revision as of 13:07, 1 April 2022

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

This pattern is a still a stub.

The goal of performing actions in the game in order to be able to receive information or make deductions. The Gain Information goal is simply the task of gaining more knowledge about something in the game. This can be discovering where a certain game element is in the game space, knowing what values game elements have, what abilities other players have access to, or what goals exist. The completion of the goal can either be verified by a game state change that does not require the player to actually understand the information or by requiring the player to perform some activity or complete a goal that indicates that the information has been interpreted by the player. In the first case, this can be by the player gaining an object, e. g., picking up a book, or choosing an action that presents the information to the player, e. g., looking at a sign. In the second case, this can be by observing that the player has done an action that was unlikely to have been performed otherwise, e. g., selecting the right five-digit combination to a safe.

Examples

Example: Gain Information is the typical goal used in mystery games to drive the unfolding of the story, e. g., the Gabriel Knight series.

Example: Hide & Seek, the traditional children's game, is the archetypical example of direct use of this pattern. In the game, one of the players is the seeker whose task is to find out the other players who have had a certain amount of time to hide themselves.

Anti-Examples

optional

Using the pattern

Potentially Conflicting With

Perfect Information

Can Modulate

Player-Artifact Proximity, Rescue

Can Be Instantiated By

Asymmetric Information, Detective Structures, Enemies, Factions, Fog of War, Gain Ownership, Hands, Helpers, Imperfect Information, Information Passing, Limited Foresight, Memorizing, Puzzle Solving, Reconnaissance, Secret Goals, Secret Resources, Stimulated Planning, Strategic Locations Uncertainty of Information, Unknown Goals, Vulnerabilities

Enemies together with Achilles' Heels or Invulnerabilities

Committed Goals together with Secret Goals

Predetermined Story Structures together with Clues

Strategic Knowledge together with Hidden Rules

Tactical Planning together with Imperfect Information

Can Be Modulated By

Indirect Information, Internal Rivalry, Perfect Information, Red Herrings

Diegetic Aspects

Interface Aspects

Narration Aspects

Consequences

Can Instantiate

Conceal, Puzzle Solving, Quests, Supporting Goals, System Exploration

with Imperfect Information

Experimenting

with Traverse

Game World Exploration

Relations

Can Instantiate

Conceal, Puzzle Solving, Quests, Supporting Goals, System Exploration

with Imperfect Information

Experimenting

with Traverse

Game World Exploration

Can Modulate

Player-Artifact Proximity, Rescue

Can Be Instantiated By

Asymmetric Information, Detective Structures, Enemies, Factions, Fog of War, Gain Ownership, Hands, Helpers, Imperfect Information, Information Passing, Limited Foresight, Memorizing, Puzzle Solving, Reconnaissance, Secret Goals, Secret Resources, Stimulated Planning, Strategic Locations Uncertainty of Information, Unknown Goals, Vulnerabilities

Enemies together with Achilles' Heels or Invulnerabilities

Committed Goals together with Secret Goals

Predetermined Story Structures together with Clues

Strategic Knowledge together with Hidden Rules

Tactical Planning together with Imperfect Information

Can Be Modulated By

Indirect Information, Internal Rivalry, Perfect Information, Red Herrings

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Perfect Information

History

An updated version of the pattern Gain Information 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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