Player Elimination

The forced ending of players' game sessions before game instances are finished.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Player Elimination determines the evaluation function for an end condition in the game in such way that the player's game session is terminated.

Examples

Players who cannot pay rent in Monopoly even after selling their assets are no longer allowed to play the game.

Most arcade games, e.g. the first versions of Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Asteroids, end players' game sessions when they have run out of lives.

In Magic: The Gathering, the players whose health level drops below zero are removed completely from play, thus ending their game sessions.

Using the pattern

Player Elimination, as the name implies, requires that the players or the game system have a possibility to Eliminate other players. This consists of either the explicit goal to Eliminate other players or that the players fail in Survive goals. Overcome basic goal with Combat actions is one of the most used compounds for Player Elimination and gives rise to Conflict, but also other end conditions as basic goals are possible for determining the elimination, for example, completing Connection or Enclosure goals or the side effects of Bidding. For example in Tetris, the end condition for the game session is that there is a Connection of blocks from the bottom to the top of the game area. Player Elimination is an Individual Penalty, and quite a heavy one, for the player. In games with Team Play, the elimination of one of the team members is also a form of Shared Penalty, as the performance level of the whole team suffers from it.

Lives and Parallel Lives can be used to give the players, in one sense, additional chances in the game and at the same time have more varied Tension structure in the game. Letting eliminated players continue as Spectators allows them some compensation for not being able to play since they at least can follow the continued gameplay.

In games with Closed Economies, the use of Player Elimination may be the only way to ensure that Resources are gathered in larger and larger groups as gameplay progresses.

Player Killing in itself does not create Player Elimination in Multiplayer Games, but combined with some form of Lives it can speed up the appearance of it in game instances.

Player Elimination can be a Negative Pattern if game designers intend to make games where all players begin and end their individual play sessions together. The typical case for this is when games are supposed to support Social Interaction and Togetherness both in and outside the actual gameplay. There are however several reasons why one might want to have Player Elimination in games.

Unwinnable Games nearly always built around have Player Elimination that is inevitable sooner or later; the alternatives, eternal Downtime or goals that cannot be completed, are likely to first frustrate and then bore players. The main exception to this is Roleplaying Games, primarily, that are built upon Never Ending Stories and can be played as long as the players (and Game Masters find these stories compelling.

Another reason for having Player Elimination is that the Last Man Standing goal can be based upon it - players win by being the last surviving player in the game instance. Other, weaker, reasons for Player Elimination is to support Limited Gameplay Time and Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses. These reasons are weaker due to the fact that they are not guaranteed to be supported by the pattern and that they may not apply equally for all players.

Early Elimination

Can Be Instantiated By

Ability Losses, Game Masters, Internal Rivalry, Late Arriving Players, Lives, Permadeath, Parallel Lives

Can Modulate

Multiplayer Games

Consequences

The risk of Player Elimination raises the Tension level for players, as they essentially lose all their Value of Effort in a game if the game session is finished without their consent. The presence of the Player Elimination pattern gives a fundamental presence of the Survive goal - even if this may not be linked to a diegetic presence (such as an Avatar or Character).

The gameplay of Multiplayer Games with Player Elimination can force extended Downtime on eliminated players, especially if there is a possibility of Early Elimination. Player Killing is a special case of Player Elimination where there is a possibility for the players to continue their game session even after initial elimination.

The same principle applies to Team Elimination, as the other team has to eliminate the players of the team.

Potentially Conflicting With

Fudged Results, Game Masters, Social Interaction, Togetherness

Relations

Can Instantiate

Game Over, Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses, Last Man Standing, Limited Gameplay Time, Unwinnable Games

with Multiplayer Games

Downtime

Can Modulate

Multiplayer Games, Value of Effort

Can Be Instantiated By

Ability Losses, Game Masters, Internal Rivalry, Late Arriving Players, Lives, Permadeath, Parallel Lives

Can Be Modulated By

Early Elimination

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Fudged Results, Game Masters, Social Interaction, Togetherness

History

An updated version of the pattern Player Elimination that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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