Dexterity-Based Actions

Actions whose success or failure depends on some form of dexterity, in most cases, eye-hand coordination.

Games challenge players in performing different types of activities. Those that include challenges whose outcome depend on players motoric abilities have Dexterity-Based Actions.

Dexterity-Based Actions are those actions whose effects are determined by how the player physically performs them. The effects of the actions do not have to be directly connected to what the player is manipulating for actions to be dexterous: billiards and computer games are examples of how games can be manipulated through indirect control.

Examples

Sports are the oldest examples of Dexterity-Based Actions. While some, e.g. the Long Jump and Sprints, depend relatively little on other factors the physical skill of participants are as important in individual Sports such as the Javelin Throw and the Pole Vault, and team-based ones such as Ice Hockey and Soccer. While all these examples require heavy bodily exertion, Boules, Darts and Pool Games such as Eight-ball and Snooker show that Dexterity-Based Actions do not have to be physically tiring.

While many associate sports with physical challenges and games with mental challenges, this mapping is false for many reasons. Relevant for this pattern, many games than are not considered sports do require Dexterity-Based Actions. Jenga is one of the most well-known Category:Board Games requiring Dexterity-Based Actions unless one considers rolling Dice a skill; Ascending Empires is a more modern example.

Dexterity-Based Actions are as good as ubiquitous in Computer Games. In Racing Games such as the Gran Turismo and Mario Kart series this consists of maneuvering, while for Platform Games (e.g LittleBigPlanet and Super Mario series) and First-Person Shooters (e.g. the Doom or Uncharted series) aiming and shooting are added to the needed skills. The same applies to Fighting Games such as the Mortal Kombat and Tekken series although having a good rhythm can be necessary here as well. Music games such as the Donkey Konga and Rock Band series show how Dexterity-Based Actions can consist nearly only of being able to keep a rhythm and press the right buttons.

Using the pattern

Dexterity-Based Actions are present in both traditional games and computer games, but are mediated in computer games. However, they must be Real-Time Games, and response times from computer systems can affect Dexterity-Based Actions negatively; if feedback from computers take too much time to appear - typically above 100 milliseconds - they do not seem to be the immediate effects of player actions and is thereby difficult to recognize as Dexterity-Based Actions. This can somewhat be mitigated with games that have few Surprises and either use Timing for single actions together with Progress Indicators or use Rhythm-Based Actions where the delays can be ignored for the internal rhythm that players can maintain.

Being a Real-Time Game is however not enough for Dexterity-Based Actions to exist in a game. The real-time feature needs to be combined with some action whose outcome depends on the fact that it has to be done while the rest of the game state continues to update; for this reason, Dexterity-Based Actions can modulate Real-Time Games even if they need the pattern to exist. Examples of actions that can create Dexterity-Based Actions are Maneuvering, especially to avoid Obstacles, and various forms of Combat such as those depending on Aim & Shoot actions or Capture goals. Note that neither Enemies nor dangerous Traps or Environmental Effects need to be present (Archery, Darts, Eightball, and Jenga all give evidence to this).

Can Be Instantiated By

Avatars, Cameras, Rhythm-Based Actions

The difficulty of Dexterity-Based Actions is dependent on how the players perceive the Game World. Although First-Person Views give players Spatial Immersion and thereby a perception of the game state, which is directly related to the actions that are to be performed, Third-Person Views can sometimes be easier, since they make it easier to see the relation between their Focus Loci and the environment. For example, timing the jump over a chasm can be easier with a Third-Person View than a First-Person View, as players can see exactly when to push off while still seeing where one is going. Likewise, Maneuvering a vehicle can be easier from a Third-Person View, as one can see the distance to other objects more easily and can have a better sense of scale.

Surprises make ongoing Dexterity-Based Actions difficult, and the success of Dexterity-Based Actions is easily destroyed by any Disruption of Focused Attention events. For non-mediated Dexterity-Based Actions in sports, e. g., archery, the high levels of Game Mastery can be described as being able to ignore all Disruption of Focused Attention events, including the ones generated by one's own thoughts.

Dexterity-Based Actions are present in Real-Time Games where either Timing orExtended Actions is required; in the latter case, with a granularity so small that players do not notice the end of one action and the start of another action.

Interface Aspects

The interfaces that allow Dexterity-Based Actions are often of essential concern for games with these types of actions. This can be seen not only in the specialized equipment for the Donkey Konga and Rock Band series (and peripheral such as steering wheels for Racing Games) but also the heavy regulation regarding which equipment is allowed in sporting competitions such as the Long Jump, the Javelin Throw, and the Pole Vault. For this reason, Dexterity-Based Actions is an.

Consequences

Dexterity-Based Actions are typically Extended Actions that allow players to enter both Sensory-Motoric and Spatial Engrossment. Mastering Dexterity-Based Actions often forms the core of Game Mastery in Real-Time Games, and provide easy access route for creating Player/Character Skill Composites in games. Since players often have a high degree of granularity to affect the outcome when they use their bodies to perform Dexterity-Based Actions, this can lead to an Exaggerated Perception of Influence. One example of this is the often debated case if rolling Dice is a skill-based activity.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Exaggerated Perception of Influence, Extended Actions, Game Mastery, Player/Character Skill Composites, Sensory-Motoric, Spatial Engrossment

Can Modulate

Real-Time Games

Can Be Instantiated By

Avatars, Cameras, Maneuvering, Obstacles, Rhythm-Based Actions

Real-Time Games together with Aim & Shoot, Capture, Combat

Can Be Modulated By

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Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

An updated version of the pattern Dexterity-Based Actions that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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