Scores

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

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Left 4 Dead series

Egizia

Race for the Galaxy

Ticket to Ride

Settlers of Catan

Carcarsonne

Chess

Go

Pachessi

deathmatch Quake series

ticks Battlefield series

Staries

Candy Crush Saga

Using the pattern

Can Be Instantiated By

Character Levels, Death Consequences

Collections together with Resources

Handicap Systems together with Meta Games

can inst Resources, High Score Lists, Tied Results,

can modulate Multiplayer Games, Single-Player Games,

Can Be Modulated By

Combos, End State Scoring, Extra-Game Consequences, Gameplay Statistics, Game State Indicators, Handicap Systems, Pick-Ups, Score Tracks, Secret Scoring Mechanisms, Tiebreakers

Diegetic Aspects

Scores are often difficult to explain within a game's theme, so using it easily breaks Thematic Consistency and often thereby also Diegetic Consistency.

Consequences

Scores make games have the Continuous Goal of Collecting points which can also be seen as a Race to either first reach a certain Score or have the highest Score when gameplay ends.

They make easy value to use as Trans-Game Information in Tournaments and can easily act as Tiebreakers in games built to use Back-to-Back Game Sessions (Memoir '44 being an example of this).

When publicly accessible, they simultaneously are a type of Progress Indicators and Game State Overview which create Stimulated Planning and Tension. This can give rise to Dynamic Alliances working against a Predictable Winner in Multiplayer Games. While wanting to win over other players can be sufficient reason for Multiplayer games to have Replayability, Scores in Single-Player Games can promote Replayability in trying to beat one's own Score from previous game instances and this can be seen as a weak use of Trans-Game Information (a stronger such use of Scores is through the use of High Score Lists).

Can Instantiate

Player Elimination, Investments,

with Resources

Tiebreakers

Can Modulate

Death Consequences, Gain Ownership, King of the Hill, Lives, Role Reversal,

Save Points and Save-Load Cycles tend to not work well with Scores since players can go back repeatedly in attempts to maximize their scores.

Relations

Unwinnable Games - modulates Time Limited Game Instances - modulates Winning Ends Gameplay Winner determined after Gameplay Ends

Can Instantiate

Collecting, Continuous Goals, Game State Overview, High Score Lists, Investments, Player Elimination, Progress Indicators, Races, Replayability, Resources, Stimulated Planning, Tension, Tied Results, Trans-Game Information

with Multiplayer Games

Dynamic Alliances, Predictable Winner

with Resources

Tiebreakers

Can Modulate

Back-to-Back Game Sessions, Death Consequences, Gain Ownership, King of the Hill, Lives, Multiplayer Games, Single-Player Games, Role Reversal, Tournaments

Can Be Instantiated By

Character Levels, Death Consequences

Collections together with Resources

Handicap Systems together with Meta Games

Can Be Modulated By

Combos, End State Scoring, Extra-Game Consequences, Gameplay Statistics, Game State Indicators, Handicap Systems, Pick-Ups, Score Tracks, Secret Scoring Mechanisms, Tiebreakers

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Diegetic Consistency, Save Points, Save-Load Cycles, Thematic Consistency

History

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

Acknowledgements

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