Game State Overviews

Information provided to players that extends beyond the observational abilities provided by simply observing game elements.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Example: Most racing games, e. g., Mario Kart Double Dash!! and the Monkey Race party games in the Super Monkey Ball series, provide a small overhead map that shows the location of other players on the track.

Anti-Examples

optional

Using the pattern

Game State Overviews are used in games to provide players with information about the game state

Can Modulate

Area Control, Attention Swapping, Camping, Collaborative Actions, Extra-Game Actions, Fog of War, Game World Exploration, Game World Navigation, Identification, Memorizing, Movement, Multiplayer Games, Near Miss Indicators, Negotiation, Levels, Perceivable Margins, Perfect Information, Player Defined Goals, Preventing Goals, Public Information, Puzzle Solving, Races, Reconnaissance, Sniper Locations, Split-Screen Views, Tactical Planning, Traverse, Units

Can Be Instantiated By

HUD Interfaces Geospatial Game Widgets Auxiliary Game Screens, Cameras, Cutscenes, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Game State Indicators, Goal Indicators, God Views, Mini-maps, Narration Structures, Picture-in-Picture Views, Privileged Movement, Score Tracks, Scores, Third-Person Views

Bookkeeping Tokens together with Public Information

Game Worlds with God Views or Third-Person Views

Can Be Modulated By

Alarms, Outcome Indicators, Turn Taking

Potentially Conflicting With

Attention Swapping, Game World Navigation, Leaps of Faith, Limited Foresight, Memorizing, Reconnaissance, Surprises

Diegetic Aspects

Since Game State Overviews often introduce non-diegetic game elements, e.g. through Geospatial Game Widgets or HUD Interfaces, the pattern often works against Diegetic Consistency.

Interface Aspects

Game State Overviews is an Interface Pattern.

Consequences

Game State Overviews typically work as Progress Indicators. Since they can provide players with information about their own situation and that of other players, it can help provide Strategic Knowledge and create Stimulated Planning and Cognitive Engrossment. This can in Turn-Based Multiplayer Games cause Analysis Paralysis but can also in Multiplayer Games have Balancing Effects if either Player Decided Results or Player-Decided Distributions exist. However since it can provide information about other aspects of the game state than what a player is currently engage with it can also cause Disruption of Focused Attention.

Providing players with information about their own and other players' positions can cause them to perceive the gameplay as Races, and make players try Speedending the games if it is to their advantage. When the Game State Overviews are available to others than the players, it supports games to have Spectators.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Cognitive Engrossment, Disruption of Focused Attention, Progress Indicators, Spectators, Speedending, Stimulated Planning, Strategic Knowledge, Races

with Multiplayer Games and either Player Decided Results or Player-Decided Distributions

Balancing Effects

with Multiplayer Games and Turn-Based Games

Analysis Paralysis

Can Modulate

Area Control, Attention Swapping, Camping, Collaborative Actions, Extra-Game Actions, Fog of War, Game World Exploration, Game World Navigation, Geospatial Game Widgets, HUD Interfaces, Identification, Memorizing, Movement, Multiplayer Games, Near Miss Indicators, Negotiation, Levels, Perceivable Margins, Perfect Information, Player Defined Goals, Preventing Goals, Public Information, Puzzle Solving, Races, Reconnaissance, Sniper Locations, Split-Screen Views, Tactical Planning, Traverse, Units

Can Be Instantiated By

Auxiliary Game Screens, Cameras, Cutscenes, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Game State Indicators, Goal Indicators, God Views, Mini-maps, Narration Structures, Picture-in-Picture Views, Privileged Movement, Score Tracks, Scores, Third-Person Views

Bookkeeping Tokens together with Public Information

Game Worlds with God Views or Third-Person Views

Can Be Modulated By

Alarms, Outcome Indicators, Turn Taking

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

Attention Swapping, Diegetic Consistency, Game World Navigation, Leaps of Faith, Limited Foresight, Memorizing, Reconnaissance, Surprises

History

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

Acknowledgements

-