Territories

Pieces of game worlds that are owned by agents of those worlds.

Games with game worlds can have struggles over these worlds as part of their gameplay. This divides the game worlds into Territories owned by different players, possibly separated by wilderness, which become resources in the competitions or rivalries between them.

Examples

Go is probably the oldest game that concerns claiming Territories as one's own.

The Civilization series and other grand strategy games such as Axis & Allies, Risk, the Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, and Victoria series, all let players expand their domains by taking over other players' Territories. All but Axis & Allies, Risk, and the Hearts of Iron series also the colonization of "wilderness" areas.

Having control over the steadily decreasing numbers of Territories in Greed Corp is vital for winning the game.

The gameplay in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, and in many cases the Battlefield series and Team Fortress series, can be described as team battles over Territories.

Many Real-Time Strategy Games such as the Command & Conquer, Starcraft, and Warcraft series, do not use Territories even if the core gameplay in these games revolve around controlling access to resources in the game worlds.

Using the pattern

The presence of Territories imply that Ownership can change and that players can have Gain Ownership goals. The reasons for these goals provide one set of design options regarding Territories.

Besides simply having certain Territories, or control over a certain percentage of all Territories as Enforced Goals, players can be motivated to seek control of parts of Game Worlds because they contain Installations, Resource Generators, or are Resource Locations.

Risk/Reward

Damage

How to Gain Ownership Investments

Game Worlds Levels

Tiles

Consequences

Using Territories is one way of providing the Ownership pattern in games, and since very rarely the [Ownership]] is permanent Territories also typically provide Gain Ownership goals. Being game elements that can change Ownership can make Territories into Resources, especially when they contain Resource Generators.

Territories can be used to define Abstract Player Constructs even if they relate to parts of Game Worlds since these parts are not considered part of a player's Focus Loci.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Abstract Player Constructs, Gain Ownership, Ownership, Resources

Can Be Modulated By

Installations, Resource Generators, Resource Locations

History

New pattern created in this wiki.

References

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Acknowledgements

Karl Bergström