Shrinking Game Worlds
Game worlds that become smaller as gameplay progresses.
This pattern is a still a stub.
The game world shrinks and thus restricts players' movement in the game. Some games, primarily those where player compete against each other, decrease the size of the game world as game play progresses. This imposes an outside influence that forces the players together and thereby into conflict.
Contents
Examples
Example: The game area shrinks in Bomber Man after players have failed to eliminate each other in a certain period of time to increase the tension of the game.
Example: One of the multiplayer levels in Half-Life allowed players to activate an air strike. All those not in a bunker complex when the air strike hit was killed, in effect reducing the Game World to the bunker for parts of the game play.
Using the pattern
Shrinking Game Worlds have two prime characteristics: in what way Game Worlds shrink and what activates the shrinkage. Having Tiles as Destructible Objects even if the "destruction" can simply be its removal, it one way of creating Shrinking Game Worlds and can do this with clear units for the shrinkage (e.g. Greed Corp).
The reduction of Game World size can simply be a matter of Time Limits (as in multiplayer games in the Bomberman series) or be required action by players during their turn in Turn-Based Games.
a unit of the shrinkage, and how this is activated, most commonly simple a Time Limit, allows player to have Strategic Knowledge and make increases Conflict if potential for it existed to begin with. If players can control the shrinkage this allows Player Defined Goals anda form of Player Constructed World.
Can Be Instantiated By
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Shrinking Game Worlds are Ultra-Powerful Events that instantiate The Show Must Go On but successively making Game Worlds smaller as gameplay takes place. They increase Tension by creating Movement Limitations which in turn can limit players' Freedom of Choice. That Game Worlds shrink can be seen as an Environmental Effect in these worlds, and these can effectively become Traps for players - especially if other players can affect which parts of Game Worlds are removed (as in Hey! That's My Fish!). By definition, Game Worlds that are to shrink need to be Reconfigurable Game Worlds and the actual shrinkage is a reconfiguration.
As the actual shrinking are Irreversible Events, Shrinking Game Worlds can both guarantee Time Limited Game Instances and Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses since players are force to share a more limited space and outcomes of struggles become more and more vital for the final outcome of the game instances.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Environmental Effects, Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses, Movement Limitations, Reconfigurable Game Worlds, Tension, The Show Must Go On, Time Limited Game Instances, Traps, Ultra-Powerful Events
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Destructible Objects together with Tiles
Can Be Modulated By
Irreversible Events, Time Limits
Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
History
An updated version of the pattern Shrinking Game World that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design[1].
References
- ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.
Acknowledgements
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