Multiplayer Games

Games that have more than one player.

Most games let several players participate in the gameplay, either against each other or working together towards a common goal. Before the emergence of video games basically only puzzles were not multiplayer games, and even so many single-player video games also have multiplayer support. With the advent of the internet it became practical to create Multiplayer Games with hundreds or thousands of players, first in MUDs and later in MMORPGs.

Besides giving people other humans to compete or cooperate with, Multiplayer Games let people have social interaction before, during, and after play sessions.

Examples

Chess has two players competing against one another by taking turns. The board games Space Alert and Battlestar Galactica let players compete against the game system, while tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons and GURPS allow players to fight enemies controlled by a game master.

Computer and console games such as the Quake series or the Need for Speed Series allow players to compete against each other in combat or races. The Quake series also offers team-based variants where groups of players fight each other, and games such as Battlefield 1942 and Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory are dedicated to this type of gameplay. The Left 4 Dead Series is structured to let a 4-person team struggle against people turned murderous by an infection. The Lego Star Wars Series is optionally a Multiplayer Game in that a second player can jump in and out of gameplay as wanted. Even single-player computer games can be considered as multiplayer games on one level if they make use of high score lists, as for example Asteroids, Pac-Man, and Icy Tower.

MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Eve Online can have thousands of players playing the same game instance simultaneously and tens or even hundreds of thousands of players participating in the game instance asynchronously.

Using the pattern

PvE PvP

Analysis Paralysis Drop-In/Drop-Out Challenging Gameplay Avatars Stimulated Planning Enemies Rerolls Freedom of Choice

For Multiplayer Games to be played, players needs to be able to organize themselves to participate together in the activity. In most cases this needs to be done by the players themselves but online games can support it through the design of Game Lobbies.

Many design choices are unique to Multiplayer Games or are significantly modified by the presence of other players: Smooth Learning Curves and providing the Right Level of Difficulty can be more difficult to achieve, although Balancing Effects can help; Player Balance can be achieved not only through Balancing Effects but also through Handicaps such as differences in Skills or Asymmetric Resource Distribution, the latter of which can also be the original source of the imbalances; Game Masters can be used and can allow the other players greater Freedom of Choice and stronger Illusions of Influence; Tiebreakers may be required to determine winners of Overcome goals unless Tied Results are to be possible; Player Elimination may exist and force individual players to quit their play sessions before the game sessions end due to Early Elimination; Agents can be used to simulate other players to allow Multiplayer Games to be played alone.

Persistent Game Worlds, which by their definition have to be shared between several players, represent one way to achieve Multiplayer Games with a potentially limitless number of participating players. These types of Multiplayer Games have Dedicated Game Facilitators to maintain the game state, but Self-Facilitated Games are also possible, although, the number of participating players has to be lower, or else the game state synchronization becomes difficult.

Player typically need to Coordination in Multiplayer Games with Team Play or other types of Cooperation.

While games played with the players located in immediate proximity of each other can make use of Unmediated Social Interaction

This is typically achieved through providing the possibility of different types of Extra-Game Actions, e.g. Communication Channels

the ESP Game

Although it may seem that the main requirement for Multiplayer Games is that the game supports several players, even Single-Player Games can be a possible foundation for making Multiplayer Games. This can be accomplished through Meta Games such as organizing players in Tournaments. Another form of Meta Games that make Single-Player Games into Multiplayer Games are those that share Trans-Game Information, e.g. High Score Lists or Ghosts.

Consequences

Multiplayer Games naturally provide a focus point for Social Interaction between the players, and it is impossible to have Social Organizations, or have Identification with groups, in games without having more than one player playing the same game instance. Having several players in a game allows the game design to have Team Play and modulates Game Mastery by making it possible for players to develop specific Competence Areas for their Characters. Multiplayer Games also provide some forms of Game Mastery, some which are not applicable in other games, for example Negotiation and Creative Control. Multiplayer Games often give players Limited Planning Ability, as the goals and plans may be difficult to deduce and they can significantly affect future game states. Synchronous Games are by their nature also Multiplayer Games, as there must be several players sharing the same game situation.

Save-Load Cycles are more cumbersome to use in Multiplayer Games, since players must negotiate when to load previous game states.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Downtime, Synchronous Games, Identification

Can Modulate

Social Organizations, Game Mastery, Meta Games, Social Interaction

Can Be Instantiated By

Tournaments, Persistent Game Worlds

Can Be Modulated By

Early Elimination, Meta Games, Competence Areas, Self-Facilitated Games, Ghosts, Downtime, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Illusion of Influence, Skills, Game Masters, Creative Control, Freedom of Choice, Tiebreakers, Tied Results, Balancing Effects, Limited Planning Ability, Right Level of Difficulty, Smooth Learning Curves, Team Play, Player Elimination, Asymmetric Resource Distribution, Player Balance, Handicaps, Agents, Characters, Extra-Game Actions

Potentially Conflicting With

Save-Load Cycles

History

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