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.

Using the pattern

Game State Overviews are used in games to provide players with information about the game state, e.g. Area Control or Scores, sometimes to help players know when Attention Swapping is required.

This information may be to help players with Movement, either directly with Negotiation, Reconnaissance, or Traverse goals or indirectly with positions in Races.

For Combat situation, it can provide players with help on Tactical Planning where Camping or Sniper Locations are located.

Can Modulate

Collaborative Actions, Extra-Game Actions, Fog of War, Game World Exploration, Game World Navigation, Identification, Memorizing, Multiplayer Games, Near Miss Indicators, Levels, Perceivable Margins, Perfect Information, Player Defined Goals, Preventing Goals, Public Information, Puzzle Solving, Split-Screen Views, Units

The basic elements for providing Game State Overviews are various Game State Indicators, e.g. Bookkeeping Tokens (with Public Information), Geospatial Game Widgets, Goal Indicators, HUD Interfaces, and Score Tracks (but publicly observable Scores can work equally well). Auxiliary Game Screens, Mini-maps, and Picture-in-Picture Views are more complex solutions which in themselves provide Game State Overviews (Cutscenes and Narration Structures can also do this but often doesn't present game state information beyond acknowledging that a certain game state has been met since they have been initiated). Cameras, God Views, and Third-Person Views let players have a form of Game State Overview in that they are given some agency over what view they should have of the game state (this solution assumes that there is Game Worlds that a player's point of observation can be manipulated within). Privileged Movement which allows flying work similarly. Dedicated Game Facilitators (especially Game Masters) can of course create Game State Overviews since they can completely control players access to what parts of the game state they perceive.

Alarms can modify Game State Overviews by showing that certain closures are near occurring while [Outcome Indicators]] can provide detailed information about closures that have occurred. Game Pauses and Turn Taking let players that have possibility of observing Game State Overviews without stress and can thereby make better use of the information they provide.

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, 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, Game Pauses, Outcome Indicators, Turn Taking

Possible Closure Effects

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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

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