Point of Interest Indicators

Game actions that point players towards important aspects of game worlds, or entities within them.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Players of Mirror's Edge can by a simple button press know which direction to move since this gameplay action turns their avatar in the direction of the level exit.

Letting players aim correctly of enemies by a single button press is a form of Point of Interest Indication. Examples of games with this include Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Mass Effect series, and the Tomb Raider series.

Using the pattern

Point of Interest Indications can be used with all different types of ways of presenting Game Worlds, i.e. First-Person, Third-Person, and God Views. These can also be apply indirectly through pointing out direction on Mini-maps. They are nearly always Geospatial Game Widgets since they need to point of places in Game Worlds.

Although a lot of places in Game Worlds may be qualify to have Point of Interest Indications, Goal Points are most often shown to players through these. Killcams are specific Point of Interest Indications for spots where kills have just occurred and Auto-Aim support is a way of providing Point of Interest Indications for Enemies. Vision Modes can motivate turning on complete categories of Point of Interest Indications.

Interface Aspects

Point of Interest Indications is both an Information and Interface Pattern.

Consequences

Besides pointing out what can be interacted with in Game Worlds, Point of Interest Indications can draw players' attention to Clues. More generally, Point of Interest Indications can be used to augmented already Diegetically Outstanding Features so that players are extremely unlikely to miss them.

While Point of Interest Indications can make Game World Navigation easier, it can also be detrimental to player learning (see Linderoth 2010).

Since Point of Interest Indications can represent perceptual abilities of Characters in games with First-Person Views, the pattern can imply such as well as Player/Character Skill Composites.

Relations

Can Instantiate

-

with First-Person Views

Characters, Player/Character Skill Composites

Can Modulate

Clues, Diegetically Outstanding Features, First-Person Views, Game World Navigation, Game Worlds, Goal Points, God Views, Mini-maps, Third-Person Views

Can Be Instantiated By

Auto-Aim, Geospatial Game Widgets, Killcams, Vision Modes

Can Be Modulated By

-

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

-

History

New pattern created in this wiki. However, it was first reported as a design feature in games by Linderoth (2010).

Acknowledgements

-