Player-Defined Goals

The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.

Goals and subgoals that players can create or customize within the game itself. Structured Player Defined Goals are possible by providing mechanics to let players determine the requirements, rewards, and punishments of the goals by having explicit game rules that govern these goals. By specifying the end conditions and evaluation functions within the game as conditions of the game state, these Player Defined Goals can then be monitored by the game system similarly to other goals.

Example: Player Defined Goals are employed in Diplomacy in a way that the players can set their own secret goals and strategies, but the impact of the Player Defined Goals is more evident when some players agree on acting together against another player. However, the goals are only an agreement between the players and they are not explicitly stated in the game mechanics or rules.

Example: SimCity and most of the other Sim -games are good examples of games where Player Defined Goals are possible and also integral to the resulting gameplay. The gameplay is open as there are no winning conditions provided by the game itself and the game system is complex enough to allow huge amounts of different outcomes. The player is free to choose and pursue as a goal almost any possible game state from building the biggest city to making a strong police state to having fun in bulldozing the suburban areas when they are flourishing.

Examples

Anti-Examples

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Relations

Instantiates: , Freedom of Choice, Preventing Goals, Extra-Game Consequences, Tension

Modulates: Rewards, Mutual Goals

Instantiated by: High Score Lists, Character Development, Ephemeral Goals, Construction, Illusionary Rewards, Characters, Easter Eggs, Player-Planned Development

Modulated by: Rewards, Penalties,

Potentially conflicting with: Goal Indicators, Narration Structures

Can Instantiate

Anticipation, Creative Control, Emotional Engrossment, Optional Goals, Preventing Goals

Can Modulate

Unwinnable Games

Can Be Instantiated By

Betting, Bidding, Collecting

Can Be Modulated By

Game State Overview, Negotiation, Player Balance

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

An updated version of the pattern Player Defined Goals that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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