Dynamic Goal Characteristics

Goals that have characteristics which change during gameplay.

Players need to know the requirements of goals in games to be able to strive towards fulfilling them. However, this does not mean that the requirements can change. Goals with changing requirements are called Dynamic Goal Characteristics.

Examples

Example: In the roleplaying game Neverwinter Nights, part of the overall goal at the start is to perform a complicated ritual with several non-player characters. When the ritual is finally performed, it turns out that one of the characters doing the ritual is a traitor, and then another goal is revealed to the player: defeat the traitor.

Example: Many children's games, such as Tag and King of the Hill, can either be described as using Dynamic Goal Characteristics or having a static high-level goal with subgoals that switch from avoiding one person to avoiding another person (or being the hunter) in Tag and from defense to offense in King of the Hill.

Example: The card game Fluxx has the current winning goal represented by a played card. Although the game can be said to have the static goal of fulfilling the goal card criteria, the specific winning goal changes as soon as a player plays a new goal card.

Anti-Examples

optional

Using the pattern

Can Be Instantiated By

Ephemeral Goals, Role Reversal

Resource Generators together with Eliminate

The changes of goal characteristics can however not be to great, since this may make players feel that their actions are meaningless (and that the game is actually switching between several different goals).

Consequences

Can Instantiate

Imperfect Information, Perceivable Margins, Unknown Goals

Can Modulate

Collection, Excluding Goals, Goal Hierarchies, Player-Planned Development

Relations

Can Instantiate

Imperfect Information, Perceivable Margins, Resource Generators, Unknown Goals

Can Modulate

Collection, Excluding Goals, Goal Hierarchies, Player-Planned Development

Can Be Instantiated By

Ephemeral Goals, Role Reversal

Eliminate together with Resource Generators

Can Be Modulated By

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Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

An updated version of the pattern Dynamic Goal Characteristics that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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