Shrinking Game Worlds

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Game worlds that become smaller as gameplay progresses.

This pattern is a still a stub.

The game world shrinks and thus restricts players' movement in the game. Some games, primarily those where player compete against each other, decrease the size of the game world as game play progresses. This imposes an outside influence that forces the players together and thereby into conflict.

Examples

Example: The game area shrinks in Bomber Man after players have failed to eliminate each other in a certain period of time to increase the tension of the game.

Example: One of the multiplayer levels in Half-Life allowed players to activate an air strike. All those not in a bunker complex when the air strike hit was killed, in effect reducing the Game World to the bunker for parts of the game play.

Hey! That's My Fish!

Greed Corp

Go

Using the pattern

Shrinking Game Worlds have two prime characteristics: in what way the Game World shrinks and what activates the shrinkage. Having a uniform and predefined way in which the world shrinks, typically by using Tiles as a unit of the shrinkage, and how this is activated, most commonly simple a Time Limit, allows player to have Strategic Knowledge and make increases Conflict if potential for it existed to begin with. If players can control the shrinkage this allows Player Defined Goals anda form of Player Constructed World. The ability to control Shrinking Game Worlds can be used as an offensive ability as being caught in a shrinking area is often a Deadly Trap.

Can Be Instantiated By

Irreversible Events

Destructible Objects together with Tiles

Diegetic Aspects

Interface Aspects

Narrative Aspects

Consequences

Shrinking Game Worlds are Ultra-Powerful Events that instantiate The Show Must Go On. They increase Tension by creating Movement Limitations which in turn can limit players' Freedom of Choice.

As the actual shrinking are Irreversible Events, Shrinking Game Worlds can both guarantee Time Limited Game Instances and Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses since players are force to share a more limited space and outcomes of struggles become more and more vital for the final outcome of the game instances.

Can Instantiate

Environmental Effects, , Traps

Can Modulate

Game Worlds

Relations

Can Instantiate

Environmental Effects, Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses, Movement Limitations, Tension, The Show Must Go On, Time Limited Game Instances, Traps, Ultra-Powerful Events

Can Modulate

Game Worlds

Can Be Instantiated By

Irreversible Events

Destructible Objects together with Tiles

Can Be Modulated By

Irreversible Events

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Freedom of Choice

History

An updated version of the pattern Shrinking Game World that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design[1].

References

  1. Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.

Acknowledgements

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