View source for Single-Player Games

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''Games where each game instance only there is only supports one player.''

Some games only requires one player. This because the challenge of winning or finishing it can consist of being able to solve a problem, overcome automated opposition, or to succeed better than others (including oneself) has done in previous game instances. By not requiring any other people, these game design overcomes one of the main problems of being able to play a game - finding a sufficient number of willing participants and time and place to engage in gameplay. One cost for this is that the gaming provided is not a social activity in itself (although the game may support features that allow other types of social interaction during or after game instances). One effect of this is that the activity is not a negotiated social agreement, which means that there are no needs to discuss which house rules to use if any but also that any changes from the official or commonly agreed upon way of gaming can be seen as cheating. Another cost is that the game designers and developers of a [[Single-Player Games|Single-Player Game]] need to construct all the challenges to be part of the game without being able to rely on other players to provide the opposition (and possibly balancing by adjusting their comparativeness to the social situation). 

=== Examples ===
Example of games where a player's challenge lies in puzzle-solving are [[Suduko]], [[Continuity]], and the [[Incredible Machine game series]]. The challenge can be increased by adding time constraints (e.g. [[Bejeweled]]], or through requiring dexterity (e.g. [[Mercury Meltdown]] or [[Osmos]]).

[[Single-Player Games]] where the opposition is automated are many. Typically this is through having enemies controlled by the computer (.e.g. [[God of War series]], [[Need for Speed Series]], [[Thief series]], [[Plant vs. Zombies]], and [[Zombiepox]]) but simply handling the environment can be challenge enough (e.g. [[Icy Tower]] and [[Sim series]]). Of course, the two types can be combined and often are (e.g. [[Assassin's Creed 2]], [[Minecraft]], the [[Legend of Zelda series]], and the [[Super Mario series]]).

When role-playing games were adopted to be run on computers many of them were [[Single-Player Games]], e.g. the [[Zork series]], the [[Elder Scroll Series]], and the [[Fallout series]], even if the player's character could be part of a group of adventurers. Although massively multiplayer online role-playing games have become very popular after their introduction, single-player version have continued to be popular also, e.g. [[Fable II]] and [[Torchlight]].

Many FPS games, such as the [[Doom series]] and [[Quake series]], have both single-player and multiplayer versions. Even so, the multiplayer versions can typically be played when alone through the use of computer opponents, and even games designed only as multiplayer games, e.g. the [[Battlefield series]] and [[Left 4 Dead Series]], can be played alone in this fashion. In contrast, the [[Lego Star Wars Series]] is a [[Single-Player Games|Single-Player Game]] where a second player can join at any point and play for as long as wanted.

The [[ESP Game]] is an interesting example because it is presented to players as a two-player game where you do not know whom you are co-operating with. However, one might be playing against the pre-recorded actions of another player, so what seems like a multiplayer game can actually be a [[Single-Player Games|Single-Player Game]]. While this  shows that game designs can confuse players about how many people or players there are in a game, it can also be difficult to control how many are interacting with the game. People can switch places during gameplay so they all have had control over what the game considered to be one player did during gameplay, and in cases of some devices, e.g. multitouch devices many people can at once influence the outcome of [[Single-Player Games]] such as [[Flight Control]] and [[Harbor Master]]. Related to this, the use of aimbots in FPS games such as the [[Doom series]] and the [[Quake series]] show how humans and computer programs can share control over what one player in the game does.

== Using the pattern ==
One of the main issues in [[Single-Player Games]] is to consider how to create challenges without human opposition. [[Puzzle Solving]] and [[Construction]] are typically ways of achieving this, and can be modulated with [[Time Limits]] to achieve [[Challenging Gameplay]].  Although [[Single-Player Games]] cannot have player, opposition, i.e. have to rely on [[PvE]] structures rather than [[PvP]] structures, the goals and conflicts can be structured in similar fashion as in [[Multiplayer Games]] through the use of [[Algorithmic Agents]]. These can designed to be [[Enemies]] which may not be able to win the game, but can be thought of opposition with [[Eliminate]] goals or as having [[Opposing Goals]] to the player's [[Survive]] goal. For example, [[Pac-Man]] can be analyzed as a game between the Pac-Man and the ghosts and thereby reveal similarities with [[Tag]], including [[Role Reversals]]. Likewise, the use of [[Units]] can be used in [[Single-Player Games]] to simulate some of the aspects of [[Teams]], especially [[Team Combos]].

The ways to achieve [[Challenging Gameplay]] can be done somewhat differently in [[Single-Player Games]] compared to [[Multiplayer Games]]. First, by having players complete [[Levels]], game designers can control what sort of challenges the players should meet and be sure that it is the player and nobody else that managed the previous ones (this of course is under the assumption that it is the same agent behind the player all the time). Second, it is easier to provide [[Limited Planning Ability]] since the game can control exactly  what information the player has access to, and does not need worry about leakage from other players (but see below regarding [[Strategic Knowledge]]). [[Dynamical Difficult Adjustment]] can also be used easier since it may be more difficult to notice (players cannot compare their perceived difficulty with each other) and there is no problem of disrupting [[Player Balance]].

When it comes to which [[Rewards]] and [[Penalties]] to associate with closures in [[Single-Player Games]], these are quite naturally crafted as [[Individual Rewards]] and [[Individual Penalties]]. However, [[Rewards]] and [[Penalties]] may work differently in [[Single-Player Games]] due to the possibility to have player specific modulations of game time, such as [[Game Pauses]], [[Cut Scenes]], [[Game Time Manipulation]]. Other game state manipulations outside the gameplay itself, are trivially possible in Single-Player Games, e.g. [[Save-Load Cycles]]. This can make it difficult to enforce [[Penalties]] without linking [[Ultra-Powerful Events]] to a game's [[Narration Structures|Narration Structure]]. Making games [[Turn-Based Games|Turn-Based]] have similar effects to the other ways of allowing players to control time flow but may not allow them to avoid [[Penalties]] except when this can be achieved through a form of [[Puzzle Solving]].

The use of [[Spectators]] allows [[Single-Player Games]] to become social activities even if those other players do not directly affect the gameplay or the game state. This can however be achieved in games supporting [[Construction]] or other forms of [[Creative Control]] since these creations can then be share across game instances through [[Trans-Game Information]]. Examples of games supporting this includes [[Nethack]], [[Spore]], and Addventures<ref name="addventure"/>; online versions of these types of games are sometimes referred to as [[Massively Single-Player Online Games]]. In these case the game system handles the transfer of information (with or without the players' knowledge and/or consent) but designers may also wish that players pass various forms of [[Trans-Game Information]] between themselves and non-players, and thereby support extra-game [[Social Interaction]]. At some level all games support this since players' may wish to share their experience of gaming, e.g. retelling what the [[Narration Structures|Narration Structure]] told, telling the narrative of their own gameplay experience, commenting graphical or auditory qualities, or simply [[Diegetically Outstanding Features]]. However, the are some gameplay related features of games that can encourage this further. For games allowing players to develop [[Strategic Knowledge]], sharing this is a way to strive for [[Social Status]] or simply engage in [[Bragging]] based on [[Game Mastery]]. When [[Game Mastery]] cannot simply be proven by knowledge, games can support the exchange of this type of [[Trans-Game Information]] through giving it concrete forms through [[Easter Eggs]], [[High Score Lists]], [[Replays]], and [[Achievements]]. The three last of these give rise to [[Meta Games]] that blur the line between [[Single-Player Games]] and [[Multiplayer Games]], especially so for the more specific use of [[Replays]] to create [[Ghosts]] since then gamers can directly compare their performance with other performances during gameplay. The interest of discussing the [[Narration Structures]] in a game can, for the purpose of extra-game [[Social Interaction]], be augmented through the use of [[Open Destiny]] since this can create objective differences in the narrative (and thereby discussions about [[Replayability]] and [[Varied Gameplay]]).

Although [[Roleplaying]] is commonly associated with [[Social Interaction]], many [[Single-Player Games]] also make use of this through presenting game goals as diegetic goals held by the player's [[Characters|Character]] or [[Avatars|Avatar]]. This can however be ignored by players and thereby make them break the [[Diegetic Consistency]]. A way to counter this is use [[Committed Goals]], but these need to be [[Optional Goals]] as well if one doesn't want to restrict players' [[Freedom of Choice]]. Another approach is to use [[Infiltrate]] goals, since this requires [[Roleplaying]] on the diegetic level.

By adding [[Drop-In/Drop-Out]] functionality, [[Single-Player Games]] can become [[Multiplayer Games]] whenever players wish so. 

[[Stimulated Planning]]
[[Freedom of Choice]]
[[Multiplayer Games]]
[[Character Defining Actions]]
[[Factions]]
[[Avatars]]

=== Diegetic Aspects ===
In single-player games, the [[Diegetic Consistency]] can be easier to maintain since other players cannot break it (also this problem can be reintroduced through [[Massively Single-Player Online Games]]).

=== Interface Aspects ===
If one wishes to make it possible for several players to play a [[Single-Player Games|Single-Player Game]] together, [[Public Interfaces]] can be an alternative to [[Drop-In/Drop-Out]]. This way, co-located can people to share the interface and thereby have a form of common gameplay experience. This solution may be easier to accomplish in games making use of [[Units]] rather than [[Avatars]], since these have already need to have interfaces that support several [[Focus Loci]].

=== Narrative Aspects ===

== Consequences ==
Given that [[Single-Player Games]] by definition cannot provide opposition from other players, they always have [[PvE]] in some sense. Likewise, since nobody else can affect the game state, they also support [[Private Game Spaces]]. Even if [[Single-Player Games]] cannot by definition have direct [[Social Interaction]] between the players of the same game instance, but can support [[Social Interaction]] in several other ways as mentioned earlier (e.g. through [[Public Interfaces]], [[Spectators]] or [[Massively Single-Player Online Games]]). 

When the consequences of game actions in [[Single-Player Games]] are difficult to notice to others when they take place, or when the final sequences of actions are under player control through [[Reversibility]] or [[Save-Load Cycles]], these games support [[Experimenting]]. When players have control over when the game state advanced, e.g. through having a [[Turn-Based Games|Turn-Based Game]] or supporting [[Game Pauses]], it also provides [[Stimulated Planning]].

When [[Single-Player Games]] support [[Game Pauses]], they provide the possibility for [[Drop-In/Drop-Out]] gameplay.

== Relations ==

=== Can Instantiate ===

==== with ... ====

==== with [[Game Pauses]] ====
[[Drop-In/Drop-Out]]

==== with [[Construction]] or [[Creative Control]] ====
[[Massively Single-Player Online Games]]

=== Can Modulate ===

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===

=== Can Be Modulated By ===

=== Possible Closure Effects ===

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''Single-Player Games'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="addventure">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addventure Wikipedia entry for Addventure].</ref>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) ''Patterns in Game Design''. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>