1 00:00:00,090 --> 00:00:02,490 The following content is provided under a Creative 2 00:00:02,490 --> 00:00:04,030 Commons license. 3 00:00:04,030 --> 00:00:06,330 Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare 4 00:00:06,330 --> 00:00:10,690 continue to offer high quality educational resources for free. 5 00:00:10,690 --> 00:00:13,320 To make a donation or view additional materials 6 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,015 from hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare 7 00:00:17,015 --> 00:00:17,640 at ocw.mit.edu. 8 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:19,905 W 9 00:00:19,905 --> 00:00:21,780 PROFESSOR: So let's do a bit of a discussion, 10 00:00:21,780 --> 00:00:23,760 we've got about 20 minutes. 11 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,670 So these are the games that we just played. 12 00:00:26,670 --> 00:00:29,720 And I just want to have a discussion, again. 13 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,009 What are the mechanics in these games? 14 00:00:32,009 --> 00:00:33,607 We've been talking-- 15 00:00:33,607 --> 00:00:35,940 I've gone to a lot of teams to ask about core mechanics, 16 00:00:35,940 --> 00:00:38,520 because that's really the thing that you're 17 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,460 going to have to worry about for assignment one. 18 00:00:41,460 --> 00:00:44,260 Well let's talk a little bit about mechanics in general. 19 00:00:44,260 --> 00:00:46,410 Again, the definition that I want to work with-- 20 00:00:46,410 --> 00:00:49,580 at least for assignment one-- is a set of rules, 21 00:00:49,580 --> 00:00:50,580 could be more than one-- 22 00:00:50,580 --> 00:00:52,080 usually more than one-- 23 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,220 that is going to allow a player to change the game state. 24 00:00:56,220 --> 00:01:00,840 Now I never defined game state. 25 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:06,592 But anyone want to throw out how you would interpret game state? 26 00:01:06,592 --> 00:01:08,800 AUDIENCE: Like all the public and private information 27 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:09,917 on the board right now. 28 00:01:09,917 --> 00:01:10,500 PROFESSOR: OK. 29 00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:12,600 All right, that's-- all the information, 30 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,668 whether you know it or not, that could be the [INAUDIBLE] 31 00:01:16,668 --> 00:01:21,206 AUDIENCE: Yeah, for me, it's affecting other players. 32 00:01:21,206 --> 00:01:22,664 PROFESSOR: Affecting other players? 33 00:01:22,664 --> 00:01:23,747 AUDIENCE: Yeah [INAUDIBLE] 34 00:01:23,747 --> 00:01:25,420 PROFESSOR: It's-- all the informa-- 35 00:01:25,420 --> 00:01:27,772 what, what affecting other players? 36 00:01:27,772 --> 00:01:30,604 AUDIENCE: We played [? unavailable ?] with them, 37 00:01:30,604 --> 00:01:31,259 or-- 38 00:01:31,259 --> 00:01:33,050 PROFESSOR: The decisions are available to-- 39 00:01:33,050 --> 00:01:33,870 AUDIENCE: Sure. 40 00:01:33,870 --> 00:01:35,450 PROFESSOR: --to them could be one way to interpret it. 41 00:01:35,450 --> 00:01:36,147 OK, all right. 42 00:01:36,147 --> 00:01:37,355 I thought I saw another hand. 43 00:01:37,355 --> 00:01:40,298 AUDIENCE: I was thinking, I don't know how to explain it, 44 00:01:40,298 --> 00:01:45,156 but, yes, you're having a board or whatever type of meeting 45 00:01:45,156 --> 00:01:47,304 that you have issue to change. 46 00:01:47,304 --> 00:01:47,970 PROFESSOR: Right 47 00:01:47,970 --> 00:01:51,130 AUDIENCE: We go from, I don't know, something should move 48 00:01:51,130 --> 00:01:53,237 or if something doesn't move, then there should 49 00:01:53,237 --> 00:01:54,920 be a reason why it didn't move. 50 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:55,660 PROFESSOR: OK. 51 00:01:55,660 --> 00:01:58,522 So, one way that I interpret that 52 00:01:58,522 --> 00:01:59,980 is that there has to be a variable. 53 00:01:59,980 --> 00:02:02,770 It has to be something that isn't necessarily 54 00:02:02,770 --> 00:02:06,130 the same every single turn, right? 55 00:02:06,130 --> 00:02:09,220 It's like the board of the Monopoly-- 56 00:02:09,220 --> 00:02:11,680 the layout of a Monopoly board-- 57 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,170 It's not what I would describe as being something, part 58 00:02:14,170 --> 00:02:16,461 of the game state, because that never changes from turn 59 00:02:16,461 --> 00:02:17,480 to turn. 60 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,980 AUDIENCE: So if you were to take someone elsewhere, 61 00:02:20,980 --> 00:02:22,904 say, across the country. 62 00:02:22,904 --> 00:02:24,945 Some groups of people have the same [? baggage ?] 63 00:02:24,945 --> 00:02:26,569 as the group that's playing their game. 64 00:02:26,569 --> 00:02:32,310 And to send-- has each one of you [? sent ?] one telegraph-- 65 00:02:32,310 --> 00:02:34,270 telegram-- to one of them? 66 00:02:34,270 --> 00:02:39,660 If the minimum amount you need, the minimum 67 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:41,947 stuff you need to tell them in order 68 00:02:41,947 --> 00:02:44,530 for them to be able to continue your game from where you were. 69 00:02:44,530 --> 00:02:46,920 PROFESSOR: OK, so you've got to evaluation 70 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:50,670 criteria of whether you just fully described the game play. 71 00:02:50,670 --> 00:02:57,442 But I'll, yeah, all these are useful ways of thinking 72 00:02:57,442 --> 00:02:58,650 about what is the game state. 73 00:02:58,650 --> 00:03:00,360 What's the stuff that can change? 74 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,730 Which is-- and what's all the information? 75 00:03:02,730 --> 00:03:05,370 Whether you know it, whether an individual player knows it 76 00:03:05,370 --> 00:03:07,270 or not. 77 00:03:07,270 --> 00:03:09,230 To be able to reproduce a state-- 78 00:03:09,230 --> 00:03:11,240 to be able to reproduce a game in progress 79 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,850 and then be able to carry on, right. 80 00:03:14,850 --> 00:03:18,970 Sometimes things are unreproducible, like sports, 81 00:03:18,970 --> 00:03:21,040 for instance. 82 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,460 If you try to halt the game halfway and then reproduce 83 00:03:23,460 --> 00:03:26,100 exactly the same weather conditions as the game it was-- 84 00:03:26,100 --> 00:03:26,380 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 85 00:03:26,380 --> 00:03:27,463 PROFESSOR: It was altered. 86 00:03:27,463 --> 00:03:30,876 It is kind of difficult. But you know 87 00:03:30,876 --> 00:03:32,250 that if you really, really wanted 88 00:03:32,250 --> 00:03:33,990 to be able to continue that you have 89 00:03:33,990 --> 00:03:36,531 to make a decision on whether the weather is part of the game 90 00:03:36,531 --> 00:03:37,220 state. 91 00:03:37,220 --> 00:03:39,343 In sports, often it's the reason why the game was 92 00:03:39,343 --> 00:03:40,634 interrupted in the first place. 93 00:03:40,634 --> 00:03:41,846 AUDIENCE: Do you think [INAUDIBLE] sports 94 00:03:41,846 --> 00:03:43,330 fatigue is part of the game today? 95 00:03:43,330 --> 00:03:44,750 PROFESSOR: Yeah, I think so, which makes 96 00:03:44,750 --> 00:03:46,050 it kind of difficult, right? 97 00:03:46,050 --> 00:03:50,370 It's, like, we're going to start the game at halftime, 98 00:03:50,370 --> 00:03:52,620 and then we'll pick this game up tomorrow, 99 00:03:52,620 --> 00:03:53,860 playing the second half. 100 00:03:53,860 --> 00:03:55,895 And it's-- that's a very different game from the typical 101 00:03:55,895 --> 00:03:56,395 one. 102 00:03:56,395 --> 00:03:59,420 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 103 00:03:59,420 --> 00:04:04,086 AUDIENCE: Instead, make it so that they have to start [? A ?] 104 00:04:04,086 --> 00:04:07,422 different game, right, for the first half. 105 00:04:07,422 --> 00:04:08,880 PROFESSOR: First, exhaust yourself, 106 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:10,430 or we'll throw those results out. 107 00:04:10,430 --> 00:04:13,515 So-- so [INAUDIBLE] 108 00:04:13,515 --> 00:04:14,360 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 109 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,216 AUDIENCE: do something else with them. 110 00:04:16,216 --> 00:04:18,230 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 111 00:04:18,230 --> 00:04:19,980 PROFESSOR: Well, I mean, that's a problem. 112 00:04:19,980 --> 00:04:23,830 If you actually had-- and this does happen in, 113 00:04:23,830 --> 00:04:26,730 not marathons, but multi-day races. 114 00:04:26,730 --> 00:04:30,240 You have the situation where people get a good night's sleep 115 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,300 before they resume the second leg of the race. 116 00:04:33,300 --> 00:04:38,452 And at which point they decided that fatigue is not the thing 117 00:04:38,452 --> 00:04:39,410 that they're going for. 118 00:04:39,410 --> 00:04:43,410 Why, they've tried to quantify your advantage 119 00:04:43,410 --> 00:04:47,024 or your disadvantage based on your start time the next day 120 00:04:47,024 --> 00:04:48,274 or something like that, right? 121 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,520 I try to think up a competition that that 122 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,420 would advance to that. 123 00:04:56,420 --> 00:04:58,983 I think that-- the Tour de France is not one day, right? 124 00:04:58,983 --> 00:04:59,980 It's multiple days. 125 00:04:59,980 --> 00:05:00,480 Yeah. 126 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:01,440 So you have to stop. 127 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:02,190 You have to sleep. 128 00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:04,190 You have to wake up, and then, depending on when 129 00:05:04,190 --> 00:05:06,630 you've reached the checkpoint, determines when you get 130 00:05:06,630 --> 00:05:08,430 to leave the check-- the-- 131 00:05:08,430 --> 00:05:09,930 yeah. 132 00:05:09,930 --> 00:05:12,912 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] I know, in cricket, 133 00:05:12,912 --> 00:05:15,367 they have multiple day competitions. 134 00:05:15,367 --> 00:05:17,986 And near the end of the one day, it could be dark 135 00:05:17,986 --> 00:05:20,277 [? for the gingham and like ?] [? clothlike ?] The game 136 00:05:20,277 --> 00:05:21,750 doesn't get finished for the day, 137 00:05:21,750 --> 00:05:25,187 and they'll put in-- they'll specifically put in $15 138 00:05:25,187 --> 00:05:28,359 [INAUDIBLE], basically trying to delay until the next game 139 00:05:28,359 --> 00:05:28,900 starts there. 140 00:05:28,900 --> 00:05:30,190 PROFESSOR: Oh. 141 00:05:30,190 --> 00:05:31,961 AUDIENCE: They put in-- 142 00:05:31,961 --> 00:05:34,210 PROFESSOR: So that their rules will sort of counteract 143 00:05:34,210 --> 00:05:36,600 these exploitative strategies. 144 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,100 AUDIENCE: They'll [INAUDIBLE] put in a pitcher 145 00:05:39,100 --> 00:05:43,531 [? who's younger. ?] They'll put in a batter who's job is to not 146 00:05:43,531 --> 00:05:45,947 really swing it very-- isn't really to swing it very much, 147 00:05:45,947 --> 00:05:49,552 and all they're to do is trying to delay until the game ends 148 00:05:49,552 --> 00:05:50,510 for the day, basically. 149 00:05:50,510 --> 00:05:51,176 PROFESSOR: Yeah. 150 00:05:51,176 --> 00:05:52,890 I mean, it's weird, because you have 151 00:05:52,890 --> 00:05:55,223 a bunch of these strategies, and that there are probably 152 00:05:55,223 --> 00:05:58,470 rules that will come up to prevent some of the worst 153 00:05:58,470 --> 00:06:00,847 strategies from being put into play. 154 00:06:00,847 --> 00:06:02,430 You've got the same thing in baseball. 155 00:06:02,430 --> 00:06:04,100 Sometimes you put in these-- 156 00:06:04,100 --> 00:06:06,670 that there are late ending pitchers, right? 157 00:06:06,670 --> 00:06:10,760 That you will, and they're your starters and-- 158 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,730 that try to achieve completely different things. 159 00:06:14,730 --> 00:06:18,990 So we've talked a little bit about game state, 160 00:06:18,990 --> 00:06:22,920 and we've played all of these games. 161 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,160 All of you played a good portion of them 162 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,290 and I have gone to team to team to try 163 00:06:28,290 --> 00:06:30,850 to talk a little bit about the mechanics. 164 00:06:30,850 --> 00:06:36,060 So let's just pick one that not that many people played so we 165 00:06:36,060 --> 00:06:37,761 can talk a little bit about it. 166 00:06:37,761 --> 00:06:40,010 A lot of people, I think [? Marcus ?] will [? state ?] 167 00:06:40,010 --> 00:06:44,740 once today, so by this group, right? 168 00:06:44,740 --> 00:06:46,890 So game state is characterized by-- 169 00:06:46,890 --> 00:06:50,075 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] location of pieces. 170 00:06:50,075 --> 00:06:53,640 PROFESSOR: Yeah, and the location 171 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:55,300 of pieces onto the great board. 172 00:06:55,300 --> 00:06:58,390 But there is-- I think every player has 173 00:06:58,390 --> 00:07:01,840 the same set of pieces, just in a different color. 174 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:04,386 And which pieces have already been played. 175 00:07:04,386 --> 00:07:06,010 So it's not just the location, but also 176 00:07:06,010 --> 00:07:07,480 which pieces have been played in which teams, 177 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,580 which people are still available to them. 178 00:07:09,580 --> 00:07:13,180 Whose turn it is, because it's part of the game state. 179 00:07:13,180 --> 00:07:16,670 Because you take turns facing people, right? 180 00:07:16,670 --> 00:07:21,884 So-- so what's the core mechanic of [INAUDIBLE] 181 00:07:21,884 --> 00:07:26,110 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 182 00:07:26,110 --> 00:07:28,380 PROFESSOR: You select a piece from all 183 00:07:28,380 --> 00:07:30,470 of the pieces you haven't placed yet. 184 00:07:30,470 --> 00:07:32,430 And then you figure out where it goes. 185 00:07:32,430 --> 00:07:35,070 And the rule that you have to fit to meet, 186 00:07:35,070 --> 00:07:36,283 before you put it down? 187 00:07:36,283 --> 00:07:41,040 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] the corner of the piece [INAUDIBLE] 188 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,221 PROFESSOR: A corner of one of your own pieces. 189 00:07:43,221 --> 00:07:43,720 Right. 190 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:45,560 AUDIENCE: But not in any [INAUDIBLE] 191 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:46,400 PROFESSOR: Right. 192 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,320 So you can't two pieces butting up like that, 193 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:49,900 but you can have two corners touching each other. 194 00:07:49,900 --> 00:07:51,358 And you have to have corner pieces. 195 00:07:51,358 --> 00:07:53,230 AUDIENCE: And it is better where [INAUDIBLE] 196 00:07:53,230 --> 00:07:57,214 the board, where the [INAUDIBLE] except you can't put it 197 00:07:57,214 --> 00:07:58,122 [INAUDIBLE] 198 00:07:58,122 --> 00:08:00,330 PROFESSOR: You tried to find a little space to place, 199 00:08:00,330 --> 00:08:02,845 with a open space, that your piece will actually fit. 200 00:08:02,845 --> 00:08:04,890 Out of all of the pieces that you've got, 201 00:08:04,890 --> 00:08:06,326 which is part of the game state. 202 00:08:06,326 --> 00:08:07,950 And, of course, that changes game state 203 00:08:07,950 --> 00:08:11,637 by not only changing what pieces are on the board, 204 00:08:11,637 --> 00:08:13,470 as we described earlier, but also takes away 205 00:08:13,470 --> 00:08:15,630 a piece that you've already got. 206 00:08:15,630 --> 00:08:19,620 That's the core mechanic. 207 00:08:19,620 --> 00:08:22,535 In, I think, the next class, let me just check-- 208 00:08:22,535 --> 00:08:26,270 take a look at this again. 209 00:08:26,270 --> 00:08:28,290 Oh, wow, it's going to be February 19. 210 00:08:28,290 --> 00:08:32,370 No, it's going to be, holy cow, it's 211 00:08:32,370 --> 00:08:37,070 going to be a month before we get to chapter 2 of this book. 212 00:08:37,070 --> 00:08:39,669 Seriously? 213 00:08:39,669 --> 00:08:40,919 OK. 214 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:45,550 For your sanity, you might want to read chapter 2 of Challenges 215 00:08:45,550 --> 00:08:47,430 for Game Designers, because it's five pages. 216 00:08:47,430 --> 00:08:48,570 It's not much. 217 00:08:48,570 --> 00:08:52,650 It's pages with illustrations on them. 218 00:08:52,650 --> 00:08:55,060 They go fast. 219 00:08:55,060 --> 00:09:00,444 Chapter 2 goes into a lot of more specific definitions. 220 00:09:00,444 --> 00:09:01,860 But they also talk about something 221 00:09:01,860 --> 00:09:03,943 called core dynamic, which is something I actually 222 00:09:03,943 --> 00:09:07,171 don't necessarily want you to worry too much about right now. 223 00:09:07,171 --> 00:09:09,670 They are right in identifying that, often, the core dynamics 224 00:09:09,670 --> 00:09:13,620 are actually more important than the core mechanics of the game. 225 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:17,340 So the core dynamic probably has a bigger influence 226 00:09:17,340 --> 00:09:20,730 on what a player is going to experience. 227 00:09:20,730 --> 00:09:27,030 Whether it's some sort of crazy frenetic game 228 00:09:27,030 --> 00:09:30,560 where you're trying to screw over your opponent, 229 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,216 or when it is animal versus-- 230 00:09:33,216 --> 00:09:34,830 animal upon animal, where it almost 231 00:09:34,830 --> 00:09:36,600 feels like a cooperative game at times. 232 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,099 Even though there's a winner, you're 233 00:09:38,099 --> 00:09:42,930 all kind of playing together to not take the whole thing over. 234 00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:44,930 Those things often come out of the dynamics. 235 00:09:44,930 --> 00:09:47,190 We'll go into the theory. 236 00:09:47,190 --> 00:09:48,720 Some of you have already encountered 237 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,190 this in other classes, the mechanics, dynamics, 238 00:09:51,190 --> 00:09:52,040 aesthetics theory. 239 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:56,520 We'll get into that later into this semester. 240 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,070 And that's just a very convoluted way 241 00:09:59,070 --> 00:10:02,340 of explaining why sometimes game design is hard. 242 00:10:02,340 --> 00:10:03,990 But the mechanic is the thing that you 243 00:10:03,990 --> 00:10:06,360 get to control as a designer. 244 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:07,920 You get to write the rules. 245 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,272 You get to decide what collection of rules 246 00:10:10,272 --> 00:10:11,730 that the players have to go through 247 00:10:11,730 --> 00:10:14,220 in order to be able to change the state of the game. 248 00:10:14,220 --> 00:10:17,160 And I want you to go through deep, deep permutations of what 249 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,330 you can possibly do with one core mechanic. 250 00:10:21,330 --> 00:10:27,400 So in [? Escape ?] it's very clearly rated [? easier. ?] 251 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,390 He's not a game designer. 252 00:10:29,390 --> 00:10:33,840 In fact, there's a little bio of him in Chapter 1, I think. 253 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:34,680 Yeah. 254 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:36,555 In the chapter there's a little photo of him, 255 00:10:36,555 --> 00:10:38,470 the guy who designed that game. 256 00:10:38,470 --> 00:10:41,130 And it's very clearly him trying to do everything 257 00:10:41,130 --> 00:10:45,610 that he can do with dice in a short design period of time. 258 00:10:45,610 --> 00:10:49,092 And when you see his other games later this semester, 259 00:10:49,092 --> 00:10:51,300 you will see that he's trying to do everything he can 260 00:10:51,300 --> 00:10:52,001 to with options. 261 00:10:52,001 --> 00:10:53,542 He's trying to do everything that you 262 00:10:53,542 --> 00:10:56,041 can do with [? design, ?] and he's thinking about these game 263 00:10:56,041 --> 00:10:56,640 mechanics. 264 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:01,770 And that's the thought process [? I need ?] to go through. 265 00:11:01,770 --> 00:11:03,540 All right. 266 00:11:03,540 --> 00:11:08,970 So leaves us with just a little bit more time. 267 00:11:08,970 --> 00:11:10,920 I'm going to end this with the stupidest 268 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:15,408 question in the world, which is, what is a game. 269 00:11:15,408 --> 00:11:17,430 What is a game? 270 00:11:17,430 --> 00:11:20,490 We've got 3 hours into a class, and we haven't actually 271 00:11:20,490 --> 00:11:22,810 talked about this yet. 272 00:11:22,810 --> 00:11:23,310 Why? 273 00:11:23,310 --> 00:11:23,810 Why? 274 00:11:23,810 --> 00:11:27,549 OK, maybe [INAUDIBLE] why is it a stupid question? 275 00:11:27,549 --> 00:11:29,090 AUDIENCE: It's not a stupid question. 276 00:11:29,090 --> 00:11:31,750 PROFESSOR: Is it? 277 00:11:31,750 --> 00:11:33,833 Why did I describe it as a stupid question, maybe. 278 00:11:33,833 --> 00:11:34,980 That might be-- 279 00:11:34,980 --> 00:11:36,690 AUDIENCE: It feels kind of intuitive. 280 00:11:36,690 --> 00:11:38,815 Oh, I can look at something and say this is a game, 281 00:11:38,815 --> 00:11:39,800 this is not a game. 282 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,076 But it's actually-- describe-- maybe there's 283 00:11:42,076 --> 00:11:44,242 some [? educations ?] where it gets really difficult 284 00:11:44,242 --> 00:11:46,630 and then to actually define what is 285 00:11:46,630 --> 00:11:49,510 and what isn't gets really murky. 286 00:11:49,510 --> 00:11:51,980 PROFESSOR: That is definitely-- that is definitely true. 287 00:11:51,980 --> 00:11:56,098 But you have a counterpoint? 288 00:11:56,098 --> 00:12:00,430 AUDIENCE: [? Game ?] but usually something with a, I guess, 289 00:12:00,430 --> 00:12:05,410 set toll in mind given, [? I don't know, ?] to build 290 00:12:05,410 --> 00:12:06,802 objective and rule. 291 00:12:06,802 --> 00:12:11,060 PROFESSOR: Objectives, rules, objectives or sub-objectives, 292 00:12:11,060 --> 00:12:13,550 goals, as you describe them. 293 00:12:13,550 --> 00:12:15,469 Some sort of constraints, some-- 294 00:12:15,469 --> 00:12:17,052 AUDIENCE: Like a mechanical restraint. 295 00:12:17,052 --> 00:12:23,474 Like an objective and mechanical [INAUDIBLE] 296 00:12:23,474 --> 00:12:26,320 I consider it a stupid question because it is. 297 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,343 Everybody knows that a game [INAUDIBLE] that's 298 00:12:28,343 --> 00:12:29,589 a ridiculous thing to say. 299 00:12:29,589 --> 00:12:30,589 Of course I want a game. 300 00:12:30,589 --> 00:12:32,224 But when we actually look at it? 301 00:12:32,224 --> 00:12:32,765 Then it does. 302 00:12:32,765 --> 00:12:33,730 It gets hard. 303 00:12:33,730 --> 00:12:35,294 It gets convoluted as you're playing. 304 00:12:35,294 --> 00:12:36,580 That's why it's such a dumb question. 305 00:12:36,580 --> 00:12:38,780 PROFESSOR: Again, somebody [? educate-- ?] so many 306 00:12:38,780 --> 00:12:41,840 [? educations, ?] but there are these things that a lot 307 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,164 of games do share. 308 00:12:44,164 --> 00:12:45,830 These goals that you're working towards, 309 00:12:45,830 --> 00:12:47,881 these constraints that you are trying to work in, 310 00:12:47,881 --> 00:12:49,506 these decisions they're trying to make. 311 00:12:49,506 --> 00:12:51,602 AUDIENCE: They're definitely [INAUDIBLE] 312 00:12:51,602 --> 00:12:55,740 game, which have had objectives in them. 313 00:12:55,740 --> 00:12:59,240 [INAUDIBLE] objective, and then charge [INAUDIBLE] 314 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:04,641 10 [INAUDIBLE] The way that the [INAUDIBLE] is different, 315 00:13:04,641 --> 00:13:07,350 I don't think a game necessarily has to have [INAUDIBLE] 316 00:13:07,350 --> 00:13:09,520 PROFESSOR: It's crazy to think of a game 317 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:13,640 that people might recognize as a game that doesn't 318 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,500 meet all of these criteria. 319 00:13:16,500 --> 00:13:18,780 AUDIENCE: So I think of it as something 320 00:13:18,780 --> 00:13:22,220 with a goal, an entertaining goal. 321 00:13:22,220 --> 00:13:25,630 So basically a goal that would be entertaining to obtain. 322 00:13:25,630 --> 00:13:28,880 But I also think that's very dependent on what 323 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:29,860 you think of as a game. 324 00:13:29,860 --> 00:13:31,865 And someone mentioned that, oh, it's obvious. 325 00:13:31,865 --> 00:13:34,860 If you look at a game [? you feel like ?] 326 00:13:34,860 --> 00:13:35,500 this is a game. 327 00:13:35,500 --> 00:13:36,406 It's not. 328 00:13:36,406 --> 00:13:38,671 But I think that it's not as obvious. 329 00:13:38,671 --> 00:13:42,620 I think with animal upon animal, everyone of us can look at that 330 00:13:42,620 --> 00:13:45,450 and say it's the game, but there are a lot of things 331 00:13:45,450 --> 00:13:47,922 that kind of fall on the edge. 332 00:13:47,922 --> 00:13:50,850 Some people will define this game where other people won't. 333 00:13:50,850 --> 00:13:56,950 [? Beat the ?] [? game. ?] [LAUGHTER] Or my dad's really 334 00:13:56,950 --> 00:13:57,682 angry with me-- 335 00:13:57,682 --> 00:13:59,160 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 336 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:00,932 AUDIENCE: --cards. 337 00:14:00,932 --> 00:14:02,515 AUDIENCE: I personally like the vision 338 00:14:02,515 --> 00:14:06,286 of unnecessary obstacles, because it-- 339 00:14:06,286 --> 00:14:08,607 There's a play space that you don't have to be in it, 340 00:14:08,607 --> 00:14:10,190 but you should clean it and you should 341 00:14:10,190 --> 00:14:14,094 be giving yourself these obstacles to get over them 342 00:14:14,094 --> 00:14:15,560 or whatever. 343 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:19,970 PROFESSOR: I think that's Bernard Suits who posited that 344 00:14:19,970 --> 00:14:23,750 and he likes to use golf as an example. 345 00:14:23,750 --> 00:14:26,840 Right, it's because clearly golf is 346 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,140 an inefficient way of delivering a ball into a cup. 347 00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:33,050 AUDIENCE: [LAUGHTER] 348 00:14:33,050 --> 00:14:35,990 PROFESSOR: Yes, let's just use this very long stick 349 00:14:35,990 --> 00:14:39,847 that's weighted weirdly and then put the ball really far away. 350 00:14:39,847 --> 00:14:41,930 And give you a rule that you can't just pick it up 351 00:14:41,930 --> 00:14:44,070 and drop it in there. 352 00:14:44,070 --> 00:14:47,790 So unnecessary obstacles, it's kind of a nice way 353 00:14:47,790 --> 00:14:52,040 to describe a criteria that a game could meet. 354 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,360 AUDIENCE: So it's interesting because the-- 355 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,480 often times a lot of people, the creative people 356 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:58,366 like artists and other such people, 357 00:14:58,366 --> 00:15:01,789 will say constraints actually let you be more creative. 358 00:15:01,789 --> 00:15:03,330 So that's, I think what's interesting 359 00:15:03,330 --> 00:15:06,375 about games is, specifically with strategies and stuff, 360 00:15:06,375 --> 00:15:08,509 the fact that you can't just pick up the golf ball 361 00:15:08,509 --> 00:15:09,967 and walk to the hole and put it in. 362 00:15:09,967 --> 00:15:11,466 It means you actually have to learn. 363 00:15:11,466 --> 00:15:14,570 Well, this golf club, it goes for long distances and this 364 00:15:14,570 --> 00:15:16,694 and that and that. 365 00:15:16,694 --> 00:15:19,110 So all these constraints yield different strategies, which 366 00:15:19,110 --> 00:15:20,330 is a really interesting sight. 367 00:15:20,330 --> 00:15:21,666 PROFESSOR: Right and even in the example 368 00:15:21,666 --> 00:15:22,832 of the cricket thing, right. 369 00:15:22,832 --> 00:15:25,610 It's-- you have this weird collection, a set of rules. 370 00:15:25,610 --> 00:15:28,227 We need to this emergent strategy, which is like-- 371 00:15:28,227 --> 00:15:29,810 And now we put in this particular kind 372 00:15:29,810 --> 00:15:35,120 of batter or pitcher that is going to help us maximize our-- 373 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:36,882 what's going to extend this game by day. 374 00:15:42,510 --> 00:15:47,090 So [INAUDIBLE] why is-- it's not entirely-- 375 00:15:47,090 --> 00:15:50,752 it's not an entirely futile experiment 376 00:15:50,752 --> 00:15:51,710 to try to define games. 377 00:15:51,710 --> 00:15:54,251 In fact, I believe we do have a definition of games coming up 378 00:15:54,251 --> 00:15:59,360 in one of the rules of play readings, 379 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,700 and it is one that is functional. 380 00:16:02,700 --> 00:16:04,550 And it has goals. 381 00:16:04,550 --> 00:16:07,100 It has the constraints that you're working in. 382 00:16:07,100 --> 00:16:10,760 I believe they also have it describing an activity that's 383 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,630 actually carved out of-- 384 00:16:12,630 --> 00:16:13,880 of regular life. 385 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,120 And the consequences that happen inside it 386 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,320 don't include that you're outside it. 387 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,760 But as many people have already pointed out in class, 388 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,580 if I gave you a little bit of time you will be able to come 389 00:16:25,580 --> 00:16:28,790 up with a game that people will recognize as a game, 390 00:16:28,790 --> 00:16:32,450 and for that [? sort ?] [? of ?] definition. 391 00:16:32,450 --> 00:16:34,220 The reason why I personally-- 392 00:16:34,220 --> 00:16:36,980 this is not-- this is not going to be useful to you 393 00:16:36,980 --> 00:16:38,282 outside of this class. 394 00:16:38,282 --> 00:16:39,740 So I'm going to tell you personally 395 00:16:39,740 --> 00:16:43,600 the reason why I don't like that question, what is a game, 396 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,570 is because it invites you to carve things out 397 00:16:47,570 --> 00:16:48,610 of the game space. 398 00:16:48,610 --> 00:16:51,080 To say that thing is not a game because it doesn't 399 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:55,910 meet this definition, and I find that activity to be pointless. 400 00:16:55,910 --> 00:17:00,944 To-- just telling people who've made something 401 00:17:00,944 --> 00:17:02,360 and have decided to call it a game 402 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,890 that it is not-- that thing that you created is not a game. 403 00:17:05,890 --> 00:17:08,869 I actually feel that is very antisocial, 404 00:17:08,869 --> 00:17:12,290 very noninclusive way of thinking 405 00:17:12,290 --> 00:17:15,047 about what could actually be useful in thinking about it. 406 00:17:17,630 --> 00:17:22,220 But for your own benefit of working in a team, 407 00:17:22,220 --> 00:17:24,260 it is reasonable to set goals that you 408 00:17:24,260 --> 00:17:27,200 want to hit with you game. 409 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:29,540 Many of the descriptions that have already come up 410 00:17:29,540 --> 00:17:32,120 in the past 10 minutes are actually 411 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,850 things I would use to describe good games, but not necessarily 412 00:17:34,850 --> 00:17:36,340 games as a whole. 413 00:17:36,340 --> 00:17:38,531 Entertaining, for instance, it's like how many of 414 00:17:38,531 --> 00:17:40,530 you can think of a game that's not entertaining, 415 00:17:40,530 --> 00:17:41,586 but it's a game? 416 00:17:41,586 --> 00:17:42,580 AUDIENCE: Monopoly? 417 00:17:42,580 --> 00:17:43,527 [LAUGHTER] 418 00:17:43,527 --> 00:17:46,191 PROFESSOR: Sure. 419 00:17:46,191 --> 00:17:46,940 AUDIENCE: The game 420 00:17:46,940 --> 00:17:47,780 PROFESSOR: What else? 421 00:17:47,780 --> 00:17:49,155 AUDIENCE: War and [? golf are. ?] 422 00:17:49,155 --> 00:17:49,880 PROFESSOR: War. 423 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,380 Golf. 424 00:17:51,380 --> 00:17:52,970 It depends on you, right? 425 00:17:52,970 --> 00:17:56,150 It depends on the player. 426 00:17:56,150 --> 00:17:58,300 Actually, a lot depends on the player. 427 00:17:58,300 --> 00:18:01,302 You can come up with the worst game in the world. 428 00:18:01,302 --> 00:18:03,260 Conversely, you can come up with the worst game 429 00:18:03,260 --> 00:18:06,280 and, well, and find people who would enjoy it. 430 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:07,940 And you can make it a game that's 431 00:18:07,940 --> 00:18:09,729 trying to deliver a particular message. 432 00:18:09,729 --> 00:18:11,770 And people are going to walk away with completely 433 00:18:11,770 --> 00:18:14,530 the wrong interpretation of it. 434 00:18:14,530 --> 00:18:17,220 And that's fine, because they are players. 435 00:18:17,220 --> 00:18:19,346 They-- I'll say it's not even a completely wrong 436 00:18:19,346 --> 00:18:19,970 interpretation. 437 00:18:19,970 --> 00:18:22,400 They come up with a valid interpretation 438 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,550 that they walked away with it, and you had very little control 439 00:18:25,550 --> 00:18:26,130 over that. 440 00:18:26,130 --> 00:18:27,760 But it's OK, because the game's more about players 441 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,210 usually than about the designers. 442 00:18:29,210 --> 00:18:30,970 Even though you see the designers names 443 00:18:30,970 --> 00:18:35,940 on many of these boxes, a lot of them would have that, I think. 444 00:18:35,940 --> 00:18:39,002 In the end, there are relatively few famous game designers 445 00:18:39,002 --> 00:18:40,960 out there, but there are many, many famous game 446 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:42,590 players out there. 447 00:18:42,590 --> 00:18:45,110 I think there's a good reason for that. 448 00:18:45,110 --> 00:18:47,360 All the creative-- all the creativity 449 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:49,190 that comes out from constraints, all the, 450 00:18:49,190 --> 00:18:53,710 as we're talking about sports, the athleticism. 451 00:18:53,710 --> 00:18:56,154 The ability to work within these constraints 452 00:18:56,154 --> 00:18:58,070 to do something that people didn't necessarily 453 00:18:58,070 --> 00:19:00,950 think that was possible is usually the Hallmark card 454 00:19:00,950 --> 00:19:03,440 of a great player. 455 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,050 The designers just provide it, the sandbox 456 00:19:06,050 --> 00:19:09,020 for them to be able to express that way. 457 00:19:09,020 --> 00:19:13,140 So I think when you come back on Monday, 458 00:19:13,140 --> 00:19:15,360 to be able to come in with a concept 459 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:18,174 after taking a look at some of the readings. 460 00:19:18,174 --> 00:19:19,840 This is what I want to [? hit, ?] right, 461 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,670 and I want to have a game that-- 462 00:19:22,670 --> 00:19:23,880 that has a goal. 463 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,510 Or I want to have a game where the players have a goal. 464 00:19:27,510 --> 00:19:30,690 I want to have a game where the players are going to express 465 00:19:30,690 --> 00:19:32,250 a certain amount of creativity. 466 00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:34,950 Or whether it's-- they're really just sort of mechanically going 467 00:19:34,950 --> 00:19:37,034 through the possibility space. 468 00:19:37,034 --> 00:19:38,700 I think we've got a couple of games that 469 00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:40,950 actually were very mechanical. 470 00:19:40,950 --> 00:19:44,837 And you're are just stepping through the-- 471 00:19:44,837 --> 00:19:46,670 stepping through the [? paces. ?] [? Some ?] 472 00:19:46,670 --> 00:19:48,720 [? are ?] [? closer, ?] and some of them is almost a little bit 473 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,390 like that, right, because you don't get to decide what 474 00:19:51,390 --> 00:19:53,119 question you ask, I believe. 475 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:54,910 AUDIENCE: [? You just draw ?] the question. 476 00:19:54,910 --> 00:19:55,980 PROFESSOR: Yeah, you just draw it. 477 00:19:55,980 --> 00:19:56,855 You ask the question. 478 00:19:56,855 --> 00:19:59,100 You get information, and, at some point of time, 479 00:19:59,100 --> 00:20:02,220 you get all the information you need. 480 00:20:02,220 --> 00:20:07,410 So-- so that's a game that has very relatively little decision 481 00:20:07,410 --> 00:20:11,234 making on the player's part, if you are playing optimally. 482 00:20:11,234 --> 00:20:13,150 If you're not playing optimally, then actually 483 00:20:13,150 --> 00:20:15,928 you're making a whole bunch of incorrect decisions 484 00:20:15,928 --> 00:20:18,344 that actually makes it a little bit more variable in who's 485 00:20:18,344 --> 00:20:18,885 going to win. 486 00:20:18,885 --> 00:20:22,200 And that's why the game's actually interesting. 487 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:23,590 Come in on Monday. 488 00:20:23,590 --> 00:20:25,021 Be willing to discuss that. 489 00:20:25,021 --> 00:20:25,770 Come in on Monday. 490 00:20:25,770 --> 00:20:27,769 Be willing to change your mind when you actually 491 00:20:27,769 --> 00:20:29,040 meet up with your team. 492 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,415 We're going to do a little bit of brainstorming on Monday 493 00:20:31,415 --> 00:20:35,190 on what sort of games that you want to work on, 494 00:20:35,190 --> 00:20:38,700 and, more importantly, what mechanics you want to work on. 495 00:20:38,700 --> 00:20:41,340 One more clarification about the first assignment. 496 00:20:41,340 --> 00:20:44,130 It is not about the story of your game 497 00:20:44,130 --> 00:20:46,490 or the fiction of your game or where 498 00:20:46,490 --> 00:20:48,690 your game is set, in ancient history 499 00:20:48,690 --> 00:20:51,880 or in the science, sci-fi or anything of that. 500 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,820 We'll get to that later on in this lecture. 501 00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:56,550 I want you to think about what are the rules that a player 502 00:20:56,550 --> 00:20:58,260 needs to deal with. 503 00:20:58,260 --> 00:20:59,210 Right? 504 00:20:59,210 --> 00:21:02,668 You are your own target audience, as far as I know. 505 00:21:02,668 --> 00:21:04,130 That's it for class today. 506 00:21:04,130 --> 00:21:05,850 Thank you very much. 507 00:21:05,850 --> 00:21:07,880 Please make sure that you did sign in, 508 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,060 if you haven't gotten the attendance sheet. 509 00:21:10,060 --> 00:21:11,230 [? Be officially ?] on it. 510 00:21:11,230 --> 00:21:12,480 [INTERPOSING VOICES]