Gameplay

For other uses, see Gameplay (disambiguation).

Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game.^[1][2] The term applies to both video games^[3][4] and tabletop games.^[5][6][7] Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges,^[8][9][10] and the pattern of player behavior defined through the game's rules.^[2][11]

History

A gameplay of an early version of the puzzle game Edge

Arising alongside video game development in the 1980s, the term gameplay was initially used solely within the context of video games, though now it is also used for tabletop games.^[12]

Definition of term

There is no consensus on the precise definition of gameplay. It has been differently defined by different authors, but all definitions refer to player interaction with a game. For example:

• "The structures of player interaction with the game system and with other players in the game."^[13]
• "Gameplay here is seen as the interactive gaming process of the player with the game."^[14]

Theorists also agree that video game gameplay is distinct from graphics^[15][16] and audio elements.^[15]

Some theorists add more specific elements to the basic definition of gameplay as the interaction between players and games. For example:

• "One or more causally linked series of challenges in a simulated environment."^[17]
• "The experience of gameplay is one of interacting with a game design in the performance of cognitive tasks, with a variety of emotions arising from or associated with different elements of motivation, task performance and completion."^[3]
• In The Videogame Theory Reader, G. Frasca identifies three components to gameplay: "Manipulation rules" ( defining what the player can do in the game) "Goal Rules" (defining the goal of the game), and "Metarules" (defining how a game can be tuned or modified).^[18]

Types

Gameplay can be divided into several types. For example, cooperative gameplay involves two or more players playing on a team. Various gameplay types are listed below.

• Asymmetric video game
• Cooperative video game
• Emergent gameplay
• Nonlinear gameplay

Playability

Playability is a measure of the quality of gameplay. Playability represents the ease, quantity, or duration that a game can be played.^[19] Playability evaluative methods target games to improve design, while player experience evaluative methods target players to improve gaming.^[14]

Different scholars analyze playability according to different sets of criteria. For example, in Playability: analyzing user experience in video games, the researchers define playability as a set of properties that describe player experience using a specific game system: satisfaction, learning, efficiency, immersion, motivation, emotion, and socialization.^[20] However, in A video game's elements ontology, the researchers define the facets of playability as: intrinsic, mechanical, interactive, artistic, personal, and social.^[21]

These concepts of "playability" are not to be confused with the ability to control (or play) characters in multi-character games such as role playing games or fighting games, or factions in real-time strategy games.

See also

• Game development and Game design
• Game mechanics
• Interaction design
• Play (activity)
• Time-keeping systems in games
• Video game genres

References

1. Lindley, Craig (June 24–26, 2004). "Narrative, Game Play, and Alternative Time Structures for Virtual Environments". In Göbel, Stefan (ed.). Technologies for Interactive Digital Storytelling and Entertainment: Proceedings of TIDSE 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 3105. Darmstadt, Germany: Springer. pp. 183–194. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-27797-2_25. ISBN 978-3-540-22283-5. .. gameplay gestalt, understood as a pattern of interaction with the game system." ("A gestalt may be understood as a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts."); ".. In general, it [game play gestalt] is a particular way of thinking about the game state from the perspective of a player, together with a pattern of repetitive perceptual, cognitive, and motor operations. A particular gameplay gestalt could be unique to a person, a game, or even a playing occasion. Unique game play gestalts can also be identified across games, game genres, and players.
2. Salen, Katie; Zimmerman, Eric (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-262-24045-1. Game play is the formalized interaction that occurs when players follow the rules of a game and experience its system through play.
3. Lindley, Craig; Nacke, Lennart; Sennersten, Charlotte (November 3–5, 2008). Dissecting Play – Investigating the Cognitive and Emotional Motivations and Affects of Computer Gameplay. Wolverhampton, UK: University of Wolverhampton. ISBN 978-0-9549016-6-0. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2010-10-04. The experience of gameplay is one of interacting with a game design in the performance of cognitive tasks, with a variety of emotions arising from or associated with different elements of motivation, task performance and completion
4. Tavinor, Grant (October 5, 2009). The Art of Videogames. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-8788-6. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2016. [T]he interactive involvement typically associated with videogames, that is, the activities that occur when one plays a videogame.
5. Chrysostomou, George (2024-07-25). "How Dice Rolls Became Modern Gaming's Most Important Mechanic". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
6. Abbott, Benjamin (2022-11-03). "Best board games 2024: Must-haves to play with friends and family". gamesradar. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
7. "Splendor Duel Board Game Review". Tabletop Gaming. 2024-08-16. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
8. Adams, Ernest; Rollings, Andrew (2003). Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on game design. New Riders Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59273-001-8. One or more casually linked series of challenges in a simulated environment"; "Gameplay is the result of a large number of contributing elements. .. gameplay is not a singular entity. It is a combination of many elements, a synergy that emerges from the inclusion of certain factors. .. The gameplay emerges from the interaction among these elements, ..
9. Adams, Ernest (September 23, 2006). Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-168747-9. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2016. .. defined gameplay as consisting of the challenges and actions that a game offers: challenges for the player to overcome and actions that let her overcome them. .. [T]he essence of gameplay remains the relationship between the challenges and the actions available to surmount them.
10. Laramée, François Dominic (June 15, 2002). Game Design Perspectives. Charles River Media. ISBN 978-1-58450-090-2. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
11. Egenfeldt-Nielson, Simon; Smith, Jonas Heide; Tosca, Susana Pajares (February 19, 2008). Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97721-0. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2016. In line with the common use of the term, we will define gameplay as: the game dynamics emerging from the interplay between rules and game geography.
12. Kierkegaard, Alex (2012). Videogame Culture: Volume 1.
13. Björk, Staffan; Holopainen, Jussi (2005). Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN 978-1-58450-354-5.
14. Nacke, Lennart E.; Drachen, Anders; Kuikkaniemi, Kai; Niesenhaus, Joerg; Korhonen, Hannu; van den Hoogen, Wouter; Poels, Karolien; IJsselsteijn, Wijnand; et al. (September 1, 2009). "Playability and Player Experience Research" (PDF). Proceedings of DiGRA 2009: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2019. playability is the evaluative process directed toward games, whereas player experience is directed toward players. More precisely, playability methods evaluate games to improve design, whereas player experience methods evaluate players to improve gaming.(p.1)
15. Concise Oxford English Dictionary (11, Revised ed.). Oxford University Press, US. August 11, 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-954841-5. gameplay (in a computer game) the plot and the way the game is played, as distinct from the graphics and sound effects
16. Oxland, Kevin (2004). Gameplay and design. Addison Wesley. ISBN 978-0-321-20467-7. .. gameplay is the components that make up a rewarding, absorbing, challenging experience that compels player to return for more .. [Gameplay] does not come from a great visual character, not does it come from state-of-art technology and beautifully rendered art.
17. Adams, Ernest; Rollings, Andrew (2003). Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on game design. New Riders Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59273-001-8.
18. Frasca, G (2003). "Simulation versus narrative: introduction to ludology". The Videogame Theory Reader: 221.
19. Usability First: Usability Glossary: playability Archived 2009-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
20. González Sánchez, J. L.; Gutiérrez Vela, F.L.; Montero Simarro, F.; Padilla-Zea, N. (31 Aug 2012). "Playability: analysing user experience in video games". Behaviour & Information Technology. 31 (10): 1033–1054. doi:10.1080/0144929X.2012.710648. S2CID 7073571.
21. Stanford Ontology Library Video game's Elements Ontology Archived 2010-06-03 at the Wayback Machine: A video game's elements ontology by González Sánchez, J. L. and Gutiérrez Vela, F. L. University of Granada, Spain.

Further reading on playability

• Desurvire, H., Caplan, M., & Toth, J. A. (2004). Using heuristics to evaluate the playability of games. CHI '04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, Vienna, Austria. doi:10.1145/985921.986102
• Fabricatore, C., Nussbaum, M., & Rosas, R. (2002). Playability in video games: a qualitative design model. Human-Computer Interaction, 17(4), 311–368. doi:10.1207/S15327051HCI1704_1
• Jegers, K. (2008). Investigating the Applicability of Usability and Playability Heuristics for Evaluation of Pervasive Games. Internet and Web Applications and Services, 2008. ICIW '08.
• Korhonen, H., & Koivisto, E. M. I. (2006). Playability heuristics for mobile games. In Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Human-Computer interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (Helsinki, Finland, September 12–15, 2006). MobileHCI '06, vol. 159. ACM, New York, NY, 9-16. doi:10.1145/1152215.1152218
• Korhonen H., Koivisto E.M.I. (2007). Playability Heuristics for Mobile Multi-player Games. In proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts, DIMEA 2007, ACM Press (2007), pp. 28–35. Perth, Australia. doi:10.1145/1306813.1306828
• Nacke, L. (2009). From Playability to a Hierarchical Game Usability Model. In Proceedings of the 2009 Conference on Future Play on @ GDC Canada (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 12–13, 2009). FuturePlay '09. ACM, New York, NY, 11–12. doi:10.1145/1639601.1639609
• Nacke, L. E., Drachen, A., Kuikkaniemi, K., Niesenhaus, J., Korhonen, H. J., Hoogen, W. M. v. d., et al. (2009). Playability and Player Experience Research. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory, London, UK. (online slides)
• Järvinen, A., Heliö, S. and Mäyrä, F. Communication and Community in Digital Entertainment Services. Prestudy Research Report, Hypermedia Laboratory, University of Tampere, Tampere, 2002.
• González Sánchez, J. L., Zea, N. P., & Gutiérrez, F. L. (2009). From Usability to Playability: Introduction to Player-Centred Video Game Development Process. Proceedings of First International Conference, HCD 2009 (Held as Part of HCI International), San Diego, CA, US. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-02806-9_9
• González Sánchez, J. L., Zea, N. P., & Gutiérrez, F. L. (2009). Playability: How to Identify the Player Experience in a Video Game. Proceedings of INTERACT 2009: 12th IFIP TC 13 International Conference, Uppsala, Sweden, August 24–28, 2009. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-03655-2_39
• González Sánchez, J. L., Montero, F., Padilla Zea, N., Gutiérrez, F. L. "Playability as Extension of Quality in Use in Video Games". Proceedings of 2nd International Workshop on the Interplay between Usability Evaluation and Software Development (I-USED), paper number 6.Uppsala, Sweden, 24 August (2009)
• Phillips, Hubert, ed. (1957). Culbertson's Card Games Complete. Watford: Arco.