Critical-Glossary
- Alphabetical
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abstract counter
When a counter is designed that blatantly ignores the rules of form fits function, it can be considered an abstract counter. Many times, these counters are designed to balance gameplay and are "last minute" alterations. In such cases, fixing the forms of the game would take too much work, time, and/or resources away from development. And so we're stuck with simply memorizing how these counters work individually despite how they look. In this way, abstract counters are very similar to special case counters.
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abstract mechanic
Some gameplay mechanics are completely artificial, meaning they do not make logical sense based on the form of the game. When such mechanics are privileged within a game's design, we tend to label these games as being "arcade" like. I describe these gameplay mechanics as being abstract.
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accordion level design
Folded level design that folds back and forth at multiple creases that creates a pattern either in the types of creaes or a patten of some concerte nature.
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alternate path
- Any path other than the main path.
- ~ see article
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asynchronous time (async)
It is a design innovation that applies to games that are played in real time. By taking the progression of real time and breaking it down in specific contextual ways, a new level of game design can be reached. This is the essence of asynchronous time, or async.
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bad 3D
when the perspective of a video game is at such an angle as to significantly obscure an axis of 3D into the zone of interpretation that's needed to make informed decisions. Also notated "ba3D/ BA3D"
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blind spot
- see functional blind spot
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cause and effect counter
Some counters occur when game elements change from one state into another. With each state comes new effects, lines of contrary motion, and nuances.
see article
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clean design
- Following form fits function and relatively simple gameplay that is layered for effect.
- ~ see article
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climax
- the most meaningful, difficult, and/or intense challenge in a game.
- ~ see article
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cluttered design
- Design elements that create negative space. Also, design elements that ignore form fits function.
- ~ see article
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complexity
The range of data that players must sort through in order to figure out what they don't need/can ignore/can optimize/can simplify before making an informed decision/action.
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conceptual variation
- adding or subtracting a different elements than what was modified in the previous step.
- ~ see article
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contrary motion
- The designed intent of game elements that are functionally set against each other.
- ~ see article
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co-optional level design
- coming soon
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counter
- A forced/influenced change in the line of motion of a gameplay element by another gameplay element.
- ~ see article
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counterpoint
In music, Counterpoint is the writing of musical lines that sound different on their own, but harmonize when played together. How the melody of a song interacts with the other lines is the focus of Counterpoint.
Counterpoint, in gaming, is a word for the way gameplay develops past optimization by layering interactive elements into a single gameplay experience. When each layer influcences, interacts, and enhances the functions/gameplay of each other layer the gameplay emerges into a medium of expression that reflects the individuality of a player and the dynamics that reflect the complexity of the world we live in.
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crease
- The point at which a level folds upon itself.
- ~ see article
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cycle
The decay and replinishing of a game element. When this cycle is done completely within a game's forms and mechanics, the cycle can be described as being organic.
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decay
- The diminishing effectiveness of a particular game element or mechanic.
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decay counter
In games with mechanics with limited resource, counters of decay are possible. Whether you put an opposing element/player in a situation that influences them to use a limited resource, or you force them to use a limited resource, the idea is that by doing this enough the opponent's resources will run out and their strategy will no longer be as viable of an option.
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depth
- see interplay
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diminishing trend
A diminishing trend is one where game elements are either added or subtracted that reduce the amount of consequences and allow for mechanics to be executed less precisely.
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direct (mechanics)
A measure of how the changes in the method of input are paralleled with the action in the game according to the form of the mechanic. If you quickly press the green button on your controller, does the game quickly press the button on the screen? If you hold the button on your controller, is the button on the screen held down as well?
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distinct section
When a section contains an individual gameplay idea that isn't significantly and directly related to another section, then that section is considered a distinct section.
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dynamic (mechanics)
An measure of how the game world responds to the action. According to the form of the game world and the mechanic, does the world react realistically? What is the extent of the properties of the mechanic? Are the reactions to the mechanic special cases or can the resulting actions continue to effect the game world?
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dynamaic encounter
A scenario between two gameplay elements where winning, losing, and tying are determined by a large number of factors.
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elements
Any variable element in a videogame.
* player: character(s), cursor, avatar, HUD
* level: non aggressive interactive (physical) pieces
* enemy: hostile/aggressive forces
* audio: sound effects, music
* visual: non-interactive on screen elements
* rumble: force feedback
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elemental variation
- see conceptual variation
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emergent structure
- the design layers that allow for a few rules to come together in "unexpected" ways.
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expanded gameplay idea
In counterpoint, if the player must combine secondary functions with primary functions to progress, then the game idea is considered to be expanded.
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feminist criticism
Like Marxist criticism, the most successful Feminist critique of a game involves analyzing how the range of player functions that affect female characters directly or indirectly reveal the operations of patriarchy. When the player is encouraged or forced to play in a way that depicts men as strong, rational, protective and women as weak, emotional, submissive, and nurturing, then the game can be said to support and reinforce patriarchal genders roles and ideologies. Patriarchal values work to oppress women, and all feminist theory and criticism works to promote women‘s equality. A Feminist analysis can become more complex when finding examples of actions toward women if a game doesn’t feature any women or the game allows for limited interaction with women. Writing essays about such games often leads to finding evidence by absence. In other words, a Feminist critic’s central piece of evidence may be what can’t be done to women instead of what can.
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flow
How a game accelerates or creates forward momentum. This factor of gameplay isn't necessarily about speed. More specifically, it looks at how a game's interactions feed back into the player's options/experience like a snowball rolling down hill.
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folded level design
Level design that resuses a space with the second use containing an extra layer to the gameplay that builds on the knowledge and experiences established on the first layer.
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form fits function
Form fits function is a powerful game design principle that has powered many of Nintendo's greatest games. Using familiar visuals, games can use their form to communicate to the player. If there is a ball resting on a tee and the player avatar has a golf club in their hands, they better be able to swing the club and hit the ball. Otherwise, why put such things in front of the player in the first place? Keeping the form true to the functions and limits of a game creates the cleanest most easily enjoyable experiences.
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functional blind spot
A space in a video game relative to the player that is difficult to interact with due to a combination of the player's mechanics/abilities and the level design (arrangement of level/enemy elements). Sometimes notated f(x) blind spot or f(x)bs.
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function creates form
When a game's mechanics inspire, shape, and define the creation of ancillary parts of a game. ie. story, setting, premise, characters, music, audio
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game idea
the theme, concept, direction, or idea that governs and is communicated through the design of a stage.
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gameplay idea
- The influence of a game element or group of game elements on a game's mechanics in a specific way.
- ~ see article
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gimmick
A sometimes hidden innovation intended to attract attention and increase the unique value of a product or work. dictionary.com
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hybrid game
- Two wholly different games designed to be played at the same time.
- ~ see article
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individual (mechanics)
A quality of a mechanic. Does the input yield the same action every time? Or can the input result in a variety of different actions?
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inorganic (level) design
Inorganic design is very similar to abstract design. Abstract mechanics often influence level design that diverges from organic forms, mechanics, and gameplay.The main difference between inorganic and abstract design is that inorganic design is made up of concrete/organic game elements. How these elements are arranged create artificial environments and more restricting gameplay.
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internal energy
The motion and the direction the brain receives, processes, and stores data in response to a stimuli. For example, optical illusions, literary ambiguity, and puns all have some kind of internal energy.
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interplay
- A counter and/or the continual chain of back and forth counters between any two gameplay elements.
- The essence of gameplay.
- ~ see article
- ~ see article 2
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intuitive (mechanics)
A measure of the degree to which input method matches the form of the game. If there's a green button on the screen, and a green button on your game controller, the form of the game is liked to the input of pressing the green button on the controller.
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inward innovation
looks at existing conventions and redesigns them for the purpose of making them more intuitive, dynamic, analog, organic, and/or engaging.
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line of motion
- The functional intent/potential/action of a gameplay element.
- ~ see article
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linear variation
- adding or subtracting a single game element or fixed group of elements in a specific arrangement.
- ~ see article
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main path
- The guided, "safe," easiest, developer intended course through a game.
- ~ see article
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marxist criticism
Like Psychoanalytic criticism, Marxist criticism can seemingly critique a game by looking solely at a its fiction. However, both of these critical modes, in relation to videogames, achieve a deeper, more profound level of analysis when the elements of interactivity between the game and player are taken into consideration. Many Marxist critics of literature believe that film, literature, art, music, and other forms of entertainment such as videogames are the primary bearers of cultural ideologies. While we’re being entertaining by these medias, our defenses are lowered making us all the more susceptible to ideological programming. A Marxist critic of videogames looks for how a game supports or condems capitalist, imperialist, or classist values. Perhaps the best and most obvious place to look toward in games is the role and function of money. Some games represent money with actual U.S. dollars or some other form of real world currency. Others use fictional currency from bell, to gil, to star bits, or even points. What the player can purchase, how these items or services function, and how the money circulates within the game world all become important areas of analysis.
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mini loop
A loop of interplay that's contained entirely inside of an option in a larger more dominant loop of interplay for a game system.
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minimum difference
The smallest degree of change needed for a change to be significant for a particular mechanic. (minimum degree of difference)
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mixed-generational design
when a game contains design elements from at least two different generations of design conventions/approaches that naturally conflict with each other.
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momentum
is created when player mechanics layer and/or link into resulting states that create opportunities with a higher amount of risk/reward
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multi-element whole
- emergent gameplay
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multi-fold level design
- A level that is designed with multiple layers and creases that fold onto each other more than once.
- ~ see article
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multi loop
A game system that has multiple interplay loops that are all more or less the dominant mechanics and interactions.
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natural counter
A natural counter is created from the limitations of time and/or space. This counter includes everything from dodging out of the way of an attack, taking advantage of "laggy" animations, to positioning elements in such a way as to prevent immediate retaliation. For games designed around spaces 2D or 3D, natural counters are the most prevalent, automatic, and dynamic type of counter.
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negative space
the old term for what is now called static space.
Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space is occasionally used to artistic effect as the "real" subject of an image. The use of negative space is a key element of artistic composition. The Japanese word "ma" is sometimes used for this concept, for example in garden design: Wikipedia
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new classical criticism
"New Classical criticism focuses on identifying a game's primary function/action that sums up all of the player's actions, functions, and abilities into a single expression. This expression can be thought of as the interpretation of the game or what the gamer is actually doing when he/she plays. Sometimes the primary function can be encapsulated in a single word. For example, the primary function of the Super Mario platforming series is "jump". After the primary function is identified, the New Classical critic then looks at a game's formal elements to analyze how they promote the primary function. The formal elements include Sound, Music, Art style, Story, Graphics, level design, enemies, etc. Because the New Classical critic privileges interactivity over passivity (especially when focused into a limited number of rules and actions), such a critic is only concerned with how these elements shape the gameplay experience, and assumes that any formal element in a game is only meaningful when it supports the primary function and exists in a lower state of priority to that function. In other words, elements like story can't be more stressed and more important to a game than the gameplay. Even if a game is designed according to the conventions and assumptions of Western game design, it can still be critiqued in the Classical mode."
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open variation
Doesn't look at examples from the game, rather it focuses on arrangements and groupings that the researcher creates. Such an approach looks at possible scenarios than existing ones.
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organic decay-cycle
- see entry for "cycle"
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origami level design
A type of multi-fold level design where the creases and layers are so flexible and/or dynamic that considering the possibilities within a single level are interconnected and complex. Considering the shape created from a multi-fold level is similar to observing an origami figure.
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(p)layered level design
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positive space
- Positive space, in art, is the space taken up by the subject(s) of an image.
- ~ see article
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preventative counter
When a player or game element stops a force of contrary motion from ever affecting them according to the aims of their functional intent.
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primary mechanic
Whether a game is defined by an action or a group of actions, a small set of mechanics rests at the core of every game. This mechanic is the primary function.
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psychoanalytic criticsm
For those who aren’t careful, a Psychoanalytic critique of a game appears to only be concerned with the fiction of a game and the relationship of the characters. Unless the game is Psychonauts, most games seem to have little to nothing to do with the human psyche. Neglecting how the game fiction and the gameplay (or game rules) come together to create the Psychological work in a game is a common pitfall. Another easy pitfall is to get wrapped up in Psychoanalyzing the developers of the game, or what may be infinitely more embarrassing, accidentally analyzing one’s own psychological state while trying to pass it off as an analysis of the game. Though it is true that the fiction of a game is an important part of any Psychoanalytic analysis, the gameplay is where the most profound sources of material because the interactivity of the game can influence and transform the player in more powerfully subtle ways than a passive medium.
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pure organic (level) design
A type of level design that reflects the interconnected intricacies of our organic world. Basically, designing a pure organic game means taking out all the "artificial" video game crutches we've all internalized by now.
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puzzle challenge
If a puzzle level doesn't have an end, or if it's randomly generated, then the level is a puzzle challenge.
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puzzle stage
- A level focusing on the nuanced use of gameplay mechanics with a very limited set of solutions.
- ~ see article
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quantification
Breaking down the range of possibilites for a game mechanic into distinct parts for the purpose of analysis.
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quasi counter
- A counter that falls somewhere between a preventative and reactionary counter.
- ~ see article
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reactionary counter
The measures a game element can take to "stop the bleeding" after an element of contrary motion has succeeded in its functional aims. In other words, making the most out of the situation by influencing things back in your favor.
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refining trend
And finally, the refining trend is one that increases consequences that force the use of mechanics in a more precise manner by adding or subtracting game elements.
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reverse flow
When mechanics are used in such a way as to reverse the natural flow of interplay within its interplay loop. Generally the potential to reverse the flow is a small fraction of the normal flowing actions.
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roller coaster level design
Any level design where the emphasis is placed on looking and "feeling" cool rather than being functional. In other words, when the presentation, graphics, sound, or story are prioritized over interactivity, variation, counterpoint, function, and/or gameplay.
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secondary mechanic(s)
The set of mechanics that do not make up the set of primary mechanics. These mechanics usually aid and help shape the primary mechanic.
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sections (sub-sections)
All games can be broken down into sub-sections or sections. Whether a game is broken down by rooms, loading sections, cut scenes, stages, levels, rounds, or turns, if a game has a mechanic that is repeated, then it can be divided into sections.
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sequence breaking
progressing through a game or level in an order other than the main path or the developer intended order
is the act of performing actions or obtaining items out of the intended linear order, or of skipping “required” actions or items entirely. Sequence breaking is often used to beat a game unusually quickly, to beat it while only completing a few objectives or obtaining a few items, to obtain useful items early in the game, or to help push a game as far as possible in some other way. WIKIPEDIA
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setpiece
In Video Games, "setpiece" refers to an object in any given level that is unique or is not part of the level's default object set. These pieces more often than not have no effect on gameplay, and simply serve the function of building atmosphere. It can also refer to scripted (non-random) events of significance in the game, such as an encounter with a major antagonist. WIKIPEDIA
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sepcial case counter
A counter that is designed outside of the range of the core player mechanics. The rules or mechanics of these special case counters generally cannot be extrapolated to apply to any other part of the game. Special case counters include quicktime events or QTEs.
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skill
There are five different types/categories of skill. Knowledge, timing, reflex, dexterity, and adaptation.
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species
- The 4 varying levels of counterpoint with the last being a combination of the previous three.
- ~ see article
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static space
The static distance between player and objective. Can occur when a strategy is repeated without escalation.
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static trend
A static trend is where there is no change between sections, or when the changes are inconsequential because they fall short of meeting the minimum requirement for the quantified mechanic.
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strict encounters
When a game system is designed with mechanics that have very few dynamics and variation when interacting. Like in Rock Paper Scissors, the outcomes of each hand to each hand are exact, strict, and unchangable.
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strict variation
- Examines the exact way the game "levels" are arranged or grouped
- ~ see article
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structuralism/deconstruction criticism
Structures are probably the most recognizable feature of videogames. Because structures create the foundation for the game rules and player to learn these rules, analyzing structure develops a clearer insight into how a game works at its core. We're all familiar with the structures of genre. Any gamer can instantly recognize a first person shooter like Halo from a puzzle game like Tetris. Each gaming genre has a certain look to it that is the result of the gameplay structures. Like with any genre, the degree to which the conventions are followed or deviated from varies greatly from game to game. Recognizing a game's structure is an acute way of talking about how a game works in or outside of its genre.
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suspension
In counterpoint, when a game element or game idea is offset form the established pattern of game ideas to create scenarios where the element/idea can carry over and influence other game ideas.
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tempo
- A variation of tension timers that uses acceleration to increase the amount of tension over time.
- ~ see article
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tension
- Stress or pressure on the player that is created by threatening some kind of functional loss.
- ~ see article
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tension timer
- A type of contrary motion that uses limited time whether organic or clock based to create tension.
- ~ see article
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tertiary mechanic
- Any mechanic that is contextual to external forces to the players natural state.
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translation
- The rewording or paraphrasing a game idea into another medium (typically words).
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triangle
Because the triangle is one of the simplest shapes that uses as few lines as possible, interplay loops that are designed around 3 options are ideal for balance and simplicity. This is why many games use a triangle for their interplay loops. This is also why many games use multiple triangles to add additional interactions to their game systems instead of adding more options to a single triangle.
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unidirectional flow
The most common type of flow for interplay loops. Like in Rock Paper Scissors, the counters only flow in one direction thus making a closed loop of interactivity and potential.
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variation
how a game's elements influence the use of game mechanics over increasingly larger segments of the game
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well rounded design
Creating a set of mechanics that don't overlap or clutter each other in function. These mechanics must complement each other to create a method of expressing the spirit of the game.
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abstract counter