Games and Rules: Game Mechanics for the »Magic Circle«

Open Access Published by transcript Verlag 2018

Games and Rules

Game Mechanics for the »Magic Circle«

Edited by: Beat Suter , Mela Kocher and René Bauer
Funded by: Knowledge Unlatched - KU Select 2018: Frontlist Collection

Volume 53 in the series Edition Medienwissenschaft

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839443040

Overview
Contents

About this book

Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of "Games and Rules" take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games are control circuits that organize the game world with their (joint) players and establish motivations in a dedicated space, a "Magic Circle", whereas game mechanics are constructs of rules designed for interactions that provide gameplay. Those rules form the base for all the excitement and frustration we experience in games.
This anthology contains individual essays by experts and authors with backgrounds in Game Design and Game Studies, who lead the discourse to get to the bottom of game mechanics in video games and the real world - among them Miguel Sicart and Carlo Fabricatore.

Author information

Beat Suter (PhD), born in 1962, works as a senior lecturer and researcher in Game Design at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and manages the GameLab. He has a PhD in Literary Studies.
Mela Kocher (PhD), born in 1972, works as a senior researcher in Game Design at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). She has a PhD in Literary Studies.
René Bauer, born in 1972, works as lecturer, researcher and head of Master of Arts in Game Design at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). His interests are coding, game mechanics and artgames.

Supplementary Materials

Leseprobe

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	1
Contents Open Access Download PDF	5
Introduction Beat Suter, Mela Kocher and René Bauer Open Access Download PDF	7
PLAY MOTIVATION
Rules of Play as a Framework for the “Magic Circle” Beat Suter Open Access Download PDF	19
Games as a Special Zone Motivation Mechanics of Games René Bauer Open Access Download PDF	35
Play Computers A Letter to the Reader Miguel Sicart Open Access Download PDF	47
GAME MECHANICS
Requirements for a General Game Mechanics Framework Imre Hofmann Open Access Download PDF	67
Underneath and Beyond Mechanics An Activity-theoretical Perspective on Meaning-making in Gameplay Carlo Fabricatore Open Access Download PDF	87
GUIDANCE SYSTEMS
Hansel and Gretel Design and Reception of Orientation Cues in Game Space Hiloko Kato and René Bauer Open Access Download PDF	115
The Spectacular Space Rules and Guiding Principles of Irrational Spaces in Games René Bauer and Hiloko Kato Open Access Download PDF	139
Nonverbal Guidance Systems Seamless Player-leading in Open-world Games Francine Rotzetter Open Access Download PDF	169
ETHICS
Ethics as a Game Mechanism Wolfgang Walk Open Access Download PDF	193
The Player as Puppet Visualized Decisions as a Challenge for Computer Games Hiloko Kato and René Bauer Open Access Download PDF	217
The Ethical Avatar Wolfgang Walk and Mark L. Barrett Open Access Download PDF	243
GAME SPACES
Rules Shape Spaces Spaces Shape Rules Ulrich Götz Open Access Download PDF	259
Game Mechanics of Serious Urban Games Designing for the Ludic City Mela Kocher Open Access Download PDF	267
NPC AND NON-HUMAN GAME DESIGN
NPC and Me How to Become a Non-Player Character Günter Hack Open Access Download PDF	293
When Game Mechanics Come Crawling out of Ant Colonies Michelle Westerlaken Open Access Download PDF	299
Authors Open Access Download PDF	317

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: transcript Verlag
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 322
Keywords: Video Games; Media; Media Studies; Game Studies; Game Design; Ludology; Narratology; Motivation; Game Mechanics; Ergodic Systems; Aporia and Epiphany; Computer Games; Media Aesthetics; Media Art

eBook

Published: March 18, 2019
ISBN: 9783839443040