Game Studies
Game Studies
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4.21.2026 - / Week 1 -Week 8
Dave Christian Moniaga / 0385630
Interactive Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Game Studies
Table of Contents
Lectures
Week 1
Uncertainty in Games
Certainty means when we are sure of an outcome, such as in chess where
you know exactly the current state of the game by looking at the board. There is possibility in decision but no surprise of what will
happen.
Uncertainty happens more in drawings a card or a dice. The uncertainty
increase the more we do these actions.
Examples of input randomness is like poker where you are dealt
different cards every time. While output randomness is more
like D&D where the decision is made first before randomness happens
from their dice rolls.
 
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| Fig 1.1 Input Randomness & Output Randomness |
Uncertainty type in games:
Hidden information are things that we don't know and have to overcome. Examples of this would
be,
- Cluedo: Finding out the hidden cards in the middle by asking other players what cards they have. The focus is on mystery and deduction.
- Stratego: Similar to chess but the value of each army that meets are hidden. Bluffing, counter-bluffing and making advancements.
- Poker: Plays more on psychology but can read other's expression. A balance of guessing and making assumptions.
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| Fig 1.2 Cluedo, Stratego, and Poker |
Skill difference is difference of skills between players or
characters. Examples are,
- Connect 4: Same as chess as the everything is laid out with no surprises. The only difference is who starts first.
- Boggle: making words as long as possible orthogonally or diagonally. Fundamentally based on word skill and within a certain time.
- Forbidden Island: A co-op game. The understanding of the game mechanics matters a lot at winning the game
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| Fig 1.3 Connect 4, Boggle, and Forbidden Island |
Opponent Uncertainty happens when you don't know what you are
fighting with or with who. Examples are,
- BANG!: Trying to find out who is with or against you. A sheriff that is known to everyone, with hidden bandits, and deputies.
- Werewolf: Based on not knowing who you are with or up against. The game is based on terms and can have a large group to play. Sleeping during the night and discussing during the day.
- Betrayal at House on the Hill: More complicated. It's a co-op game where you play together against monsters. At the second half, someone in your group is actually a monster also.
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| Fig 1.4 BANG!, Werewolf, and Betrayal at House on the Hill |
Randomizers are games with factors change based on luck. For
example,
- Labyrinth: At the beginning of the game tiles are shuffled and every turn people will move the board pieces. Not much planning involved as the board will always change.
- Incan Gold: Player partakes in risk taking. Making too many risks will involve you earning more but can fail easier.
- The Game of Life: Using the spinning wheel to control randomness. It's a racing game against players to reach the end of your life.
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| Fig 1.5 Labyrinth, Incan Gold, The Game of Life |
Case Study
Risk is a strategy game that have players play their armies
to try and conquer territories with each of them having their own secret
objective.
When players attack territories, you throw dice to determine whether
you will lose or win in that battle. Although the game favors the attackers, there is a chance for defenders
to still turn it back.
The game rewards players that attack by giving them cards that can be
turned into troops.
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| Fig 1.6 Input & output randomness in Risk |
Week 2
Time in Games
Game time is the estimate duration of the game. All games will have
details about the player amount, time, and age range. This can be a
possible purchase factor as well.
Time as a mechanic in a game can be divided into these
types,
- Turn by turn has plan & play, changing state from player to player. with passive and active playtime.
- Example: Classic games (chess, checkers, snakes & ladders), 7 Wonders, Tokaido
- Simultaneous Turn has players play at the same time & reveal their decision simultaneous. Seems more chaotic but more dynamic and fun.
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Example: Walk the plank, Rival Restaurant, Quacks
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| Fig 1.7 Simultaneous Turn visualization |
- Turn Order Manipulation has players play per turn but the order can be changed.
- Example: Citadels, Kingdomino, Mice & Mystics
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| Fig 1.8 Turn Order Manipulation visualization |
- Real Time Games brings players to race against the clock with events happening at certain times. In today's times, it is usually supported by apps.
- Example: Atmosfear, Escape the Cursed Temple, 5 minute dungeon
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| Fig 1.9 Real Time Games visualization |
- Time as Resource make players have different moves based on the time they collect.
- Example: Thebes, Patchwork, 9 tiles panic
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| Fig 1.10 Time as Resource visualization |
- Time travel games where players need to think about different times, levels, and how things interact with different point in time. It is usually more difficult & advance players.
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Example: Anachrony, The LOOP, The Time You Killed Me
- Time as Theme are games that use time as a background, theme, or content. Usually bringing people of different age and perfect for family games.
- Example: T.I.M.E Stories, About Time, The Game of Life
How do you want to use time as part of the game you are making.
Consider time into your game.
Week 3
Affordance & Signifiers
Affordance is a design feature that suggest a specific usage as said by
Don Norman. For example, a person is able to to tell what a chair is for
based on how it looks.
Here are some of the types of affordances:
- Component affordance : What the thing is
- being able to tell the game based on material, size, color, which tells what those pieces are for.
- Spatial affordance : Where it goes, based on perception
- the components look like it matches to a certain space, location, area. the position of things also affect the value or function
- Textual affordance : Based on the words
- whatever is written on the board. It supports visuals and reduce confusion. legibility and consistency is key for this.
- Signifiers : The components that makes affordances work
- the attribute of affordance. any other elements or things that help make components easier to understand.
- Rule Sets
- the first approach on the game. it needs to be intuitive, clear, and easy to understand. It is also used as a reference throughout the game.
Benefits that come from affordance are to enhance player
immersion, making them more invested in the game. It also helps
to make things clear and easy to understand for the player,
allowing them to get all the information or options that they need to
play the game. Lastly, it also allows players from different age,
background, and culture to play the game. Making the game
accessible to everyone.
Affordance examples,
Dice, make decision and randomness quickly. The photo shows
information of dice being able to be used for defense, damage, and
monster's defense. Players having more chances against the
enemies.
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| Fig 1.11 Dices with visual signs |
Cards, create randomness, combinations, suits, and stuff to play on the
board. They offer variations and can come at different sizes.
Illustration on cards also improve immersion and clarity. It can be used
for practically everything.
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| Fig 1.12 Cards with visuals and suits |
Minis, helps to immerse players by visualize whether something
is a player, an enemy, monster, etc. It give a sense of danger or look
of what you are playing or facing against, depending of size as well.
It can also set the tone of the game based on its style.
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| Fig 1.13 Miniature figurines |
Tiles, makes up the board. It help to randomize and immersion to the game.
pieces that face down on the ground. It allows for setup, randomization,
and manipulation of the game.
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| Fig 1.14 Tiles making up the base of the game |
Collectibles, allows someone to see how much you
have (resources, currency, and scoring). Helps visualize the progress
of the game and what other people have.
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| Fig 1.15 Collectibles in the form of coins or tokens |
It is important to think about the common pitfalls; too much
information, inconsistency, misalignment, and assumptions. The best
practices would be:
- Show, don't tell. Transmit thing visually as much as possible
- Story and mechanics should support each other.
- Good pacing. Information should be given step by step.
- Make it make sense. It should be related and grounded with the game's story.
- Reward intuition. Player's should be rewarded from good intuition.
- Use all senses. Use audio, touch, and visual to differentiate elements.
- Test with new players. Make adjustments and testing.
Week 4
Player Psychology
Board games create a social bond. It brings people together,
from family to strangers. It is a face-to-face interaction that engages
people in a structured setting.
It also brings competition thrill, helping us strategize or test
our skills in a safe setting. In younger players, it can also be
considered escapism, bringing people into another world. The
tangibility helps bring a grounded experience that connects player with
the game. Games is also used for mental growth. Ones that
require strategy and planning, sharpen critical thinking, problem
solving, and memory.
One of the things players get is achievements from games.
Players can get satisfaction from accomplishing a task such as solving
puzzles, objectives, or by collaborating with others. Finally, it also
brings nostalgia. Playing with friends and family could bring
back good memories.
The Bartle Taxonomy is a theory that divides player types. Most
players overlap with the profiles shown:
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| Fig 1.16 Bartle Taxonomy Chart |
- Socializer (Players + Interacting)
- People who love to interact with people, NPC, or the environment.
- Achiever (World + Acting)
- People who want to gain things; points, levels, achievements. They want to beat the game.
- Explorer (World + Interacting)
- They like to explore and see things that are hidden, discovering the game world.
- Killers (Players + Interacting)
- Motivated by power gaming, wanting to be superior and the first of others. Sometimes to be hurting others and beating them.
In actual repetition, socializers are
80% of the player base.
Another taxonomy is the Quantic Motivation Model.
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| Fig 1.17 Quantic Motivation Model |
- Action
- Destruction: Enjoy chain of reactions of mayhem.
- Excitement: Enjoy fast paced adrenaline rush.
- Social
- Competition: Enjoy competing with others, want to be the best.
- Community: Like to have group dynamics and socializing.
- Mastery
- Challenge: Enjoy difficulties and overcoming them.
- Strategy: Enjoy careful decision making and planning.
- Achievement
- Completion: Want to collect everything & complete achievements.
- Power: Want to be the best item and become more powerful
- Immersion
- Fantasy: Want to put themselves into another world and play role-playing.
- Story: They want to discover the story and advance the plot.
- Creativity
- Design: Those who want to express & build creative things.
- Discovery: They want to experiment and find the limits. Rule-breakers.
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| Fig 1.18 The motivation map based on the model |
Quantic did a survey data of their players which shows their motivation profile. Based on their audience report, they can see based on their player base's gender, age, type, and gaming frequency.
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| Fig 1.19 Audience report example from Quantic |
Player Engagement can be determined more from the
Self Determination Theory, showing intrinsic and extrinsic
motivations. The theory is built into 3 attributes that are core human
needs,
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| Fig 1.20 Self Determination Theory |
- Competence: It's about self-mastery and growth. Humans are drawn to growth and feed on conquest. Most games are based on getting better at it.
- Autonomy: Defined based on the player's choices. Not limited choices, but one that allows the player the ability to make their own options.
- Relatedness: The need to care and be cared for. Doing the things that matter in the game itself, bringing impact. Your actions having consequences.
Flow Theory or being in the zone, can be achieved at the optimal level
between skill and challenge. It differs from player to player, mostly
a personal appreciation of comfort. Moving too far to the left or
right can create anxiety, or even boredom.
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| Fig 1.21 Flow State chart |
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| Fig 1.22 Player Persona Template |
Week 5
Writing Rules
Game rules are the boundaries that define systems in place,
interaction between players, with its limitations and goals. It also
becomes the first impression for players, with simple rules meaning
fast onboarding and complex rules indicating deeper
experience.
Rules can enhance immersion, putting things into theme,
bringing storytelling into the mix. It becomes narrative
reinforcement.
Reference cards are present as a clear, concise, and simple
reminder that help to make game smoother as it usually has visual
information.
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| Fig 1.23 Example of reference cards |
An overview of a rulebook should give the:
- Theme: intro and what players will do in the game.
- Scope: giving the time and player count of the game.
- Objective: what are the aims and stake of the game.
The component section lists of all the pieces of the game.
Verifying if all of the components are ready. It also includes all
of the terminology that helps to integrate the vocabulary to all of
the players.
In setup, it includes the start conditions of all the
players. most best when using a visual as it shows if elements need
to be located in certain places of separated from the play area.
How to play part includes the turn structure, what happens
during that turn and the actions that what you can or can not do
depending on the components
It is useful to add a crisis section, things that would come up
during conflicts. this would need to be precise, consistent, and
specific. Edge cases & corner cases are an example.
- Edge cases, problems occur at the end of the game. Players having no cards to draw.
- Corner cases, game breaking odds. players unable to figure out how to proceed.
Winning conditions should be presented in a way that allows player
to know who is winning, how to win, and what they need to win.
 
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| Fig 1.24 Rulesets of Cat Lady & Splendor |
To expand games, you can add variants such as "new game +" which are basically house rules made officially. It uses the original content of the game that is tweaked or variations to make the game harder or overrule the manual. An expansion is additional content which gives more choices, more components, more rules that are targeting the existing player base.
Rules Principles:
- Precision
- Clarity
- Consistency
- Conciseness
- Order
- Testing
Week 6
Pacing
Instructions
Individual Field Research Report
To get inspiration for our project, each group was tasked to play a
minimum of 3 board games / card games during our 2nd week. We are also
advised to play games that are outside of our comfort zone, preferably not
a classic, and multiplayer (min. 2 players).
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| Fig 2.1 The three games my group ended up playing |
The board game cafe we went to is located in a small shop at Bandar Sunway, Arena Mentari called Game Over Here. Open at 3pm-12am, we went earlier during a weekday which means we were the only group there. The game we chose was Coup, King of Tokyo, and Nasi Lemak The Game.
#1 Coup
The game is set in this dystopian futuristic city where we play as a head
of a family and try to win the game by
lying, manipulating, and gain enough money to coup the other families, being the last family to survive. The reason we chose this game was because both me and another group member
have heard of it before and are interested in trying it out.
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| Fig 2.2 A clear spread of all the Coup game pieces taken online |
After one good round of a game, we generally liked it as it was both fun
and helped encourage us to interact with each other by accusing them of
lying. It might be a bit unfair as I already had some prior knowledge about
the game, but I think having a piece of guide sheet for each player is very
useful. Even though I lost, it was still very enjoyable and It's a game I
recommend especially with a group of friends that you are close to.
3 great things
- The game introduces a lot of very cool and fun character roles that interact with each other very nicely
- The theme and setting that they chose is unique and felt original.
- The game seems quite simple but can lead to very interesting gameplay
3 meh things
- It might be awkward to play with new people as it needs you to accuse people of lying which might make people a bit uncomfortable
- Some rules need a couple of more reading and playtesting to understand.
- The game requires skill to master, making it hard for new players to win.
In this game, the most important aspect was the roles and character
abilities. I think board games and card games alike can benefit from
implementing a balanced yet unique character classes that allows
players to adjust how to play and win the game. It increases the game's
skill level while also making it more long-lasting for future
playing.
 
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| Fig 2.3 Our group playing Coup |
#2 King of Tokyo
The game makes us play as monsters / kaiju that are destroying Tokyo.
The purpose of the game is to either be
the last monster alive or get 20 points. You roll 6 dice every
round which determines whether you get points, heal, or attack. The
reason we chose this was that it seemed simple, fun, and easy to
understand given our time constraints.
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| Fig 2.4 close up of the King of Tokyo game pieces from online |
After finally finishing one game, all of us hated it. Since the
instructions were unclear, we were confused the whole time playing and
made the overall experience bad. We had to constantly refer to the
guidebook over and over again. I didn't win, yet I was actively making
one player win as I wanted the game to end already.
3 great things
- The feeling of rolling a bunch of dice to see our character's move feels very nice and tactile.
- Each of the monster characters are designed well and have personality
- The cartoon style they chose for the theme is pretty cute
3 meh things
- The rulebook has bad UI/UX, a few important information is placed at the end of pages as glossary and step by step rules are not explained properly.
- There seems to be a lot of overcomplication with the rules at how each monster take damage with when and how they stay and leave the "Tokyo City" area.
- After understanding the game, the gameplay was still not enjoyable.
For me personally, one of the things that I can take as inspiration
would be the implementation of game pieces. I think having
something to touch, hold, or even interact with when playing board
games / card games help to engage players and increase the game's
appeal.
 
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| Fig 2.5 Our group playing King of Tokyo |
#3 Nasi Lemak The Game
This game have us compete to make the most nasi lemak, a traditional
Malaysian delicacy. Each player tries to collect ingredient cards by
drawing & trading while using the action cards strategically. We
win the game by making 5 nasi lemak. Our group chose this game as
it seemed simple, small, and had a funny local theme.
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| Fig 2.6 Nasi Lemak ingredients and action cards taken online |
The game was very fun and we actually wanted to play more, though ran out
of time as it was getting late. The game itself was easy to understand and
a quick read of the guidebook allowed us to understand the basics. I lost,
but the experience definitely made me want to play more in the
future.
3 great things
- The theme of the game being something local was very cool and was the reason we wanted to try it out.
- The trading system they implemented is very fun and freely allowed players to interact with each other in a friendly way.
- Rules set were simple yet very engaging and fun throughout.
3 meh things
- Players run out of cards easily, even with the 2 cards they take from the draw pile per turn.
- The game might be less enjoyable if players refuse to trade
- The local concept of the game might be hard for foreigners to understand.
Considering there's a lot of good things to take from this card game, I
choose to take the
trading system that allows players to freely talk and converse with each other. Another one was the collecting aspect of the game, I
believe that having players collect more items throughout the game gives
a positive response.
 
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| Fig 2.7 Our group playing Nasi Lemak The Game |
Project 1: Game Design Proposal
Game Studies Proposal
Feedback
Week 2
Our team went to do our Field Research.
Week 3
As we give our idea of a Dim sum themed game, Mr. Sylva advised us to check
out several other games that are food-themed to get extra inspiration and to
make sure our ideas are unique enough that it is different to other
pre-existing games.
Week 4
This week the advise he gave us was to first construct a bare bones
prototype of the game and tried playing it a bit before we set anything in
stone. From here we can determine whether we need to change any rules,
amount of pieces, etc.
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