What we really want from a Videogame

In the 'Anatomy of Videogames' series of articles, we’ve seen how a videogame works on a skeletal level—from it’s interconnected design elements that form the ‘mechanics’ of a game and the underlying design philosophies that’s responsible for it’s thematic significance. So we’ve come to a point of understanding as to how the entire videogame experience is ‘built’, from the inside-out.



And this article is about what makes a videogame truly great in the first place, what is it that lies in the DNA of games such as Half Life 2, Dragon Age Origins, Batman: Arkham City, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock that makes these games stand in the highest echelons of the videogame experience. What is the secret element that’s responsible for them being so endearing, rich and finally, what makes us still replay these games and want to get lost in their worlds.



This article will explore the fundamental reason for the success of ANY videogame, why is it that a game sticks with us for years and years and why so many simply fade out with time. What is it that these ‘legendary’ videogames do right and the rest seem to miss out on? This article will attempt to explain and provide an answer to this question.



Also, even though this article is like a ‘successor’ to the Anatomy of Videogames series of articles, there’s not much references here from the contents presented in those articles. So in short, this article does NOT require you to read up on the Anatomy of Videogames series (although I really wish you did), so it’s as much self-contained as it can possibly get.



As we’ve seen in the Anatomy series, there are 4 Design Elements that make up the ‘mechanism’ of a videogame and they are the Gameplay, the Level Design, the Narrative and the degree of Inspiration with which these 4 elements are used within a videogame.



Then there are the Design Philosophies which are responsible for the overall direction of both the aforementioned Design Elements and the emotional responses that a videogame is willing to invoke within the player. Basically, the Design Philosophies are what a videogame is all about, at it’s heart.



As you can see, the difference between a great game and the not-so-great-ones lies solely in their Design Philosophies, how they connect with the player on a purely human level, cause ultimately how deeply a game can bond with the player, both intellectually and emotionally, is where it’s ‘success’ actually lies. That’s what makes us keep coming back to a videogame, over the years.



So to effectively create an experience that we, as human beings, would want to keep coming back to, a videogame has to have the design philosophies that would enable it to do that. And to successfully achieve that, a game has to cater to what we love to experience, as human beings. Cause what we, as humans prefer to feel in real life, if a videogame manages to make us experience most of them in itself, in a way that respects and resonates with our personal free will, we will inevitably love to get lost into that experience.



So how to make that ‘perfect’ game? Simply to have the design philosophies that aim to provide what we, as human beings, love and aspire to experience the most, and have the design elements based around that so they would enable us to have freedom and accessibility over that experience.



To put it all simply, the design philosophies of a great game has to embody most or some of the values that we, as human beings love to experience in real life. And if you study some of the most beloved and endearing videogames, you’ll find most of these values reflected in their design philosophies as well, those games make you feel most of those through themselves.



Remember, how well a game understands it’s player, plays a crucial role in how it manages to appeal, lend itself to and create a lasting relationship with the player. Cause it’s the live human, who is at the very center of a videogame experience and it’s the relationship between them that decides whether the player will love the game in the long run or not.



And these are some of the most sought-after values that we, as humans beings, love to feel and experience the most. Freedom, empowerment, getting fairly challenged, exploration and discovery, surprise, getting creative and a sense of having a lasting impact in the world. So a great game has to have design philosophies that embody at least most of these qualities and have design elements that enable us to experience them fluently.



Now we’ll see how those above-mentioned design philosophies have to be translated into in-game experiences through the individual design elements. Remember, the design philosophies are the themes and the design elements are the mechanics through which the player experiences those themes within a videogame. So let’s see how the individual design elements need to be in order for them to express those underlying design philosophies.






Gameplay:



Firstly, the gameplay would need to carry a sense of empowerment for the player, which means by default, the player character is more powerful or versatile than most of the enemies he/she faces in the game. The way games such as Crysis, Dishonored gave the feeling that the player had an upper hand in the world, this sense of empowerment helps create a more inviting experience in the game world.



Next up, the gameplay has to provide a certain degree of freedom to the players, so that we don’t feel compelled or forced by the game at any point. Which means time limit-based challenges, which create rush and stress on the players are a big No-No. The players should be able to do things in their own time and there should be no penalty from the game in that respect.



The game can also lend itself to make room for as much free-form based gameplay as possible. The player should be able to just ‘have their own way’ at doing things in the game, and the game should allow opportunity for all that to happen spontaneously. This also makes the player come back to the game again and again, in the incentive of trying out a new style of playing or just experimenting with the gameplay in newer ways. Providing room for freedom in the gameplay goes a long way of making the game replayable for the gamer.



We all love to feel challenged, in a way that is helpful and not downright punishing. And a game needs to transmit that same feeling to the player. Think games such as the Devil May Cry series, which does this exceptionally well where you constantly feel pushed and on-your-toes and yet, you love the experience of it all and don’t feel like you’re being treated unfairly by the game. That’s the magic of a game being challenging but not punishing and indirectly, encouraging to the player. This characteristic can make any gameplay significantly more valuable to a gamer.



We as human beings also love to learn-and-master, that means, the gameplay should have accessible and at the same time, rich and deep learning curve that feels rewarding and totally worthwhile to master. This also makes the gameplay far more replayable and appealing in the long run.



One of the greatest gifts that we have as humans is our capacity to get creative, to think and act out-of-the-box. And so, it’d do wonders for a game if it’s gameplay rewards us for being creative. Or at least, makes room for out-of-the-box approaches in the game and respects our intelligence. The Dishonored series of games did this exceedingly well.






Level Design:



The levels should encourage the players to explore the game world (and maybe even reward for doing so), cause we as human beings, inherently love exploring our environment. So the level design needs to be supportive of our love of exploration and discovery, just as we feel in the real world. However, this doesn’t mean that the game needs to be open-world, it just needs to be expansive and allow us ways to feel the feeling of discovering something and being surprised. Multiple pathways, alternate routes—these elements are all welcome and perfectly suited to make us feel more engaged in the game world.



Almost any approach would be better than strictly linear levels that doesn’t allow room for any kind of exploration. This also severely limits the replayability of a game except in games which can make this work through their unique gameplay. Games such as the Max Payne series is linear but that doesn’t stand in the enjoyment it provides simply cause it has gameplay that makes the otherwise ‘restricted’ levels feel adequate and enjoyable. This is just one of the ways why Gameplay is king in a videogame, cause it can really turn things around.






Narrative:





The main purpose of narrative in videogames is to form the emotional connection with the player. We humans love a good story and in most cases, we remember a videogame mainly through it’s story which means when we look back on a game that we’ve played quite a while back, the first thing that comes to our mind is it’s story. Because the story of a game affects us more on a personal level than any of it’s other design elements, namely the Gameplay and Level Design.



So what characteristics should the perfect videogame narrative posses? Firstly, they have to engage the player both intellectually as well as emotionally. Then, as characters work as the ‘anchors’ to the story, the ideal videogame story should contain memorable and well defined characters. Emotional arcs, lore that help bring depth and a ‘lived-in’ feeling in the game world and character developments are also worthy additions, as all those things help bring the player closer to the story.










These are only some of the ways the design elements need to play out (pun intended), in order to capture the underlying design philosophies that we, as human beings, want to experience in a videogame. If a game manages to capture even some of those philosophies, it’s a genuine Game of the Year contender and worth replaying many times. And the games that we deem as the ‘classics’, have successfully embodied most of these design philosophies. That’s the secret of their legacy: they truly understand us, the players, as human beings wanting to experience something that we inherently prefer and aspire to.



The entire ‘Anatomy of Videogames’ series of articles was a stepping stone to this article. It’s certainly been quite a while in the works and if you’re reading this, I sincerely hope you’ve found it worthwhile. But even if you haven’t, please let me know your view in the comments below.