GAME STUDIES - EXERCISES
20/4/26 - 29/5/26 (Week 1 - Week 6)
Nicole Ng Ying Yan 0382412
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
GCD61504 Games Studies
Exercises
TABLE OF CONTENT
1.0 LECTURES
LECTURE 1: Uncertainty in Games
Certainty Scale
- Refers to when we are sure of an outcome.
- In games, we don't know how the opponent will play but we will know what is going to happen if they play certain strategies.
- Game State + Decision = Certain Result
Uncertainty
- Comes from the aspect of randomness or luck.
- Uncertainty factors can be changed through probability and calculations.
Input Randomness
- Occurs when random events happen before a player makes a decision, like poker.
- Randomised Game State + Decision = Uncertain Result
Output Randomness
- When the players don't know if their action will succeed or not, so they make the decision first and it is randomised.
- Game State + Randomised Decision = Uncertain Result
Uncertainty Types in Games
- Hidden information
- Navigating what we do not know.
- Skill difference
- Difference in skill that determines the outcome of the game.
- Opponent uncertainty
- Need to calculate the risk as we don't know who is with or against us.
- Randomisers
- Input and output randomness determines the outcome of the game.
LECTURE 2: Time in Games
Game Time
- An estimate of the overall duration a game takes.
- It's a must on all boxes to state the game duration and the intensity of the game session to provide better understanding for the players.
Time as Game Mechanic
- Turn by turn
- Players play in turn, the game changes state after each player.
- Most adopted mechanic for most board/card games.
- Passive (wait during other players' turn) vs active (Can do stuff when it's not our turn) waiting time
- Timed turns
- Impose time limits on player actions to ensure fairness, prevent stalling, and accelerate gameplay pacing.
- Simultaneous turns
- All players prepare their actions ahead.
- They reveal their decision at the same time.
- Real time
- Players race against the clock, can be cooperative or against each other.
- Events happen at preset times.
- Now supported by apps, such as timer or music for ambience.
- Turn order manipulation
- Players play in turn, but turn order can be changed.
- Being at a specific place in the turn gives access to different roles, power, resources.
- Time as resource
- Players have different possibilities, based on how much time they spend or collect.
- Players might be able to take time from others.
- Time travel/ manipulation
- Players need to think in levels between different times and consequences, or get to replay specific areas of the game.
- Usually more difficult, for more advanced players.
- Time as theme
- Games that use time as a background theme, as a main intrigue, or as the overall quiz content.
- Usually used in family-friendly games to bring players together from different ages.
LECTURE 3: Affordance & Signifiers
Affordances
- Refers to design features that suggest a specific usage.
- Something that has been designed on a specific object that is suggested in usage.
- It means you can guess what you can do with something.
Affordance Types
- Component affordance
- When you see something out of a board game, you know what it is allowed be used for.
- Can be its material, shape, colour, size, etc, that when put together, tell players how, when, and why it is used in the game.
- Spatial affordance
- The component looks like it belongs somewhere in the game.
- Has a specific shape, size, or colour that matches specific locations.
- When we recognised the pattern of the components, we match them together instinctively.
- Its position, angle, distance to one another changes its function or value.
- Textual affordance
- Refers to whatever is written on the board, usually numbers.
- Meant to remind the rules and inform of possible mechanics and options.
- Meant to remove possible confusion and reduce edge cases (times where something could be different than the normal rules).
- Usually in support of other visual information.
- Signifiers
- Attributes of affordance, meaning they are helping to communicate the affordances better.
- Makes them distinct from one another, or help to sort them by affinity, value, or similarity.
- Rule sets
- They need to list down all possible affordance in the game and explain them.
- As the first entry point for the newcomers, they must be the most intuitive support of the game.
Benefits of Affordance
- Immersion
- Ability to draw people in the game.
- When affordance is great, people do not think about the game elements.
- Clarity
- The ability to understand what is happening at any given moment of the game.
- Able to see all options available to them and gauge their consequences.
- Accessibility
- Players of various skills, experience, and age can take part in the game.
- Rules and goals are easily understood, and the state of the game can be assessed by all.
- Allows for multiple ways to scan the information available in the game.
Affordances Examples
- Dice
- Cards
- Minis
- Tiles
- Collectibles
Signifiers Examples
- Colours
- Icons
- Shapes
- Texts
Common Pitfalls
- Too much information
- Inconsistency
- Misalignment
- Assumptions
Best Practices
- Show, don't tell
- Good story + mechanics combination
- Good pacing
- Has common sense and relatable
- Reward intuition
- Uses all senses
- Test with new players
- Description
Theme:
Coup is a fast-paced lying card game in a dystopian, futuristic setting where players act as members of a corrupt ruling class competing for power. It is a 2 to 6 players card game designed by Rikki Tahta, where players lie and manipulate to eliminate other players and be the last survivor.
Mechanics:
Each player start with holding 2 hidden character cards, also known as influence, that grants them special abilities and take turns performing actions. Players can decide to perform their action truthfully based on their characters' abilities, or by lying as a character they don't have. After performing the action, other players can challenge any action they suspect is a lie.
If a player is caught lying, they lose a card; if the challenger is wrong, they lose one of their cards instead. Players can also block certain actions based on the character's abilities; however the action of blocking may also be a lie. Each player can also collect coins to either assassinate other players using 3 coins (which can be blocked); or save up to 7 coins to perform a coup (cannot be blocked), causing other players to lose an influence card.
In short, this is a game of lies, mind games, and manipulation where nothing is certain and anyone could be lying at any time.
Goal:
The goal of the game is to be the last player standing by eliminating all other players' influence cards through challenges, blocks, and coups. Once a player loses both of their influence cards, they are out of the game.
- Why did we choose this game?
We chose Coup to be the first game as me and one of my group mates had experience with playing this game, and thought that it is suitable to be a warm-up game for us. We also thought that we could teach our other group mates and provide more explanation on how to play the game.
- Images of us playing the game
Fig. 1.1 Us playing Coup
- Play Test Review
I personally found it quite fun and exciting. Everyone stayed tense and alert throughout the game, and it was funny watching my groupmates fall for the manipulation and lies. Although I was the first to lose, I didn't feel frustrated or angry. The game gave me a new perspective on my groupmates and their unexpected ability to bluff. I would definitely play it again as our group dynamic made it really entertaining.
- 3 Great Things
- The instructions manual included an example play, which was very helpful for visualising how the game works.
- Reference cards of the characters' abilities were provided to help players remember which respective ability belongs to which character.
- The lying and manipulation aspect makes the gameplay more interesting.
- 3 Things to Improve
- The game works best among close friends, as players may feel uncomfortable suspecting or accusing those they don't know well, which can limit the fun.
- To make more creative plays and maintain tension, players need some time to familiarise themselves with the game first.
- The blocking rule might be confusing to understand at first.
- Inspiration that we got from the game
We really appreciate the character abilities reference card and would totally incorporate this feature into our game. Even as someone who had played the game before, I did not fully remember the ability of each characters, and being able to have a reference while playing the game was very helpful.
Fig. 1.2 Coup reference card
GAME #2: KING OF TOKYO
- Description
Theme:
King of Tokyo is a dice-rolling game where players take on the roles of monsters battling to dominate the city of Tokyo. It is a 2-6 player dice-rolling board game designed by Richard Garfield, where players control mutant monsters, robots, or aliens battling to conquer the city.
Mechanics:
Players take turns rolling six dice up to three times, keeping or re-rolling results each time. Different dice grants different outcomes, such as dealing damage to other monsters, gaining energy, to purchase power-up cards, healing, or earning victory points. The monster inside Tokyo deals damage to all others but cannot heal, creating a high-risk, high-reward dynamic. Power cards purchased with energy add unique abilities that can drastically change the course of the game.
Goal:
The goal of this game is to be the first monster to reach 20 victory points, or be the last monster standing by dealing damage to all other players and eliminate them. Players must balance the risk of staying in Tokyo for points against the danger of taking constant damage from all sides.
- Why did we choose this game?
Since our first game was short and fast-paced, we wanted to explore something none of us had played before that required a longer time commitment. We were also curious about how we would approach learning a game entirely on our own, without the guidance of someone experienced.
- Images of us playing the game
Fig. 1.3 Us playing King of Tokyo
- Play Test Review
The game was very confusing and may potentially have a bug. Throughout the entire session, we were unsure whether we were playing it correctly as some outcomes didn't make sense. There were too many rules to keep track of and the instructions were too long, causing us to lose focus early on. By the end, we just wanted to end the game quickly rather than actually play to win. The complexity felt unnecessary as the game itself didn't seem to reward strategic or tactical thinking.
- 3 Great Things
- The character illustrations had an appealing cartoon art style.
- The inclusion of figurines and dice adds a satisfying tactile quality to the gameplay experience.
- The board with the spinning mechanism to increase victory points was nice to touch.
- 3 Things to Improve
- The instructions and rules were unclear, with typos in the manual and poor information hierarchy that made it difficult to follow.
- The game flow felt flawed, even if players know how to play the game, it was not that fun or enjoyable.
- The ability cards were never utilised due to the overall confusion, making them feel like an unnecessary addition to the game.
Personally, the main takeaway from this game experience was the tactile element, particularly the dice. It gave us the idea of incorporating a physical 3D component into our own game design, allowing players to see and touch elements to enhance immersion.
Fig. 1.4 King of Tokyo dice
GAME #3: NASI LEMAK: THE GAME
- Description
Theme:
Nasi Lemak: The Game is set in a far-away village where players take on the roles of Nasi Lemak stall owners competing to make the most packs. It is a 2 to 5 players Malaysian card game created by Faculty of Fun to celebrate the country's most beloved dish in a fun and competitive setting.
Mechanics:
Each player start with two cards and can perform 3 actions per turn. The core mechanic involves collecting all five ingredients: rice, peanuts, sambal, cucumber, and egg to claim a Nasi Lemak card worth one or two points. After making a pack of Nasi Lemak, the ingredient cards are discarded and players are required to draw cards again until they can make another pack of Nasi Lemak.
Players can sabotage other players or protect their own Nasi Lemak by drawing action cards such as Flies, Fly Swatters, and Fans. Flies can nullify an opponent's Nasi Lemak, Fly Swatters can counter them, and Fans can redirect the Flies to another player.
Other action cards include characters with special abilities: Mak Cik Nasi Lemak, Thief, Officer, Supplier, and Wholesale. Players who draw these cards can peep at other players' cards or take their ingredients. Players are also allowed to trade with each other on their own terms and negotiation to get the ingredients they need to make a pack of Nasi Lemak during their turn.
Goal:
The goal of this game is to be the first player to accumulate 5 points worth of Nasi Lemak cards that are not sabotaged by flies.
- Why did we choose this game?
Since our previous game was slow and underwhelming, we wanted to switch to something faster and more engaging. The local delicacy theme also caught our attention and made us curious to try it.
- Images of us playing the game
Fig. 1.5 Us playing Nasi Lemak: The Game
- Play Test Review
This game was the most enjoyable game among all the games we played. The instructions and rules were straightforward, making it accessible to players of all ages and experience levels. Although I lost again, it didn't really matter as the game was fun enough that winning felt secondary. We would definitely play this game again as the local theme felt familiar and relatable. It was also very fun when we kept sabotaging each other's Nasi Lemak with flies. What I found refreshing about this game is the trading system, and how we are able to trade on our terms without having to abide to any rules. Players could freely propose and negotiate their own deals, giving the game a sense of flexibility.
- 3 Great Things
- The local delicacy theme felt close to home, and the characters with special abilities were highly relatable as they reflected real-life people that Malaysians have interacted with before.
- The trading feature encouraged player interaction, as anyone could propose creative deals and negotiate exchanges on their own terms during their turn.
- The instructions were clear and concise, and the winning condition was straightforward, making the game easy to pick up for everyone.
- 3 Things to Improve
- Players should be able to draw more than 2 cards per turn, as ingredients get discarded quickly and hands deplete faster than they can be replenished.
- The number of Nasi Lemak cards felt insufficient. Adding more would extend the gameplay and give players more opportunities to strategise.
- Non-Malaysians might not find the game as interesting because they may not be able to relate culturally.
The local delicacy theme resonated with us the most. It inspired us to consider incorporating a different but equally familiar cultural element into our own game. Besides that, the trading system of the game is also something we consider to implement too as players are allowed to trade cards and negotiate on their own terms which was really fun and entertaining.
Fig. 1.6 Nasi Lemak: The Game action cards
For this exercise, we are to come up with new rules for a childrens' card game and make a new game out of it. The game that we played was called Sakapuss, and the goal of the game was to collect 4 matching cat cards without being the last to slap the table, and have the least amount of parasite cards by the end of 10 rounds.
Fig. 1.7 Sakapuss card game
After coming up with several ideas, we ended up creating a memory matching game. Here are the rules for our newly created game, Match The Cats:
Fig. 1.8 Match The Cats rules
We then let our classmates play our game using the exact same sheet of instructions, overall they could understand how the game works and finished playing the game successfully. We also got positive feedback from them as well.
Fig. 1.9 Classmates playing our game
4.0 FEEDBACK
Week 4:
Test the game out to see if the game flow actually works.
Week 3:
Do research on similar card games.
Week 2:
Field study week.
5.0 REFLECTION
I really enjoyed playing different board/card games throughout these few weeks. After multiple discussions, I realised how intricate it is to design a well-rounded game and got to better understand the process of developing and designing one. I also learnt the importance of game flow and how it can influence the enjoyability of a game.
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