Here's my Game, It's Yours by Kate Lynham

HERE’S MY GAME IT’S YOURS

PROLOG

GUE The Thesis Unpacked A moment captured in the playing of the thesis.

FIG. 01

PROLOGUE

iii

PROLOGUE PLAYING THE THESIS

For the purposes of this reading copy of my thesis I am providing an additional introductory section to illustrate the final form of the thesis in lieu of the reader being able to take part in the experience and event that is Here’s My Game, It’s Yours. The thesis takes on the form of a diagram that I created through my research. The construction of both the diagram and the form of the thesis is covered in more detail later in this text. It was important to me that the thesis itself was playful, joyful and intriguing to not only read, but discover and handle. The final form added a spatiality to the work that cannot be captured in a single book. The thesis becomes a piece of architecture, a series of game spaces interlocked and entwined with the words. As you explore the thesis, flashes of colour appear to you the player

and you will find that each piece contains a small chapter of writing, a series of images, game references and in some cases games themselves. There is no particular predevised order in which the pieces are meant to be read, hoping that each player will approach it in their own way, and that each exploration will be slightly different. It is important to understand that the words are intended to be completely enmeshed within the form, and therefore were never intended to be read as separate things. Some of my conclusions are drawn directly from some of the discoveries that were unearthed through it’s construction. I hope that through the following series of photos, the full thesis and it’s complexities begin to become clear and that you will get to enjoy the full and joyous experience that is Here’s My Game, It’s Yours.

Play with the Thesis Images showing the theis from the initial form as a 4x4 cube, left, to some of the details found within, right.

FIG. 02

PROLOGUE

Play with the Thesis The thesis has multiple features and requires the reader to approach it playfully

FIG. 07

PROLOGUE

vii

CONTENTS

CONTENTS LIST OF CONTENTS NOTE: THE CONTENTS LISTED HERE ARE ORGANISED IN AN INDICATIVE ORDER OF DISCOVERY, FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE THROUGH THE CHAPTERS WITH A PLAYFUL ATTITUDE PROLOGUE CONTENTS METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION KEY WORDS THE CHAPTERS - WORLD ONE - WORLD TWO - WORLD THREE - ACHIEVER - KILLER - SOCIALISER - EXPLORER - AGON - ALEA - ILINX - MIMICRY

i-vii ix 01-09 11-21 23-25

28-31 32-35 36-39 40-43 44-47 48-51 52-59 60-65 66-75 76-79 80-85

WORLD FOUR AND THE CONCLUSION

87-111

- IMAGE LIST & APPENIDX - BIBLIOGRAPHY

112-113 119-125

METHODOLO

OGY Tearaway Winner of Artistic Achievement at the 2014 British Academy Games Awards

FIG. 01

METHODOLOGY

METHODOLOGY NARRATIVES Games, historically, have almost without exception been read in the second person narrative. This is because when starting to play a game, the rules must be read first, in order to best understand it. They are instructional, commanding and control the players actions and attitudes for the duration of the game. This is why this methodology comes first. The rules that have been applied in the construction of this thesis should be considered first. The use of second person narrative in the introduction illustrates where this thesis and the study of games begin. However, as this thesis will discover, games are beginning to move beyond this paradigm, therefore the thesis will use its authorial voice to follow this advancement. The academic third person is utilized in the main body of the text,

as the thesis brings together the research. The conclusion uses a multi-authorial voice to illustrate the collaborative nature of the future of games. The study of games is becoming increasingly culturally significant as leading thinkers and designers advocate their use beyond play1. However, studies surrounding the topic focus on the internal game systems, and their social and economic implications. The aims of this thesis are to add to this discussion by speculating on what qualities the spaces and architecture of an expanded world of games could have. This thesis proposes that as games (and the worlds they exist in) become more open and participatory, there is greater scope for the architecture and spaces of games to become increasingly exciting and expansive.

The Games Matrix Authors own

FIG. 02

METHODOLOGY

THE MATRIX I will be using 3 recognised taxonomies as my starting point to investigate the wider topic. These theories are as follows: 4 Worlds 4 Players 4 Games -

Brian Seth Hurst’s Participation Continuum Richard Bartle’s Bartle Player Types Roger Caillois’s Game Types By utilising these already well examined definitions of players, worlds and games, it will enable me to focus this piece of research to concentrate solely on the spaces that they inhabit, and the resulting impact on the architecture of these spaces when a deeper understanding of the games is applied. It is important to note here that these definitions are not without criticism2. There are alternative structures that other theorists have suggested, such as Nick Yee’s ‘component’ framework for player personalities3, however these are the most established theories and definitions, and

as I intend to simply use them as a starting point from which to interrogate a more specific area of research, namely that of the future spaces of games, the criticisms should not have an adverse effect on the research results. I propose to use these principles to investigate the effect of the predefined (by Hurst, Bartle & Caillois) traits of these categories on space and architecture and use these spatial conclusions to inform my own design work and the future design of spaces for games. I will use the 3 taxonomies as organising principles for both the form of the physical object of the thesis, and the form of the text. The thesis will take the form of a 3D diagram or matrix, see figure 2, within which I will categorize games and their spaces. The definition of the 4 WORLDS is the principle feature, and as they form a chronological advancement, will form the z axis of the diagram. The categories of PLAYERS and GAMES will take the x and y axis respectively.

Play with the Thesis The thesis has multiple features and requires the reader to approach it playfully

FIG. 03

METHODOLOGY

LIMITATIONS, RISKS AND EXTENSIONS The theories used in this thesis to discuss both Games and Players, have been subject to a variety of further analyses by other authors, and in the case of both, a similar extension to the ideas expressed by Caillois and Bartle has been suggested. It centres on the assertion that most games and players have an active and a passive component to their nature, rather than being entirely within one category.4 A game of football can serve both competitive and social desires, for example. This work will seek to mitigate this disparity by introducing the parallel category of worlds, a previously unconsidered dimension and unique to this thesis. The original definition of players by Richard Bartle was created primarily to discuss player’s personalities solely within MMORPG,5 but has subsequently been applied to wider discussions of games. As this thesis will show, MMORPG lie within a specific area within the matrix, and therefore any player definition that derives from this type of game will have inherent flaws that come from presuppositions of the game structure rather an objective understanding of player personalities. Future development of the thesis would endeavour to improve the matrix and its reliability. In order to achieve this the players’ definitions would need to be adjusted slightly. Other authors have attempted this however, and all the subsequent studies have led to is an increase in the number of player types created by addressing the active/passive trait, rather than redefining the original players. It therefore results in the clarity of the original theory being diluted rather than suggesting anything new.

For this reason, the Bartle definition will be used in this work. The consequences of these problems are that they will inevitably impact on our understanding of the spaces that would exist within our matrix. The analysis of the spaces for the 4 types of players are therefore, the least reliable, but as both worlds and games have shown initial strong correlation with existing precedents, the effect of the lack of reliability within the conclusions of players is lessened, especially as it is inevitably the least spatial of the three. Players is also the category that has the potential for the greatest amount of change, especially if games move further into the everyday culture of the general population, as we will be entering a scenario where one of the greatest presumptions of games will be challenged; that the player must always enter into a game decisively and willingly.6 If games continue to pervade daily life, we will be entering a world where the ‘unconscious or unintentional’ player has to be considered. Although my design project is set in a fictional future world, I anticipate that the vast majority of the technologies that are integral to the research points I will look into, will be technologies that do exist and are available now. There may be times where the thesis speculates on the possibilities offered by advances in society and technology that do not exist and so I will be restricted to a discussion on what experiments, tests or research could be conducted, if they were available.

METHODOLOGY

PLAYING GAMES The playing of games will naturally take a central role in my research methodology. In addition to the games that already form a major part of my spare time, notably card games, field hockey, some computer games and Sudoku puzzles, there are a number of key game precedents that it will be important to investigate further, as my experience with them is more limited. Charlie Brooker in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How Video Games Changed the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;7 names 25 games that have significantly altered the landscape of videogames from the creation of Pong8 in 1972, to one of the most visually and emotionally complex of the modern games, The Last of Us9, in 2013. I will use the matrix to find these games and their spaces a place along each axis in order to observe if there are any patterns or commonalities where vast majorities of games exist, and if there are any notable exceptions or holes within the matrix where no games lie. These games will physically appear at these points within the form of the thesis, and a formal note of these positions can be found in the conclusions. It is essential that through playing these games I return to the definitions of game, world and player to maintain a consistency in my analysis. Any conclusions I draw from this categorization will be subject to the limitations imposed by using a finite number of games. This will mean that any patterns or indeed gaps or voids are only applicable to this specific group of games and whilst I have taken measures to include a wide range of games over time and typology, in order to improve the diagram and the method, I would need to conduct a much larger survey of games. Methods of research outside of playing games will firstly take the form of a literature and internet

survey in the field of world creation, games and architecture. I am ultimately interested in researching the future potential of games and the spaces they inhabit, and initial research into this area indicates that the participation of a wider, more global audience and the impact of a more open source framework are two major areas that will have significant impacts for game worlds. Parallels in both of these areas can be found in contemporary architecture initiatives like wikiHouse10 that has gathered a global community to create open source architecture. Ultimately, I will be using the research gathered through the matrix to supplement and enhance my design studio project of creating my own game world. Within our Design Unit parameters of a brief exploring ideas of Post-scarcity, I have situated my project on Canvey Island, Essex in the near future. The project envisages a world entirely submerged into games, where current politics and economies have been replaced by games, along with the architecture and environment.

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Chatfield, Tom. TED Talk. July 2010. https://www.ted.com/ talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_ the_brain Dixon, Dan. Nietzsche contra Caillois: Beyond Play and Games. The Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, Oslo 2009. Yee, Nick, Motivations of Play in Online Games, Journal of Cyber Psychology and Behavior, Vol. 9, pgs 772-77. 2007 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6474/ personality_and_play_styles_a_.php?print=1 http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm Huizinga, Johan Brooker, Charlie. How Videogames Changed the World. Endemol UK. November 2013 Alcorn, Allan. PONG. Atari Incorporation, 1972. Upright arcade Naughty Dog. THE LAST OF US. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2013. Playstation 3 http://www.wikihouse.cc/

INTRODU

UCTION Infinite possibilities 2014 Lego Advertising

FIG. 01

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION YOU ARE INTRODUCED TO THE THESIS At the centre of all games is a fictional world. In the simplest of games, this manifests itself in the instructions and rulebooks that control the play, and in the most complex; it can weave together an entire narrative, character development and alternate realities alongside rules and instructions. You step into this world as a participant in the game, as a player, and in order to take part you must accept it as your new reality for how ever long the game lasts. Roger Caillois, French writer and philosopher declares that the ‘rules themselves create [the] fiction.1 You will treat those who do not play along as cheats, or even worse, those who shatter the world with declarations that it is meaningless or unimportant. You understand that it is ‘a stepping out of ‘real life’ into a temporary sphere of activity with a disposition all of its own’2 You will notice, however, that this thesis goes further. It proposes that you move beyond that traditional understanding of games, that they are no longer simply an ‘intermezzo, an interlude in our daily lives’3, they are much more. You will find them slipping outside the console, computer or board game box and weaving themselves into culture, economics and architecture. Historical definitions of games and play draw from either of two seminal pieces of research. Roger Caillois’ Man, Play & Games and cultural historian, Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens. Whilst

they disagree on many themes, something that they both agree upon is that games take place in a defined place and time.

“Play is distanced from ‘ordinary life’ both as to locality and duration. This is the third main characteristic of play: its secludedness, its limitedness. It is “played out” within certain limits of time and place.” – Huizinga

“In every case, the game’s domain is therefore a restricted, closed, protected universe; a pure space.” - Caillois

Entertainment theorist Brian Seth Hurst concurs, stating that you need a ‘well defined world in which the story takes place’. It is this notion that both Hurst and Caillois touch upon, the creation of a ‘world’ that goes beyond the basic idea of simply a pitch, board or arena in which a game takes place. It implies a much more complex fabrication that involves multiple facets of society, economics, players and most importantly for this thesis, architecture and environments. It is with the creation of this world, that this thesis takes its point of departure.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare â&#x20AC;&#x153;A true marvel of construction. A brilliant machineâ&#x20AC;? Charlie Brooker

FIG. 02

INTRODUCTION

Fictional worlds in their various forms have always, with a few notable exceptions4, been consumed in a closed, or one way format. An author or designer will create his game, record it, and the audience will receive it. To understand this idea you could consider the chance cards and board in Monopoly; ‘You Must Past Go, You must collect £200’ ‘It’s your birthday, collect £50’, or for a more modern example, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mission statement 23: ‘Repel anticipated enemy assault and maintain current lines at all costs’5. This linear transfer of the world from designer to player falls into the oldest and most common type of world creation, as defined by Brian Seth Hurst in his ‘Participation Continuum’. He describes four ways of creating a fictional world, outlined to you below: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Here’s my world, here’s the story Here’s my world, I’m listening Here’s my world and welcome to it Here’s my world, take it, it’s yours

As technology advances, in particular within social media, you become more easily connected to game worlds across the globe. The way in which you participate in the story telling within games will change, and move from the first world, towards the final world. Each world allows a gradual increase in the feedback and interactivity of the audience, until in the final world, the creator relinquishes control, and the world itself is in the hands of the gamers, free to add to, alter and (hopefully) improve. In 2013 game designer, Eric Zimmerman wrote A short Manifesto for a Ludic Century. He proposed that whilst the 20th century had been the information age, dominated by the moving image, the 21st century would be a ludic one,

dominated by games . Other theorists were writing and speaking similarly: game designer Nick Fortugno spoke at PlayArk, a games festival and conference in Cardiff on November 1st 2013, of the uses of games in education7; game theorist and designer Jane McGonigal spoke about how gaming can be used in politics and problem solving to resolve the worlds biggest issues8. Both argued that the nature of games and their appeal have a place in society that will dominate cultural form for the foreseeable future. In addition, game designer and theorist Steffan Walz in his 2014 book The Gameful World, spoke explicitly about what would be the ‘personal, social, political and ethical consequences of everyday life governed by games’9, however there is surely a missing category in that list, surely you would also need to understand the spatial consequences of that world? What would the future spaces of games be like, as they become increasingly participatory and inclusive?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Caillois, Roger. Man, Play and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. London: Thames & Hudson, 1962, pg 8 Huzinga, Johan. Homo Ludens. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,1949. pg 8 ibid pg 9 http://www.cyoa.com/pages/history-of-cyoa Infinity Ward. CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE. Activision, 2007. Playstation 3 http://ericzimmerman.com/files/texts/Manifesto_for_a_ Ludic_Century.pdf, 25/10/2013 Fortugno, Nick. PlayArk, Cardiff Millennium Centre, 1st Nov 2013 http://ww=w.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_ make_a_better_world.html, 10/11/2013 Walz, Steffen P. & Sebastian Deterding (eds.) The Gameful World: Approaches, Issues, Applications. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, to appear 2014

Journey ‘One of the most beautiful games of its time’ IGN Editor Ryan Clements

FIG. 03

INTRODUCTION ODUCTION

YOU ARE INTRODUCED TO THE WORLDS A game world ‘is a self-consistent fictional setting’1 with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined or constructed realm. Computer games make use of the virtual environment to submerge the player entirely in another world, whereas sports use arenas and organised leagues to create a spectacle around the game that is enthralling, ‘drowning the individual and the masses in the intoxication of an immense game’2. In all it’s forms play exists in a fictional universe that has been constructed in an environment with its own set of rules governing the player, architecture and activities.

THE FOUR WORLDS At PlayArk, a games festival and conference in Cardiff,, Alison Norrington, author and founder of storycentralDIGITAL introduced entertainment theorist Brian Seth Hurst’s theory of the participation continuum within fictional worlds3. The theory of a participation continuum was solidified in a publication for the American Planning Institution, in an article by social theorist Sherry Arnstein that discusses how citizens can or should be involved in planning decisions about the local community4. This wider discussion of a continuum that begins with non-participation and moves towards citizen control has been widely adapted to other fields of research, and it is how Hurst applies the theory to the creation of stories,

and the fictional worlds that they exist in that is of most interest here. He defines fictional worlds as residing in one of 4 categories relating directly to the level of interaction and participation that the audience has. They are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Here’s my world, here’s the story Here’s my world, I’m listening Here’s my world and welcome to it Here’s my world, take it, it’s yours

Hurst’s uses examples of fictional worlds from television and media5 to demonstrate the key aspects of these categories, and importantly he describes the process as a chronological phenomenon that, in his examples, contemporary television worlds are moving through, however it is clear that the same trends can be seen in game world creation.

1 2 3 4

Manguel, Alberto & Gianni Guadalupi. The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Missouri: Turtleback Books, 2003. Huzinga, Johan. Homo Ludens. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,1949. pg 47 Norrington, Alison. PlayArk, Cardiff Millennium Centre, 1st Nov Arnstein, Sherry R. A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 35, No. 4, July 1969, pp. 216-224 Hurst, Brian Seth. The Participation Continuum. Future of Story Telling. Oct 2012

Acting

Bartle Player Types: Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds & Spades

Players

Worlds

Interacting

FIG. 04

INTRODUCTION

YOU ARE INTRODUCED TO THE PLAYERS Research into Player personalities and motivations was first addressed by Richard Bartle, a British game researcher, in 1996. Although discussions about players and their role in games began much earlier, Bartle was the first to attempt a categorization.1 He defined 4 key player types, by their manner of interaction with either the game world or other players. Bartle argues that to create a balanced multiplayer game requires the maintaining of equilibrium between these player types. Online multiplayer games are unique in a way that is very important to the discussion of player motivation: they have multiple ‘win’ conditions.

‘No one number is completely authoritative in the sense that you “win the game” if you have the highest score in that number. One player might be glad to have reached a certain level, another player might be happy to have a large amount of gold, and yet another player might care most about the items she has and how powerful they are.’ - George Skaff Elias

This multiplicity is not the case in all games, especially within WORLD 1, and many within WORLD 2 but when the theory is applied to these other game genres, it can provide the designer with instructions for the creation of the game world. The player definition acts as a prototype of the end user, and as they all have differing needs and desires for the game world, they all result in different game spaces.

Bartle’s Players are Achievers, Killers, Explorers and Socialisers, which are organised over two continuums, one running between acting and interacting, and the other between the players and the world. The model has also been described as having extrinsic and intrinsic reward systems.2 In addition, players respond to differently to rules within games. Rules are described by Game Designer George Skaff Elias, as having two levels.3 First order rules consist of the minimum requirement to take part in the game. This might be the impact that square is shoot, cross is walk, triangle is crouch and circle is jump on a Playstation controller. Second order rules are often less defined, sometimes completely undisclosed, and enable the player to reach a complete level of mastery. An illustration of this might be that you only need to understand that a game of football involves kicking a ball into the oppositions net (first order rule) to enjoy playing in the park with friends, but an full understanding of the offside rule, and the most ingenious ways to evade it (second order rule) are requirements for a player in the English Premier League.

1 2 3

http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm http://www.gamification.co/2013/08/12/a-new-perspec tive-on-the-bartle-player-types-for-gamification/ Elias, George Skaff. The Characteristics of Games. MIT Press, 2012. pg 74

Cailloisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Taxonomy Agon, Alea, Mimicry & Ilinx Original diagram demonstrating Cailloisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ideas from Man, Play & Games.

FIG. 05

Chess Boxing A hybrid game of Agon Chess and boxing take alternate rounds in a physically demanding twist on speed chess

FIG. 06

INTRODUCTION

YOU ARE INTRODUCED TO THE GAMES Attempts to categorise games may lead you to consider the location they are played in; outside, inside, at a table etc. Or you may choose to compare the implements of the game, card, dice or ball.1 However, in his 1962 text Man, Play and Games, Philosopher Roger Caillois, defined four game types that address a deeper understanding focussing on how the outcome or satisfaction of the game is manifested. This taxonomy allows you to see ‘games’ as potential programs for a spatial construction. Each ‘game’ type has different spatial requirements that go beyond the simple outlines of a board, table or stadium which are specific to individual examples.

CAILLOIS’ TAXONOMY Caillois names his 4 categories Agon, Alea, Mimicry and Ilinx.2 These names are derived from Ancient Greek, Latin and modern English and are chosen by Caillois for their specific etymologies. Partnered alongside the 4 categories is a continuum between two extremes, Paidia and Ludus. These two poles describe a zone between free-play, that has little structure and is more closely aligned with children, and highly structured, highly skilled and more cerebral games. This allows for games such as chess and ‘who can hold their breath the longest’ to both be categorized as Agon, although at opposite ends of the continuum (see fig 5).

The theories discussed in Caillois’ seminal book remain some of the foremost studies on games, alongside Huizinga’s Homo Ludens, and although they are texts from the 1960’s and 1930’s respectively, these texts are used extensively as reference points in more contemporary works on games.3 In Man, Play and Games, Caillois makes specific mention to a variety of games, and uses them as examples to illustrate his theories, however as the book was written in 1962 the examples are pre-digital. Since the development of video gaming as one of the major advancements in 21st century culture4, the important discussion of the relevance of Caillois’ theories to video gaming is one that more contemporary theorists have undertaken5, and in general the categories are shown to hold true. It is therefore still appropriate to use these theories, since the focus of this thesis is not the interrogation of these studies, but the application of their ideas to architectural game space.

1 2 3 4 5

Caillois, Roger. Man, Play and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. London: Thames & Hudson, 1962, pg 11 ibid, pg 12 Salen, Kate & Eric Zimmerman. The Game Design Reader, Cambridge, Massachussetts: MIT Press, 2006. pg 23 http://ericzimmerman.com/files/texts/Manifesto_for_a_ Ludic_Century.pdf, 25/10/2013 http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/ files/pdf-articles/3-2-article-cailloiss-man-play-and-games. pdf

KEY WORDS/ GLOSSARY

FIRST PERSON SHOO key words /WORDS glossary KEY KEY WORDS //GLOSSARY GLOSSARY first person shooter (FPS)

A game in which the player sees the action on the screen as if he or she were looking through the eyes of the main character he or she is playing. As suspected, the shooter section of the term indicates that the majority of game play in these games will require the use of rifle or pistol type weaponry2

2 http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/basicgamingtipstricks/g/fps.htm

slash and dashAND DASH SANDBOX SLASH LOSSARY KEY WORDS / GLOSSARY sandbox

A virtual space in which new or untested coding can be run securely. It is a style of game in which minimal character limitations are placed on the gamer, allowing him to roam and change a virtual world at will. In contrast to a progression-style game, a sandbox game emphasizes roaming and allows a gamer to select their own tasks1

A colloquial description of a style of game where the character kills quickly and runs on to the next kill or task with little to no consequence, and tends to be applied to the most gratuitously violent games. It is derived from the phrase ‘smash and grab’ used to describe a swift robbery7

1 http://www.techopedia.com/definition/3952/sandbox-gaming

7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smash_and_grab

egg EASTER EGG SIMULATION GAME easter KEY WORDS / GLOSSARY LOSSARY simulation game

Games which try to accurately depict real world situations, physics, and events as accurately as possible. Simply computer simulation games are games that imitate a real-life situation and often attempt to encite a feeling of immersion in that task5

Hidden items within games are referred to as Easter Eggs. Most Easter Eggs that are found are put there specifically by the developer, sometimes for humor, and sometimes without managerial knowledge. They may also occur because developers may have forgotten to remove a code they were playing with while developing the game14

5 http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/strategyglossary/g/simulationgames.htm

14 http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/strategyglossary/g/easteregg.htm

magic circle PLATFORM GAME MAGIC CIRCLE LOSSARY KEY WORDS / GLOSSARY platform game

A type of video game featuring two-dimensional graphics where the player controls a character jumping or climbing between solid platforms at different positions on the screen. Platform games became the most popular form of video game in the late 1980’s with games like Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog6

The term magic circle refers to the membrane that encloses virtual worlds. It can be considered a shield of sorts, protecting the fantasy world from the outside world. In a very basic sense, the magic circle of a game is where the game= takes place. To play a game means entering into a magic circle, or perhaps creating one as a game begins15

6 http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/platform-game

15 Salen, Katie. Rules of Play. 2004, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussetts

KEY WORDS

and clickAND game METAGAME / METAP point POINT CLICK G LOSSARY KEY WORDS / GLOSSARY metagame / metaplay

Metagaming is a broad term used to define any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game. It can also refer to the game universe outside of the game itself4

Point-and-click games are subset of the adventure genre. In point-and-click games, all exploration takes place by “pointing” a cursor at objects and “clicking” to interact with them. Objects that are ‘interactable’ are often not highlighted or obvious and full exploration of each level is a slow process13

4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagaming

13 http://psp.about.com/od/pspglossary/a/Point-And-Click-Game-Definition.htm

real-time strategy game (RTS) REAL-TIME STRATEGY MOD LOSSARY KEY WORDS / GLOSSARY mod

Abbreviation for modification. The term is used within gaming to describe any game alteration or addition to the game that alters the gameplay. It is generally made by someone other than the game designers. Changes made by a game designer are known as patches8

An RTS game is usually from a third-person perspective, and in these games you control vast numbers of units in a tactical game scenario. A key trait is that gameplay does not progress incrementally in turns. Newer RTS games allow you to compete against others over the Internet or LAN, or to play allies against computer players with other gamers11

8 http://www.mpgh.net/forum/showthread.php?t=122656

11 http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RTS.html

side scroller OPEN GAME SIDE SCROLLER LOSSARY KEY WORDS / GLOSSARY open games

An open game is a game that can be freely copied, modified, and distributed, and a system for ensuring that material, once distributed as an open game will remain permanently open. It is this final characteristic that makes them different to ‘free’ games, where the content is freely downloadable/purchased but the software/system is not open/free9

A side scroller is a type of video game where a side-view camera angle is used for action viewing. Side scrollers are generally in 2-D with game characters that move from the left to the right side of a screen. All platform games are side scrollers, but not all side scrollers are platform games12

9 http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/oglfaq/20040123d

12 http://www.techopedia.com/definition/27153/side-scroller

MASSIVELY MULTI-PL ADVENTURE GAME MMORPG KEY WORDS / GLOSSARY LOSSARY adventure game

Adventure games focus on puzzle solving within a narrative framework, generally with few or no action elements. They draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film, encompassing a wide variety of literary genres. Nearly all adventure games (text and graphic) are designed for a single player10 10 http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/17547

massively multi-player online role playing game Players assume the role of a character and take control of that characters actions. Huge numbers of players take part in a persistent world that continues to exist and evole even whilst the player is offline. These games have spawned a sub-culture of gamers with many of their own words and phrases unique to the experience3

2 http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/MMORPG.html

THE CHAPTERS

D ONE WORL

CHAPTERS

World 1 is the oldest and most common manner that fictional worlds have been disseminated to the audience, and continues to be so. A writer or designer will create an idea of a city, a world, a universe, alongside characters, narrative and most likely within game worlds, an objective or specific parameters that control the play. This is then packaged into a game from which the player has a one way stream of information. An example of this type of game world is Half Life1, a typical First Person Shooter (FPS). At the beginning of the game you are introduced to the storyline through a short animation and voice over and you discover the world through walking within pre defined environment parameters; there is a finite way of interacting with the world, a finite number of targets/mission objectives. ‘Inside the playground, an absolute and peculiar order reigns’ Johan Huizinga

This is not only applicable to computer games, a board game such as Monopoly2 also has a fixed game world, despite the outcome changing every single time, the world is still fixed. You still play the role of landlord, under the pseudonym of hat, dog, iron etc. and move around a very fixed environment under specific rules. You cannot, for example, decide to leave the board at any point to pursue an alternative route or game, indeed if you were to transgress the rules in this way, ‘the whole play-world collapses’3. Understanding this game as part of World 1 does not preclude the possibility of creating ‘house rules’ for Monopoly, as this just adds to the game play rather than disrupting the world within which the game is set and importantly will only affect the game for those players in that specific place and time. This world is ‘about players exploring the possibilities they are given by a designed object’.4 If this quote from game theorist Eric Zimmerman is considered applicable to a game world then it follows that as the world has now been defined as a designed object, it can be explored and critiqued as a piece of architecture?

The spatial dynamics of this world are restrictive; board games being examples of the most limiting forms of space, as a result most sports will also fall into this description. Focussing on video games it can be seen that they use a variety of techniques to restrict the environment and the players’ interaction, but we will focus for now on two. Firstly the camera, or POV, is always fixed, usually over the shoulder of the character, so only the arms, and commonly weapon are visible (see Fig 1), but sometimes directly behind the character, a style iconised in Lara Croft.5 (see Fig 2) An example of when this is not the case, would be within a platform game, or a ‘side-scroller’, made famous in games such as Super Mario6, which, as the description suggests involves the camera scrolling from left to right as the player explores the world. In this example the world is restricted entirely to 2 dimensions.

fig 01 Crysis 3: Over the shoulder

fig 02 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Behind the character

Secondly, the environment, map, building, city is locked to certain levels within the game. You do not physically have access to spaces until you have attained the right to, by reaching a predetermined skilfulness. This is done in the majority of cases with recognisable physical barriers; doors, bridges and buildings, but also in less intrusive ways where the rendered façade that you can observe that shows a side street or door, simply is not accessible to the player.

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This underlying spatial system, explored here in a series of wireframe diagrams, can be considered an infrastructure on which the alternate reality of the game is hung and whilst the initial observation about the architecture of video games might stray to discussions about the rendered graphics of Los Angeles or Ancient Rome, this base level of games, this spatial system is what will be needed if a real game world is to succeed. Some of these spatial systems are closely linked to the type of game they are, and this is shown in more detail in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;GAMESâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

2 3 4 5 6

Valve Software. HALF-LIFE. Sierra Entertainment, 1998. CD-ROM, home computer. Darrow, Charles. MONOPOLY. Parker Brothers, 1935. Board game Huzinga, Johan. Homo Ludens. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,1949. pg 11 http://ericzimmerman.com/files/texts/Chap_1_Zimmerman.pdf Core Design. TOMB RAIDER. Eidos Interactive, 1996. Playstation 1 Miyamoto, Shigeru & Takashi Tezuka. SUPER MARIO BROS. Nintendo, 1985. Nintendo Entertainment System

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fig 03 Initial testing diagrams to understand the frameworks that games sit on. Lego or Minecraft are open ended games (top left) whereas Call of Duty is a linear FPS game (bottom right). By understanding the existing stock of spaces, the creation of new and hybrid spaces will be possible.

D TWO World 2 begins to open the doors to the players. It creates a feedback loop to the world creator, however this is not two way, there is not yet a conversation. The creators allow for movement within the world to create opportunities to make decisions that influence the players own experience, but not others. It is within this world that some of the most innovative gaming changes are currently being seen.

WORL

t creates s not two allow for to make e, but not t innova-

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In non-computer based games, and specifically games of AGON, this feedback and learning loop is more straightforward. In chess or most board games and sports, your next move is always a result or consequence of your opponents previous decision. As a skilful player it is your responsibility to learn as much as you can about the multiple worlds your game could end up in, by endless

the end of the game matters, ‘they need to see that their actions have meaning from the very start, that all of their choices accumulate in a way that brings them together logically and steadily to a knowable conclusion’7 Different types of player react differently to each moral decision and to the very notion of ‘catch up’ and this is discussed in more depth in ‘PLAYERS’.

hours of practice and study. Chess is an intriguing example as due to the nature of the limited board, there are in fact a finite number of splits, although the number is obscenely large, 10,921,506 after only 7 moves1. There are also many ‘official’ versions of the game world, ‘The Scholar’s mate’ and ‘The Underlying Pawn’ that skilful players will try and orchestrate their way towards in order to gain an advantage.

‘One is without criteria, yet one must decide’ Jean-Francis Lyotard, Just Gaming, page 17

Multiple ending games have been around since 19832 but recent years have seen a resurgence in the typology, with the focus moving away from simply providing alternate experiences, such as the Choose Your Own Adventure books3, and towards forcing the players to reveal personality and character traits through moral decisions and judgements, that in turn have repercussions within the world.4 One of the leading game houses within this genre is Quantic Dream5 a

Morality and fairness in games is something that Game Designer Nick Cage sees as forming a major part of the next generation of video games, and that decisions and interactivity is offered within the gameplay itself8, and therefore the world, rather than in traditional cut scenes where you are asked a simple choice between black or white, left or right. Thus the world reacts positively or negatively to the player consistently and ultimately adjusts and alters

French design practice with Nick Cage at the helm, who is responsible for the hugely successful Beyond: Two Souls5.

to reflect those choices. This is directly linked to players attitudes and types, for example an ACHIEVER might be forced into make quick decisions that have rapid consequences that would challenge their levels of comfort within the game.

George Skaff Elias, Game Theorist, discusses in Characteristics of Games the phenomenon of ‘catch up6’ which is a ‘paradox of play’ where players must at all times feel the game is winnable/beatable, but also that not only

The spatial consequences of multiple endings or altering worlds is interesting and could be represented much like a ‘multiverse’ is understood. Max Tegmans’s Level III: Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is the closest model. See image:

Algorithms that begin to learn players’ tendencies and styles started in games such as Pro Evolution Soccer10 in 2008 where the computer A.I. driven teams would learn about your styles of attacking down the wing, and over a season, alter the way the computer set up against you. These basic algorithms can now be adapted to create a more personalised in game experience for more complex games, where your moral compass and world can be challenged by the game designer as it’s internal A.I. learns whether you are an EXPLORER or a KILLER and can proactively react to those styles. These algorithms are employed within Beyond: Two Souls and whilst opinion is divided as to how successful they are, and whether they truly change the game world as it continues, it is not necessarily about allowing the game to be completely replayable in 20 different ways, it is instead

Science and Ultimate Reality: From Quantum to Cosmos J.D. Barrow, P.C.W. Davies, & C.L. Harper eds., Cambridge University Press (2003) Parallel Universes, Max Tegmark, (January 23 2003.)

‘Each move, inside the rules of the game, has a consequential reaction’.9 The splintering effect reflects the game worlds starting point remaining the same for all players, but as each subsequent decision or choice is made, a new split occurs, and so a new world exists; one that is premised on the previous moral judgement, but as yet has not predetermined the next split.

about ‘a collaboration among player and designer that isn’t possible in other forms of storytelling [worlds]’. It is therefore less important that when the designer sets up the world, that the multiverse infrastructure is completely limitless, but that it engages the player and forges the connection to the designer that is missing in WORLD ONE.

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The application of the multi-verse World 2 strategy to Canvey Island presents clear physical problems as a physical environment does not facilitate infinity, however the potential for a virtual overlay on the city that would allow the infinite fracturing to take place, would also provides additional benefits to the island community. The multiverse could be utilized as a testing ground for real spaces, where particularly interesting or unusual outcomes could be harvested and brought

that isn’t is therethe world, tless, but on to the

into the physical world. As different players make decisions based on their player personality, there would be an opportunity for another player to be able to explore the world ‘in the shoes’ of another, and whilst this might not appeal to EXPLORER’s it would definitely benefit a SOCIALISER. Certain ‘universes’ carved out by famous or interesting people would perhaps become more valuable and popular to others

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

http://www.chess.com/chessopedia/view/mathematicsand-chess http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_video_games_ with_most_endings http://www.cyoa.com/pages/history-of-cyoa http://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2013/09/beyonddavid-cage-games-art-and-man.html Quantic Dream. BEYOND:TWO SOULS. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2013. Playstation 3 Skaff Elias, George. Characteristics of Games, , page 115 Zimmerman, Eric. Foreward to Characteristics of Games, Page 3 Op Cit, http://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2013/09/ beyond-david-cage-games-art-and-man.html Lyotard, Jean Francis. Just Gaming, Page 54 http://uk.ign.com/articles/2007/10/01/seabassmaking-pes-2008-was-really-tough

D THREE World 3 is based in the fundamentals of open source literature and products. This collaborative open network encourages those people playing the games, dedicating their hours to it, to add to the world, with the wider intention of improving it for others as well as themselves. This world is most commonly found in MMORPG, or Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games, and the most advanced, popular and well known of these worlds is World of Warcraft1 that today has over 7.8 million players worldwide2. This is the first of the worlds on the continuum to actively encourage participation from the user, to not only improve or influence the individual world they play within, but to also add to others worlds, and offer alterations that others can enjoy. There are vast websites that are dedicated to add-on’s or ‘MOD’s. It is the first world to require group interaction and collaboration in order to access the higher levels of the world.3 It is also, for the first time, a ‘persistent world’4, meaning that the game plays constantly whether you are online or not, and whilst your character cannot be harmed or attacked whilst you are offline, it means that between visits, entire populations and areas can change. The world exists and endures without you.

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The rise of social gameplay and the emphasis on multiplayer interaction, show that digital games are beginning to ‘shed their overemphasis on graphics in favour of…interaction. As videogames on smart phones and social networks become prevalent they are returning to the ancient roots of games as interpersonal play.’5

source network dicating ntention world is ti-Player popular that

The space within the world also now serves more purposes than in the previous worlds and therefore becomes much more complex. In WORLDS 1 and 2, the spaces were designed to serve a specific and reasonably consistent type of exploration. The 3rd world must support a variety of types of gameplay and interaction, for there are plenty of players who are simply EXPLORERS and SOCIALISERS rather than the constant attainment of goals or quests.

actively improve t to also hers can add-on’s eraction evels of ,

‘One goes from one game to another…It is more often the case that one jumps from one game to another, and that one statement must be referred back to the game it belongs to, whereas the very next statement must be referred to another.’

you are harmed between world

‘Play is far more than just play within a structure. Play can play with structures. Players do not just play games; they mod them , engage in meta-play between games and develop cultures around games. Games are not just about following rules, but also about breaking them, whether it is players creating homebrew rules for Monopoly, hacking into their favorite (sic) deathmatch title, or breaking social norms in classics like “spin the bottle” that create and celebrate taboo behaviour’ Eric Zimmerman, Gaming Literacy, pg 27

Jean Francois-Lyotard, Just Gaming, pg 54

Although Jean Francois Lyotard is discussing language games, it is clear to see the application across to multiplayer environments such as WORLD 3. It is often the case that one can be exploring a landscape, or enjoying a pint of mead in a bar, when you might be approached by a fellow gamer and invited to join a group quest. This is of course part of the game that everything ‘belongs to’, but quite apart from the game that you were playing before the interaction.

This is a key quote from Eric Zimmerman that describes some of the idiosyncrasies that can only exist in spaces such as WORLD 3. Finding peace and contemplation, or spaces for conversation are not possible in more restrictive and narrated worlds. Spatially they need to be much larger, and perform a much greater variety of programs. Open edged maps and zones are more prevalent in World

3, although barriers do exist; there is a much higher degree of freedom. Meta-play within the larger world is something that the space must allow for, games within games, and this provides a new level of complexity for the designer.

therefore not permitted. This returns to an idea described by Huizinga of the fundamental difference between the ‘cheat’ and the ‘spoil-sport’. The cheat stays within the magic circle of the play, meaning he retains the world and the character despite his insidious activities, the spoil-sport ‘shatters the play-world itself…he reveals the relativity and fragility of the play-world. He robs play of its illusion’7 A simpler example

The space is still ultimately controlled by the originating designers, in the case of World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment, and changes that do not fit within the world are not permitted. A MOD that allows you access to a local map of assets, is still within the world, although not part of the designers original plans. The hack of July 20126, during which thousands of players’ avatars were slaughtered without contest, destroys very fabric of the world and is

to consider is that of poker, the cheat may try and glimpse other players cards, or observe the next card to be turned. The spoilsport would bring a fresh pack of cards to the table, and select at will the ones he wishes to possess.

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cribed by e â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cheatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cle haracter tters the ity of the example

In WORLD 3, the lines between developer and player become increasingly blurred, would it be possible to complete some of the gaming targets without some of the player modifications for example? The participation level for the engaged player becomes much more complex, however WORLD 3 does still provide for the disengaged player, there are millions who enjoy the game in a relationship

glimpse e turned. he table,

much closer to that of WORLD 2, but importantly, WORLD 3 offers the opportunity, for the motivated few.

1 2

3 4 5

Blizzard Entertainment. WORLD OF WARCRAFT. Blizzard Entertainment, 2005. CD-ROM, online http://www.gamespot.com/articles/world-of-warcraftsubscriptions-on-the-rise-ended-2013-at-7-8million/1100-6417575/ http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/guide/ ibid, 16/03/2014 Zimmerman, Eric. Foreward to the Well Played Game, page 4 http://www.forbes.com/sites/ andygreenberg/2012/10/07/hack-kills-thousands-inworld-of-warcraft/ Huzinga, Johan. Homo Ludens, Page 11

Achievers are arguably the most common of players. They seek domination not of others, but of the game system itself, and since most games are autotelic1, meaning they are self goal creating, players that find pleasure in goal completion are found in almost all game types. Achieving the highest score, the best result in a race, collecting all the hidden objects and completing all of the extra tasks; this is what drives an achiever to play a game. They are the masters of mastery, the target, is always the elusive 100% completion.(see fig 01) They are patient gamers, painstaking in their tracking

down of the final pieces, however they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enjoy games in which the tools or skills required in order to master it are either hidden beyond reasonable discovery, or not applicable, games of ALEA in particular, are not where you will find Achievers. This characteristic is present again when studying their preference for the rules of the game. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;An expert player can become frustrated if it is impossible to figure out the details of the system in her efforts to play better (i.e., a lack of clarity in the second order rules can make it hard for the expert player to keep climbing the heuristic tree.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;2

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In Bartle’s diagram of the players, Achievers lie in the sector of ‘acting’ and ‘worlds’. This can be read that in most cases, achievers are more than happy to play without other players, their desire is to master the world that the game resides within, and even in games of AGON that always involve an opponent of sorts, because they promote the development and perfection of skill, the true Achiever would value the mastery of the game, rather than beating the opponent (although clearly this would usually be the result of true mastery).

BRAID Number None, Inc. BRAID. Microsoft Game Studios, 2008. Xbox Live Arcade

Achievers need spaces that offer a vast array of discoverable but hidden information. Levels and sections are the most dominant architectural feature of spaces for achievers. Complex systems of linked areas with locked boundaries. (fig 02&03) The more levels and sections there are to a space the better and it should be controlled and unlocked in stages. An extremely complex environment that is entirely open and free to explore from the offset doesn’t satisfy an Achiever. The spatial requirements are arguably the most architectural and are also therefore the most common, especially in computer games, almost every single video game based around a linear narrative in WORLD 1 , conform to an Achiever type space. As the most common gamespace addressing Achiever spaces in the future have to stretch the very wellestablished norms. Due to their meticulous nature they are not normally well suited to ILINX games, but if a hybrid space could be created, it would open up a huge space for new games to be developed where they have never been before. (Fig 04)

The game features traditional aspects of the platform genre while integrating various powers of time-manipulation. Using these abilities, the player progresses by finding and assembling jigsaw puzzle pieces. Jonathan Blow designed the game as a personal critique of contemporary trends in game development. Each ‘world’ has it’s own time-based game mechanic.

1 2

Salen, Katie. Rules of Play. MIT Press Cambridge, Massachussetts 2004. Pg 332 Elias, George Skaff. The Characteristics of Games. MIT Press, 2012. pg 75

GRAND THEFT AUTO III DMA Design. GRAND THEFT AUTO. Rockstar Games, 2001. Playstation 2

Image 01 - 100% Completion In each edition of Grand Theft Auto there are additional tasks which are not part of the main gameplay which counts towards 100% completion of the game. On finishing these, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re rewarded with bonuses including this shirt for your character

Image 02 - Complex levels and spaces Monument Valley is a game which utilizes the impossibilities of axonometric drawings in 3D spaces to create puzzles. The result being these beautifully Escher-like architectures.

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Image 03 - Complex levels and spaces

Image 04 - An Achiever Ilinx Space in World 4 Canvey Island

MISTER MOSQUITO Zoom Inc. MISTER MOSQUITO. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2001. Playstation 2

Flying around draining helpless victims blood as a cute, leisure time activity. Upon finishing the game, the user is treated to a family portrait, complete with bloody and awful mosquito bits covering their happy pixilated faces.

The description killers should not be misinterpreted as players who enjoy shooter or specifically violent games. It is not the act of killing simulation that is central here, but

KILL ER

imposing themselves and their dominance on other players.1 Many of the most vociferous board game players can surely be described as killers, as it is the pleasure of watching your opponent mortgage all his properties, and then negotiate a price for his Get Out of Jail Free card in order to desperately pay you for that hotel on Leicester Square that Killers enjoy about a game such as Monopoly. Killers and Achievers are closely aligned, as they both sit at the acting end of the continuum, and it is perhaps the interaction with Games of ILINX that separate out Killers, as they actively seek the momentary rush of exhilaration, usually, at the moment of capitulation of their opponent. (image 01)

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Killers also appreciate a quick game with rapid feedback and easy satisfaction. Complex â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;second orderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;2 rules are not welcome with killers as they have no time to waste learning and perfecting skills when there are opportunities for immediate fulfilment. They do not have a complex relationship with the game world or other players. Spaces for killers need to provide opportunities for one on one moments that will ideally result in an edge or advantage. Any physical advantage that can be gained will be snapped up by the Killer, and they do not care how it comes about. Spaces of ALEA are coveted by Killers as they so often spring up in illicit corners of the game world, where moral objectivity no longer exists and the puerile pursuit of this moment of dominance can be achieved. Whilst some gamers would be ashamed, or feel unfulfilled in knowing their victory came through an act of chance, or a freak

discovery, killers revel in their luck, and will abuse it to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limit. Spaces that are limited and restricted, such as WORLD 1 games that offer a linear narrative, a beatable computer, and staged spaces divided by barriers are the standard environment that killers can be found in, but a space that offers the opportunity for this dishonest personality to flourish, such as a ladder, in Snakes and Ladders, an architecture that promotes them way above the other players due to no other reason but getting lucky to roll the right number, this is the architecture that killers will revel in.

Caillois, Roger. Man, Play and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. London: Thames & Hudson, 1962, pg 13 Elias, George Skaff. The Characteristics of Games. MIT Press, 2012. pg 74

Image 03 - Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;D HIDE YOU, Blast Theory In Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d Hide You, see the world through the runners eyes as they stream video: ducking and diving, chatting to passersby, taking you down the back alleys to their secret hiding places. And play against your friends online at the same time. Use your wits to choose which runner to ride with. Get a snap of another runner onscreen without getting snapped and you score a point. Get snapped by someone else and you lose a life.

Image 01 Adrenaline rush as victory draws close Image 02 Snowboarding slopestyle. Featured in the winter Olympic Games for the first time in 2014

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Image 04 - Blood and Gore Whilst it is not solely violent games that Killers are drawn to, they are undoubtedly linked. SplatterHouse continually tops the list as the most violent game on the market.

Monopoly A game of Monopoly can divide a family, as a sulky brother or grandmother reluctantly mortgages their 3 stations to pay Leicester Squares rent. The fixed and simple game space of the board provides instant and continuous gratification to a Killer, unless of course youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re stuck in jail for 3 moves.

Socialisers fall into two distinct subtypes within the overall definition, those that are internally social and those that are externally social.1 Internal socialisers use the game system and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mechanics to create social connections, and the most notable example of this type of play is within MMORPGs. This is therefore a relatively new type of player and one that only exists through online multiplayer games, where in game social chat is a built in feature. Games of MIMICRY feature highly in Internal Socialiser spaces as the players will

use their in-game identity to forge relationships and connections across the game. (fig 01) External socialisers are a much older subtype of player, and are most commonly found in classic Games of ALEA ; board games, or parlour games. They use the metagame space for social interaction and whilst this may still fall within a Game of MIMICRY as above, it is much less common. External socialisers play games for the joy of being involved in the magic circle with friends, of the social occasion that surrounds a particular game. In addition to the table top or parlour game examples, a modern day phenomenon are tailgate parties2 that can attract vast numbers of people, and form generational traditions.

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Spaces for external socialisers are more difficult to define as they, by definition, spring up around other game spaces, however it must therefore be a consideration that even to games where audiences don’t traditionally feature, that zones are created alongside them, for social meta games to flourish. Considerations for successful spaces for external socialisers are much the same as traditional architecture for large gatherings and the necessary ‘break out’ space that is traditionally provided to compliment the space.

HATOFUL BOYFRIEND Moa, Hato. HATOFUL BOYFRIEND. MIST[PSI]PRESS, 2011. Microsoft Windows, download

A dating simulator game where you play the role of a bird. Hatoful Boyfriend casts the player into the role of a new female student at St. PigeoNation’s Institute, a high school that is populated by birds. The game challenges you to pick a boyfriend out of the potential avian flock of suitors.

Internal socialisers are generally found at the very centre of major groups or communities in online games and encourage entire settlements to form

around them. They make friends and build relationships not to gain any advantage within the game, but for their own enjoyment and satisfaction. Socialisers therefore, are useful friends to have for other player types, as a socialiser might be able to provide you with links or information. Spatially ‘as long as its a place that's cared for, a place where there are people who care, as long as it's built and created and changed to help [it] be a play community.’ Bernard De Koven The notion that a space should be well looked after,3 well maintained and useful to others does not mean that the architecture of a world cannot be run down or grungy, as is often the case within virtual games, it simply means that the game system offers these comforts to spaces for socialisers, for example in a ‘safe house’4(see figs 02-04) 1 2 3 4

Rules of Play, page 488 http://www.ldoceonline.comAmerican+Footballtopic/tailgate-party De Koven, Bernard. The Well Played game. Anchor Books, New York, 1978. pg 139 ibid. Page 135

Image 01 Social Gaming - The rise of the tablet and mobile platform

Image 02 Safe Zone - Tag

Social games that make use of social media and connectivity like Twitter and Facebook have exploded in popularity in recent years, such as this example Farmville.

In simple childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s games, a central tree or zone is often marked out as a safe zone. It can be as dangerous as safe though, as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direct adjacencies are perilous.

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Image 03 Safe House - Ocean View Hotel

Image 04 Safe House

A safe house in Grand Theft Auto Vice City. In this game, all weapons, bonuses and cars can be stored safely, as well as providing an in game â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;saveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; point.

One of the original safehouses built at the inception of the Game City. It provides both physical and virtual refuge from the game world.

EXPLOR

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Explorers are the most creative of the player types. As the Bartle graph indicates (see INTRODUCTION fig 4), they are described as ‘Interacting with the World’ and therefore it is explorers who are usually responsible for the most creative game ‘Mods’1. Like ACHIEVERS , explorers are very patient players who do not enjoy being rushed or moved against their will. Explorers motivations are to not only discover all that an environment has to offer, but also to test it, push it to its limits and bend or break some of the rules where they can. They are always looking to extend a games play lifetime2 beyond it’s designed end point. A successful explorer game space should ask3:

ORER

‘How easy is it to exhaust the possibilities that the game has to offer? Can the player eventually explore everything interesting in the game or is there always something new to discover?’ George Skaff Elias

It can be seen that explorers tend to play games that lie within WORLD 3 and WORLD 4, which allow them the most amount of flexibility. Explorers above all other player types, also have the closest affinity with second order rules, as it is often these rules that can be bent in order to expand the world. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This is the kind of rule breaking that is done as much for the sake of play as it is for the sake of the player. This means that sometimes, in order to keep a game going, we have to change it.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;4 Explorers recognise when the game might be reaching its spatial limitations and will endeavour, as long as they are enjoying the world, to find a way to extend its playlife. In 1993 id Software released DOOM, one of the original horror themed first person shooters, a game that proved extremely popular. When the original game system had been mastered, individual explorers learnt how to

world for an explorer, a raw tool set, that on its own would be considered a WORLD 4 game. However, the game of Solitaire, played with the tools, is an example of a WORLD 1 game derived from the basic start point. Explorers understand the inherent system of the card deck, the 4 suits, the face cards, the numbers, and look to manipulate existing WORLD 1 rules into new games, consistently adding more information to the game world and expanding the knowledge base.

THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND The Secret of Monkey Island is a point-andclick graphic adventure game. It takes place in a fantastic version of the Caribbean during the age of piracy. The player assumes the role of Guybrush Threepwood, a young man who dreams of becoming a pirate and explores fictional islands while solving puzzles.

Gilbert, Ron. THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND. LucasArts, 1990. MS-DOS, home computer

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code the levels and designed their own versions. Despite DOOM first being released in 1993, 10 years later there are thousands of userdesigned levels, and new ones still being created.5 (Image 01)

EASTERN MIND: THE LOST SOULS OF TONG-NOU OutSide Directors Company. Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou. sony Imagesoft, 1995. Apple Macintosh

Explorer’s would have been some of the first players present on Canvey Island, Game City. The opportunity to sculpt and test the limits of the island would be and ideal space for them. Images 02-05 show some of the ‘MODs’ of the island that were tested during the early phases of the city. Las Vegas, Macau, Glastonbury and Burning Man festival all make their mark on the island. The resultant city map, is a hybrid of the most successful elements of these tests. (Image 06)

The game starts out with a guy named Rin discovering that his soul was stolen by the island of Tong-Nou—presumably to eat it—and if he doesn’t get it back then he’ll “weaken and eventually die in emptiness.” Rin decides to go and retrieve his soul, but before he does, his friend Yashiro gives him a temporary soul which will last for forty-nine days. When he gets there it turns out that the island is a giant green human head floating in darkness, and in order to continue your quest, you have to enter the head through one of its orifices. Things only get stranger from there.

Explorers outside a virtual game world look for games that use tools with intrinsic variability. A deck of cards for example is a fantastic game

1 2 3 4 5

http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm Elias, George Skaff. The Characteristics of Games. MIT Press, 2012. pg 239 ibid, pg 240 De Koven, Bernard. The Well Played game. Anchor Books, New York, 1978. pg 37 http://www.doomworld.com/10years/bestwads/

Image 01 A player built level for the original release of DOOM.

Image 02 MOD 016: Canvey meets Las Vegas Initially conducted as an urban sclae comparison map for the city.

n test, this became a major part of an overall site

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Image 03 - Canvey Hybrid Using the most successful and interesting forms and spaces, a hybrid map has been created from a series of previous tests. This will form the infrastructure of the game city.

Image 04 MOD 078: Canvey meets Macau

Image 05 MOD 060: Canvey meets Black Rock CIty, Burning

Image 07 - Minecraft Far Lands Explorers are responsible for finding an area of Minecraft where the usually replicating code which provides unlimited space has glitches, resulting in this bizarre landscape. They have pushed a very simple space to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolute limits and have discovered new and exciting spaces.

Image 08 - Minecraft Far Lands â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The distance from the centre of the Minecraft ma 12,550,820 metres (about a third of the circumfe

g Man Festival

ap to the beginning of the Far Lands, is erence of the Earth at its equator).â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

CHAPTERS CHAP

Image 06 - Canvey Hybrid Using the most successful and interesting forms and spaces, a hybrid map has been created from a series of previous tests. This will form the infrastructure of the game city.

Image 09 - Geocaching Why create an endless virtual world when we have a pretty huge real one? Geocaching involves the players using GPS navigation to find hidden objects, sometimes, as seen in image left, in extreme places. At each site is a box containing notes, diaries and sometimes objects, the players are encouraged to add to and move these things from cache to cache, creating an ever evolving game across the real world landscapes and architecture.

ON Games of Agon are always competitive. Sometimes this is competition between two reasonably evenly matched people or two groups of people, as is commonly seen in the vast majority of sporting events, however games of Agon are often fought between a person and a game system. The clearest example of this is perhaps

the First Person Shooter computer game - here the computer coding provides the opponent and the challenge is to master it. Mastery is key, as games of Agon are about practice and finesse and not simply slap dash brutality. Equality is also important as without similar skill levels there is no competition, one sided games are not generally considered to be fun. Players who participate in games of Agon spend hours refining skills and deciphering the games systems in order to win, in order to gain the slightest advantage over their opponents. Agon can be found in societies, functioning as socialist or communist regimes, as it assumes equality and encourages efficiency and productiveness1, and this is a clear echo of Huizingaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assertion that play preceded culture. Agon loses its playfulness when the rules are disregarded, when it is reduced to a skill-less endeavour. Due to its nature as a skilful and at times devastatingly beautiful game, games of agon have always attracted spectators. This has led

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traditionally to spaces for agon being stadia,(image 01) or at the very least involving a stage, sometimes as simple as a table and whilst computer games have taken a while to catch up, it is clear to see today that they too require platforms (see image 02). THE LAST OF US Naughty Dog. THE LAST OF US. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2013. Playstation 3

The Last of Us is a survival horror game where the player defends the characters against zombie-like creatures infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus, as well as hostile humans such as bandits and cannibals, employing the use of firearms and stealth aided by capabilities such as a visual representation of sound in order to listen for locations of enemies. The player can craft weapons and medical items by combining items scavenged in the world.

have always attracted spectators. This has led

Space for spectacle is therefore a major part of a future Agon environment. The spectators are arguably as much a part of the game as the players, and will often construct an entire new â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;metagameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;2 around the performance. Spaces or stages for Agon are also not confined to considerations of the performance; spaces for practice and study are also required. These do not necessary need to mimic the performance arena but simply provide a number of the same elements, in fact the occasion of the performance in an unfamiliar environment is an equalling measure, an external influence to bring the competitors closer to evenly matched which games of Agon work tirelessly to reach. Possession of the ball at kick off during a game of football immediately hands an advantage to the opposing team, therefore possession is given to the other team at half time. Using territory or environments to enforce equality puts certain pressures on the spaces, they must at once strive to be equal, but yet, place in the hands of the player an opportunity to exploit them to gain that edge, that all players of agon require, to finally overcome the opponent, and win.

herefore e Agon ors are he game onstruct around stages fined to rmance; udy are ecessary ce arena r of the occasion nfamiliar measure, ring the

matched lessly to t kick off mediately opposing is given e. Using enforce s on the strive to e hands o exploit l players ome the

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MUSCLE MARCH Namco Bandai Games. MUSCLE MARCH. Namco Bandai Games, 2009. Nintendo Wii

Your protein powder has been stolen. In the game you must follow the thief as they crash through walls, leaving holes in the form of bodybuilding poses, which you must make your character squeeze through by gesturing with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to match the pose. At the end of the level, players must shake the controllers to catch up and tackle the thief.

PONG Alcorn, Allan. PONG. Atari Incorporation, 1972. Upright arcade

The organising principles of spectator space, metagame space and game space are outlined in (image 03) where the game space sits centrally flanked by specatator space. The diagram has parallels to a general stadium layout. If the game space is then manipulated to create a more complex and challenging form for the game to take place within, this volumetric movement creates pockets of space between the spectators and the game in which metagames can flourish. In Canvey Island, Game City, the diagram is taken as a sectional start point from which more complex geometry is generated. (image 04)

He has won esteem, obtained honour; and this honour and esteem at once accrue to the benefit of the group to which the victor belongsâ&#x20AC;Śsuccess won readily passes from the individual to the group. (It) is the desire to excel others, to be the first and to be honoured for that Johan Huizinga

SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS Team Ico. . Sony Computer Entertainment, 2005. Playstation 2

You must travel across a vast expanse on horseback and defeat sixteen massive beings, known simply as colossi in order to restore the life of a girl named Mono. There are no towns or dungeons to explore, no characters with which to interact, and no enemies to defeat other than the colossi. Each colossusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; weakness must be identified and exploited before it can be defeated.

STARCRAFT Blizzard Entertainment. STARCRAFT. Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. Microsoft Windows, download

Caillois, Roger. Man, Play and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. London: Thames & Hudson, 1962, pg 158 Elias, George Skaff. The Characteristics of Games. MIT Press, 2012. pg 203

Image 01 - An ancient space for Games of Agon

Image 04 - A Space for Agon on Canvey Island. Spaces for the spectators, the game and the metagame are highlighted.

Image 02 - The 21st century Colosseum A huge crowd at the World Championship Starcraft tournament

Image 05 - Possession based sports result in spaces indicated by the diagram above. As the possession changes hands, a whole new â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is created. Levels are usually left incomplete, except when a goal is scored.

Image 03 - Diagram of the underlying organisation principles behind the space for Agon that has been created on Canvey Island.

I’M SORRY Coreland. I’M SORRY. Sega, 1985. Arcade upright

SPACE INVADERS Nishikado, Tomohiro. SPACE INVADERS. Taito

Tanaka must avoid the grasps of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Carl Lewis and a few Japanese celebrities, lest they strip him down to an adult diaper, make a quick costume change into some leather S&M gear and whip Tanaka until he knows who’s boss.

Corporation, 1978. Upright arcade

Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is the defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible.

MANIC MINER Smith, Matthew. MANIC MINER. Bug-Byte, 1983. MS-DOS, home computer

CRICKET

Cricket is a unique team sport in that the win criteria depending on whether you bowl or bat first is different I.e. You can win by either wickets or runs. Levels of skillfulness in different tasks are also required, although players can have a ‘speciality’.

The player must collect several flashing objects, before Willy’s oxygen supply runs out. You must avoid enemies, listed in the cassette inlay as “...Poisonous Pansies, Spiders, Slime, and worst of all, Manic Minig Robots...”

JACKIE CHAN IN FISTS OF FIRE Kaneko, JACKIE CHAN IN FISTS OF FIRE. Kaneko, 1995. Kaneko AX System

A fighting arcade game in which to win the ‘story mode’ the player (as Jackie Chan) must defeat four variant costume edition Jackie Chans to finally face off against the main boss, who shockingly enough just happens to be another Jackie Chan

AL EA

Games of chance enable the player to submit themselves wholly and completely to the whim of fate. The outcome is entirely out of the players control and no amount of wit or skill can alter these chances. It is the indulgence in this feeling that makes games of chance, in particular, so addictive.1 Games of Alea have opposing values to AGON , training and practice have no effect on the outcome,

therefore ACHIEVERS tend to participate less, their desire to master a game has no purpose in Alea, and players will increasingly look to charms and talisman in order to swing luck in their favour. There is no immediate harm in the idea of the ability to sway fate, however blind faith in these superstitions will ultimately lead to the corruption of the game, and the breaking of the magic circle.

MONOPOLY Phillips, Elizabeth J. Magie & Charles Darrow MONOPOLY. Parker Brothers, 1935. Board game

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Games of Alea are always and persistently replayable2, in fact: Anything that increases the variety of gameplay tends to increase the replayability of the game. So additional randomness increases replayability.’ George Skaff Elias

A game of snap has 51 varieties of outcome after the first card is drawn, and not only that, once those 51 outcomes have been played, the entire deck can be replayed, a further 52 outcomes. Games can be described as either having ‘exhaustible content, or intrinsic variability’.3 Games of Alea have intrinsic variability. The vast majority of games that lie in WORLD 1 have exhaustible content. Cards, dice, roulette wheels, marbles. Games of Alea are traditionally defined by their implements rather than the spaces in which they take place. The chance element is generated by rotating or rolling these objects, for example by shuffling a pack of cards. In the physical world, an architecture that emulates this would itself need to be transformable or rotatable. In the early stages of the design process for Canvey Island, Game City, an attempt to create a roulette wheel style space was attempted, however it is clearly rather one-dimensional, too literal a translation between idea and space. (image 01) Virtual reality offers much greater scope to achieve ‘shuffled’ space therefore it will be here that a space for Alea is developed.

Allowing oneself to commit to a higher force, to risk it all on luck, is a characteristic that historically has been perceived as a dangerous trait, evidenced by various cultures attempts to restrict and control where these games can take place by building architecture to contain them.4 (image 02) However, one of the more intriguing traits of games of Alea is that they continue to pervade everyday life and leech beyond these boundaries. They are anatopistic games, occupying and appearing in spaces that they were not intended for. (image 03) There is a strong correlation between the games’ illicit desire to consume spaces it was never intended to be in and its appeal as an illicit, sometimes illegal, and always frowned upon source of income and pleasure. It may not, be possible to design spaces that facilitate this illegitimate occupation, since the two ideas are mutually exclusive, however, creating interesting volumes around the edges of spaces will allow for games of Alea to flourish in the form of metagames, such as the bookmakers paddock at a horse racing venue, it is not a formal part of the built architecture, but a more informal space within the landscape. (image 04)

1 2 3 4

Caillois, Roger. Man, Play and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. London: Thames & Hudson, 1962, pg 17 Elias, George Skaff. The Characteristics of Games. MIT Press, 2012. pg 147 Ibid, pg 240 Colosseum museum information boards, author visit. Jan 2014

Image 02 Alea contained in a city

Image 01 Roulette wheel Architecture

Image 04 Metagame space

Image 03 Anatopistic architecture

CHAPTERS 69

A GAME OF ALEA

CHAPTERS

A Game of Alea Rules Aim of the Game To complete 2 ‘sets’. Each BLACK ‘Game’ card contains a list of the corresponding ‘World’, ‘Player’ and ‘Game’ cards that complete the set. You must collect the correct cards to complete the set and then place them face up in front of you. Winning the Game The winner is the first to complete 2 sets Note: For 2 or 3 players you may wish to deal 12 cards and complete 3 sets to extend the gameplay. Starting the Game Shuffle the deck thoroughly. Deal 8 (or 12) cards out to each player. Place the remaining cards in the centre of the table and turn the top card over. Playing the Game Each player selects either to choose the top discarded card, or the top card from the deck. Then chooses the card from their hand they wish to discard and places it on the discard pile. If the player has a set they now lay it on the table. It is now the next players turn. This continues until a player has managed to lay 2 sets.

Killers are interested in doing things to people, including the computer AI, ie. in ACTING on other PLAYERS. Normally, this is not with the consent of these other players, but killers don't care; they wish only to demonstrate their superiority over fellow humans, preferably in a world which serves to legitimise actions that could mean imprisonment in real life

Achievers are interested in doing things to the game, ie. in ACTING on the WORLD. It's the fact that the game environment is a fully-fledged world in which they can immerse themselves that they find compelling. The point of playing is to master the game, and make it do what you want it to do.

Socialisers are interested in INTERACTING with other PLAYERS. This usually means talking, but it can extend to more exotic behaviour. Finding out about people and getting to know them is far more worthy than treating them as fodder to be bossed around. The game world is just a setting; it's the characters that make it so compelling

Explorers are interested in having the game surprise them, ie. in INTERACTING with the WORLD. It's the sense of wonder which the virtual world imbues that they crave for. Scoring points all the time is a worthless occupation, because it defies the very open-endedness that makes a world live and breathe

KILLER

ACHIEVER

SOCIALISER

EXPLORER

the pursuit of vertigo, which consists of an attempt to momentarily destroy the stability of perception and inflict a kind of voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind. In all cases, it is a question of surrendering to a kind of spasm, seizure, or shock which destroys reality with sovereign brusqueness

a whole group of games would seem to be competitive, that is to say, like a combat in which equality of chances is artificially created, in order that the adversaries should confront each other under ideal conditions, susceptible of giving precise and incontestable value to the winner's triumph

an illusory character of oneself, and of so behaving. One is thus confronted with a diverse series of manifestations, the common element of which is that the subject makes believe or makes others believe that he is someone other than himself. He forgets, disguises, or temporarily sheds his personality in order to feign another

All games that are based on a decision independent of the player, an outcome over which he has no control, and in which winning is the result of fate

ILINX

AGON

MIMICRY

ALEA

here is my world i’m narrating you’re listening

here is my world i’m narrating but i’m listening to you

here is my world come in and collaborate with me let’s built it and improve it together

here is my world it’s yours

WORLD 01

WORLD 02

WORLD 03

WORLD 04

ludus

paidia

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8 2

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1 9

2 8

agon world two killer

alea world two killer

agon world one achiever

ilinx world three explorer

ilinx world four explorer

STARCRAFT

POKER

SETTLERS OF CATAN

CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?

SNOWBOARDING

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9 1

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agon world one killer

agon world two killer

agon world one achiever

agon world two killer

mimicry world three free

CHESS

FOOTBALL

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

CRICKET

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

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alea world one killer

mimicry world two socialiser

ilinx world four killer

agon world two achiever

STREET FIGHTER II

RUSSIAN ROULETTE

CHARADES

SKY DIVING

ANGRY BIRDS

CHAPTERS

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4 6

3 7

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agon world one achiever

mimicry world three explorer

agon world one achiever

agon world one socialiser

PONG

SPACE INVADERS

THE SIMS

GRAND THEFT AUTO III

SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS

ludus

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mimicry world one explorer

agon world one achiever

agon world two socialiser

agon world one achiever

ELITE

SUPER MARIO BROS

Wii SPORTS

CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE

BRAID

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mimicry world one killer

free world four free

agon world three achiever

agon world four socialiser

DOOM

NIGHT TRAP

MINECRAFT

THE LAST OF US

TWITTER

ludus

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agon world one achiever

agon world two killer

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agon world one achiever

ilinx world three explorer

PACMAN

MANIC MINER

STARCRAFT

POKER

SETTLERS OF CATAN

CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?

ludus

paidia

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9 1

5 5

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alea world one killer

mimicry world one explorer

agon world one killer

agon world two killer

agon world one achiever

agon world two killer

TETRIS

THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND

CHESS

FOOTBALL

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

CRICKET

ludus

paidia

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agon world one achiever

mimicry world one achiever

agon world two killer

alea world one killer

mimicry world two socialiser

ilinx world four killer

LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER

PARAPPA THE RAPPER

STREET FIGHTER II

RUSSIAN ROULETTE

CHARADES

SKY DIVING

CHAPTERS

PAIDIA

LUDUS

PAIDIA

LUDUS

PAIDIA

LUDUS

PAIDIA

NX ILIN

A Game of Ilinx seeks to dissolve the players existing reality and replace it with a world of playfulness.

Games of Ilinx achieve this through extremes of vertigo and adrenaline rushes. Since Caillois’ definition of this type of game there has been an insurgence of activity in ‘extreme sports’ that seek this Ilinxian desire. Whereas Caillois’ may have associated this

In addition, the advancement in the graphics and immersible nature of video games has arguably allowed us to explore the game of Ilinx further in artificial and virtual environments, and whilst this may have begun with games such as Need for

type of game more closely with the free play and experimentation of children,1 it is clear that this is no longer the case.

Speed2 and other simulators that seek to imbed you in an alternative experience such as driving or skateboarding. It is with the advancement of morality in gaming that the more interesting relationship between Ilinx and video games exists.

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There is a vertigo of a moral order, a transport that suddenly seizes the individual. This vertigo is readily linked to the desire for disorder and destruction, a drive which is normally repressed. Roger Caillois

changes that cause the body to experience a loss of immediate reality, jumping off a bridge, a hairpin turn in a car. These are simple physical tricks that the designer can implement in order to create a space for physical Ilinx, but the spaces for moral

As is discussed in WORLD 2 , there are a number of games that are looking to explore the moral, or in some cases extremely amoral decisions that a player can make.3 In an interview with David Cage, he explains ‘In Heavy Rain there’s a scene where you need to decide whether to kill someone to

Ilinx are more complex, and arguably more interesting. These spaces are closely linked to the WORLD 2 description, and that of the multiverse. In order to create a space of real moral Ilinx, the player must know that the decision is consequential and not reversible. The decision will lead them into another

save your son. You’re in the bedroom of the daughters of the guy that you’re supposed to kill and he’s on his knees begging you not to kill him. Then it becomes a difficult decision to press the trigger because it’s something that is moving. I’ve had players tell me they needed to turn the game off and

space, both physically and narratively. (image 01)

think about it for a while before making that decision.”4 The rush that is associated with finally making this awful decision is without doubt an example of Ilinx at play. Spaces for Ilinx lead the designer towards precipices and sharp turns; massive spatial

1 2 3 4

Caillois, Roger. Man, Play and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. London: Thames & Hudson, 1962, pg 24 Electronic Arts. NEED FOR SPEED. Electronic Arts, 1994. Playstation 1 http://www.gamesradar.com/top-7-games-force-youmake-terrible-decisions/ http://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2013/09/beyonddavid-cage-games-art-and-man.html. 12/03/2014

SNOWBOARDING Freestyle, casual & experimental It was developed in the US in the 1960s

Traditional progressive route

Ilinx divergent

Image 01 - The Ilinx divergence

Image 02 - Physical tension

CHAPTERS

CHILDREN PLAYING WITH BUBBLES

MICRY MIM

CHAPTERS

‘All play presupposes the temporary acceptance, if not of an illusion (indeed this last word means nothing less than beginning a game: in-lusio), then at least of a closed, conventional, and, in certain respects, imaginary universe.’ Roger Caillois

It is established in the discussion of WORLDS that when entering the field of play and games, we step into a fictional world, but the Game of Mimicry is about more than the adoption of an alternate reality by crossing into the magic circle. The enjoyment and pleasure comes instead from the deceit of others and of oneself, the removal of inhibitions, and similarly to AGON , the audience or spectator is of paramount importance.

Players of a game of Mimicry play with their spectators; lure them into the deceit and encourage them to play along. It could potentially be described as the first example of play, as it is the game that is most closely aligned to an establishing function of society, as it is seen clearly in the animal kingdom, where males will ‘put on a show’ and perform ritualistic behaviour in order to attract a mate1 and in religious or tribal rituals.2

Mimicry and AGON have strong parallels in their manner of occupying a stage and engaging an audience and therefore have similarities in the spaces that they require. In addition to the primary performance area, games

whereas you can quite easily have a competitive game of AGON without, however it may not be as enthralling. Without an audience, a Game of Mimicry begins to disintegrate, ‘when simulation is no longer accepted as such, when the one who is disguised believes that his role, travesty, or mask is real’3 the game is corrupted. It is in this break down of the world that games face a realm of fierce criticism, as when a game of mimicry such LSD: DREAM as DOOM4 is corrupted, violence can spill EMULATOR over into real life, and tragedies such as mass school shootings have been known to OutSide Directors Company. LSD: DREAM EMULATOR. occur.5 The ‘sharp line dividing [games] ideal Asmik Ace Entertainment, rules from the diffuse and insidious laws of 1998. Playstation 1 daily life’6 is becoming less defined. This has, historically, had negative connotations, In LSD the player navigates through a psychedelic dream world. The idea is simply to walk around especially where games of physical and explore things in a dream environment. If the player bumps into walls or other objects in the game, they will be transported to another environment instantaneously through a system called confrontation or deceit are concerned. “linking”. Bumping into people, animals, or special objects usually results in a stranger dream. (see fig 07&08) Games are, however, undoubtedly moving forward from the of Mimicry also require spaces for gruesome brutality of a game such as Street Fighter practice, as in order to convince the II.7 The Last of Us8, for example, invokes through its audience as thoroughly as possible; the startlingly real graphics and emotive narrative a real illusion must be well rehearsed. The emotional connection to the character and forces the notable difference is that the spectator player to make difficult decisions, and thus engages is necessary to a game of mimicry, a more moral approach.

CHAPTERS

Since Caillois’ defined the Game of Mimicry, there has been one area in which this particular game type has moved forward and embraced. The rise of Role Playing Games, and specifically MMORPG, bring a global space to this game that was never possible before. In these instances the performance is no longer local, ie. between yourself (the player) and a watchful audience. The spectators are global, and players themselves. The roles that players take on within these worlds have a direct impact on the games progression, as team work is required to reach the highest echelons of the game. A ‘raid’ in World of Warcraft requires a multitude of abilities in order to succeed, therefore the Game of Mimicry is doubly important, as there are others relying on your performance in order to succeed (fig 01). MMORPG spaces are vast (fig 02-05), huge online communities occupy a universe that for all practical purposes has no edge, it is limitless, and millions of smaller games occur within it, this is what Canvey Island will become in the design project, a vast landscape containing a multitude of the most interesting and the most bizarre games possible. (fig 06)

1 2 3

5 6 7 8

Huzinga, Johan. Homo Ludens. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1949. pg 9 ibid, pg 15 Caillois, Roger. Man, Play and Games. Trans. Meyer Barash. London: Thames & Hudson, 1962, pg 49 Petersen, Sandy & John Romero & Shawn Green. DOOM. Id Software, 1993. CD-ROM, home computer http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1295920. stm Caillois, op cit, pg 43 Nishitani, Akira & Akira Yasuda. STREET FIGHTER II. Capcom, 1991. Upright arcade Naughty Dog. THE LAST OF US. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2013. Playstation 3

The player views events via hidden cameras set up in eight different locations, which can be viewed one at a time. As the characters creep into the house, the player has to spot them and use traps to capture them. At the bottom of a screen rests a small meter; when this meter fills, it is the player’s signal to activate a trap in the room being viewed on screen, adding to the score.

NIGHT TRAP Digital Pictures. NIGHT TRAP. Sega, 1992. Sega CD1

Image 01 (& details) Group Mimicry Multiple players assume roles of healers and warriors in order to complete a task together. Social chats and personalities are facilitated by the game software.

Images 02-04 Azeroth A series of maps, some created by the game designers, some user created illustrating the scale and depth of the World of Warcraft universe. Examples here include level progression and local area politics.

CHAPTERS

Images 07 & 08 Second Life A controversial but popular online game which simulates real life. You can build your own houses, cars and entire lives. It has been known to enthrall people in such totality, that it has been cited in several divorce proceedings. 1 1: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/ may/27/divorce-cyber-affairs

Image 05 & 06 Canvey Island As the island is consumed by the game city the map begins to develop. A new urban geography is created. Image 05 shows Canvey Island in 2014. Image 06 shows a speculative Canvey Island in 2214.

AND THE CONCLUSION

WORLD FOUR

WORLD FO

OUR

WORLD FOUR

WORLD FOUR HERE’S MY WORLD, IT’S YOURS ‘Today’s notions of user-generated content and open source development point to the ways in which games increasingly blur the lines between players and developers. This recent idea, that players can turn the tables and become creators’ should mean you ‘understand games as something meant to be bent, broken and refashioned into something new.’ Eric Zimmerman

World 4, currently the final stage of the evolution of games, is where the designers turn the controls over to the users, the players, and relinquish any say in the development of the game as it moves forward. It could be said that within the 4th world, the designers simply provide a tool box for the gamers to start with, a kit of parts that can be manipulated and stretched to its limitless potentials.

The computer game that embodies this world most closely is, Minecraft. Minecraft can be considered a ‘sandbox’ game, where virtually no restrictions are placed on the gamer and as a non linear game there are no predetermined objectives. Some games have a ‘sandbox’ mode, where players can test out ideas and new spaces and challenges in an entirely unlimited environment, or in some simply practice the skills required to drive a vehicle or other in game actions, but these exist alongside the main purpose of the game, and serve as practice spaces for games of AGON , rather than being the core principle of the game.

Azeroth A collaborative group of players have rebuilt World of Warcraft within Minecraft

FIG. 01 Sonic the Hedgehog A recreation of the 16bit â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Green Hill Zoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; from the original Sonic game

FIG. 02

WORLD FOUR

‘Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things. It can also be about adventuring with friends or watching the sun rise over a blocky ocean. It’s pretty. Brave players battle terrible things in The Nether, which is more scary than pretty. You can also visit a land of mushrooms if it sounds more like your cup of tea.’ Markus ‘Notch’ Persson Minecraft is a game in which much of the same gameplay that is possible in all other worlds exists. There are two very different modes of playing, Survival and Creative, and in both, the players are responsible for sculpting the physical world in which you play, not the designers. Survival is a social game, meaning you can join with other players to complete tasks and achieve goals. It again is a persistent game, continuing infinitely, and unlike World of Warcraft, your creations are not necessarily protected while you are away from your computer. In Survival mode, scarcity exists. Materials must be mined and collected and then put to use to your own creative ends. The designers have provided you with the world constraints; there are finite resources and these must be collected, and they have provided the space for this play to take place, but from there forward, the world is yours. In creative mode we enter another type of world altogether. Creative Minecraft mode is the closest example of what post-scarcity could inspire within the engaged population. Vast numbers of people from around the globe work together with unlimited resources to produce some stunning creations. At all times the notion of meta-games prevails, small games within the game are created, a working version of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog platform game’ or the unbelievable attempt to recreate the World of Warcraft Universe.

Canvey Island A central space that serves as an aleph of games

FIG. 03

WORLD FOUR

A WORLD 4 exists on Canvey Island. It has been colonised by a group of engaged and creative gamers, whose numbers are growing by the day, in an era of post-scarcity. It began as an ad hoc environment where the existing infrastructure and disused industrial site were commandeered and transformed into game spaces. As it has expanded it has become necessary for a virtual version of the island to exist over the physical environment providing the ‘creative’ mode to the islands ‘survival’ mode. The virtual overlay imbues a democracy over the physical world, where only the most popular and interesting modifications are built. As a player you can choose to exist almost entirely in the infinite multiverses or to devote your time to the construction of the architecture and environment around. Some players will find their skills lie in the creation of virtual ideas, and less in the construction of them, others will find their skills best used to forge groups and communities within the world. You will find your place only through constant playing. The island is always in a state of construction and flux, modifications and alterations happening as the world exists persistently. You may choose to live in an accelerated speed, rushing through days and nights to complete longer tasks faster. If you desire destruction and violence from your games you will find virtual and physical environments that offer this, but be warned, the playsphere is a fine line, and you will find cheats and spoilsports are dealt with accordingly. Here is my game, it’s yours.

CONCLUS

SION The Far Lands At the ‘edge’ of Minecraft the maths starts to fail and creates weird and wonderful areas

FIG. 01

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION SPACES FOR GAMES Architect’s involvement in designing spaces for games is currently focussed on buildings such as stadia or purpose built playgrounds, theatres and performance spaces and the games that these spaces support, (with playgrounds perhaps the exception), tend to be for elite or professional games to take place within. Considering the potentials of spaces that this thesis has discussed, this seems a rather small percentage of design opportunities for architects to be involved in. As the world enters the Ludic Century , game environment design both physical and virtual should be considered a valid and important area of architectural design that offers new and intriguing programmatic and spatial challenges. This thesis has discussed spaces, and games, in a much looser, more infrastructural based way, as it has become clear that there is a greater level of commonality between game spaces at this level and patterns and anomalies become more distinguishable. This makes learning from them more useful to designers as it supplies programmatic traits that can be manipulated in individual circumstance, much as design for an office building would start from certain requirements; open plan sqm, number of cellular offices, meeting rooms. These traits are reusable across all office buildings and are simply adjusted and exploited by individual architecture. At present football stadiums might be reusable for concert

performances or a rugby match solely because of the volume that the architecture contains is the same for all 3, but the architecture doesn’t encourage a game of Lara Croft Tomb Raider, even though both are Games of Agon, or are the spaces for these two games incompatible because ACHIEVERS play Lara Croft and KILLERS play professional football? In using the spatial infrastructures this thesis has explored, architecture would continue to site itself within the ‘real’ world as separate entities to everyday life. It would be a step forward in game design and architecture, but it wouldn’t start to propose a truly ‘gamic’ architecture. As discussed earlier, WORLD 1 games, which are finite and not replayable/reusable are described as having ‘exhaustible content’ WORLD 4 games are infinite because they have ‘intrinsic variability’. To achieve architecture which is in itself a game, it must have intrinsic variability, demonstrated by the single cubes of materials which within Minecraft, is the architecture & environment. Players manipulate the extremely basic architecture to create new games, new forms and new worlds within the infinite Minecraft universe. 1 2

http://ericzimmerman.com/files/texts/Manifesto_for_a_ Ludic_Century.pdf, 25/10/2013 Elias, George Skaff. The Characteristics of Games. MIT Press, 2012. pg 240

The City Museum St Louis, A playground for children and adults alike

FIG. 02

CONCLUSION

101

WHY GAMES ARE IMPORTANT There is widespread criticism of how much time children, and adults, spend in front of a games console today.1 Jane McGonigal at the Institute of the Future has calculated that the total online time spent playing games is around 3 billion hours a week. Since this trend seems to be in no way abating, the question that designers need to be addressing is why are online/virtual worlds so much more appealing that the real one.2 Caillois describes games as being free from the ‘insidious laws of daily life’, they offer a level of safety that the real world does not. Jane McGonigal says in her TED talk ‘Gaming Can Make a Better World’ that players within games are more positive, collaborative and take greater risks on board. Games encourage an attitude of ‘let’s try that again and let’s give it a go’ because they take place outside the ‘real’ world without ‘real’ risks attached to them. Faced with jumping between rooftops in the ‘real’ world, your first reaction would probably feature a scenario where you make your way safely to the bottom of the first building, and then back up to the top of the other, the safest, but by no means the most interesting outcome. Faced with the same scenario in a game, you might look for ledges or ropes which could be utilized to assist your airborne movement. The immediate feedback nature of games, without the mortal finality to it, subsequently means the solutions you look for are more positive.

Architecture in the physical world, is full of risks. Risks to the developer, risks to the architect, risks to the contractor. These might be financial, reputation or physical but together they all form a series of barriers, or to return to gaming analogies, locked levels, through which the project has to meet certain criteria, or show a proficiency in certain skills in order to proceed. This suggests that architecture in its current form, exists in a WORLD 1 environment, or in some cases where the end user is consulted during the development, WORLD 2. If architecture could emulate traits of WORLD 3 and 4 games, it would be intrinsically playful. The WORLD 4 gaming community are achieving this by creating ‘spaces of possibility’ and collaborating in open source environments. They are creating places for active risk taking and community development is encouraged. which can only lead to more engaging architecture, that responds to the players (read: end users) and the games (read: programs) needs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/childrenshealth /8825655/Video-games-can-alter-childrens-brains.html, 17/03/2014 http://ww=w.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_ make_a_better_world.html, 10/11/2013

The Completed Matrix Each number represents one game which has been analysed and referenced in this thesis and illustrates itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s allocated space within the matrix. Refer to Appendix 01 for futher detail

FIG. 03

CONCLUSION

103

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS OF THE MATRIX In this thesis, I have brought together 3 existing theories on games and fictional worlds and by placing them in a 3D matrix against one another, created a new and unique outlook on the categorization of games. It is not the intention of this thesis to claim that by using this model, that all games can be now described completely and perfectly, but to provide a new way of looking at the discussion which is, for the first time, inherently spatial. The use of the ‘worlds and environments’ theory, which was taken from outside the game research genre, has not been used alongside players and games before and it was the primary interest of this thesis to investigate the impact that this category has on games, and their spaces. The matrix has shown that there is a clear zone in which the vast majority of games lie. Most games are played by either Achievers or Killers, are played out in World 1 type environments, and are usually games of Agon. Of the 25 games taken from ‘How videogames changed the world’, 10 games fall into the above description. The matrix has also shown some clear zones in which no games lie. Achievers and games of Ilinx are rare or non existent, as are games of ilinx in world 1. Explorers don’t appear until World 2. This is because our current understanding of these game spaces creates mutually exclusive environments for these combinations. It is impossible for a moment of physical or moral ilinx to be created within world 1, as everyone’s precipice point is different, and in a finite linear world, there is no movement possible for personal differences to be satisfied. To enable future game spaces to occupy these voids we will undoubtedly need to include new realms and environments. This may include

games that work within the real world, creating shifting boundaries between real life and play and therefore achieving some of these currently impossible spaces by the interaction between the two lives. Or they may take their place within new virtual realities and augmented futures that we currently as Humans 1.1 cannot integrate with1, and until we reach a level of posthuman evolution where we move towards version 2.0 these game spaces may remain elusive. The current lack of games of Ilinx for Achievers is of particular sadness for me, as it is clear from my own first hand research that I enjoy being part of both worlds. It is therefore an aim of my design work to attempt the creation of such a space on Canvey Island, using impossibilities afforded to me within the post-scarcity future that surrounds the design project. An future extension of the matrix and indeed the thesis would be to digitise the research to enable a global participation in locating game spaces within it. The online matrix would then become a repository of game spaces and new knowledge. Rather than the individual chapters contained within this edition, huge banks of documents could be stored in an online version, allowing the research to extend beyond this author and become more complete. It’s physical form would essentially house a museum of game spaces. 1

I use the term Humans 1.1 rather than 1.0 since wearable technology and smartphones have extended our species into the beginning stages of an augmented human. However this is a process far from complete and it would take changes akin to physical implants that allow you to search the internet and access translation apps for example or uploaded avatars that exist in the world created in Accelerando.2 Stross, Charles. Accelerando. Orbit, 2006, London.

WORLD 04

EXPLOR

It can be seen that explorers tend to play games that lie within WORLD 3 and WORLD 4, which allow them the most amount of flexibility. Explorers above all other player types, also have the closest affinity with second order rules, as it is often these rules that can be bent in order to expand the world. ‘This is the kind of rule breaking that is done as much for the sake of play as it is for the sake of the player. This means that sometimes, in order to keep a game going, we have to change it.’4 Explorers recognise when the game might be reaching its spatial limitations and will endeavour, as long as they are enjoying the world, to find a way to extend its playlife. In 1993 id Software released DOOM, one of the original horror themed first person shooters, a game that proved extremely popular. When the original game system had been mastered, individual explorers learnt how to

code the levels and designed their own versions. Despite DOOM first being released in 1993, 10 years later there are thousands of userdesigned levels, and new ones still being created.5 (Image 01)

EASTERN MIND: THE LOST SOULS OF TONG-NOU OutSide Directors Company. Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou. sony Imagesoft, 1995. Apple Macintosh

Gilbert, Ron. THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND. LucasArts, 1990. MS-DOS, home computer

Explorers outside a virtual game world look for games that use tools with intrinsic variability. A deck of cards for example is a fantastic game

1 2 3 4 5

ORER

READING AND CONSTRUCTING THE THESIS The form of the thesis matches the matrix that I devised to categorize game spaces. The blocks which hold the sections of writing sit in the physical spaces that correspond to the matrix. An example: Games of Mimicry exist for all players and in all worlds, therefore the block occupies this space within the cube. Socialiser games only exist within worlds 3 and 4 so the piece is correspondingly smaller. In addition, the various games that I have studied and played throughout the process of the thesis have also been afforded their places within the

3D diagram. In the figure above showing the print of ‘Explorer’, the game information pertaining to ‘Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou is situated left, so as when the book is replaced in the matrix, it will sit in ‘Explorer/World 3/Ilinx’. It’s categorization according to the studies. ‘The Secret of Monkey Island’ however is ‘Explorer/ World 2/Mimicry’ and so sits further up and right within the book. The diagram of how best to re-construct the matrix has been left until now, as the thesis is designed to be explored and played with, however it is included here so we can put it back together.

CONCLUSION

107

THE FUTURE SPACES OF GAMES

‘If Games are spaces where meaning is made, game designers are the meta-creators of meaning, those who architect the spaces of possibility where such discovery takes place’ Eric Zimmerman The study of WORLD 4 shows us that given a basic set of tools, engaged and interested gamers, of all player types, will find or create all types of games and worlds given the ‘spaces of possibility’ in which to express themselves. Currently the best example of this phenomenon is within Minecraft or other similar sandbox style games, which all exist within a virtual environment. ‘Game designers, [are] the architects, the storytellers, and the party hosts of this playful new world.’ Eric Zimmerman Game spaces within the virtual world have moved forward dramatically within the last 25 years.1 Game environment design is already an culturally significant genre, recognised at the same level as film.2 The control of these ‘spaces of possibility’ currently reside with game designers and players, as they have embraced the opportunities that open source software and virtual environments can offer both themselves as designers, but also themselves as players.

Virtual online environments have extended our opportunities as gamers beyond the physical human realm. World of Warcraft is only made possible by the vast online communities that allow us to connect with the compatible people needed to complete a group task. We are connected through a global virtual space to millions across the world. In this sense, games are already moving into the posthuman realm. Games are also beginning to extend themselves beyond their existing media. The introduction of the PS Vita3 alongside the PS4 allows the user to take their traditionally console based games, and continue them outside the home, in the bathroom or on the commute. Mobile games and apps are an entirely new genre of games that have exploded into the gaming culture within the last 5 years. I think it is possible that games that begin to react and alter their virtual world to a real physical environment are in the very near future. Check in apps like 4Square, have been utilized to play city sized games, like Turf, a ‘Real World Monopoly’4. Location based games take advantage of their surrounding environments to create a theatrical event, the possibilities of combining these attributes within a virtual game world, I think, could be fascinating. You could be playing a game of Grand Theft Auto V5 on your mobile device, which whilst remaining within the fictional setting of Los Santos, the game might generate a pizza shop for your character to gain nourishment, when the GPS on your device locates your physical position near a similar establishment.

CONCLUSION

Do these recent advances suggest that a potential WORLD 5 is actually based within the real world that we inhabit daily? If so, then we can begin to unlock access to layers and levels that are not possible in a game world. The interaction of the previously mentioned ‘unconscious’ player and his effects on game space for example. Politics will also play a part in any WORLD 5 games, as each country imbues a level over its players depending on the system it chooses. You cannot for example, play a game of cornering material, trading and defending it from other players in a country that maintains communistic ideals. However, rather than using the existing world as our playing surface and conforming to such mundane defaults like economies and politics, some of the very reasons that people dive into game worlds to escape, the development and expansion of WORLD 5, lies in the MODs we begin to employ within the architecture and environment.

109

It is far more interesting for the future of architecture and games to discuss the possibility that a layer of games can be overlaid and interwoven into the physical urban fabric and the landscapes of the country. The initial stages of this are already evident with these location based games, but this is a retrofitted layer of games onto an existing pre-augmented architecture. Much as retrofitting buildings with air conditioning has it’s benefits, it’s never as effective as building with the right ventilation levels from the start. New architecture could have these game levels prebuilt into it, starting slowly, by simply improving access to services and social interactions for the people of the city, leaving digital clues and tasks for other players. But it’s potential when moving into a post scarcity world, which has always been the intention of this design, where the physical fabric of the world is a much less solid thing, is much more exciting.

1 2 3 4 5

Brooker, Charlie. How Videogames changed the world www.bafta.org/games uk.playstation.com/psvita http://mashable.com/2012/08/02/turf-real-life-monopoly/ Rockstar North. GRAND THEFT AUTO V. Rockstar Games, 2013, Playstation 3&4, XBox 360&1, Microsoft Windows

WORLD 04

It is quite clear from some of the examples included in this thesis that the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;magic circleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of gaming is becoming less and less defined. It is no longer a distinct line in the sand where you put down your working tools and pick up your gaming ones. It has become more of an indistinct cloud, that you can wander freely within, deciding how deep to venture. There are still those players who will wish to make definite steps, right into the heart of the circle and back out again. It simply means the future of gaming for those of us that are interested in wandering in the murky regions around the edges of game spaces, looks promising.

If, as Eric Zimmerman puts forward in his Manifesto for a Ludic Century, we are entering a period of time dominated by games and play, it seems an appropriate time for architecture to embrace some of the gamic techniques that this thesis has uncovered because I believe architecture would be infinitely better if it was more like play, which is nearly always spectacular.

GAMES

GAME TYPES Agon

1 Pong 2 Space Invaders 3 Pac Man 4 Manic Miner 5 Elite 6 Super Mario Bros 7 Tetris 8 The Secret of Monkey Island 9 Street Fighter II 10 Doom 11 Night Trap 12 Tomb Raider 13 PaRappa the Rapper 14 StarCraft 15 The Sims 16 GTA III 17 Shadow of the Colossus 18 World of Warcraft 19 Wii Sports 20 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 21 Braid 22 Angry Birds 23 Minecraft 24 The Last of Us 25 Twitter

Alea

Ilinx

Mimicry

Socialise

Mimicry

PLAYER TYPES Socialiser

Killer

Explorer

WORLD TYPES Achiever

The Game Space Data The running spreadsheet kept throughout the thesis to document the game spaces and their places. This is the raw data that feeds the matrix

APPENDIX 01.

IMAGE LIST

METHODOLOGY & INTRODUCTION

METHODOLOGY fig 01 - Tearaway. Winner of Artistic Achievement at the 2014 British Academy Game Awards. http://tearaway.mediamolecule.com/ fig 02 - The Games Matrix Authors own INTRODUCTION fig 01 - Infinite Lego http://www.moillusions.com/lego-optical-illusion-collection/ fig 02 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare http://toddlazure.com/statistics/call-of-duty-4/ fig 03 - Journey - A beautiful game http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/12/04/journey-review-making-video-games-beautiful/ fig 04 - Bartle Player Types http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm fig 05 - Caillois Game Taxonomy Man, Play & Games, page ... fig 06 - Chess Boxing - A hybrid game of Agon http://www.vocativ.com/culture/photos/chess-boxing/ WORLDS ONE fig 01 - Crysis 3: First Person Shooter Camera Position http://toomblog.com/2013/03/19/crysis-3-tries-really-hard-to-take-the-first-person-shooter-to-thenext-level/ fig 02 - Lara Croft: Alternative camera position http://www.gpforums.co.nz/threads/448011-Video-Game-Nostalgia fig 03 - Wireframe World Diagrams Authors own

fig 02 fig 03 THREE fig 01 fig 02 fig 03 FOUR fig 01 fig 02 fig 03 -

The Beginning of Game City Authors own The Multiverse Science and Ultimate Reality: From Quantum to Cosmos J.D. Barrow, P.C.W. Davies, & C.L. Harper eds., Cambridge University Press (2003)Parallel Universes, Max Tegmark, (January 23 2003 Divergent Spaces Authors Own Hacking the Island Authors own Central Game Space: Designing for multiple players Authors own Azeroth http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/guide/how-to-play Azeroth in Minecraft http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/997352-crafting-azeroth/ Sonic the Hedgehog http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/sonic-the-hedgehog-1656738/ Canvey Island Authors own

WORLDS

TWO fig 01 -

WORLD 04

PLAYERS

PLAYERS KILLER fig 01 - Adrenaline rush as victory draws close http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:TheBlueRogue/Capcom_Developer_Interview fig 02 - Snowboarding Slopestyle http://www.worldsnowboardtour.com/riders/mark-mcmorris/ fig 03 - I’d Hide You: Blast Theory http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/id-hide-you/ fig 04 - Blood and Gore http://upload.gameteve.hu/imgs/2011/64/splatterhouse-xbox-360-videoteszt-hd-gameteve-0-b.jpg fig 05 - Monopoly www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_MY_P_I/0_my_photographs_london_monopoly_board_ju31.jpg EXPLORER fig 01 - User Created Levels http://derekmd.com/img/gaming/bestdoom/ fig 02 - MOD 016 - Canvey meets Las Vegas Authors own fig 03 - MOD 021: Canvey meets Glastonbury Authors own fig 04 - MOD 078: Canvey meets Macau Authors own fig 05 - MOD 060: Canvey meets Black Rock City Authors own fig 06 - Far Lands http://unitfifteen.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/in-far-lands-there-be-strangeness.html fig 07 - Far Lands http://unitfifteen.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/in-far-lands-there-be-strangeness.html fig 08 - Geocaching http://blog.geocaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The-Rock-2.jpg http://outdoorblogging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/garmin-gpsmap-60csx-gps-geocaching ACHIEVER fig 01 - 100% Completion http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/_SoRxvVF8b4/maxresdefault.jpg fig 02 - Complex Levels and Spaces http://www.monumentvalleygame.com fig 03 - Complex Levels and Spaces http://www.monumentvalleygame.com fig 04 - Achiever/Ilinx Author’s own SOCIALISER fig 01 - Social Gaming http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1333855/Screen_Shot_2012-09-04_at_5.44.11_PM.png fig 02 - Safe Zone - Tag http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/2x4754208/girl_dressed_up_as_queen_touching_tree_trunk_IS 098V42S.jpg fig 03 - Safe House - Ocean View Hotel http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/604818-grand-theft-auto-vice-city-iphone-screen shot-my-first-safe.jpg fig 04 - Safe House - Canvey Island Authors own

GAMES ALEA fig 01 fig 02 fig 03 fig 04 AGON fig 01 fig 02 fig 03 fig 04 -

ILINX fig 01 fig 02 -

An ancient space for Games of Agon Authors own. Colosseum photo The 21st Century Colosseum http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/sports/archives/2014/03/20140316-123556.html Manipulating spaces of Agon Authors own A Space for Agon on Canvey Island Authors own Possession based sports diagram Authors own The Ilinx Divergence Authors own Physical Tension http://www.altitudeevents.org/assets/images/Giant%20Buzz%20Wire.jpg

MIMICRY fig 01 - Group Mimicry http://procrastinationamplification.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/sq5kxz.png.jpg wow.game pressure.com fig 02 - Azeroth as Atwar http://atwar-game.com/forum/topic.php?topic_id=8161 fig 03 - Northrend http://wow.gamepressure.com/gfx/big_maps/map_of_northrend.jpg fig 04 - Azeroth Level Flows http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2010/november/levelflow.jpg fig 05 - Political Geography of Azeroth http://th06.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/217/5/5/political_map_of_wow_by_generalhelghastd59wy04.jpg fig 06 - Canvey Island 2014 Google Maps fig 07 - Canvey Island 2214 Authors own fig 08 - Second Life http://yordiesands.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/yordie-leanna-hanging-by-christmas-tree-billings gate-second-life-new-england-2012.jpg second-life.softonic.com http://archive.wired.com/news/images/full/campus-second-life_f.jpg

GAMES

fig 05 -

Roulette wheel Architecture Authors own Alea as a City http://www.1zoom.net/Cities/wallpaper/331660/z1303.6/ Anatopistic Architecture http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236746/Road-built-building-couple-refuse-China.html Metagame Space Authors own

WORLD 04

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION fig 01 fig 02 fig 03 fig 05 fig 06 fig 07 -

The Far Lands - Minecraft http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Far_Lands City Museum, St Louis http://www.ayearinhdr.com/tag/downtown/page/17/ The Completed Matrix Authors own The Deconstruction of the Thesis Authors own Explorer Authors own Game City - The Early years Authors own

appendix 01 -

The Game Space Data Authors own Spreadsheet appendix to show raw analysis data of game spaces.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Huizinga, Johan

Francois-Lyotard, Jean & Jean-Loup Thebaud

Walz, Steffan

HOMO LUDENS

JUST GAMING

TOWARDS A LUDIC ARCHITECTURE

1949 Routledge and Kegan Paul London, Boston and Henley

1985 University of Minnesota Press Theory & History of Literature #20 ed. Wlad Godzich

2010 ETC Press Pittsburgh

Walz, Steffan

Doctorow, Cory

Banks, Iain M.

Sadler, Simon

A GAMEFUL WORLD

DOWN AND OUT IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM

A PLAYER OF GAMES

THE SITUATIONIST CITY

2014 MA: The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts

2003 TOR Books New York

1988 Orbit London

1999 The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachussetts

Salen, Katie & Eric Zimmerman

Manguel, Alberto & Gianni Guadalupi

Montola, Markus

Ware, Chris

RULES OF PLAY -

THE DICTIONARY OF IMAGINARY PLACES

PERVASIVE GAMES:

GAME DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS

2004 MIT Press Cambridge, Massachussetts

2003 Turtleback Books St. Louis, Missouri

2009 CRC Press Boca Raton, Florida

Sutton-Smith, Brian

Salen, Kate & Eric Zimmerman

De Koven, Bernard

THE GAME DESIGN READER:

THE WELL PLAYED GAME -

A RULES OF PLAY ANTHOLOGY

A PLAYERS PHILOSOPHY

2006 MIT Press Cambridge, Massachussetts

1978 Anchor Books Garden City, New York

books

THE AMBIGUITY OF PLAY 1997 Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachussetts

THEORY AND DESIGN

BUILDING STORIES 2012 Jonathan Cape Ltd London

Bartle, Richard A.

DESIGNING VIRTUAL WORLDS 2003 New Riders New York

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aarseth, Espen J.

Fullerton, Tracey

CYBERTEXT:

GAME DESIGN WORKSHOP:

PERSPECTIVES ON ERGODIC LITERATURE

A PLAYCENTRIC APPROACH TO

Caillois, Roger

Elias, George Skaff & Richard Garfield & K. Robert Gutschera

MAN, PLAY AND GAMES

CHARACTERISTICS OF GAMES

1962 Thames & Hudson London Translated by Meyer Barash

2012 The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts

CREATING INNOVATIVE GAMES

1997 Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore

2008 CRC Press Boca Raton, Florida

Stross, Charles

edited by: von Borries, Friedrich

videos/films

SPACE TIME PLAY: ACCELERANDO

WHEN GAMES INVADE REAL LIFE

COMPUTER GAMES, ARCHITECTURE

Schell, Jesse

& URBANISM -

THE NEXT LEVEL

TED Talk Feb 2010 http://www.ted.com/talks/ jesse_schell_when_games_ invade_real_life

2006 Orbit London

2007 Birkhauser Boston

Priebatsch, Seth

Chatfield, Tom

McGonigal, Jane

Hurst, Brian Seth

THE GAME LAYER ON TOP OF THE WORLD

7 WAYS GAMES REWARD THE BRAIN

GAMING CAN MAKE A BETTER WORLD

THE PARTICIPATION CONTINUUM

TED Talk July 2010 https://www.ted.com/talks/ seth_priebatsch_the_game_ layer_on_top_of_the_world

TED Talk July 2010 https://www.ted.com/talks/ tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_ reward_the_brain

TED Talk Feb 2010 https://www.ted.com/talks/ jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_ make_a_better_world

Brooker, Charlie & Kanak Huq

Dir: Fincher, David

Brooker, Charlie

THE GAME

HOW VIDEOGAMES CHANGED THE WORLD

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment September 12, 1997

Endemol UK 30 November 2013

FIFTEEN MILLION MERITS: BLACK MIRROR

Dir: Euros Lyn 11 December 2011

Future of Story Telling Oct 2012 http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aagmJLuq0LQ

WIKIHOUSE

http://www.wikihouse.cc/

121

articles/essays

Wiltshire, Alex

Yee, Nick

Dixon, Dan

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIDEO GAMES AND ARCHITECTURE

MOTIVATIONS OF PLAY IN ONLINE GAMES

NIETZSCHE CONTRA CAILLOIS: BEYOND PLAY AND GAMES

Architect’s Journal VOL 226; #20 29 November 2007 pg 85

Journal of CyberPsychology and Behavior Vol. 9 2007 pgs 772-77

The Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, Oslo 2009

Zimmerman, Eric

Montola, Markus

MANIFESTO FOR A LUDIC CENTURY

PLAY AS RESEARCH THE ITERATIVE DESIGN PROCESS

2007 http://ericzimmerman.com/files/ texts/Chap_1_Zimmerman.pdf

2013 http://ericzimmerman.com/files/ texts/Manifesto_for_a_Ludic_ Century.pdf

2003 http://ericzimmerman.com/files/ texts/Iterative_Design.htm

2005 Game Research Lab Copenhagen

Rodriguez, Hector

McGonigal, Jane

Henricks, Thomas S.

Groot, Loek

CAILLOIS’S MAN, PLAY, AND GAMES:

GAMES OF CHANCE AND THE

Zimmerman, Eric

GAMING LITERACY GAME DESIGN AS A MODEL FOR LITERACY IN THE

21ST CENTURY

THE PLAYFUL AND THE SERIOUS: AN APPROXIMATION TO

THIS MIGHT BE A GAME

HUIZINGA’S HOMO LUDENS

AN APPRECIATION AND

EXPLORING THE EDGE OF THE MAGIC CIRCLE: DEFINING PERVASIVE GAMES

ROGER CAILLOIS: SUPERSTAR

EVALUATION

Game Studies VOL 6; #1 December 2006

1999 Ph.D dissertation University of California

American Journal of Play VOL 3; #2 2011

Bartle, Richard A.

Arnstein, Sherry R.

Tegmark, Max

PLAYERS WHO SUIT MUDS

A LADDER OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION

PARALLEL UNIVERSES

April 1996 http://mud.co.uk/richard/ hcds.htm

Journal of the Americian Planning Association Vol 35 #4 July 1969 pages 216-224

Science and Ultimate Reality: From Quantum to Cosmos, J.D. Barrow, P.C.W. Davies, & C.L. Harper eds. Cambridge University Press 2003

Diogenes VOL 48; #190 pp. 33-42 June 2000

BIBLIOGRAPHY

online resources The transformation of everyday life through pervasive play http://www.jasonfarman.com/ Farman_Pervasive_Games.pdf

What is a smart city?

Hello Lampost

http://www.greenbang.com/ what-is-a-smart-city_25234.html

http://www.hellolamppost. co.uk/about#inspiration

30/10/2013

15/11/2013

Discovering the invisible city http://www.academia. edu/3957346/Discovering_ the_invisible_city_Locationbased_games_for_learning_in_ smart_citiesl

Mathematics & Chess

History of Choose Your Own Adventure Books

http://www.chess.com/ chessopedia/view/ mathematics-and-chess

http://www.cyoa.com/pages/ history-of-cyoa

01/11/2013

06/03/2014

Video Games with Multiple Endings http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/ List_of_video_games_with_most_ endings 05/03/2014

02/10/2013

Beyond David Cage http://www. digitallydownloaded. net/2013/09/beyond-davidcage-games-art-and-man.html 01/03/2014

Making PES 2008 was really tough http://uk.ign.com/ articles/2007/10/01/seabassmaking-pes-2008-was-reallytough

World of Warcraft subscriptions on the rise Columbine families sue computer game makers http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/ tech/1295920.stm 20/02/2014

12/02/2014

Eddie Makuch http://www.gamespot. com/articles/world-ofwarcraft-subscriptions-onthe-rise-ended-2013-at-7-8million/1100-6417575/ 16/02/2014

Hacker attack kills â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;thousandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in World of Warcraft

PBS uses Minecraft to illustrate post-scarcity economic theories

Andy Greenberg

Ray Walters

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ andygreenberg/2012/10/07/ hack-kills-thousands-in-world-ofwarcraft/

http://www.geek.com/news/ pbs-uses-minecraft-to-illustratepost-scarcity-economictheories-1505689/

18/02/2014

What is World of Warcraft? http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ game/guide/ 23/02/2014

Sonic the Hedgehog http://www.planetminecraft. com/project/sonic-thehedgehog-1656738/ 05/03/2014

123

A New Perspective on the Bartle Player Types for Gamification Andrzej Marczewski

Remaking Azeroth Brick By Brick In Minecraft

Top 7... Games that force you to make disturbingly amoral decisions

Craig Pearson

Video games ‘can alter children’s brains’ Nick Collins

Tom Goulter

http://www.gamification. co/2013/08/12/a-newperspective-on-the-bartleplayer-types-for-gamification/

http://www.rockpapershotgun. com/2012/02/09/remakingazeroth-brick-by-brick-inminecraft/

http://www.gamesradar.com/ top-7-games-force-you-maketerrible-decisions/

http://www.telegraph. co.uk/health/children_ shealth/8825655/Video-gamescan-alter-childrens-brains.html

14/01/2014

06/02/2014

02/03/2014

17/03/2014

Tailgate Party

The Top 100 WADs Of All Time

How Videogames use architecture

The Importance of architecture in video games and virtual worlds

AJ Artemel

http://www.ldoceonline.com/ American+Football-topic/ tailgate-party

http://www.doomworld. com/10years/bestwads/

17/03/2014

14/03/2014

The 8 Strangest Japanese Video games you’ve never heard of

Q&A: Ellen Page, Now a video-game pioneer

Matt Cohen

Matthew Kitchen

http://www.toplessrobot. com/2013/05/the_eight_ strangest_japanese_video_ games_youve_nev.php?page=2

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/ culture/ellen-page-beyond-twosouls-interview

http://architizer.com/blog/howvideo-games-use-architecture/

http://archvirtual. com/2013/02/09/theimportance-of-architecture-invideo-games-and-virtual-worlds/

10/03/2014

How World of Warcraft works

The Game, the Player, the World: Looking for a Heart of Gameness

Tracy V. Wilson http://electronics.howstuffworks. com/world-of-warcraft4.htm

Jesper Juul http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/ gameplayerworld/

01/02/2014 20/01/2014

23/02/2014

12/02/2014

How Computer Games Can Change the World One Building Design at a Time

“HEROES” Creator Tim Kring looks to the future Blast Theory

Maria Lorena Lehman

http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/

http://sensingarchitecture. com/4813/how-computergames-can-change-the-worldone-building-design-at-a-timevideo/

23/10/2014

09/02/2014

Austin Carr http://www.fastcompany. com/1676076/heroes-creatortim-kring-looks-future 09/02/2014

The Playable City http://www.watershed.co.uk/ playablecity/shortlist/2013/ 30/10/2014

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Gameful World Steffen P. Walz & Sebastian Deterding http://www.geelab.rmit.edu.au/ content/gameful-world 30/12/2014

A Bit of Mystery, a Bit of Hollywood

other sources

Chris Suellentrop

ASSASSINS Live Action Game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Assassin_(game)

http://www.nytimes. com/2013/10/08/arts/ video-games/beyond-twosouls-a-supernatural-thriller-forplaystation-3.html?_r=0

Participation from 01/10/2010-16/01/2011

23/02/2014

Duchamp, Marcel

Maciunas, George

Nieuwenhuys, Constant

BOĂ&#x17D;TE-EN-VALISE

THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE BY HER BACHELORS EVEN

FLUXUS BOX

NEW BABYLON

The Museum of Modern Art, New York 1965

http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/ docs/icb.topic709752.files/ WEEK%207/CNieuwenhuis_ New%20Babylon.pdf 1974

(THE GREEN BOX) The Museum of Modern Art, New York 1935-41

Tate, London 1934

BLOCK PARTY

PLAY:ARK

Live Action Game

Games festival & talks

http://www.playark.co.uk/ games_day2/games-day2. html#head

Participation on 02/11/2013

Conference 1st November 2013 Tom Armitage Nick Fortugno Alison Norrington Dr Karen Guldberg Nick Tandavanitj Tom Chatfield

125