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Space of Possibility
We conclude this chapter with an excerpt from David Sudnow's book, Pilgrim in a Microworld, a wonderfully detailed personal account of one man's very real obsession with the video game Breakout. Sudnow brings readers into the space of designed interactivity through detailed descriptions of what he experi-enced-physically, psychologically, emotionally-as he played. There are remarkably few documents that offer such a sensitive and insightful analysis of designed interaction. I'd catch myself turning my chair into a more en face position vis-à-vis the TV. An obvious delusion. Maybe I could rest one elbow on the set to help feel the angle of my look and deepen a sense for the scale of things. See it from this side and that, see the invisible backside of things through an imaginary bodily tour of the object. Nonsense. If only I could feel the impact of the ball on the paddle, that would certainly help, would give me a tactile marker, stamping the gesture's places into a palpable little signature so I'd feel each destination being achieved and not just witness the consequences of a correct shot. Nonsense. Non-sense, just your eyes way up top, to be somehow fixed on things in ways that can't feel them fixing, then this silent smooth little plastic knob down there, neither near nor far away but in an untouchable world without dimensions. And in between all three nodes of the interface there's nothing but a theory of electricity. So fluid, to have to write your signature with precise consistency in size within the strict bounds of a two and three-sevenths of an inch of space, say, while the pen somehow never makes contact with the paper. There's nothing much to hold on to, not enough heft in this knob so your hands can feel the extent of very minor movements, no depth to things you can use to anchor a sense of your own solidity. [9]
As game designers, what can we glean from Sudnow's observations? His analysis suggests that there is a wealth of information to be gained about a game's interactivity by looking at it from the player's point of view. One of our disappointments with current writing on games and interactivity is that much analysis occurs not from the point of view of the player, but from the point of view of an outside spectator. This style of over-the-shoulder journalism fails to recognize that interactivity is something to be experienced, rather than observed. In writing a player-centric account of his encounter with the game, Sudnow calls attention to key concepts for designed interaction. Concepts such as directed choice, player control, amplification of input, system representation, and direct, visible feedback emerge in his poetic meditation on perception, attention, cognition, and the body. Creating a game means designing a structure that will play out in complex and unpredictable ways, a space of possible action that players explore as they take part in your game. What possible actions might players take in the course of a game of Musical Chairs? They might push, shove, tickle, poke, or fight for their seat once the music stops and the mad scramble for chairs begins. The game designer must carefully craft a system of play in which these actions have meaning in support of the play of the game, and do not distract or interrupt its play. But game designers do not directly design play. They only design the structures and contexts in which play takes place, indirectly shaping the actions of the players. We call the space of future action implied by a game design the space of possibility. It is the space of all possible actions that might take place in a game, the space of all possible meanings which can emerge from a game design. The concept of the space of possibility not only bridges the distance between the designed structure and the player experience, but it also combines the key concepts we have presented so far. The space of possibility is designed (it is a constructed space, a context), it generates meaning (it is the space of all possible meanings), it is a system (it is a space implied by the way elements of the system can relate to each other), and it is interactive (it is through the interactive functioning of the system that the space is navigated and explored). The space of possibility springs forth out of the rules and structures created by the game designer. The space of possibility is the field of play where your players will explore and cavort, compete and cooperate, as they travel through the experience of playing your game. But like David Sudnow who wishes he could reach out and touch the electronic blip of his Breakout paddle, as a game designer you can never directly craft the possible space of your game. You only can indirectly construct the space of possibility, through the rules you design. Game design is an act of faith-in your rules, in your players, in your game itself. Will your game create meaningful play? You can never know for sure. But understanding key concepts like design, systems, and interactivity can help bring you closer to a meaningful outcome. [9]David Sudnow, Pilgrim in a Microworld (New York: Warner Books, 1983), p.177.
