لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Chapter List
Chapter 11: Defining Rules
Chapter 12: Rules on Three Levels
Chapter 13: The Rules of Digital Games
Chapter 14: Games as Emergent Systems
Chapter 15: Games as Systems of Uncertainty
Chapter 16: Games as Information Theory Systems
Chapter 17: Games as Systems of Information
Chapter 18: Games as Cybernetic Systems
Chapter 19: Games as Game Theory Systems
Chapter 20: Games as Systems of Conflict
Chapter 21: Breaking the Rules
Commissioned Game: Frank Lantz
It seems to be the case that the lines drawn in games are not really arbitrary at all. For both that the lines are drawn and also where they are drawn have important consequences not only for the type, but also for the quality, of the game to be played. It might be said that drawing such lines skillfully (and therefore not arbitrarily) is the very essence of the gamewright's craft. The gamewright must avoid two extremes. If he draws his lines too loosely the game will be dull because winning will be too easy. As looseness is increased to the point of utter laxity the game simply falls apart, since there are then no rules proscribing available means…. On the other hand, rules are lines that can be drawn too tightly, so that the game becomes too difficult. And if a line is drawn very tightly indeed the game is squeezed out of existence.—Bernard Suits, Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia
To play a game is to follow its rules. Rules are one of the essential qualities of games: every game has a set of rules. Conversely, every set of rules defines a game. Rules are the formal structure of a game, the fixed set of abstract guidelines describing how a game system functions. What are rules? How do they function? And what is their relevance for game design? In this unit on RULES,we address these questions and many more regarding the formal structures of games. 