Game Analysis

Written by: Akram Taghavi-Burris | © Copyright 2024

Games are complex systems composed of numerous interacting elements. To truly understand how they work, or why players enjoy them, it's essential to analyze these components and their relationships. This process is akin to baking a cake. Just as a well-crafted cake requires the right balance of flavors, textures, and visual appeal, a great game needs to harmonize its various elements to create an engaging player experience.

Over the years game design scholars have proposed various analytical frameworks for games to help understand and discuss the structure and fundamental elements of games. By examining how different frameworks approaches for analyzing games, we'll gain insight into what makes certain games tick and why players respond to them in particular ways.

Popular Frameworks

While there have been several attempts at defining this framework, the most widely cited frameworks include:

• MDA :Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics (Robin Hunicke, Mark Leblanc, and Robert Zubek)

• Elemental Tetrad :Mechanics, Aesthetics, Story and Technology (Jesse Schell)

• Formal, Dramatic, Dynamic Elements (Tracy Fullerton and Chris Swain)

MDA Framework

The MDA framework breaks apart a game into the following categories

• Mechanics describes the components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms. (ie. The Rules for the game)
• Dynamics describes the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others' outputs over time. (ie. How the game is played)
• Aesthetics describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player when she interacts with the game system (ie. The player experience)

According to the MDA framework designers and players view games from different directions. Far too often designers start with the mechanics of a game (what do we know how to build) instead of considering the aesthetics (what the player should experience).

MDA framework designers should first approach a game by deciding on the player experience (aesthetics) and then work backward to create the dynamics and mechanics that fit the chosen aesthetics.

Elemental Tetrad

Jesse Schell extended upon an revised the MDA by additionally looking at technology and story. Schell arranges these categories into a tetrad which shows how all categories interrelate to each other and to which are most visible to the player.

These elements include:

• Mechanics :rules for interaction
• Aesthetics :how the game is perceived by the senses.
• Technology: the underlying technology that makes the game work
• Story :all dramatic elements of a game, not just "story" but the characters, premise, challenge, and play

Formal, Dramatic, Dynamic Elements

Developed by Tracy Fullerton and Chris Swain the Formal, Dramatic and Dynamic elements were designed to help game design students by further breaking down the individual elements of a game.

Formal elements are the elements that provide the basic game mechanics. Without these elements, the game would not function and be ultimately unplayable.

The formal elements include:

• Players :individuals playing the game
• Objectives or Goals :what the player must strive to accomplish
• Procedures :steps to playing the game
• Rules :what the player can and cannot do
• Resources :game assets that aid the player
• Conflict :the obstacles that the player encounters
• Boundaries :the limitations to what the player can do
• Outcomes :a winner, looser or draw

The dramatic elements of a game are what engage the player emotionally (i.e. aesthetics) and keep the player invested in playing the game. These elements include:

• Challenge :creates tension for the player
• Play :the ability for players to play (mess about) within the game system, bending the rules sort of speak.
• Premise :the concept behind the game story. Some games only have a premise
• Story :takes the premise further and enriches the game experience
• Characters :provide players a way to empathize with the story

Dynamic elements are those that occur only when the game is being played.

• Emergence :simple rules that can lead to unexpected outcomes based on the player's actions. The player may do things that were unanticipated by the designer and may result in these unexpected outcomes.
• Emergent Narratives :a narrative that is not written into the game but emerges from the player's interactions with other players and the game systems.
• Playtesting :playtesting reveals information about the various dynamic behaviors that a game could have and helps designers understand the range of experiences that could be generated by their game.

Game systems are the set of interacting or interdependent elements forming the working game. These elements work with this closed system, engaging players in structured conflict and resolving its uncertainty in an unequal outcome.

When thinking about the elements of games remember that games are given structure by their formal elements and emotionally engage the player by their dramatic elements.

There are a few other requirements in games that do not specifically fall into the formal or dramatic elements list. These are not individual items in the game, but rather a sub-system that works inside the game.

MED Framework

While each of the described frameworks provides a different perspective for understanding games. No one framework is universally followed.

With that said, Computer Simulation and Gaming Professor Akram Taghavi-Burris, has developed the MED framework as a combination and expansion of ideas presented in all of the previous frameworks.

The MED Framework offers a unique approach to understanding game design by layering together game mechanics, player engagement, and gameplay dynamics. This framework is designed to provide a comprehensive view of how games work, why players are engaged, and what happens during gameplay.

Game Mechanics

How - how does the game work?

Game mechanics are the fundamental elements that make the game functional. While MDA's Game Mechanics and Fullerton's Elemental Frameworks both touch on this, MED takes it further by incorporating challenge as a crucial component of mechanics. This is because the limiting context of rules, help to create challenges for players to overcome.

Additionally, Technology from Jesse Schell's Tetrad framework should also be considered in this category, highlighting the importance of game development tools and platforms in shaping gameplay.

Player Engagement

Why - why is the player playing?

Player Engagement encompasses the emotional elements of a game. This includes narrative, graphics, audio, atmosphere, play, challenge, and all other factors that contribute to a player's sense of engagement.

This is a combination of the aesthetics described by the MDA, as well as the Fullerton's dramatic elements and story described by the Tetrad framework.

Gameplay Dynamics

What - what is happening during gameplay?

This category encompasses not only the dynamics of playing the game but also directly relates to Gameplay itself. Gameplay consists of all player experiences, primarily challenges, choices, and consequences faced within the game.

Again in this section we consider the repeating elements such as challenge, technology and players.

Socio-Cultural Context

Who, Where, and When?

To further enrich our understanding of games, we must consider social and cultural elements that influence gameplay. This includes factors like community, culture, and societal norms that shape how players interact with each other and the game itself.

These element considerations are interwoven into game mechanics, player engagement, and gameplay dynamics, rather than being a standalone set of elements. These elements seek to answer the question of whom are we playing with. Where is the game being played? And when is the game being played? These questions are both on a small scale such as with friends, in a bedroom at three in the afternoon, to more broad such as with strangers in an on-line community, in multiple countries during the 2000s.

Agile Approach

Unlike many frameworks that treat these categories as separate layers or components, MED takes an agile approach by layering each feature of the game through its mechanics, engagement, and dynamics. This allows for a more holistic understanding of games and their design elements.

Analyzing Games

Critically analyzing games affords us the opportunity to explore games as systems and how each part of the system interacts and how these interactions affect the player experience. Understanding the game frameworks provides a common dialog and basis for conducting game analysis.

Analysis vs Reviews

A game analysis focuses on game design theories and practices, identifying design obstacles, and if the gameplay is meeting the player's experience goals. The player experience goals relate to the player's motivation in the game and what the player will do and feel throughout the game.

In contrast, a game review is a critical review from the perspective of a consumer, defining the market worth of the game, i.e., should you buy this game?

Whether you are an aspiring game designer, software developer, or anything else for that matter, you need a way to showcase not only your work but also, your understanding and passion for the industry, writing periodic game analysis is one way to demonstrate this.

Game Terminology

When it comes to discussing games from an analytic point of view, game designers should be able speak the lingo of the industry. They need to be able to understand how games are a system, the elements of that system and basic terminology used for describing certain aspects of the system.
The following is a list of common terms which we will explore in depth as we move further into our studies on game design concepts.

• Game mechanics are defined as the construct of all formal elements, predominantly the rules and procedures, intended to produce enjoyable gameplay.
• Player Engagement is the level of continuation desire experienced in-game.
• Gameplay Dynamics refers to a system where one action has a range of influences on gameplay.
• Gameplay consists of all player experiences, primarily the challenges, choices, and consequences that the player faces with in the game.
• Emergent gameplay is created from the freedom of play and the limitations and player choices/strategies.
• **Game Aesthetics **- the sensory phenomena that the player encounters in the game (visual, aural, haptic, embodied).
• Game Atmosphere is the cohesion of artwork, audio, narrative, and level design that helps create the desired player experience.
• Feedback is the positive and negative response to the player’s choices (actions).
• Risk is the chance of losing for greater gain.
• Reward positive feedback for overcoming a challenge.
• Balance refers to the perception that the game is consistent, fair, and fun.