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DiGRA
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From the player's perspective, the paper presents action as what defines a game. It can be created and directed through well-defined characters with conflicting needs and motivations.
This paper examines how computer games generate action, arguing that action is the defining feature of games from the player's perspective and that it can be created and directed through well-defined characters with conflicting needs and motivations. The authors draw on their analysis of Finnish free-form live action role-playing games (FLARPs), along with discussions of played games and related literature in dramaturgy, textual theory, and ludology. They contend that the design of characters, expectations, and space works together to guide players toward meaningful engagement, and that consistency between character motivations and game structure is necessary for players to perceive a game as logically coherent.
A central argument concerns expectations, which shape how players interpret and act within a game. The authors identify an "expectation of gaming," the assumption that a game should be interesting, challenging, and actionable, as well as expectations arising from genre and intermediality. They draw on Steven Poole's taxonomy of incoherence, dividing it into causality, function, and space, to show how violations of expectations frustrate players. Examples from titles such as Thief II, Grand Theft Auto III, The Nomad Soul, and Fallout illustrate how clearly communicated goals and motivations sustain engagement, while vague motivations undermine it.
On spatial design, the paper adapts techniques from theme park and architectural practice, arguing that light, texture, placement of objects, and structural layout can communicate genre, direct attention, and establish atmosphere. Rules governing access, such as lighting, surface materials, and available resources, can make some areas more compelling than others. The authors conclude that expectations, if fulfilled, strengthen game design, but ignored, they can work against it. The study is qualitative and theory-building in character, with its empirical basis limited to observations of FLARPs and a selection of commercial computer games.
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DiGRA · 2023
DiGRA · 2023
DiGRA · 2023
Game Developers Conference · 2025
