What makes play work.
WHAT A GAME NEEDS
A goal the player understands Meaningful choices Feedback on those choices Obstacles requiring skill or thought A reason to continue
WHAT A MEANINGFUL CHOICE IS
One where the options have different consequences, and the player can reason about them.
WHAT AN UNMEANINGFUL CHOICE IS
One with an obviously correct answer, or no discernible difference.
WHY THAT MATTERS
Unmeaningful choices are work without engagement.
WHAT FEEDBACK MUST DO
Tell the player what happened and why, immediately.
WHAT HAPPENS WITHOUT IT
The player cannot learn, and attributes outcomes to randomness.
WHAT A CORE LOOP IS
The repeated cycle of activity: act, receive outcome, improve, act again.
WHY IT MATTERS MOST
If the loop is not satisfying at the smallest scale, nothing built on it will be.
WHAT DEPTH MEANS
Simple rules producing complex situations.
WHAT COMPLEXITY MEANS
Many rules, which is not the same thing.
WHAT TO AIM FOR
Depth without complexity.
WHAT TO REMOVE
Anything the player does not engage with.
WHY
Every system costs attention, and unused systems dilute the ones that matter.
