WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.050 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.050 --> 00:00:02.470 align:middle line:84% The following content is provided under a Creative 00:00:02.470 --> 00:00:03.890 align:middle line:90% Commons license. 00:00:03.890 --> 00:00:06.920 align:middle line:84% Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare continue to 00:00:06.920 --> 00:00:10.570 align:middle line:84% offer high quality educational resources for free. 00:00:10.570 --> 00:00:13.470 align:middle line:84% To make a donation or view additional materials from 00:00:13.470 --> 00:00:19.300 align:middle line:84% hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare at 00:00:19.300 --> 00:00:20.525 align:middle line:90% ocw.mit.edu. 00:00:20.525 --> 00:00:24.840 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: This is our first lab session for CMS.608 and, 00:00:24.840 --> 00:00:28.732 align:middle line:84% for folks, who wasn't here this past Wednesday? 00:00:28.732 --> 00:00:30.148 align:middle line:90% One, two-- 00:00:30.148 --> 00:00:30.900 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Who wasn't? 00:00:30.900 --> 00:00:32.180 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Who was not here on Wednesday? 00:00:32.180 --> 00:00:32.680 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:00:32.680 --> 00:00:35.110 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And so, you weren't here. 00:00:35.110 --> 00:00:36.979 align:middle line:84% Let's see, we have some blank index cards underneath the-- 00:00:36.979 --> 00:00:41.380 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The plastic Tupperware, I think. 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:43.825 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:00:43.825 --> 00:00:47.240 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So you can just fill in your name, your email 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.816 align:middle line:84% address plus favorite board game or card game. 00:00:50.816 --> 00:00:53.440 align:middle line:84% The email address, basically, just gets added 00:00:53.440 --> 00:00:54.880 align:middle line:90% to the email list. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:58.290 align:middle line:84% Did anyone not get an email from Jason yesterday? 00:00:58.290 --> 00:01:00.250 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah, last night. 00:01:00.250 --> 00:01:01.130 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You didn't get an email? 00:01:01.130 --> 00:01:02.240 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I don't think so. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:02.850 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:01:02.850 --> 00:01:06.520 align:middle line:84% So the email basically said that there was a swap 00:01:06.520 --> 00:01:07.000 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:11.440 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: --of Friday the 17th, and the 20th. 00:01:11.440 --> 00:01:14.690 align:middle line:84% So, basically, we're swapping your readings around-- 00:01:14.690 --> 00:01:18.060 align:middle line:84% and that's really the only thing, right? 00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:21.630 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, and I fixed the link for Zimmerman's article. 00:01:21.630 --> 00:01:24.460 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And, unfortunately, Eric Zimmerman didn't migrate 00:01:24.460 --> 00:01:27.855 align:middle line:84% his website terribly well, so all of his pictures-- 00:01:27.855 --> 00:01:28.270 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:01:28.270 --> 00:01:32.270 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I actually have one of his games, SISSYFIGHT 3000. 00:01:32.270 --> 00:01:35.790 align:middle line:84% In fact, this is before SISSYFIGHT 3000, so this is 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:40.110 align:middle line:84% probably 2999, which is going to be the non-digital version, 00:01:40.110 --> 00:01:41.175 align:middle line:90% which is the whole point. 00:01:41.175 --> 00:01:42.700 align:middle line:84% It is actually a computer game. 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.750 align:middle line:84% It is a pretty decent flash multiplayer game, back in the 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:48.130 align:middle line:84% day when flash multiplayer games were not that common. 00:01:48.130 --> 00:01:51.620 align:middle line:84% And if you haven't played it before online, after today, 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:58.150 align:middle line:84% especially if you had a chance to play with the card deck, 00:01:58.150 --> 00:01:59.920 align:middle line:90% try out the online version. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:01.180 align:middle line:84% Do a Google search for SISSYFIGHT 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:03.030 align:middle line:90% 3000, and try it online. 00:02:03.030 --> 00:02:05.770 align:middle line:84% Hopefully, there are still people playing it, because you 00:02:05.770 --> 00:02:07.694 align:middle line:84% need kind of like a minimum of five people to 00:02:07.694 --> 00:02:10.114 align:middle line:90% get a good game going. 00:02:10.114 --> 00:02:11.566 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] the one that was taken down. 00:02:11.566 --> 00:02:13.018 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Aw, suck. 00:02:13.018 --> 00:02:14.954 align:middle line:90% It was such a great game. 00:02:14.954 --> 00:02:17.950 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Never mind. 00:02:17.950 --> 00:02:20.975 align:middle line:84% Basically, what you had was, you got avatar customization 00:02:20.975 --> 00:02:21.720 align:middle line:90% in your game. 00:02:21.720 --> 00:02:26.410 align:middle line:84% You could create your character, and you could-- 00:02:26.410 --> 00:02:31.780 align:middle line:84% you had this really cool retro pixelated look back in the day 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:36.590 align:middle line:84% when retro pixelated stuff was not that popular yet. 00:02:36.590 --> 00:02:39.050 align:middle line:84% But the game-play was pretty much exactly the same as what 00:02:39.050 --> 00:02:40.300 align:middle line:90% a card game has. 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:43.860 align:middle line:90% 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:49.410 align:middle line:84% The readings today basically covered a lot of jargon that 00:02:49.410 --> 00:02:53.470 align:middle line:84% we're going to be using a lot of that for 00:02:53.470 --> 00:02:55.010 align:middle line:90% the rest of the class. 00:02:55.010 --> 00:02:56.700 align:middle line:84% For the most part, I'm not going to go through every 00:02:56.700 --> 00:02:59.885 align:middle line:84% single one of them because you folks can read. 00:02:59.885 --> 00:03:02.280 align:middle line:84% And if I mention something and you don't get it, you can 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:03.650 align:middle line:90% always check back there. 00:03:03.650 --> 00:03:08.020 align:middle line:84% So just remember that the first chapter in Braithwaite 00:03:08.020 --> 00:03:10.560 align:middle line:84% is a pretty good glossary of terminology that we're going 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.070 align:middle line:90% to keep using. 00:03:13.070 --> 00:03:16.660 align:middle line:84% But one of the big things that they ask is, what is a game? 00:03:16.660 --> 00:03:20.360 align:middle line:90% And it's one of those-- 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:23.450 align:middle line:84% Does anybody actually want to offer their definition 00:03:23.450 --> 00:03:24.700 align:middle line:90% of what a game is? 00:03:24.700 --> 00:03:27.759 align:middle line:90% 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:35.440 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: A game is something that involves players and they 00:03:35.440 --> 00:03:38.940 align:middle line:84% set up, define rules beforehand, rules that you 00:03:38.940 --> 00:03:45.670 align:middle line:84% have to abide by, whether they be, you can't go outside this 00:03:45.670 --> 00:03:52.340 align:middle line:84% limit, you have to abide by certain questions and orders. 00:03:52.340 --> 00:03:55.840 align:middle line:84% Something that has structure that is meant for one person 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.020 align:middle line:90% to go from Point A to Point B. 00:04:00.020 --> 00:04:00.804 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:04:00.804 --> 00:04:04.560 align:middle line:84% Structure, rules, limits, players. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:05.305 align:middle line:90% Anything-- 00:04:05.305 --> 00:04:06.825 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It's fun. 00:04:06.825 --> 00:04:09.329 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Fun. 00:04:09.329 --> 00:04:11.440 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It accomplishes some goal. 00:04:11.440 --> 00:04:12.220 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Goal. 00:04:12.220 --> 00:04:13.470 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So you always have some goal. 00:04:13.470 --> 00:04:16.388 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You're working towards something. 00:04:16.388 --> 00:04:18.252 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Anything else? 00:04:18.252 --> 00:04:19.279 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.160 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Or it's an abstract system. 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:23.180 align:middle line:84% Often an abstraction of some real system. 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:24.430 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: An abstract system. 00:04:24.430 --> 00:04:31.310 align:middle line:90% 00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:35.450 align:middle line:84% So these are actually pretty good benchmarks. 00:04:35.450 --> 00:04:39.240 align:middle line:84% Now there are, again, as Brandon describes, there isn't 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.410 align:middle line:84% one that's just the canonical answer for everything. 00:04:42.410 --> 00:04:44.250 align:middle line:84% It really depends on which theorist you are reading at 00:04:44.250 --> 00:04:45.630 align:middle line:90% any given time. 00:04:45.630 --> 00:04:49.030 align:middle line:84% But usually it will involve a significant subset of all of 00:04:49.030 --> 00:04:51.330 align:middle line:90% these in the definition. 00:04:51.330 --> 00:04:54.870 align:middle line:84% And I like to keep things broad and vague because, for 00:04:54.870 --> 00:05:01.080 align:middle line:84% the most part, if you define yourselves too strictly, it 00:05:01.080 --> 00:05:01.810 align:middle line:90% might be useful. 00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:03.756 align:middle line:84% You're an academic and you need to write papers about it, 00:05:03.756 --> 00:05:06.030 align:middle line:84% but if you're a designer and you're just trying to create 00:05:06.030 --> 00:05:07.510 align:middle line:90% something fun-- 00:05:07.510 --> 00:05:12.420 align:middle line:84% the word I would use is "engaging," because fun means 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:14.700 align:middle line:84% a lot of different things to a lot of different people. 00:05:14.700 --> 00:05:17.370 align:middle line:84% Engaging basically means that this is going to be something 00:05:17.370 --> 00:05:20.940 align:middle line:84% that you're going to want to do for a while, that is 00:05:20.940 --> 00:05:21.800 align:middle line:90% motivating. 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:25.190 align:middle line:84% It might be terrifying you out of your wits. 00:05:25.190 --> 00:05:28.800 align:middle line:84% Some people enjoy that, or would find that experience 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:29.750 align:middle line:90% compelling. 00:05:29.750 --> 00:05:32.340 align:middle line:84% I mean they may not call it fun. 00:05:32.340 --> 00:05:36.812 align:middle line:90% So I call that engagement. 00:05:36.812 --> 00:05:40.450 align:middle line:84% The problem with using fun and engaging as a metric for 00:05:40.450 --> 00:05:43.800 align:middle line:84% defining what a game is, is that that means that a bad 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:45.410 align:middle line:90% game is not a game. 00:05:45.410 --> 00:05:48.930 align:middle line:84% A game that fails to achieve fun, that fails to be 00:05:48.930 --> 00:05:50.440 align:middle line:90% engaging, is not a game. 00:05:50.440 --> 00:05:54.900 align:middle line:84% But I wouldn't go that far, largely because that means a 00:05:54.900 --> 00:05:56.480 align:middle line:84% lot of stuff that I created is not a game. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:59.930 align:middle line:90% 00:05:59.930 --> 00:06:03.250 align:middle line:90% But it should give you the-- 00:06:03.250 --> 00:06:06.070 align:middle line:84% there is no magic point where a game becomes --the thing 00:06:06.070 --> 00:06:08.030 align:middle line:84% that you're building becomes fun and then 00:06:08.030 --> 00:06:11.110 align:middle line:90% suddenly becomes a game. 00:06:11.110 --> 00:06:13.620 align:middle line:84% I can't even imagine someone making that argument, that 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:15.120 align:middle line:84% it's not a game until it's fun. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.680 align:middle line:84% But I much rather sort of say, fun and engagement is kind of 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.460 align:middle line:84% more of a metric of how well designed your game is, not 00:06:22.460 --> 00:06:28.050 align:middle line:84% necessarily whether your game is a game. 00:06:28.050 --> 00:06:32.370 align:middle line:84% But that is a goal of a game designer, to try to create an 00:06:32.370 --> 00:06:34.870 align:middle line:84% engaging experience, something that people are 00:06:34.870 --> 00:06:37.770 align:middle line:90% going to want to do. 00:06:37.770 --> 00:06:39.890 align:middle line:84% I know some game designers who think that is not, 00:06:39.890 --> 00:06:41.910 align:middle line:90% in fact, their job. 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:45.650 align:middle line:84% Their job is to maximize revenue, for instance. 00:06:45.650 --> 00:06:48.440 align:middle line:84% Especially if you work in social games, there's a lot of 00:06:48.440 --> 00:06:53.020 align:middle line:84% discussion now in how business and game design is basically 00:06:53.020 --> 00:06:54.190 align:middle line:90% just one thing now. 00:06:54.190 --> 00:06:56.995 align:middle line:84% The whole point of game design is, how do we get people to 00:06:56.995 --> 00:06:58.994 align:middle line:90% pay a little bit more? 00:06:58.994 --> 00:07:02.025 align:middle line:84% Zynga's going to be in town on September 20th, 00:07:02.025 --> 00:07:05.530 align:middle line:90% they're giving a talk. 00:07:05.530 --> 00:07:07.225 align:middle line:84% That has those two points in it. 00:07:07.225 --> 00:07:09.125 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:07:09.125 --> 00:07:14.000 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So I always thought of design as something that 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:15.570 align:middle line:90% you're working towards. 00:07:15.570 --> 00:07:16.825 align:middle line:90% But all these other things-- 00:07:16.825 --> 00:07:20.190 align:middle line:90% a game should have players. 00:07:20.190 --> 00:07:23.010 align:middle line:84% Again, I don't want to be too strict on that because I've 00:07:23.010 --> 00:07:26.580 align:middle line:84% certainly seen games that play themselves. 00:07:26.580 --> 00:07:29.520 align:middle line:84% Anyone here involved in Battle Code? 00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:32.470 align:middle line:84% That game pretty much plays itself, right? 00:07:32.470 --> 00:07:37.360 align:middle line:84% I mean, you set it going and then one side wins, but 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.050 align:middle line:84% there's no human person at least during the time when the 00:07:40.050 --> 00:07:41.400 align:middle line:90% games actually being played. 00:07:41.400 --> 00:07:45.400 align:middle line:84% Or you could argue that the whole course of Battle Code-- 00:07:45.400 --> 00:07:47.360 align:middle line:84% for those people who don't know it, it's an IP course, I 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:51.380 align:middle line:84% believe, where Course 6 students basically write bits 00:07:51.380 --> 00:07:54.780 align:middle line:84% of AI to play a real-time strategy game against some of 00:07:54.780 --> 00:07:56.210 align:middle line:90% other team's AI. 00:07:56.210 --> 00:07:59.460 align:middle line:84% And the basic idea is that, you win a real-time strategy 00:07:59.460 --> 00:08:01.610 align:middle line:84% game, your AI wins, but there's no human actually 00:08:01.610 --> 00:08:02.940 align:middle line:90% playing it at a given time. 00:08:02.940 --> 00:08:05.440 align:middle line:84% But, of course, there are humans writing the AI, so if 00:08:05.440 --> 00:08:08.640 align:middle line:84% you think of the entire class as a game, then there are 00:08:08.640 --> 00:08:09.890 align:middle line:90% players, there are people. 00:08:09.890 --> 00:08:12.380 align:middle line:90% 00:08:12.380 --> 00:08:15.160 align:middle line:84% I suddenly see people make a case that there are games that 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:19.540 align:middle line:84% are zero player, and I've heard, for example, there's a 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:24.740 align:middle line:84% game out there called Novick, which is largely a game about 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:26.320 align:middle line:90% coming up with rules. 00:08:26.320 --> 00:08:30.760 align:middle line:84% And there is a system, which are actually in the rules 00:08:30.760 --> 00:08:34.280 align:middle line:84% themselves, about how you change rules. 00:08:34.280 --> 00:08:39.039 align:middle line:84% And, of course, those rules themselves can be changed. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.460 align:middle line:84% And that changes the way how you change rules and, by the 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:44.110 align:middle line:84% time you actually play the game, someone's already won. 00:08:44.110 --> 00:08:48.550 align:middle line:84% Because somebody in the game has no legal moves. 00:08:48.550 --> 00:08:50.990 align:middle line:84% That's the whole game, is basically making it impossible 00:08:50.990 --> 00:08:54.680 align:middle line:84% for someone else, or someone else except for you, to win. 00:08:54.680 --> 00:08:57.180 align:middle line:84% So does that game actually have players? 00:08:57.180 --> 00:09:01.600 align:middle line:84% Well, yes, it does because you guys are arguing over all the 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.180 align:middle line:84% rule changes through the rules of the game. 00:09:05.180 --> 00:09:07.660 align:middle line:84% But, in a sense, it had no players because the game never 00:09:07.660 --> 00:09:08.520 align:middle line:90% actually got played. 00:09:08.520 --> 00:09:12.960 align:middle line:84% The rules are basically stating, this is an unplayable 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:17.060 align:middle line:84% game for everybody except for one person 00:09:17.060 --> 00:09:21.210 align:middle line:90% who's playing the game. 00:09:21.210 --> 00:09:25.520 align:middle line:84% Goals are one of those things that I used to be very, very 00:09:25.520 --> 00:09:26.590 align:middle line:90% adamant about. 00:09:26.590 --> 00:09:27.820 align:middle line:84% Like a game had to have a goal. 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:29.970 align:middle line:84% You have to know what they're going towards, and if you 00:09:29.970 --> 00:09:33.440 align:middle line:84% don't have that, then it's a toy or something, it's a 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:34.430 align:middle line:90% dollhouse, it's an experiment. 00:09:34.430 --> 00:09:38.066 align:middle line:84% The Sims was the one that I was like railing about when I 00:09:38.066 --> 00:09:39.850 align:middle line:90% was an undergraduate. 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:42.600 align:middle line:90% You know-- that's not a game. 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:46.500 align:middle line:84% And, of course, I was working with many colleagues and 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:50.620 align:middle line:84% eventually came across, came over to decide that it doesn't 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:52.620 align:middle line:84% matter whether I think it is a game or not. 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:56.690 align:middle line:84% If it's in the game shelf of Best Buy, it's a game. 00:09:56.690 --> 00:09:59.330 align:middle line:90% 00:09:59.330 --> 00:10:01.700 align:middle line:84% Because people think it's a game, and if enough people 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:04.390 align:middle line:84% think it's a game, then it might as well be a game. 00:10:04.390 --> 00:10:07.090 align:middle line:90% Otherwise-- 00:10:07.090 --> 00:10:09.080 align:middle line:84% because that's what people think it's going to be. 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:14.860 align:middle line:84% So when you come up with your game, I would say that goals 00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:18.700 align:middle line:84% are one of those things that helps steer player behavior. 00:10:18.700 --> 00:10:22.910 align:middle line:84% So it's one of those tools that you have as a designer to 00:10:22.910 --> 00:10:25.450 align:middle line:84% basically say, this is important, this is not. 00:10:25.450 --> 00:10:31.640 align:middle line:84% Reaching the end of 100 meters is important for a sprinter. 00:10:31.640 --> 00:10:35.360 align:middle line:84% That end is really not interesting for somebody who 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:39.180 align:middle line:84% is running 400 meters or a 50 meter dash. 00:10:39.180 --> 00:10:41.990 align:middle line:84% But that gives someone a direction 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:43.590 align:middle line:90% for them to go towards. 00:10:43.590 --> 00:10:45.630 align:middle line:84% But there are plenty of games where you have to 00:10:45.630 --> 00:10:46.680 align:middle line:90% invent your own goals. 00:10:46.680 --> 00:10:51.040 align:middle line:84% Other than Sims, can anyone think of any? 00:10:51.040 --> 00:10:53.360 align:middle line:84% Where inventing your own goals is kind of the fun. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:54.245 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: A lot of NLRPGs. 00:10:54.245 --> 00:10:56.460 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: A lot of NLRPGs. 00:10:56.460 --> 00:10:57.380 align:middle line:90% They have goals. 00:10:57.380 --> 00:10:58.000 align:middle line:90% They have quests. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.210 align:middle line:84% But that's not where a lot of fun is, necessarily. 00:11:00.210 --> 00:11:00.990 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Second Life. 00:11:00.990 --> 00:11:02.050 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Second Life. 00:11:02.050 --> 00:11:03.270 align:middle line:90% A lot of virtual worlds. 00:11:03.270 --> 00:11:04.581 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: A game like EVE? 00:11:04.581 --> 00:11:05.400 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: EVE? 00:11:05.400 --> 00:11:07.310 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:11:07.310 --> 00:11:10.680 align:middle line:84% EVE, you kind of, want to, like you have to set your own 00:11:10.680 --> 00:11:13.890 align:middle line:84% goals, because whatever is in the game is only good enough 00:11:13.890 --> 00:11:15.380 align:middle line:90% for a single player-- 00:11:15.380 --> 00:11:17.940 align:middle line:84% to tell whether a single player whether they're doing 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:18.640 align:middle line:90% well or not. 00:11:18.640 --> 00:11:20.655 align:middle line:84% But EVE is not about a single player. 00:11:20.655 --> 00:11:24.280 align:middle line:84% EVE is about thousands and thousands of people playing 00:11:24.280 --> 00:11:25.530 align:middle line:90% simultaneously. 00:11:25.530 --> 00:11:27.760 align:middle line:90% 00:11:27.760 --> 00:11:29.840 align:middle line:84% Actually, have people heard of EVE? 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:30.821 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:11:30.821 --> 00:11:31.312 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:11:31.312 --> 00:11:32.048 align:middle line:90% So, cool. 00:11:32.048 --> 00:11:32.294 align:middle line:90% Cool. 00:11:32.294 --> 00:11:33.767 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]. 00:11:33.767 --> 00:11:35.250 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Oh, cool. 00:11:35.250 --> 00:11:35.680 align:middle line:90% In Iceland? 00:11:35.680 --> 00:11:36.410 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:11:36.410 --> 00:11:37.655 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Was it like really cheap when 00:11:37.655 --> 00:11:38.470 align:middle line:90% you went over there? 00:11:38.470 --> 00:11:39.310 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yes. 00:11:39.310 --> 00:11:41.663 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Could you have bought the entire studio? 00:11:41.663 --> 00:11:43.587 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: No. 00:11:43.587 --> 00:11:44.068 align:middle line:90% Unfortunately. 00:11:44.068 --> 00:11:46.954 align:middle line:90% But it was really cheap. 00:11:46.954 --> 00:11:49.145 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So they must have been making tons 00:11:49.145 --> 00:11:50.177 align:middle line:90% of money over there. 00:11:50.177 --> 00:11:51.369 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, they're making money in US 00:11:51.369 --> 00:11:52.562 align:middle line:90% Dollars and the Euro. 00:11:52.562 --> 00:11:55.424 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:11:55.424 --> 00:11:57.845 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: They probably hire most, yeah, support most of 00:11:57.845 --> 00:11:58.205 align:middle line:90% the economy. 00:11:58.205 --> 00:11:59.438 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:11:59.438 --> 00:12:00.416 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:12:00.416 --> 00:12:00.905 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:12:00.905 --> 00:12:10.205 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The capitol is 20,000 people so... 00:12:10.205 --> 00:12:13.440 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So I'll say goals are very important tools and 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.160 align:middle line:84% as a result of that you see them in a lot of the games. 00:12:16.160 --> 00:12:20.220 align:middle line:84% And for most of the games that you guys are going to be 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:24.370 align:middle line:84% building, you're going to give a very clear goal of this what 00:12:24.370 --> 00:12:25.230 align:middle line:90% you want to do-- 00:12:25.230 --> 00:12:30.480 align:middle line:84% earn a certain amount of money, prevent your opponent 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:34.440 align:middle line:84% from doing anything else, take over all the land. 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:36.940 align:middle line:90% That sort of thing. 00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:38.720 align:middle line:90% Let's see. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.415 align:middle line:84% Oh, I'll get to the rules last. 00:12:42.415 --> 00:12:43.730 align:middle line:90% But, system. 00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:44.270 align:middle line:90% Systems are-- 00:12:44.270 --> 00:12:47.960 align:middle line:84% I might already have mentioned this in the last class, but 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:52.340 align:middle line:84% games are systems in a way that most MIT engineers would 00:12:52.340 --> 00:12:53.230 align:middle line:90% think of systems. 00:12:53.230 --> 00:12:56.430 align:middle line:84% They're a bunch of interconnected little modules, 00:12:56.430 --> 00:12:58.910 align:middle line:84% all of them with sort of predictable behavior, and then 00:12:58.910 --> 00:13:02.070 align:middle line:84% you put them into a big interconnected system, and it 00:13:02.070 --> 00:13:04.247 align:middle line:84% is no longer really all that predictable anymore. 00:13:04.247 --> 00:13:07.140 align:middle line:84% At least that's the kind of games that we're interested in 00:13:07.140 --> 00:13:07.530 align:middle line:90% in this class. 00:13:07.530 --> 00:13:10.350 align:middle line:84% There's also the game-theory games, where the whole point 00:13:10.350 --> 00:13:13.890 align:middle line:84% of it is trying to predict what could possibly happen. 00:13:13.890 --> 00:13:18.410 align:middle line:84% And those are great thought experiments and there's some 00:13:18.410 --> 00:13:21.980 align:middle line:84% really, really interesting math behind all them and some 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:23.170 align:middle line:84% interesting rules of thumb that can come out. 00:13:23.170 --> 00:13:25.680 align:middle line:84% But for the most part, we aren't going to go into too 00:13:25.680 --> 00:13:28.580 align:middle line:84% much detail about that, largely because I'm not a 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:31.980 align:middle line:84% mathematician or economist, so I don't really have a good 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:34.130 align:middle line:90% sense of game theory. 00:13:34.130 --> 00:13:37.640 align:middle line:84% Just be aware that there is this whole field of game 00:13:37.640 --> 00:13:39.200 align:middle line:90% theory in economics. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.730 align:middle line:84% If you're doing a game like an auction system, if you're 00:13:41.730 --> 00:13:45.090 align:middle line:84% doing a game where people are doing either a lot of 00:13:45.090 --> 00:13:49.610 align:middle line:84% simultaneous moves or the whole point of the game is 00:13:49.610 --> 00:13:53.610 align:middle line:84% trying to predict what strategy your opponent's going 00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:55.570 align:middle line:84% to do, you might actually want to read up a little bit on 00:13:55.570 --> 00:13:57.600 align:middle line:84% game theory, if nothing else, just to give you some 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.350 align:middle line:84% vocabulary to talk about it with your teammates, and some 00:14:01.350 --> 00:14:03.575 align:middle line:84% tools to be able to think through some of the design 00:14:03.575 --> 00:14:05.030 align:middle line:90% problems that you've got. 00:14:05.030 --> 00:14:07.420 align:middle line:84% And we do have one session where I'll 00:14:07.420 --> 00:14:08.670 align:middle line:90% introduce some of that. 00:14:08.670 --> 00:14:10.910 align:middle line:90% 00:14:10.910 --> 00:14:13.840 align:middle line:84% Finally, we are getting to rules. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.490 align:middle line:84% The things that give your game structure and the constraints 00:14:18.490 --> 00:14:19.895 align:middle line:90% of the things you can't do. 00:14:19.895 --> 00:14:23.750 align:middle line:84% You can't move from here to there without having your foot 00:14:23.750 --> 00:14:27.540 align:middle line:84% tied to another player, that sort of constraint. 00:14:27.540 --> 00:14:32.017 align:middle line:84% Or a rule being you can't see anything during a certain part 00:14:32.017 --> 00:14:33.267 align:middle line:90% of the game. 00:14:33.267 --> 00:14:36.390 align:middle line:90% 00:14:36.390 --> 00:14:38.330 align:middle line:84% There are two bits of terminology introduced by 00:14:38.330 --> 00:14:43.470 align:middle line:84% Brenda and Ian Schreiber in their book, which is in Core 00:14:43.470 --> 00:14:45.650 align:middle line:90% Mechanic and Core Dynamic. 00:14:45.650 --> 00:14:47.710 align:middle line:84% So before I'm going to go into the core mechanic and core 00:14:47.710 --> 00:14:51.430 align:middle line:84% dynamic, I'm going to talk about mechanic and dynamic. 00:14:51.430 --> 00:14:55.276 align:middle line:84% Anyone want to throw out the definition of mechanic? 00:14:55.276 --> 00:14:59.270 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I reckon it's sort of the actions like a player 00:14:59.270 --> 00:15:03.785 align:middle line:84% takes during a game like the physical actions he takes. 00:15:03.785 --> 00:15:04.760 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:15:04.760 --> 00:15:07.460 align:middle line:84% The actions that a player decides to take? 00:15:07.460 --> 00:15:08.710 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Decides to take, yeah. 00:15:08.710 --> 00:15:13.388 align:middle line:90% 00:15:13.388 --> 00:15:14.260 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Sorry if this is a little low, 00:15:14.260 --> 00:15:15.870 align:middle line:90% I saw Patrick and-- 00:15:15.870 --> 00:15:18.174 align:middle line:84% or did those hands just go down? 00:15:18.174 --> 00:15:21.066 align:middle line:84% I thought I saw a few more hands. 00:15:21.066 --> 00:15:22.280 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Actions that are sort of 00:15:22.280 --> 00:15:25.186 align:middle line:90% designed by the game designer. 00:15:25.186 --> 00:15:26.668 align:middle line:90% So it's intended actions. 00:15:26.668 --> 00:15:29.632 align:middle line:90% 00:15:29.632 --> 00:15:32.940 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Design is definitely a good point. 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:38.660 align:middle line:84% A game mechanic is definitely something that you as a game 00:15:38.660 --> 00:15:40.800 align:middle line:90% designer control. 00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:42.083 align:middle line:90% There are-- 00:15:42.083 --> 00:15:46.220 align:middle line:84% if a player decides to do something in the game that you 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:49.600 align:middle line:84% did not explicitly think about, and you did not 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:52.040 align:middle line:84% explicitly say, all right this is what players are going to 00:15:52.040 --> 00:15:53.660 align:middle line:84% be doing in a game, then it might not 00:15:53.660 --> 00:15:54.950 align:middle line:90% actually be a mechanic. 00:15:54.950 --> 00:15:56.760 align:middle line:84% It might be something that you're discovering in your 00:15:56.760 --> 00:15:58.920 align:middle line:84% play testing that you will turn into a mechanic. 00:15:58.920 --> 00:16:02.292 align:middle line:84% But because it's not designed, it's kind of-- 00:16:02.292 --> 00:16:04.530 align:middle line:84% it becomes more like a strategy, actually, like an 00:16:04.530 --> 00:16:04.990 align:middle line:90% emergent strategy. 00:16:04.990 --> 00:16:05.355 align:middle line:90% Sorry. 00:16:05.355 --> 00:16:06.580 align:middle line:90% You were saying, Jeremy? 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:08.356 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Is it more like a dynamic ? 00:16:08.356 --> 00:16:09.540 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Possibly. 00:16:09.540 --> 00:16:11.540 align:middle line:90% There are times where it is. 00:16:11.540 --> 00:16:12.820 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:16.030 align:middle line:84% Actually let's throw out definitions of dynamic, what 00:16:16.030 --> 00:16:17.280 align:middle line:90% do people-- 00:16:17.280 --> 00:16:19.170 align:middle line:90% 00:16:19.170 --> 00:16:20.040 align:middle line:90% well, Jeremy? 00:16:20.040 --> 00:16:21.884 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's behavior that emerges from mechanics? 00:16:21.884 --> 00:16:24.826 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It's emergent behavior? 00:16:24.826 --> 00:16:28.560 align:middle line:90% 00:16:28.560 --> 00:16:29.880 align:middle line:90% What else? 00:16:29.880 --> 00:16:35.240 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Use of mechanics that isn't directly stated in 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:35.734 align:middle line:90% the rules of the game. 00:16:35.734 --> 00:16:37.710 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:16:37.710 --> 00:16:39.686 align:middle line:90% So unstated. 00:16:39.686 --> 00:16:42.650 align:middle line:90% I'm running out of space here. 00:16:42.650 --> 00:16:46.108 align:middle line:84% I thought I saw a hand on this side. 00:16:46.108 --> 00:16:46.602 align:middle line:90% No? 00:16:46.602 --> 00:16:48.084 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:16:48.084 --> 00:16:48.580 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:52.020 align:middle line:84% So, yeah, dynamics are basically 00:16:52.020 --> 00:16:53.670 align:middle line:90% interactions of mechanics. 00:16:53.670 --> 00:16:58.670 align:middle line:84% It's like you don't have anything that may necessarily 00:16:58.670 --> 00:17:03.860 align:middle line:84% explicitly say, because of this one rule and because of 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:05.970 align:middle line:84% this other rule, and because of the things that the players 00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:10.020 align:middle line:84% can do in that, a good strategy is to 00:17:10.020 --> 00:17:11.560 align:middle line:90% do something else. 00:17:11.560 --> 00:17:15.030 align:middle line:84% So let me see whether I can think of an example. 00:17:15.030 --> 00:17:16.316 align:middle line:84% Right now, everything that's coming 00:17:16.316 --> 00:17:18.460 align:middle line:90% to my head is StarCraft. 00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:20.960 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Has that been the case for the last few weeks? 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:24.200 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Unfortunately, yes. 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:25.329 align:middle line:84% By the way, if anybody is playing 00:17:25.329 --> 00:17:27.194 align:middle line:90% StarCraft, I need testers. 00:17:27.194 --> 00:17:27.985 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: StarCraft II or StarCraft I? 00:17:27.985 --> 00:17:28.740 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Two. 00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:28.990 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Ah, yes. 00:17:28.990 --> 00:17:32.776 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I need testers for a math game I'm designing. 00:17:32.776 --> 00:17:33.990 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I play Zerg. 00:17:33.990 --> 00:17:35.240 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.890 align:middle line:90% 00:17:38.890 --> 00:17:40.210 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:17:40.210 --> 00:17:42.580 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So there's this role selection mechanic where 00:17:42.580 --> 00:17:45.542 align:middle line:84% everybody picks the thing which they want to happen 00:17:45.542 --> 00:17:45.898 align:middle line:90% during their turn. 00:17:45.898 --> 00:17:46.850 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:17:46.850 --> 00:17:52.180 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: and mostly everybody chooses to build 00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:55.690 align:middle line:90% a particular cross. 00:17:55.690 --> 00:17:58.380 align:middle line:84% And the dynamic that emerges from the sequence of play, 00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:03.590 align:middle line:84% which goes clockwise is that it's best to optimize your 00:18:03.590 --> 00:18:06.620 align:middle line:84% strategy so that you were doing, so you were benefiting 00:18:06.620 --> 00:18:09.240 align:middle line:84% from the role of the person to your right, 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:10.563 align:middle line:90% is likely to choose. 00:18:10.563 --> 00:18:13.322 align:middle line:84% But you're making the [UNINTELLIGIBLE] of the person 00:18:13.322 --> 00:18:16.972 align:middle line:84% you elect is most likely win a ship. 00:18:16.972 --> 00:18:21.935 align:middle line:84% So mechanically it's role selection and turn order and 00:18:21.935 --> 00:18:23.904 align:middle line:84% then the dynamic is the strategy 00:18:23.904 --> 00:18:25.790 align:middle line:90% written by the program. 00:18:25.790 --> 00:18:27.130 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Which gives you some idea what 00:18:27.130 --> 00:18:28.600 align:middle line:90% to select as opposed-- 00:18:28.600 --> 00:18:30.415 align:middle line:84% the mechanic is you can select. 00:18:30.415 --> 00:18:34.380 align:middle line:84% The dynamic is, here are a couple of strategies that you 00:18:34.380 --> 00:18:38.310 align:middle line:84% can use in sort of assessing what would best to select. 00:18:38.310 --> 00:18:42.480 align:middle line:84% And if all the players start to understand that, then it 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:46.850 align:middle line:84% almost becomes like a second layer of rules almost. 00:18:46.850 --> 00:18:49.220 align:middle line:84% If anyone has played a game like Bridge, for instance, 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:51.470 align:middle line:84% there's actually a ton of things that are assumed in the 00:18:51.470 --> 00:18:54.490 align:middle line:84% play which are not actually in the rules of Bridge when it 00:18:54.490 --> 00:18:55.140 align:middle line:90% comes to bidding. 00:18:55.140 --> 00:18:58.140 align:middle line:84% Like when you call out a bid, it's highly dependent on what 00:18:58.140 --> 00:19:02.030 align:middle line:84% you actually have in your card hand. 00:19:02.030 --> 00:19:04.570 align:middle line:84% And that's not actually written in the rules anywhere. 00:19:04.570 --> 00:19:07.720 align:middle line:84% But the assumption is that there is optimal way to do it. 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:09.950 align:middle line:84% And since there's optimal way to do it, everyone's expected 00:19:09.950 --> 00:19:11.760 align:middle line:90% to know those optimal ways. 00:19:11.760 --> 00:19:15.870 align:middle line:84% The example in the book was chess moves, like every single 00:19:15.870 --> 00:19:19.190 align:middle line:84% piece of chess has a set of moves that it 00:19:19.190 --> 00:19:19.970 align:middle line:90% can perform, right? 00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:21.410 align:middle line:84% Pawns go one or two squares, depending 00:19:21.410 --> 00:19:23.290 align:middle line:90% where they're starting. 00:19:23.290 --> 00:19:24.900 align:middle line:90% The bishops move diagonally. 00:19:24.900 --> 00:19:27.350 align:middle line:84% But there are also opening gambits. 00:19:27.350 --> 00:19:30.370 align:middle line:90% 00:19:30.370 --> 00:19:34.610 align:middle line:84% Opening gambits that are also well known, at least among 00:19:34.610 --> 00:19:38.300 align:middle line:84% professional chess players, and the idea being, oh, this 00:19:38.300 --> 00:19:42.290 align:middle line:84% person is using this opening, therefore, if I counter it 00:19:42.290 --> 00:19:47.140 align:middle line:84% with this response, I actually have a reasonable chance of 00:19:47.140 --> 00:19:49.740 align:middle line:84% actually winning this game, and professional chess 00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:52.440 align:middle line:90% players know this. 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.020 align:middle line:84% The other thing that comes up in chess, which is not in the 00:19:55.020 --> 00:19:59.600 align:middle line:84% book, is there is the concept of threatened squares. 00:19:59.600 --> 00:20:02.130 align:middle line:90% 00:20:02.130 --> 00:20:04.730 align:middle line:84% If you move, if there is a square where there is no piece 00:20:04.730 --> 00:20:05.680 align:middle line:90% on a chess board-- 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:09.800 align:middle line:84% everyone here knows the rules of chess, more or less? 00:20:09.800 --> 00:20:11.230 align:middle line:90% So say you've got a bishop-- 00:20:11.230 --> 00:20:15.805 align:middle line:84% and this is quite a simple chess board-- and you've got 00:20:15.805 --> 00:20:21.390 align:middle line:84% the bishop, and it can move like that, right? 00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:25.820 align:middle line:84% So every single square on these lines is threatened. 00:20:25.820 --> 00:20:31.320 align:middle line:84% It's something which the bishop could move to. 00:20:31.320 --> 00:20:34.594 align:middle line:84% Unless, of course, it's lost by a pawn or something, then 00:20:34.594 --> 00:20:36.610 align:middle line:84% these are not going to be threatened by the pawns. 00:20:36.610 --> 00:20:40.410 align:middle line:90% 00:20:40.410 --> 00:20:42.950 align:middle line:84% If your knight obviously is no longer straight lines, it 00:20:42.950 --> 00:20:48.460 align:middle line:84% becomes a specific or sort of like stochastic pattern of 00:20:48.460 --> 00:20:49.710 align:middle line:84% squares that become threatened. 00:20:49.710 --> 00:20:52.100 align:middle line:90% 00:20:52.100 --> 00:20:55.520 align:middle line:84% But the idea of here's this square now that nobody dares 00:20:55.520 --> 00:20:58.780 align:middle line:84% move into until something's done about that bishop. 00:20:58.780 --> 00:21:02.746 align:middle line:84% Either something gets moved in its way, or something takes 00:21:02.746 --> 00:21:04.487 align:middle line:84% out the bishop or forces the bishop to move by threatening 00:21:04.487 --> 00:21:08.210 align:middle line:84% it instead in a way that it cannot respond. 00:21:08.210 --> 00:21:14.610 align:middle line:84% So threatened squares is not a rule in chess, but it greatly 00:21:14.610 --> 00:21:18.130 align:middle line:84% shapes your decision making and that's the difference 00:21:18.130 --> 00:21:21.070 align:middle line:90% between dynamic and mechanic. 00:21:21.070 --> 00:21:25.440 align:middle line:84% There's a lot of strong correspondence between 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:27.890 align:middle line:90% mechanics and rules. 00:21:27.890 --> 00:21:29.320 align:middle line:90% But-- 00:21:29.320 --> 00:21:35.210 align:middle line:84% and I had a long, long little rant about exactly what the 00:21:35.210 --> 00:21:38.860 align:middle line:84% difference is between mechanics and rules. 00:21:38.860 --> 00:21:40.760 align:middle line:90% And what I basically-- 00:21:40.760 --> 00:21:44.290 align:middle line:84% I know I'm going to get the rant right now, but it's like 00:21:44.290 --> 00:21:45.520 align:middle line:90% overlapping venn diagram. 00:21:45.520 --> 00:21:47.830 align:middle line:84% There's a very, very large area where it's exactly the 00:21:47.830 --> 00:21:49.760 align:middle line:90% same thing. 00:21:49.760 --> 00:21:52.430 align:middle line:84% My general rubric for trying to figure out whether 00:21:52.430 --> 00:21:55.330 align:middle line:84% something is a mechanic or not is whether this is the thing 00:21:55.330 --> 00:21:57.310 align:middle line:84% that changes the state of the game. 00:21:57.310 --> 00:21:58.200 align:middle line:90% It is an action. 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:01.230 align:middle line:84% It is something that someone is going to be doing to change 00:22:01.230 --> 00:22:04.220 align:middle line:90% the state of what the game is. 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:07.475 align:middle line:84% In chess, that's largely the movement of the piece. 00:22:07.475 --> 00:22:13.100 align:middle line:90% 00:22:13.100 --> 00:22:14.370 align:middle line:90% If it's ultimate. 00:22:14.370 --> 00:22:16.600 align:middle line:84% It could be just physical movement. 00:22:16.600 --> 00:22:18.900 align:middle line:84% You are limited on when you can physically move. 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:21.862 align:middle line:84% If you have that frisbee, you're not moving. 00:22:21.862 --> 00:22:23.680 align:middle line:84% Well, your feet are not moving. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:25.260 align:middle line:84% I believe that's a rule of Ultimate. 00:22:25.260 --> 00:22:28.650 align:middle line:90% 00:22:28.650 --> 00:22:34.180 align:middle line:84% So the reason why I use that definition is because there 00:22:34.180 --> 00:22:37.100 align:middle line:84% are occasionally times when I need to talk about mechanics 00:22:37.100 --> 00:22:39.650 align:middle line:84% that players aren't actually doing. 00:22:39.650 --> 00:22:43.550 align:middle line:84% The game requires certain pieces to move in a certain 00:22:43.550 --> 00:22:47.800 align:middle line:84% way, certain things to happen in the game in 00:22:47.800 --> 00:22:48.900 align:middle line:90% such and such a time. 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:53.860 align:middle line:84% For instance, you have these die rolls and-- 00:22:53.860 --> 00:22:55.521 align:middle line:84% actually, that's not a good example. 00:22:55.521 --> 00:22:57.630 align:middle line:90% Let me think. 00:22:57.630 --> 00:22:59.440 align:middle line:84% Right at the beginning of Settlers of Catan there is the 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.033 align:middle line:84% way how you set up the board, and that establishes what a 00:23:02.033 --> 00:23:03.640 align:middle line:90% game state is going to be. 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:06.070 align:middle line:84% It changes game state by giving you a game state in the 00:23:06.070 --> 00:23:07.320 align:middle line:90% first place. 00:23:07.320 --> 00:23:09.250 align:middle line:90% 00:23:09.250 --> 00:23:10.690 align:middle line:90% I consider that a mechanic. 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:13.700 align:middle line:84% That is something that's going-- 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:14.930 align:middle line:90% that's not one rule. 00:23:14.930 --> 00:23:16.442 align:middle line:84% That's actually a whole collection of rules. 00:23:16.442 --> 00:23:17.916 align:middle line:84% And if you're interested in finding out what those rules 00:23:17.916 --> 00:23:21.244 align:middle line:84% are, the box is actually in that closet over there. 00:23:21.244 --> 00:23:24.045 align:middle line:84% There are something like five or six different rules on how 00:23:24.045 --> 00:23:25.220 align:middle line:90% you set up your board. 00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:27.130 align:middle line:84% It's going to be, set up your game state, and I consider 00:23:27.130 --> 00:23:29.460 align:middle line:90% that a mechanic. 00:23:29.460 --> 00:23:32.740 align:middle line:84% How people do bidding and buying things 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:33.625 align:middle line:90% in Settlers of Catan? 00:23:33.625 --> 00:23:35.100 align:middle line:90% That's dynamic. 00:23:35.100 --> 00:23:39.440 align:middle line:84% There are no real rules on how much something costs. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:43.780 align:middle line:84% That's up to the players to work out on your own. 00:23:43.780 --> 00:23:45.646 align:middle line:84% So that's how I sort of consider the difference 00:23:45.646 --> 00:23:50.083 align:middle line:90% between dynamic and mechanic. 00:23:50.083 --> 00:23:53.610 align:middle line:84% They're really, really useful concepts because really, for 00:23:53.610 --> 00:23:57.640 align:middle line:84% the most part, as a designer you have an idea of what kind 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:00.040 align:middle line:90% of dynamics are interesting. 00:24:00.040 --> 00:24:03.870 align:middle line:84% And the more games that you play, the more inspiration you 00:24:03.870 --> 00:24:09.130 align:middle line:84% get from various sources, your range of different ideas of 00:24:09.130 --> 00:24:10.480 align:middle line:90% what kind of dynamics might be 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.195 align:middle line:90% interesting is going to expand. 00:24:12.195 --> 00:24:15.455 align:middle line:84% But all you have control on are mechanics, the specific 00:24:15.455 --> 00:24:21.670 align:middle line:84% rules that you're giving, note that game mechanics don't 00:24:21.670 --> 00:24:26.730 align:middle line:84% necessarily need to be written or described out. 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:31.020 align:middle line:84% This is one thing that I think you and your teammates should 00:24:31.020 --> 00:24:32.480 align:middle line:84% figure out when you're talking about 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:34.570 align:middle line:90% mechanics for a given project. 00:24:34.570 --> 00:24:36.800 align:middle line:84% Are we just talking about the things we are writing down? 00:24:36.800 --> 00:24:38.670 align:middle line:84% Because there are some assumptions 00:24:38.670 --> 00:24:41.760 align:middle line:90% that are just given. 00:24:41.760 --> 00:24:47.060 align:middle line:84% We are playing a game, and we're not playing some sort of 00:24:47.060 --> 00:24:51.570 align:middle line:84% schoolyard game or something, hitting people with solid 00:24:51.570 --> 00:24:53.650 align:middle line:90% objects that's disallowed. 00:24:53.650 --> 00:24:57.590 align:middle line:84% Not necessarily something you need to write down. 00:24:57.590 --> 00:25:00.940 align:middle line:84% Unless you're playing with certain people. 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:05.420 align:middle line:84% You can assume that the game again -- 00:25:05.420 --> 00:25:08.750 align:middle line:84% things like how fast people normally do things. 00:25:08.750 --> 00:25:11.650 align:middle line:84% There's a game over here called Falling, which is 00:25:11.650 --> 00:25:13.410 align:middle line:84% actually a real-time card game. 00:25:13.410 --> 00:25:17.920 align:middle line:84% It goes as fast you can possibly play it, and there is 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:20.920 align:middle line:84% no there is no limit on how fast you can play these cards. 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:23.360 align:middle line:84% But there is a real physical limit on how fast you could 00:25:23.360 --> 00:25:26.100 align:middle line:84% physically grab the card out of your hand and put it down. 00:25:26.100 --> 00:25:28.766 align:middle line:84% So, actually, it's not even on your hand, your just moving 00:25:28.766 --> 00:25:30.810 align:middle line:90% cards on table. 00:25:30.810 --> 00:25:33.510 align:middle line:84% So make sure you give that a try today. 00:25:33.510 --> 00:25:41.140 align:middle line:90% 00:25:41.140 --> 00:25:46.050 align:middle line:84% Finally, we'll be getting to aesthetics, I think-- 00:25:46.050 --> 00:25:47.352 align:middle line:90% next class? 00:25:47.352 --> 00:25:49.090 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:25:49.090 --> 00:25:51.160 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So, which is another thing 00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:54.150 align:middle line:90% which a game designer-- 00:25:54.150 --> 00:25:57.010 align:middle line:84% in fact, what I would like game designers to actually 00:25:57.010 --> 00:25:58.750 align:middle line:84% spend more time thinking about, which is, what is the 00:25:58.750 --> 00:26:00.620 align:middle line:84% feeling you want your player to have? 00:26:00.620 --> 00:26:03.360 align:middle line:84% As opposed to, this might be fun, or 00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:04.020 align:middle line:90% this might be engaging. 00:26:04.020 --> 00:26:05.560 align:middle line:84% And specifically, how is it fun? 00:26:05.560 --> 00:26:06.660 align:middle line:90% And how is it engaging? 00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:09.560 align:middle line:84% Is it fun as in like, yes, victory! 00:26:09.560 --> 00:26:11.110 align:middle line:84% I have crushed all my opponents. 00:26:11.110 --> 00:26:13.410 align:middle line:84% Or is it fun as if, well, we had a really good time 00:26:13.410 --> 00:26:15.790 align:middle line:84% together and we got to know each other really well. 00:26:15.790 --> 00:26:17.472 align:middle line:84% There are games that are designed for both of those. 00:26:17.472 --> 00:26:20.350 align:middle line:90% 00:26:20.350 --> 00:26:22.570 align:middle line:84% And what is the aesthetic you're going for? 00:26:22.570 --> 00:26:23.145 align:middle line:84% Are you going for something poetic? 00:26:23.145 --> 00:26:27.040 align:middle line:84% Are you going for something fiercely competitive? 00:26:27.040 --> 00:26:28.080 align:middle line:90% Tournament competitive? 00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:31.572 align:middle line:84% Are you going for just a nice little social experiment? 00:26:31.572 --> 00:26:34.290 align:middle line:90% 00:26:34.290 --> 00:26:38.570 align:middle line:84% Core mechanics and core dynamics are a tool, again, 00:26:38.570 --> 00:26:40.060 align:middle line:90% for designers. 00:26:40.060 --> 00:26:42.010 align:middle line:90% The idea of-- 00:26:42.010 --> 00:26:44.410 align:middle line:84% there really isn't a huge difference between what's a 00:26:44.410 --> 00:26:47.870 align:middle line:84% core mechanic and what's just a mechanic, except inside a 00:26:47.870 --> 00:26:51.610 align:middle line:84% designer or design team's discussion. 00:26:51.610 --> 00:26:55.880 align:middle line:84% The idea of having a core mechanic is you identify this 00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:57.435 align:middle line:90% is what our game's about. 00:26:57.435 --> 00:27:00.840 align:middle line:84% Or a core dynamic means this is what our game's about. 00:27:00.840 --> 00:27:03.950 align:middle line:84% And a lot of core mechanics in first person shooters is 00:27:03.950 --> 00:27:05.590 align:middle line:90% pointing and shooting. 00:27:05.590 --> 00:27:06.880 align:middle line:84% I'm going to point at something and I'm going to 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.080 align:middle line:84% launch a projectile that way, and that projectile is going 00:27:09.080 --> 00:27:11.840 align:middle line:84% to move in some physical properties. 00:27:11.840 --> 00:27:14.736 align:middle line:84% Maybe it arcs, maybe it goes straight. 00:27:14.736 --> 00:27:17.690 align:middle line:90% 00:27:17.690 --> 00:27:21.480 align:middle line:84% I would say that the core mechanic of Halo isn't 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:24.420 align:middle line:90% actually that. 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:27.640 align:middle line:84% Who has not played Halo or seen someone play Halo? 00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:29.620 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:27:29.620 --> 00:27:33.460 align:middle line:90% So the idea, core mechanic-- 00:27:33.460 --> 00:27:36.700 align:middle line:84% or I think my Bungie calls it the core game play loop-- 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:39.670 align:middle line:90% 00:27:39.670 --> 00:27:44.860 align:middle line:84% of Halo is, you shoot at something, you take cover, you 00:27:44.860 --> 00:27:47.940 align:middle line:84% throw a grenade at it, you wait for the grenade to go 00:27:47.940 --> 00:27:52.030 align:middle line:84% off, and then you shoot at it again until it dies. 00:27:52.030 --> 00:27:54.090 align:middle line:84% That's pretty much all you are doing for the 00:27:54.090 --> 00:27:56.310 align:middle line:90% entirety of Halo 1. 00:27:56.310 --> 00:28:01.730 align:middle line:84% I'm sure Halo 2, Halo 3 gets complicated, but de-identify 00:28:01.730 --> 00:28:05.280 align:middle line:84% that as you actually read the post-mortems and if you read 00:28:05.280 --> 00:28:07.500 align:middle line:84% the talks that are given, they say those-- 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:10.180 align:middle line:84% I can't remember if it was 20 seconds or five seconds of 00:28:10.180 --> 00:28:12.010 align:middle line:84% game play which is used to describe that. 00:28:12.010 --> 00:28:15.030 align:middle line:84% I think that five seconds of game play is what 00:28:15.030 --> 00:28:16.500 align:middle line:90% they focused on. 00:28:16.500 --> 00:28:19.850 align:middle line:84% And if they could get every little thing in that sequence 00:28:19.850 --> 00:28:23.330 align:middle line:84% correct, they can repeat that same thing at infinitum, and 00:28:23.330 --> 00:28:25.800 align:middle line:84% you'll still will be having fun. 00:28:25.800 --> 00:28:27.430 align:middle line:90% Halo 1, everyone. 00:28:27.430 --> 00:28:29.930 align:middle line:90% 00:28:29.930 --> 00:28:31.180 align:middle line:90% They're kinda right. 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:34.090 align:middle line:84% But the idea being, if you've got a core mechanic, and 00:28:34.090 --> 00:28:36.300 align:middle line:84% you've got one thing in your game that someone's going to 00:28:36.300 --> 00:28:38.500 align:middle line:84% be doing over and over and over again, all your players 00:28:38.500 --> 00:28:40.500 align:middle line:84% are going to be doing over and over again-- maybe it's 00:28:40.500 --> 00:28:43.900 align:middle line:84% bidding because it may be some kind of auction game. 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:46.790 align:middle line:84% In Falling and Pit, it's transferring 00:28:46.790 --> 00:28:50.100 align:middle line:90% cards to other people. 00:28:50.100 --> 00:28:54.300 align:middle line:84% I'm trying to think of the other games that we got here. 00:28:54.300 --> 00:28:59.820 align:middle line:84% In SISSYFIGHT, I would imagine the main core mechanic would 00:28:59.820 --> 00:29:04.690 align:middle line:84% be putting down the card and everyone revealing the cards 00:29:04.690 --> 00:29:08.790 align:middle line:84% simultaneously, because of you all take simultaneous turns. 00:29:08.790 --> 00:29:10.440 align:middle line:84% Make sure that's really, really fun. 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:13.060 align:middle line:90% And Yahtzee is rolling dice. 00:29:13.060 --> 00:29:15.630 align:middle line:84% That action, that thing that you're going to be doing over 00:29:15.630 --> 00:29:20.660 align:middle line:84% and over again, has to be at least fairly engaging. 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:23.755 align:middle line:84% Because if you can't get that right, then what happens is 00:29:23.755 --> 00:29:26.590 align:middle line:84% that that same movement, that happens 30 to 50 times in your 00:29:26.590 --> 00:29:28.640 align:middle line:90% game, just-- 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:32.980 align:middle line:84% the badness just gets multiplied by 30 or 50. 00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:34.640 align:middle line:90% And you don't want that. 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:39.085 align:middle line:84% So for core mechanics, I would say the thing that happens in 00:29:39.085 --> 00:29:40.510 align:middle line:90% your game the most-- 00:29:40.510 --> 00:29:44.120 align:middle line:84% and you want to make sure that that part is as engaging as 00:29:44.120 --> 00:29:46.970 align:middle line:84% possible because it gives you a rubric to say, what's not a 00:29:46.970 --> 00:29:50.360 align:middle line:84% core mechanic might be, in fact, expendable. 00:29:50.360 --> 00:29:52.530 align:middle line:84% You might not actually need it in your game. 00:29:52.530 --> 00:29:54.860 align:middle line:84% So if you've got a problem-- this game takes too long to 00:29:54.860 --> 00:29:57.820 align:middle line:84% play, this game's too hard to learn, this game's over too 00:29:57.820 --> 00:29:59.430 align:middle line:84% fast, it's too random or something-- 00:29:59.430 --> 00:30:01.040 align:middle line:84% take a look at all the things that are-- 00:30:01.040 --> 00:30:03.350 align:middle line:84% but first make sure that your core mechanics not the cause 00:30:03.350 --> 00:30:04.180 align:middle line:90% of the problem. 00:30:04.180 --> 00:30:06.220 align:middle line:84% But if the core mechanics doesn't seem to be causing the 00:30:06.220 --> 00:30:08.190 align:middle line:84% problem, that seems to be working, something else in the 00:30:08.190 --> 00:30:09.080 align:middle line:90% game is not working. 00:30:09.080 --> 00:30:10.820 align:middle line:90% Everything else expendable. 00:30:10.820 --> 00:30:14.030 align:middle line:84% And so you can look at everything else in the game, 00:30:14.030 --> 00:30:16.770 align:middle line:84% all these other rules that you've got, and say, how does 00:30:16.770 --> 00:30:18.270 align:middle line:84% that work with a core mechanic? 00:30:18.270 --> 00:30:19.110 align:middle line:90% How does that help? 00:30:19.110 --> 00:30:20.670 align:middle line:84% How does that hurt the core mechanic? 00:30:20.670 --> 00:30:23.990 align:middle line:84% It just helps your discussion as a team. 00:30:23.990 --> 00:30:25.860 align:middle line:84% Or as an individual game designer, it helps you to 00:30:25.860 --> 00:30:28.200 align:middle line:84% think about what could we throw out? 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:31.390 align:middle line:90% What could we keep? 00:30:31.390 --> 00:30:33.120 align:middle line:90% Similarly for core dynamic. 00:30:33.120 --> 00:30:40.280 align:middle line:84% It's like here's this particular interaction that we 00:30:40.280 --> 00:30:41.990 align:middle line:90% really, really want. 00:30:41.990 --> 00:30:43.830 align:middle line:84% And SISSYFIGHT is guessing what other people 00:30:43.830 --> 00:30:45.080 align:middle line:90% are going to do. 00:30:45.080 --> 00:30:47.520 align:middle line:90% 00:30:47.520 --> 00:30:49.780 align:middle line:84% I'm trying to think of other examples. 00:30:49.780 --> 00:30:53.440 align:middle line:84% And like territorial space acquisition. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:59.000 align:middle line:84% I guess Go is about taking over territory in space. 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:01.600 align:middle line:84% If that's your core dynamic, you say that's kind of fun, 00:31:01.600 --> 00:31:04.680 align:middle line:84% just making sure that I'm in control of space and nobody 00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:07.170 align:middle line:84% else can do anything they want to do in a 00:31:07.170 --> 00:31:08.500 align:middle line:90% certain part of the board. 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:10.100 align:middle line:90% That's fun. 00:31:10.100 --> 00:31:12.490 align:middle line:84% That's what I'm going for; that's my core dynamic. 00:31:12.490 --> 00:31:14.660 align:middle line:84% That's what this game is all about. 00:31:14.660 --> 00:31:17.730 align:middle line:84% Then you can look at every single mechanic, even your 00:31:17.730 --> 00:31:22.382 align:middle line:84% core mechanics, and say, is it all serving that goal? 00:31:22.382 --> 00:31:25.050 align:middle line:84% Now there's a whole bunch of tips right at the end of 00:31:25.050 --> 00:31:30.700 align:middle line:84% chapter one of Challenges for Game Designers about how to 00:31:30.700 --> 00:31:32.530 align:middle line:90% break designer's block. 00:31:32.530 --> 00:31:35.420 align:middle line:84% But I would say, actually, those things are just things 00:31:35.420 --> 00:31:37.740 align:middle line:84% you should be doing all the time, not just 00:31:37.740 --> 00:31:38.520 align:middle line:90% when you have a problem. 00:31:38.520 --> 00:31:39.870 align:middle line:84% But you should be experimenting. 00:31:39.870 --> 00:31:42.750 align:middle line:84% Things like, OK, you've got a variable. 00:31:42.750 --> 00:31:44.530 align:middle line:84% Draw two cards every turn or something. 00:31:44.530 --> 00:31:45.530 align:middle line:90% Multiply it by two. 00:31:45.530 --> 00:31:46.680 align:middle line:90% See what it does to your game. 00:31:46.680 --> 00:31:47.150 align:middle line:90% Halve it. 00:31:47.150 --> 00:31:48.000 align:middle line:90% Draw one card. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.430 align:middle line:90% See what it does to your game. 00:31:50.430 --> 00:31:55.490 align:middle line:84% Through a rule-out, and that sort of gets you to the whole 00:31:55.490 --> 00:31:57.870 align:middle line:84% iterative design thing, is that you don't actually, 00:31:57.870 --> 00:32:00.880 align:middle line:84% because games are systems, these complex little 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:03.560 align:middle line:84% collections of seemingly simple things, you don't 00:32:03.560 --> 00:32:06.060 align:middle line:84% actually know how these changes are really going to 00:32:06.060 --> 00:32:06.720 align:middle line:90% affect the game. 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:09.060 align:middle line:84% You may have a hunch, but until you actually play it 00:32:09.060 --> 00:32:11.870 align:middle line:90% out, you don't actually know. 00:32:11.870 --> 00:32:15.910 align:middle line:84% So the whole point of iterative design in 00:32:15.910 --> 00:32:19.440 align:middle line:84% engineering as well as in game design is that 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:21.190 align:middle line:90% you make the change. 00:32:21.190 --> 00:32:24.350 align:middle line:84% It has to be a substantial change. 00:32:24.350 --> 00:32:26.520 align:middle line:84% And then you actually put it to the test 00:32:26.520 --> 00:32:29.400 align:middle line:90% and see what happens. 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:32.310 align:middle line:84% This means, of course, testing, and testing takes a 00:32:32.310 --> 00:32:35.180 align:middle line:84% long time and if you're going to be making a game that takes 00:32:35.180 --> 00:32:37.500 align:middle line:84% a long time, then your testing gets even longer. 00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:42.560 align:middle line:84% So for the first project that's going to be coming up, 00:32:42.560 --> 00:32:45.200 align:middle line:84% assignment one, you want to be aiming for games that take 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.390 align:middle line:90% really not very long to play. 00:32:47.390 --> 00:32:49.880 align:middle line:84% These games that we got today, I'm not sure about 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:51.636 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE], but I know everything else that we got on 00:32:51.636 --> 00:32:53.550 align:middle line:84% that table, is pretty darn fast. 00:32:53.550 --> 00:32:56.900 align:middle line:84% Which means if you play an hour with four people who've 00:32:56.900 --> 00:33:00.130 align:middle line:84% never played your game before, you get through two or three 00:33:00.130 --> 00:33:02.480 align:middle line:90% rounds, four rounds, of them. 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:05.480 align:middle line:84% Each time, you'll be teaching a rule once, sharing and 00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:08.650 align:middle line:84% seeing how that changed the game. 00:33:08.650 --> 00:33:10.850 align:middle line:84% If you've got a game that takes an hour to play, and 00:33:10.850 --> 00:33:13.870 align:middle line:84% believe me, a lot of the projects that we've gotten 00:33:13.870 --> 00:33:19.070 align:middle line:84% from previous semesters take at least an hour to play. 00:33:19.070 --> 00:33:22.100 align:middle line:84% You've got four people for an hour and another definition of 00:33:22.100 --> 00:33:24.170 align:middle line:90% a single-player game. 00:33:24.170 --> 00:33:26.620 align:middle line:84% Because by the time they finish learning your game , 00:33:26.620 --> 00:33:29.730 align:middle line:90% half your time's up. 00:33:29.730 --> 00:33:34.160 align:middle line:84% So that's a process that we will like you all to be using 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:36.100 align:middle line:84% in your teams and your assignments, is iterative 00:33:36.100 --> 00:33:38.490 align:middle line:90% design process. 00:33:38.490 --> 00:33:40.167 align:middle line:90% Right from the beginning-- 00:33:40.167 --> 00:33:43.190 align:middle line:90% I wish I had more space-- 00:33:43.190 --> 00:33:46.960 align:middle line:84% but we're going to start with brainstorming. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:50.920 align:middle line:84% That's actually going to be Friday, the 17th, where we'll 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:52.400 align:middle line:90% actually sort of-- 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:56.330 align:middle line:84% for folks who haven't necessarily formally learned 00:33:56.330 --> 00:33:59.780 align:middle line:84% brainstorming we're just going to do a quick refresher so 00:33:59.780 --> 00:34:02.420 align:middle line:84% that everyone sort of is on the same page. 00:34:02.420 --> 00:34:04.670 align:middle line:84% You learn how to do brainstorming. 00:34:04.670 --> 00:34:07.740 align:middle line:84% You come up with a basic idea of a game, and you start to 00:34:07.740 --> 00:34:11.060 align:middle line:84% identify things that could be your core dynamics. 00:34:11.060 --> 00:34:15.330 align:middle line:84% You think of what sort of core mechanics could address that. 00:34:15.330 --> 00:34:18.889 align:middle line:84% Knock something up really, really quickly with the 00:34:18.889 --> 00:34:20.790 align:middle line:84% crappiest materials you can get your hands 00:34:20.790 --> 00:34:23.320 align:middle line:90% on and start playing. 00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:26.040 align:middle line:84% Since nobody on your team knows, really, what game 00:34:26.040 --> 00:34:27.975 align:middle line:84% you're making at that point of time, you can probably test it 00:34:27.975 --> 00:34:28.449 align:middle line:90% with your team. 00:34:28.449 --> 00:34:30.739 align:middle line:84% As soon as you do it a few times, your team becomes 00:34:30.739 --> 00:34:34.167 align:middle line:84% useless as testers because you already know too much about 00:34:34.167 --> 00:34:37.380 align:middle line:84% the game and what the game could have been. 00:34:37.380 --> 00:34:40.159 align:middle line:84% And you start playing it in ways that a fresh person, 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:41.719 align:middle line:84% who's never seen your game before, 00:34:41.719 --> 00:34:43.540 align:middle line:90% wouldn't even consider. 00:34:43.540 --> 00:34:45.840 align:middle line:84% So you actually want to keep looking for people who've 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:47.750 align:middle line:90% never played your game before. 00:34:47.750 --> 00:34:50.260 align:middle line:84% So the next step would be to broaden it to other teams in 00:34:50.260 --> 00:34:51.620 align:middle line:90% this class. 00:34:51.620 --> 00:34:53.679 align:middle line:84% Because everyone's going to be broken up in more or less 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:54.780 align:middle line:90% teams of three or four. 00:34:54.780 --> 00:34:57.360 align:middle line:84% That's pretty much, I'm going to take this game that we 00:34:57.360 --> 00:34:59.260 align:middle line:84% designed for a team of three or four, and give it to that 00:34:59.260 --> 00:35:00.170 align:middle line:90% team of three or four. 00:35:00.170 --> 00:35:02.790 align:middle line:84% And then you play their game, and give each other feedback. 00:35:02.790 --> 00:35:06.790 align:middle line:84% And that lasts for about one more session, and after that, 00:35:06.790 --> 00:35:08.050 align:middle line:84% everyone in the class is useless now. 00:35:08.050 --> 00:35:13.471 align:middle line:84% So you have to look for dormmates, friends, people on 00:35:13.471 --> 00:35:16.176 align:middle line:84% the street, just go right ahead and try to get as much 00:35:16.176 --> 00:35:17.426 align:middle line:90% feedback as you can. 00:35:17.426 --> 00:35:20.720 align:middle line:90% 00:35:20.720 --> 00:35:24.750 align:middle line:84% There is some value in replaying, especially later on 00:35:24.750 --> 00:35:28.550 align:middle line:84% once your rules are pretty set in that people start 00:35:28.550 --> 00:35:32.780 align:middle line:84% developing strategies, still some of them emergent 00:35:32.780 --> 00:35:35.370 align:middle line:84% behaviors, things to understanding sort of higher 00:35:35.370 --> 00:35:39.130 align:middle line:84% level play of the game, and you do want to test that. 00:35:39.130 --> 00:35:41.960 align:middle line:84% But don't let that prevent you from also 00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:44.300 align:middle line:90% testing with fresh players. 00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:46.830 align:middle line:84% Because in the end, you have to get past 00:35:46.830 --> 00:35:47.720 align:middle line:90% that initial hurdle. 00:35:47.720 --> 00:35:50.770 align:middle line:84% Anytime someone sees your game, they are going to have 00:35:50.770 --> 00:35:53.210 align:middle line:84% to learn your game from scratch at least once. 00:35:53.210 --> 00:35:55.680 align:middle line:84% And if they don't even get that far, they're never 00:35:55.680 --> 00:35:58.530 align:middle line:84% playing your game a second or third time. 00:35:58.530 --> 00:36:02.180 align:middle line:84% So don't optimize for the people who play your game for 00:36:02.180 --> 00:36:06.055 align:middle line:84% four weeks, because you really want the people who've only 00:36:06.055 --> 00:36:10.020 align:middle line:84% played it once to have a good time as well. 00:36:10.020 --> 00:36:13.920 align:middle line:84% That's not necessarily the case if you're making a huge, 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:16.780 align:middle line:84% well-funded game based on a franchise 00:36:16.780 --> 00:36:18.360 align:middle line:90% that's been around forever. 00:36:18.360 --> 00:36:20.100 align:middle line:84% If you're doing Halo 3 or Modern Warfare 3 or something 00:36:20.100 --> 00:36:24.040 align:middle line:84% like that, then sure you can sort of cater to the fans 00:36:24.040 --> 00:36:27.570 align:middle line:84% who've already developed these strategies and skills. 00:36:27.570 --> 00:36:30.720 align:middle line:84% But in our case, we're going after a new audience. 00:36:30.720 --> 00:36:32.690 align:middle line:84% We're going after someone who's never played anything 00:36:32.690 --> 00:36:34.024 align:middle line:84% like what you've played with before. 00:36:34.024 --> 00:36:38.870 align:middle line:90% 00:36:38.870 --> 00:36:39.002 align:middle line:90% Cool. 00:36:39.002 --> 00:36:41.770 align:middle line:90% Any questions? 00:36:41.770 --> 00:36:46.476 align:middle line:84% Feel like we've been soapboxing here for a while. 00:36:46.476 --> 00:36:47.726 align:middle line:90% Is there anything? 00:36:47.726 --> 00:36:51.236 align:middle line:90% 00:36:51.236 --> 00:36:54.310 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I guess the thing I would add from my experience, 00:36:54.310 --> 00:36:58.740 align:middle line:84% especially with iterative design is, a big trick of it 00:36:58.740 --> 00:37:00.955 align:middle line:84% is learning to kind of distance yourself emotionally 00:37:00.955 --> 00:37:05.175 align:middle line:84% from what you're working on, because half the time you end 00:37:05.175 --> 00:37:07.080 align:middle line:84% up chucking things that you really liked. 00:37:07.080 --> 00:37:10.042 align:middle line:84% You think, oh, this would be so great, but it's best to 00:37:10.042 --> 00:37:10.990 align:middle line:90% just remove it. 00:37:10.990 --> 00:37:12.800 align:middle line:84% And it helps to think of it as kind of putting it on the 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:15.330 align:middle line:84% shelf for later, and saying, OK, I'll deal with this later, 00:37:15.330 --> 00:37:18.440 align:middle line:84% or I can try this in another game. 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:20.830 align:middle line:84% And on a related note, I don't know about you, but I found 00:37:20.830 --> 00:37:24.100 align:middle line:84% that, when games I'm designing have a problem, it's almost 00:37:24.100 --> 00:37:27.780 align:middle line:84% always fixed by removing something as opposed to adding 00:37:27.780 --> 00:37:29.840 align:middle line:90% more stuff on it. 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:31.500 align:middle line:84% Unless you're going for something, I think, really 00:37:31.500 --> 00:37:35.010 align:middle line:84% complex off to start, I always prefer to try to take 00:37:35.010 --> 00:37:38.140 align:middle line:90% something out and simplify it. 00:37:38.140 --> 00:37:38.392 align:middle line:84% Especially on short projects like these it almost always 00:37:38.392 --> 00:37:39.642 align:middle line:90% works better. 00:37:39.642 --> 00:37:43.620 align:middle line:90% 00:37:43.620 --> 00:37:47.230 align:middle line:84% And then, in terms of testing, too, one thing just kind of a 00:37:47.230 --> 00:37:49.570 align:middle line:84% tip that I find works, is if you're designing a game that 00:37:49.570 --> 00:37:52.740 align:middle line:84% has a lot of different, like, passive victory and this is a 00:37:52.740 --> 00:37:55.600 align:middle line:84% little bit higher level, which you'll see when we get there, 00:37:55.600 --> 00:37:57.810 align:middle line:84% where if you want a game that has different viable 00:37:57.810 --> 00:38:01.470 align:middle line:84% strategies, a really good testing method is to have 00:38:01.470 --> 00:38:03.790 align:middle line:84% different people kind of play like a perfect 00:38:03.790 --> 00:38:05.060 align:middle line:90% version of that strategy. 00:38:05.060 --> 00:38:07.470 align:middle line:84% And you say, I'm going to do this strategy, or I'm always 00:38:07.470 --> 00:38:09.740 align:middle line:84% going to do X, and it doesn't matter if I think it's dumb, 00:38:09.740 --> 00:38:11.730 align:middle line:90% I'm just going to do it. 00:38:11.730 --> 00:38:13.920 align:middle line:84% Because that will really help you find rules that are 00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:17.356 align:middle line:84% appropriate, or find something that's overpowered. 00:38:17.356 --> 00:38:19.345 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: A good example would be Settlers right. 00:38:19.345 --> 00:38:22.220 align:middle line:84% Like if you say, obviously this wouldn't work because, 00:38:22.220 --> 00:38:24.030 align:middle line:84% the game's a good game, but like, I'm always going to 00:38:24.030 --> 00:38:24.480 align:middle line:90% build roads. 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:25.695 align:middle line:90% You know what I mean? 00:38:25.695 --> 00:38:27.430 align:middle line:84% In practice, that would be stupid,but when you're 00:38:27.430 --> 00:38:31.030 align:middle line:84% designing a game, you do that kind of strategy, and you just 00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:33.635 align:middle line:84% limit yourself to one action, you can really find things 00:38:33.635 --> 00:38:35.028 align:middle line:84% that are broken really quickly. 00:38:35.028 --> 00:38:41.450 align:middle line:90% 00:38:41.450 --> 00:38:44.414 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Thank you. 00:38:44.414 --> 00:38:45.896 align:middle line:90% Much appreciated. 00:38:45.896 --> 00:38:46.390 align:middle line:90% Cookies. 00:38:46.390 --> 00:38:48.366 align:middle line:90% Good, we have cookies. 00:38:48.366 --> 00:38:53.800 align:middle line:90% 00:38:53.800 --> 00:38:55.060 align:middle line:90% Let's see. 00:38:55.060 --> 00:38:59.900 align:middle line:84% So I think after this, we're just going to play games. 00:38:59.900 --> 00:39:03.100 align:middle line:84% We do have pre-testing as a topic coming up later in the 00:39:03.100 --> 00:39:05.590 align:middle line:84% semester, where I will actually sort of talk about 00:39:05.590 --> 00:39:07.330 align:middle line:84% the discipline on how do you do testing. 00:39:07.330 --> 00:39:09.840 align:middle line:90% 00:39:09.840 --> 00:39:16.160 align:middle line:84% Honestly, you shouldn't wait for that class to necessarily 00:39:16.160 --> 00:39:17.410 align:middle line:90% start practicing. 00:39:17.410 --> 00:39:20.010 align:middle line:90% 00:39:20.010 --> 00:39:22.775 align:middle line:84% It could be as simple as just grabbing a unit that you have 00:39:22.775 --> 00:39:24.490 align:middle line:84% never seen before and just trying to get a whole bunch of 00:39:24.490 --> 00:39:25.290 align:middle line:90% people to play it. 00:39:25.290 --> 00:39:26.870 align:middle line:84% And critiquing it at the same time. 00:39:26.870 --> 00:39:28.730 align:middle line:90% It's like, why did I do that? 00:39:28.730 --> 00:39:29.730 align:middle line:90% Why did you do that? 00:39:29.730 --> 00:39:31.170 align:middle line:90% Why did you do that move? 00:39:31.170 --> 00:39:34.900 align:middle line:84% And there are sort of practices to make sure that 00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:38.420 align:middle line:84% when it's your game, you are not sort of telling the 00:39:38.420 --> 00:39:41.990 align:middle line:84% players what they should be doing while they are trying to 00:39:41.990 --> 00:39:44.570 align:middle line:84% play the game, because that affects their play of the game 00:39:44.570 --> 00:39:48.410 align:middle line:90% in a way that biases it. 00:39:48.410 --> 00:39:50.580 align:middle line:84% Well, we'll get to that later in the semester. 00:39:50.580 --> 00:39:56.200 align:middle line:84% For now just be aware, the more that you're testing, the 00:39:56.200 --> 00:39:58.510 align:middle line:84% more you're sort of tweaking your rules in between tests 00:39:58.510 --> 00:40:01.110 align:middle line:84% and then getting another chance to test and test and 00:40:01.110 --> 00:40:03.210 align:middle line:84% test, the closer you are to getting a game that is 00:40:03.210 --> 00:40:05.530 align:middle line:84% actually fun and engaging to play. 00:40:05.530 --> 00:40:06.440 align:middle line:84% And that's what we're looking for. 00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:08.710 align:middle line:84% That's the process that we expect you folks to suceed in. 00:40:08.710 --> 00:40:11.220 align:middle line:84% When do we ever get to fun and engaging? 00:40:11.220 --> 00:40:12.170 align:middle line:90% Who knows? 00:40:12.170 --> 00:40:13.850 align:middle line:84% We don't know whether you're going to get there, so we're 00:40:13.850 --> 00:40:14.820 align:middle line:90% not grading you based on that. 00:40:14.820 --> 00:40:15.470 align:middle line:90% Just remember that. 00:40:15.470 --> 00:40:17.926 align:middle line:84% We're not grading you on how engaging your games are. 00:40:17.926 --> 00:40:19.710 align:middle line:84% But how well do you stick to the process? 00:40:19.710 --> 00:40:20.655 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:40:20.655 --> 00:40:22.080 align:middle line:90% Absolutely. 00:40:22.080 --> 00:40:26.615 align:middle line:84% There was a question in the forums about when do you stop? 00:40:26.615 --> 00:40:31.600 align:middle line:90% 00:40:31.600 --> 00:40:33.300 align:middle line:84% I didn't get a chance to look too closely at it. 00:40:33.300 --> 00:40:34.130 align:middle line:90% What--can you repeat it? 00:40:34.130 --> 00:40:36.140 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's essentially, it's the question of, say, 00:40:36.140 --> 00:40:38.070 align:middle line:84% there is this iterative design process. 00:40:38.070 --> 00:40:40.070 align:middle line:84% When do you know when to just sort of 00:40:40.070 --> 00:40:41.574 align:middle line:90% get out of that process? 00:40:41.574 --> 00:40:42.022 align:middle line:90% But-- 00:40:42.022 --> 00:40:42.918 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Due date. 00:40:42.918 --> 00:40:43.660 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Due date. 00:40:43.660 --> 00:40:44.420 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:40:44.420 --> 00:40:46.780 align:middle line:90% That's always a good reason. 00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:49.540 align:middle line:84% I guess, if you didn't have a due date, like how would you 00:40:49.540 --> 00:40:50.570 align:middle line:90% know when to shift? 00:40:50.570 --> 00:40:52.610 align:middle line:84% Well, let's say you have control over the due date. 00:40:52.610 --> 00:40:56.645 align:middle line:84% I guess part of that is, you should always be updating, 00:40:56.645 --> 00:40:58.520 align:middle line:84% blah blah, so I guess the question is when do you know 00:40:58.520 --> 00:41:02.590 align:middle line:84% when you have something you can put out into the world? 00:41:02.590 --> 00:41:05.110 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So the cynical answer is that, yeah, is that 00:41:05.110 --> 00:41:07.770 align:middle line:90% you wait for -- 00:41:07.770 --> 00:41:11.704 align:middle line:84% you have to ship, right, or you're not getting any cash. 00:41:11.704 --> 00:41:17.560 align:middle line:84% I personally think it would be sooner than you think. 00:41:17.560 --> 00:41:21.070 align:middle line:84% As, like, my game's almost ready but I know there's 00:41:21.070 --> 00:41:23.360 align:middle line:84% something wrong with it, especially 00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:25.890 align:middle line:90% when you're a student. 00:41:25.890 --> 00:41:29.650 align:middle line:84% Right now, I'm in this mode with my StarCraft games, which 00:41:29.650 --> 00:41:31.490 align:middle line:90% is, this path is cracked. 00:41:31.490 --> 00:41:32.780 align:middle line:84% I know there's something wrong with it. 00:41:32.780 --> 00:41:34.160 align:middle line:90% I have no idea what it is. 00:41:34.160 --> 00:41:36.140 align:middle line:84% Therefore, I'm going to release it. 00:41:36.140 --> 00:41:38.480 align:middle line:84% Because until I do that, I have no idea 00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:39.600 align:middle line:90% what's wrong with it. 00:41:39.600 --> 00:41:41.950 align:middle line:84% I need to get that information. 00:41:41.950 --> 00:41:46.140 align:middle line:84% The nice thing about stuff like computer games is that 00:41:46.140 --> 00:41:48.000 align:middle line:90% you can ship updates. 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:49.840 align:middle line:90% It's annoying but you can. 00:41:49.840 --> 00:41:53.460 align:middle line:84% But even board games and card games now have rule revisions, 00:41:53.460 --> 00:41:57.970 align:middle line:84% rule clarifications that you can release over the net. 00:41:57.970 --> 00:42:02.710 align:middle line:84% For the most part, if you're going to go professional, your 00:42:02.710 --> 00:42:03.990 align:middle line:90% publisher will tell you. 00:42:03.990 --> 00:42:07.010 align:middle line:84% And then the answer really is due date. 00:42:07.010 --> 00:42:09.170 align:middle line:84% It's going to the presses on this date. 00:42:09.170 --> 00:42:12.260 align:middle line:84% And that's one maxim, which is, game 00:42:12.260 --> 00:42:13.430 align:middle line:90% projects are never finished. 00:42:13.430 --> 00:42:15.610 align:middle line:90% They're just abandoned. 00:42:15.610 --> 00:42:16.570 align:middle line:90% It's just horrible. 00:42:16.570 --> 00:42:18.425 align:middle line:84% I can't do anything else about this because I'm out of time. 00:42:18.425 --> 00:42:20.560 align:middle line:90% Ship it. 00:42:20.560 --> 00:42:23.740 align:middle line:84% But one thing that you can do to prepare for that-- 00:42:23.740 --> 00:42:24.220 align:middle line:90% Let me see. 00:42:24.220 --> 00:42:25.536 align:middle line:90% Is there a laser around here? 00:42:25.536 --> 00:42:32.230 align:middle line:90% 00:42:32.230 --> 00:42:37.210 align:middle line:84% There is a guy who runs a blog called Lost Garden. 00:42:37.210 --> 00:42:38.000 align:middle line:90% His name is Dan Cook. 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:39.940 align:middle line:90% He works over in Microsoft. 00:42:39.940 --> 00:42:43.270 align:middle line:84% And he talks a lot about game design. 00:42:43.270 --> 00:42:44.640 align:middle line:84% Specifically about video game design, but actually his stuff 00:42:44.640 --> 00:42:46.522 align:middle line:84% is actually really, really impeccable. 00:42:46.522 --> 00:42:51.090 align:middle line:84% And he has this concept that game design-- or iterative 00:42:51.090 --> 00:42:59.290 align:middle line:84% game design kind of goes in this kind of cycle, where this 00:42:59.290 --> 00:43:01.020 align:middle line:84% list down here is the number of features 00:43:01.020 --> 00:43:03.700 align:middle line:90% you've got in the game. 00:43:03.700 --> 00:43:08.790 align:middle line:84% The trick, though, is that what you're really doing is, 00:43:08.790 --> 00:43:11.690 align:middle line:84% you are taking-- let me see if this is right. 00:43:11.690 --> 00:43:15.440 align:middle line:90% 00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:17.860 align:middle line:90% So this is all the good stuff. 00:43:17.860 --> 00:43:22.330 align:middle line:84% This is all the stuff that's not so good. 00:43:22.330 --> 00:43:28.330 align:middle line:84% And the whole idea of sort of like using iterative design is 00:43:28.330 --> 00:43:32.850 align:middle line:84% to allow yourself to the space to come up with a whole bunch 00:43:32.850 --> 00:43:35.340 align:middle line:84% of ideas, not knowing whether they're good or bad. 00:43:35.340 --> 00:43:39.950 align:middle line:84% But it also gives you a gate to cut out all the bad stuff. 00:43:39.950 --> 00:43:44.100 align:middle line:84% So at frequent periodic intervals, you have a 00:43:44.100 --> 00:43:49.040 align:middle line:84% collection of rules, of cards, of designs, of whatever 00:43:49.040 --> 00:43:52.230 align:middle line:84% consists your game, that, is pretty much as good as it 00:43:52.230 --> 00:43:53.935 align:middle line:84% possibly could have been given the amount of 00:43:53.935 --> 00:43:54.850 align:middle line:90% time that you got. 00:43:54.850 --> 00:43:57.420 align:middle line:90% And that could ship. 00:43:57.420 --> 00:44:01.930 align:middle line:84% So if ship date was here, you had as good a game as you 00:44:01.930 --> 00:44:02.950 align:middle line:90% possibly could do it. 00:44:02.950 --> 00:44:06.240 align:middle line:84% If ship date turned out to be there, all of a sudden you've 00:44:06.240 --> 00:44:10.692 align:middle line:84% still had the opportunity to put out all of the stuff that 00:44:10.692 --> 00:44:13.310 align:middle line:90% you knew was bad. 00:44:13.310 --> 00:44:16.550 align:middle line:84% So iterative design is not about, let's just keep 00:44:16.550 --> 00:44:19.470 align:middle line:84% accreting more and more and more and more features. 00:44:19.470 --> 00:44:22.610 align:middle line:84% It's more about, we're going to add some features and then 00:44:22.610 --> 00:44:25.210 align:middle line:84% we're going to remove the ones that don't work. 00:44:25.210 --> 00:44:26.700 align:middle line:84% And that's really, really important. 00:44:26.700 --> 00:44:29.780 align:middle line:84% So at any given time, you are prepared to 00:44:29.780 --> 00:44:31.520 align:middle line:90% sort of release it. 00:44:31.520 --> 00:44:34.670 align:middle line:84% As for when you actually decide that this is now ready 00:44:34.670 --> 00:44:37.620 align:middle line:84% to go out, again I will repeat, sooner day than you 00:44:37.620 --> 00:44:39.570 align:middle line:84% think because you need that feedback. 00:44:39.570 --> 00:44:43.270 align:middle line:84% Sometimes you don't know how a market is going to respond 00:44:43.270 --> 00:44:46.690 align:middle line:84% until you actually do it, but you can do a soft launch. 00:44:46.690 --> 00:44:50.190 align:middle line:84% If you are doing a commercial product, you can do things 00:44:50.190 --> 00:44:53.580 align:middle line:84% where, we're going to release it to a few select stores and 00:44:53.580 --> 00:44:58.060 align:middle line:84% get that feedback before we go into major print run. 00:44:58.060 --> 00:45:02.510 align:middle line:84% Or for 10,000 different copies of the same board game. 00:45:02.510 --> 00:45:06.000 align:middle line:84% We're going to 200 copies and see how that does for us. 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:08.340 align:middle line:84% Gives you the opportunity to make a revision, but it's 00:45:08.340 --> 00:45:11.240 align:middle line:84% still an official release, because those 200 people think 00:45:11.240 --> 00:45:14.880 align:middle line:84% that this is the final packaged product. 00:45:14.880 --> 00:45:18.280 align:middle line:84% That's pretty much how a lot of manufacturing industries 00:45:18.280 --> 00:45:22.350 align:middle line:84% actually work, anyway, so you think about any kind of 00:45:22.350 --> 00:45:25.685 align:middle line:84% product design, a lot of them have a sort of a trial period. 00:45:25.685 --> 00:45:26.930 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Soft drinks you get a lot. 00:45:26.930 --> 00:45:29.660 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Soft drinks you get a lot. 00:45:29.660 --> 00:45:31.540 align:middle line:84% Japanese electronics, and other things. 00:45:31.540 --> 00:45:33.550 align:middle line:84% You release it in Tokyo, and then you release it in the 00:45:33.550 --> 00:45:34.980 align:middle line:90% rest of Japan. 00:45:34.980 --> 00:45:39.160 align:middle line:84% And sometimes it never makes it out of Japan because that 00:45:39.160 --> 00:45:40.550 align:middle line:90% initial test-- 00:45:40.550 --> 00:45:42.920 align:middle line:84% yeah, it was a good product but not enough people bought 00:45:42.920 --> 00:45:43.970 align:middle line:90% it because of these problems. 00:45:43.970 --> 00:45:47.220 align:middle line:84% So instead of releasing it into the world, we're going to 00:45:47.220 --> 00:45:49.928 align:middle line:84% make version two, and maybe that will be one we 00:45:49.928 --> 00:45:51.930 align:middle line:90% release to the world. 00:45:51.930 --> 00:45:55.050 align:middle line:90% That's one example. 00:45:55.050 --> 00:45:58.276 align:middle line:90% All right, so we have games. 00:45:58.276 --> 00:46:01.650 align:middle line:90% Who has not played Uno? 00:46:01.650 --> 00:46:04.966 align:middle line:90% OK, we have more games that-- 00:46:04.966 --> 00:46:05.462 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:46:05.462 --> 00:46:06.950 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:46:06.950 --> 00:46:07.310 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:46:07.310 --> 00:46:11.520 align:middle line:84% So Jason, you're going to do a Euchre table? 00:46:11.520 --> 00:46:12.292 align:middle line:90% So-- 00:46:12.292 --> 00:46:15.633 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It sounds like 4 player trick taking game, kind 00:46:15.633 --> 00:46:16.954 align:middle line:84% of like bane or current speeds or which? 00:46:16.954 --> 00:46:19.750 align:middle line:90% 00:46:19.750 --> 00:46:23.152 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Looks like we have exactly four people-- one, 00:46:23.152 --> 00:46:26.638 align:middle line:84% two, three, four, one, two, three-- 00:46:26.638 --> 00:46:29.626 align:middle line:84% it's an average of three people per table. 00:46:29.626 --> 00:46:32.180 align:middle line:90% 00:46:32.180 --> 00:46:36.352 align:middle line:84% I think most of these games are three to five player, 00:46:36.352 --> 00:46:39.638 align:middle line:84% although I'm going to be absolutely sure. 00:46:39.638 --> 00:46:44.830 align:middle line:90% 00:46:44.830 --> 00:46:46.740 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:46:46.740 --> 00:46:48.380 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: --so it might 00:46:48.380 --> 00:46:50.270 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:46:50.270 --> 00:46:51.630 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You guys might actually want to try the round 00:46:51.630 --> 00:46:52.670 align:middle line:90% table in the corner? 00:46:52.670 --> 00:46:56.030 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, it's a [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 00:46:56.030 --> 00:46:58.972 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I really want to play bowling. 00:46:58.972 --> 00:47:01.420 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:47:01.420 --> 00:47:05.470 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So basically, take a game from the table. 00:47:05.470 --> 00:47:09.930 align:middle line:84% I'll bring some out and I'll see --play them. 00:47:09.930 --> 00:47:12.000 align:middle line:84% Once you've had a chance to play a few times, 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:13.590 align:middle line:90% feel free to switch. 00:47:13.590 --> 00:47:15.876 align:middle line:84% And try to get as many games played as possible during the 00:47:15.876 --> 00:47:17.126 align:middle line:90% next couple of hours. 00:47:17.126 --> 00:47:20.085 align:middle line:90%