WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.090 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.090 --> 00:00:02.490 align:middle line:84% The following content is provided under a Creative 00:00:02.490 --> 00:00:04.030 align:middle line:90% Commons license. 00:00:04.030 --> 00:00:06.330 align:middle line:84% Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare 00:00:06.330 --> 00:00:10.690 align:middle line:84% continue to offer high quality educational resources for free. 00:00:10.690 --> 00:00:13.320 align:middle line:84% To make a donation or view additional materials 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:17.280 align:middle line:84% from hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.070 align:middle line:90% at ocw.mit.edu. 00:00:20.070 --> 00:00:22.140 align:middle line:84% Some content in this audio lecture 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:25.740 align:middle line:84% is not covered under our Creative Commons license. 00:00:25.740 --> 00:00:29.040 align:middle line:84% Please listen to the end credits for more information. 00:00:29.040 --> 00:00:30.315 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:00:30.315 --> 00:00:31.590 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:00:31.590 --> 00:00:35.410 align:middle line:84% So today's reading was the "MDA" paper 00:00:35.410 --> 00:00:40.400 align:middle line:84% by Robin Hunicke, Robert Zubek, and Marc LeBlanc. 00:00:40.400 --> 00:00:43.230 align:middle line:84% I hope you found it pretty light reading because it was intended 00:00:43.230 --> 00:00:44.160 align:middle line:90% to be pretty light. 00:00:44.160 --> 00:00:46.980 align:middle line:84% And the whole point of it was that we 00:00:46.980 --> 00:00:49.380 align:middle line:84% will be getting through this pretty quickly 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:52.020 align:middle line:84% today so that you have time to sit with your teams, 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:55.405 align:middle line:84% talk about your project, work on it a little bit. 00:00:55.405 --> 00:00:57.530 align:middle line:84% All the prototyping materials that are in front I'm 00:00:57.530 --> 00:01:01.920 align:middle line:84% going to be putting the boxes on the tables. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.260 align:middle line:84% Are you more or less seated with your teams right now? 00:01:04.260 --> 00:01:04.819 align:middle line:90% More or less? 00:01:04.819 --> 00:01:06.150 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:01:06.150 --> 00:01:08.700 align:middle line:84% Every team represented-- let's see. 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:11.060 align:middle line:90% You are the building team. 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:12.050 align:middle line:90% You guys are the-- 00:01:12.050 --> 00:01:12.705 align:middle line:90% which? 00:01:12.705 --> 00:01:13.830 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I'm also builder. 00:01:13.830 --> 00:01:15.603 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: The different building team. 00:01:15.603 --> 00:01:16.700 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: The LEGOs, yeah. 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:17.408 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:01:17.408 --> 00:01:18.590 align:middle line:90% The LEGO building team, OK. 00:01:18.590 --> 00:01:20.070 align:middle line:90% Which team is that? 00:01:20.070 --> 00:01:21.467 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:01:21.467 --> 00:01:22.300 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: The what? 00:01:22.300 --> 00:01:23.509 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Hidden information. 00:01:23.509 --> 00:01:25.150 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: The hidden information team. 00:01:25.150 --> 00:01:26.127 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Thievery. 00:01:26.127 --> 00:01:29.214 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: The thievery, stealing stuff? 00:01:29.214 --> 00:01:30.560 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: The path building. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:31.600 align:middle line:90% Path building. 00:01:31.600 --> 00:01:32.480 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Oh, you're the path building. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:32.760 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:33.260 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:35.160 align:middle line:90% So, all right, cool. 00:01:35.160 --> 00:01:36.717 align:middle line:90% I'll type it here, great. 00:01:36.717 --> 00:01:39.050 align:middle line:84% Hopefully we'll be able to make a little bit of progress 00:01:39.050 --> 00:01:42.980 align:middle line:90% on your teams on your projects. 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:49.675 align:middle line:84% So who managed to play a little bit more of the games, 00:01:49.675 --> 00:01:52.050 align:middle line:84% whether it was the prototype that you played on Wednesday 00:01:52.050 --> 00:01:54.720 align:middle line:84% or whether it was something else you developed along the way. 00:01:54.720 --> 00:01:56.970 align:middle line:84% Who managed to get some playtime? 00:01:56.970 --> 00:01:59.130 align:middle line:90% OK, a few people. 00:01:59.130 --> 00:02:01.335 align:middle line:90% Who did you play it with? 00:02:01.335 --> 00:02:03.460 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So we just went back to the drawing board 00:02:03.460 --> 00:02:05.368 align:middle line:90% and redid new games. 00:02:05.368 --> 00:02:05.910 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK 00:02:05.910 --> 00:02:06.757 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Exploring. 00:02:06.757 --> 00:02:08.220 align:middle line:84% So we just played them amongst ourselves. 00:02:08.220 --> 00:02:08.880 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Among yourselves? 00:02:08.880 --> 00:02:09.830 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:02:09.830 --> 00:02:10.889 align:middle line:90% Who did you play with? 00:02:10.889 --> 00:02:12.764 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Just different people in the dorms. 00:02:12.764 --> 00:02:14.220 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:02:14.220 --> 00:02:16.756 align:middle line:90% Dormmates basically, right? 00:02:16.756 --> 00:02:18.240 align:middle line:90% Anyone else? 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:19.460 align:middle line:90% Did anyone else do? 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:19.960 align:middle line:90% Yep. 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:21.710 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I mean, we went through a couple 00:02:21.710 --> 00:02:22.480 align:middle line:90% more iterations-- 00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:23.390 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Just within your team? 00:02:23.390 --> 00:02:23.690 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:02:23.690 --> 00:02:24.030 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR Yeah. 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:24.530 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:02:24.530 --> 00:02:30.050 align:middle line:90% 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:33.480 align:middle line:84% Did you play an iteration that you didn't develop yourself? 00:02:33.480 --> 00:02:34.890 align:middle line:90% Did anyone? 00:02:34.890 --> 00:02:39.470 align:middle line:84% It's like, if you played within your team, obviously-- 00:02:39.470 --> 00:02:40.407 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:02:40.407 --> 00:02:42.990 align:middle line:84% So if you played a version that you hadn't developed yourself, 00:02:42.990 --> 00:02:46.350 align:middle line:84% or if you played it with other people who were developing 00:02:46.350 --> 00:02:49.530 align:middle line:90% the game with you, how do you-- 00:02:49.530 --> 00:02:56.700 align:middle line:84% what were some of the things that you felt about the game? 00:02:56.700 --> 00:02:59.640 align:middle line:84% Or what did people say about your game 00:02:59.640 --> 00:03:01.670 align:middle line:90% once the game was done? 00:03:01.670 --> 00:03:06.245 align:middle line:84% What did people seem to like or not like about it? 00:03:06.245 --> 00:03:08.370 align:middle line:84% What were some of the things that they were saying. 00:03:08.370 --> 00:03:09.076 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It didn't end. 00:03:09.076 --> 00:03:10.230 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: It didn't end. 00:03:10.230 --> 00:03:12.960 align:middle line:90% OK, all right. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.000 align:middle line:90% What else? 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:16.620 align:middle line:84% It could have been negative feedback. 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:19.535 align:middle line:84% It could have been, wow, this is terrible because, blah. 00:03:19.535 --> 00:03:20.677 align:middle line:90% What was the blah? 00:03:20.677 --> 00:03:24.270 align:middle line:90% 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:25.770 align:middle line:84% Or it could have been, wow, that was 00:03:25.770 --> 00:03:27.230 align:middle line:90% kind of cool because of blah. 00:03:27.230 --> 00:03:31.730 align:middle line:90% 00:03:31.730 --> 00:03:33.580 align:middle line:90% Nothing? 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:34.950 align:middle line:90% Nobody gave you any feedback? 00:03:34.950 --> 00:03:37.350 align:middle line:84% They just kind of sat there, passively, 00:03:37.350 --> 00:03:39.090 align:middle line:90% why are you making us play this? 00:03:39.090 --> 00:03:41.617 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:03:41.617 --> 00:03:47.640 align:middle line:84% OK, well, I was hoping that that was a segue into a little talk 00:03:47.640 --> 00:03:50.870 align:middle line:90% about aesthetics, actually. 00:03:50.870 --> 00:03:55.925 align:middle line:84% Maybe what I'll do then is, I'm gonna make you play a game. 00:03:55.925 --> 00:03:57.140 align:middle line:90% A short game. 00:03:57.140 --> 00:03:59.010 align:middle line:90% The game that you will see-- 00:03:59.010 --> 00:03:59.975 align:middle line:90% who's played it before? 00:03:59.975 --> 00:04:01.350 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The game on the screen? 00:04:01.350 --> 00:04:03.390 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah, Oasis. 00:04:03.390 --> 00:04:06.865 align:middle line:84% Also note it's Defense of the Oasis, which is easily confused 00:04:06.865 --> 00:04:11.480 align:middle line:90% with DOTA, but it is not DOTA. 00:04:11.480 --> 00:04:13.212 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:04:13.212 --> 00:04:14.670 align:middle line:84% If somebody would like to volunteer 00:04:14.670 --> 00:04:19.079 align:middle line:84% to play through an early easy level while there's a lot-- 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:20.447 align:middle line:90% you know what? 00:04:20.447 --> 00:04:22.530 align:middle line:84% You all get a chance to play it through one round, 00:04:22.530 --> 00:04:24.460 align:middle line:84% because each round's pretty fast. 00:04:24.460 --> 00:04:27.190 align:middle line:84% So we'll start with you and then we'll go on then, OK? 00:04:27.190 --> 00:04:28.980 align:middle line:84% And then, everybody else pay attention 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:34.410 align:middle line:84% because I guess he's pretty much playing the tutorial level. 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:38.040 align:middle line:84% So this was only designed for the PC. 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:41.400 align:middle line:90% It was actually one of the-- 00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:42.990 align:middle line:84% came out roughly-- you could just 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:44.865 align:middle line:84% go ahead and play-- it came out roughly about 00:04:44.865 --> 00:04:48.390 align:middle line:84% the same time as casual games, downloadable, casual games, 00:04:48.390 --> 00:04:53.910 align:middle line:90% picking up on the market. 00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:56.520 align:middle line:84% I don't think it was ever sold as a boxed product, 00:04:56.520 --> 00:04:59.580 align:middle line:84% or if it was, that really wasn't the point 00:04:59.580 --> 00:05:00.666 align:middle line:90% of its business model. 00:05:00.666 --> 00:05:04.195 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There were people following me. 00:05:04.195 --> 00:05:06.140 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: So you click around. 00:05:06.140 --> 00:05:07.640 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I can probably figure out. 00:05:07.640 --> 00:05:11.915 align:middle line:84% Oh, this is really the point of figuring it out. 00:05:11.915 --> 00:05:14.290 align:middle line:90% That one. 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:15.452 align:middle line:90% That happened. 00:05:15.452 --> 00:05:17.356 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:05:17.356 --> 00:05:18.893 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Let's keep walking. 00:05:18.893 --> 00:05:19.740 align:middle line:90% 151. 00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:20.880 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Already searched. 00:05:20.880 --> 00:05:23.180 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:27.200 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, it happened again Already searched. 00:05:27.200 --> 00:05:29.620 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:32.040 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You should do something clever. 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.460 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:34.460 --> 00:05:37.430 align:middle line:90% 00:05:37.430 --> 00:05:40.820 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So notice the trends are going down. 00:05:40.820 --> 00:05:41.820 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:05:41.820 --> 00:05:43.215 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:43.215 --> 00:05:44.145 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Water. 00:05:44.145 --> 00:05:46.237 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:46.237 --> 00:05:48.232 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: They like music, don't they? 00:05:48.232 --> 00:05:50.448 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:50.448 --> 00:05:50.990 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: OK. 00:05:50.990 --> 00:05:52.200 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Big shiny thing. 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:53.867 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: How do we increase population? 00:05:53.867 --> 00:05:56.352 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:05:56.352 --> 00:05:57.757 align:middle line:90% 00:05:57.757 --> 00:05:58.340 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yay. 00:05:58.340 --> 00:06:00.825 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:06:00.825 --> 00:06:03.320 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Throw that towel. 00:06:03.320 --> 00:06:07.873 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Look, notice this guy is down there. 00:06:07.873 --> 00:06:09.757 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I am watching you. 00:06:09.757 --> 00:06:11.641 align:middle line:90% Oh, hey, hello people. 00:06:11.641 --> 00:06:13.980 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:14.278 align:middle line:90% 00:06:14.278 --> 00:06:15.820 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So this actually turns out 00:06:15.820 --> 00:06:17.290 align:middle line:90% not to be the tutorial level. 00:06:17.290 --> 00:06:20.944 align:middle line:84% This just turns out to be the first level. 00:06:20.944 --> 00:06:22.444 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The way most people play-- 00:06:22.444 --> 00:06:23.080 align:middle line:90% why don't you use the tutorial? 00:06:23.080 --> 00:06:24.328 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: That's true. 00:06:24.328 --> 00:06:26.370 align:middle line:84% People don't like playing tutorials, that's true. 00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:28.628 align:middle line:90% 00:06:28.628 --> 00:06:31.170 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So are we supposed to find these four technologies. 00:06:31.170 --> 00:06:32.170 align:middle line:90% The barbarians are here? 00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:33.640 align:middle line:90% Why are they-- no, they're not. 00:06:33.640 --> 00:06:38.740 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You have 22 turns and about two barbarian hordes 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:40.080 align:middle line:90% are arriving. 00:06:40.080 --> 00:06:42.640 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So basically, movements is turn, 00:06:42.640 --> 00:06:44.034 align:middle line:90% and I'm just walking. 00:06:44.034 --> 00:06:44.701 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:06:44.701 --> 00:06:47.650 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So people-- I should walk to an area I've already 00:06:47.650 --> 00:06:50.961 align:middle line:90% discovered? 00:06:50.961 --> 00:06:53.326 align:middle line:90% Over here. 00:06:53.326 --> 00:06:55.166 align:middle line:90% Oh, I did something clever! 00:06:55.166 --> 00:06:56.520 align:middle line:90% I don't know what I did. 00:06:56.520 --> 00:06:58.037 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:06:58.037 --> 00:06:59.370 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Just when you search-- 00:06:59.370 --> 00:07:00.020 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:07:00.020 --> 00:07:01.437 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I don't know what to do. 00:07:01.437 --> 00:07:03.270 align:middle line:84% I'll just walk here and watch things go bad. 00:07:03.270 --> 00:07:04.645 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Barbarians are coming. 00:07:04.645 --> 00:07:05.415 align:middle line:90% Tap to the city. 00:07:05.415 --> 00:07:06.650 align:middle line:90% Move troops there. 00:07:06.650 --> 00:07:07.980 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Move here. 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:11.030 align:middle line:90% Yay, 94 people. 00:07:11.030 --> 00:07:12.710 align:middle line:90% Can I move other people? 00:07:12.710 --> 00:07:13.399 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Try. 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:14.024 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Try. 00:07:14.024 --> 00:07:14.900 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: No more troops. 00:07:14.900 --> 00:07:15.610 align:middle line:90% No more troops. 00:07:15.610 --> 00:07:17.490 align:middle line:90% No more troops. 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:19.490 align:middle line:90% We're all going to die. 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:19.990 align:middle line:90% 333. 00:07:19.990 --> 00:07:22.085 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:22.085 --> 00:07:22.284 align:middle line:90% 00:07:22.284 --> 00:07:23.992 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, I thought this was supposed 00:07:23.992 --> 00:07:27.089 align:middle line:90% to be me learning how to play. 00:07:27.089 --> 00:07:28.740 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah, learning. 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:30.030 align:middle line:90% Feel the learning. 00:07:30.030 --> 00:07:32.530 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:32.530 --> 00:07:33.196 align:middle line:90% 00:07:33.196 --> 00:07:35.010 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You have to use your technology. 00:07:35.010 --> 00:07:36.940 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah, can you use any? 00:07:36.940 --> 00:07:38.440 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I'm tapping on technology. 00:07:38.440 --> 00:07:39.420 align:middle line:90% I'm tapping Hannibal. 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:42.028 align:middle line:90% I'm tapping spear. 00:07:42.028 --> 00:07:44.320 align:middle line:84% I'm giving it all my love, and it's not doing anything. 00:07:44.320 --> 00:07:46.770 align:middle line:90% [CRASHING AND YELLING] 00:07:46.770 --> 00:07:49.220 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I think I won. 00:07:49.220 --> 00:07:51.598 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:51.598 --> 00:07:53.140 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Come on, man, you got this. 00:07:53.140 --> 00:07:55.413 align:middle line:90% Kill them. 00:07:55.413 --> 00:07:56.080 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Whoa. 00:07:56.080 --> 00:07:57.570 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: What did they do? 00:07:57.570 --> 00:07:58.793 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, snap. 00:07:58.793 --> 00:07:59.464 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Zot. 00:07:59.464 --> 00:08:00.627 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:08:00.627 --> 00:08:01.252 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: What? 00:08:01.252 --> 00:08:02.687 align:middle line:90% 00:08:02.687 --> 00:08:03.270 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:08:03.270 --> 00:08:05.690 align:middle line:84% So you did, in fact, complete the level. 00:08:05.690 --> 00:08:08.150 align:middle line:84% But you're probably fairly befuddled about what 00:08:08.150 --> 00:08:10.020 align:middle line:90% happened here. 00:08:10.020 --> 00:08:15.742 align:middle line:84% How do you feel at the end of that level right now? 00:08:15.742 --> 00:08:17.575 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Like I'm good at touching squares, 00:08:17.575 --> 00:08:19.040 align:middle line:90% but that doesn't mean much. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:22.025 align:middle line:84% Like all I knew was if I found cities I'd tap them again 00:08:22.025 --> 00:08:23.157 align:middle line:90% and I could search. 00:08:23.157 --> 00:08:23.740 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:08:23.740 --> 00:08:25.700 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: That's about all I found. 00:08:25.700 --> 00:08:27.490 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:08:27.490 --> 00:08:29.650 align:middle line:84% That's what you figured out about the rules, 00:08:29.650 --> 00:08:33.280 align:middle line:84% but how do you personally feel about this game right now? 00:08:33.280 --> 00:08:36.600 align:middle line:84% I mean, granted, you only played one level, 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:38.403 align:middle line:90% and clearly the game goes on. 00:08:38.403 --> 00:08:40.320 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I feel like it's somewhat impossible 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:42.980 align:middle line:84% to control the ending situation because I 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:45.910 align:middle line:84% have no way of determining or upgrading my population. 00:08:45.910 --> 00:08:46.640 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:08:46.640 --> 00:08:47.690 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:08:47.690 --> 00:08:51.485 align:middle line:84% So it feels like things are out of control right now. 00:08:51.485 --> 00:08:52.110 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:55.480 align:middle line:84% Or like I have no influence, so I'm just one dude 00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:56.587 align:middle line:90% exploring the map. 00:08:56.587 --> 00:08:57.170 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:08:57.170 --> 00:09:03.660 align:middle line:90% So lack of influence maybe. 00:09:03.660 --> 00:09:08.740 align:middle line:84% Lack of influence, or possibly lack of control, 00:09:08.740 --> 00:09:09.920 align:middle line:90% something like that. 00:09:09.920 --> 00:09:12.718 align:middle line:90% All right, so next person. 00:09:12.718 --> 00:09:14.010 align:middle line:90% We're going from right to left. 00:09:14.010 --> 00:09:15.700 align:middle line:90% So you're next. 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:18.640 align:middle line:84% You're going to play level two, taking in everything 00:09:18.640 --> 00:09:19.640 align:middle line:90% that you've seen so far. 00:09:19.640 --> 00:09:21.940 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, crap. 00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:25.280 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Like you saw, you can tap on purple areas that are-- 00:09:25.280 --> 00:09:27.668 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Purple area to explore-- so I tap that. 00:09:27.668 --> 00:09:28.995 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:09:28.995 --> 00:09:30.370 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Anyone has-- any ideas 00:09:30.370 --> 00:09:32.883 align:middle line:84% about what he should be doing, go ahead and say so. 00:09:32.883 --> 00:09:34.550 align:middle line:84% He doesn't have to play this on his own. 00:09:34.550 --> 00:09:35.883 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: To the question mark-- 00:09:35.883 --> 00:09:37.204 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I'm doing this. 00:09:37.204 --> 00:09:38.822 align:middle line:90% I want to discover every square. 00:09:38.822 --> 00:09:40.506 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Just go to the question marks. 00:09:40.506 --> 00:09:42.850 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Now that you know-- double-tap cities. 00:09:42.850 --> 00:09:43.780 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, double tap cities? 00:09:43.780 --> 00:09:45.844 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah just tap them again, you'll search them. 00:09:45.844 --> 00:09:46.344 align:middle line:90% Ta-da! 00:09:46.344 --> 00:09:47.305 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, you got-- 00:09:47.305 --> 00:09:48.973 align:middle line:84% [INTERPOSING VOICES] Was that good? 00:09:48.973 --> 00:09:49.580 align:middle line:90% Axe. 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:50.375 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: That's probably good. 00:09:50.375 --> 00:09:51.980 align:middle line:90% I don't know what the axe does. 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:53.837 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Go to the question mark! 00:09:53.837 --> 00:09:54.920 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: He'll get there. 00:09:54.920 --> 00:09:56.298 align:middle line:90% He'll get there. 00:09:56.298 --> 00:09:58.620 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Should I go straight to the question mark? 00:09:58.620 --> 00:09:58.940 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yes. 00:09:58.940 --> 00:09:59.440 align:middle line:90% Try it. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.428 align:middle line:90% No. 00:10:00.428 --> 00:10:01.856 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But then I'm gonna [? cut myself off ?] 00:10:01.856 --> 00:10:02.523 align:middle line:90% and waste turns. 00:10:02.523 --> 00:10:03.570 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:10:03.570 --> 00:10:05.300 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Every movement is one turn 00:10:05.300 --> 00:10:07.518 align:middle line:90% no matter how far apart it is. 00:10:07.518 --> 00:10:08.060 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh. 00:10:08.060 --> 00:10:08.285 align:middle line:90% Really? 00:10:08.285 --> 00:10:08.785 align:middle line:90% No. 00:10:08.785 --> 00:10:09.733 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:10:09.733 --> 00:10:11.150 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: --do it in one straight. 00:10:11.150 --> 00:10:12.887 align:middle line:84% You have to go one purple square at a time. 00:10:12.887 --> 00:10:14.790 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, but say I wanted to go over all the squares 00:10:14.790 --> 00:10:16.116 align:middle line:90% without [INAUDIBLE] place. 00:10:16.116 --> 00:10:18.250 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You're gonna waste one turn per square 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:19.375 align:middle line:90% you discover anyways. 00:10:19.375 --> 00:10:21.250 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, it doesn't matter what order. 00:10:21.250 --> 00:10:21.792 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh. 00:10:21.792 --> 00:10:24.167 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You don't use a turn if you're not discovering? 00:10:24.167 --> 00:10:26.459 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, look at that-- discover right beneath it. 00:10:26.459 --> 00:10:27.690 align:middle line:90% That mountain does something. 00:10:27.690 --> 00:10:29.940 align:middle line:84% I don't know what it does but it gives you ten people. 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:32.780 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: What do people think that does, 00:10:32.780 --> 00:10:35.870 align:middle line:90% where he put 20 people? 00:10:35.870 --> 00:10:38.360 align:middle line:84% When you click on the mountain, what do you think happened? 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:40.510 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's not about 20 people. 00:10:40.510 --> 00:10:43.180 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:10:43.180 --> 00:10:44.390 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: --technology. 00:10:44.390 --> 00:10:46.650 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:10:46.650 --> 00:10:47.780 align:middle line:90% Go right ahead. 00:10:47.780 --> 00:10:48.785 align:middle line:90% Do whatever-- 00:10:48.785 --> 00:10:49.970 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You can put in a lot of people. 00:10:49.970 --> 00:10:51.890 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I don't know if that's good or bad. 00:10:51.890 --> 00:10:53.234 align:middle line:90% I waste turns. 00:10:53.234 --> 00:10:55.504 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Not that [INAUDIBLE] to me. 00:10:55.504 --> 00:10:57.127 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Clearly it's valuable. 00:10:57.127 --> 00:10:59.460 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: What else do we need people for at this stage. 00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:01.267 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Keep running around. 00:11:01.267 --> 00:11:01.892 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Whoa. 00:11:01.892 --> 00:11:02.535 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:11:02.535 --> 00:11:03.035 align:middle line:90% See, look. 00:11:03.035 --> 00:11:04.915 align:middle line:90% Now I'm still one turn. 00:11:04.915 --> 00:11:07.040 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Wait, do I lose followers when I do that? 00:11:07.040 --> 00:11:07.873 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:11:07.873 --> 00:11:09.123 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: We're investigating. 00:11:09.123 --> 00:11:10.300 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah, I do. 00:11:10.300 --> 00:11:10.530 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh! 00:11:10.530 --> 00:11:11.363 align:middle line:90% But I got something. 00:11:11.363 --> 00:11:11.970 align:middle line:90% I got archery. 00:11:11.970 --> 00:11:12.726 align:middle line:90% I like archers. 00:11:12.726 --> 00:11:14.220 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Clearly because you have enough people. 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:16.178 align:middle line:84% Bows increase your chances of afflicting damage 00:11:16.178 --> 00:11:16.930 align:middle line:90% on the barbarians. 00:11:16.930 --> 00:11:17.942 align:middle line:90% Good. 00:11:17.942 --> 00:11:19.180 align:middle line:90% Keep doing that stuff. 00:11:19.180 --> 00:11:21.833 align:middle line:90% 00:11:21.833 --> 00:11:23.250 align:middle line:84% I wonder-- it looks like there's-- 00:11:23.250 --> 00:11:25.720 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Whoa, I'm huge. 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:27.192 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:11:27.192 --> 00:11:28.650 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Double tap the city boys! 00:11:28.650 --> 00:11:29.180 align:middle line:90% Hit the city again. 00:11:29.180 --> 00:11:29.600 align:middle line:90% Ta-da! 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:30.470 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, look at that! 00:11:30.470 --> 00:11:32.940 align:middle line:84% I don't know that means but you found another technology. 00:11:32.940 --> 00:11:34.230 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Looks like-- 00:11:34.230 --> 00:11:35.510 align:middle line:90% I have no idea what that-- 00:11:35.510 --> 00:11:36.010 align:middle line:90% oh, helmets! 00:11:36.010 --> 00:11:37.190 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Slight improved defense [INAUDIBLE].. 00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:39.090 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, another city. 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:40.512 align:middle line:90% Greetings. 00:11:40.512 --> 00:11:43.150 align:middle line:84% At least two cities survive, I will join your cause. 00:11:43.150 --> 00:11:45.192 align:middle line:84% That means this is supposed to be a campaign game 00:11:45.192 --> 00:11:47.173 align:middle line:84% and last over a long periods of time. 00:11:47.173 --> 00:11:48.888 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: What's that thing right there? 00:11:48.888 --> 00:11:49.430 align:middle line:90% I don't know. 00:11:49.430 --> 00:11:50.600 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: What thing? 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:52.017 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The tent looking thing. 00:11:52.017 --> 00:11:52.850 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:11:52.850 --> 00:11:54.290 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, you can't double click it so you just wasted-- 00:11:54.290 --> 00:11:54.800 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Over there? 00:11:54.800 --> 00:11:55.840 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: two turns. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:56.726 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Dammit! 00:11:56.726 --> 00:11:59.365 align:middle line:90% Dude, good, another city. 00:11:59.365 --> 00:12:00.240 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.000 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: How do you add people? 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.942 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I should have searched more. 00:12:05.942 --> 00:12:08.305 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's everyone elses fault. Not yours. 00:12:08.305 --> 00:12:10.666 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, look that thing had people underneath it. 00:12:10.666 --> 00:12:13.150 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, you got more technology than I did. 00:12:13.150 --> 00:12:13.650 align:middle line:90% Very nice. 00:12:13.650 --> 00:12:15.070 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:12:15.070 --> 00:12:16.833 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Put your troops to the city. 00:12:16.833 --> 00:12:18.000 align:middle line:90% Put your troops to the city. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.828 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:12:20.828 --> 00:12:22.740 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: --half that they're going to take? 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:26.310 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Two [? knights ?] are off. 00:12:26.310 --> 00:12:28.768 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Because he's defining the second to last cities-- 00:12:28.768 --> 00:12:31.098 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] That's a lot of Trojans. 00:12:31.098 --> 00:12:34.070 align:middle line:90% Thirty are going to die. 00:12:34.070 --> 00:12:34.880 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh. 00:12:34.880 --> 00:12:36.851 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: They survived some fatal blows. 00:12:36.851 --> 00:12:39.102 align:middle line:90% 00:12:39.102 --> 00:12:40.560 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Helmet for falling rocks. 00:12:40.560 --> 00:12:41.893 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: All right, here we go. 00:12:41.893 --> 00:12:42.597 align:middle line:90% Let's do it! 00:12:42.597 --> 00:12:44.094 align:middle line:90% Go, go, go! 00:12:44.094 --> 00:12:45.092 align:middle line:90% Aw. 00:12:45.092 --> 00:12:46.589 align:middle line:90% What?! 00:12:46.589 --> 00:12:48.150 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Boo! 00:12:48.150 --> 00:12:51.085 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You shouldn't have put too many people on the lines. 00:12:51.085 --> 00:12:53.460 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh! 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:54.426 align:middle line:90% Barely survived. 00:12:54.426 --> 00:12:55.392 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I won? 00:12:55.392 --> 00:12:56.841 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:12:56.841 --> 00:12:59.739 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So how do you feel about that? 00:12:59.739 --> 00:13:02.462 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I feel awesome, but I have no idea what happened. 00:13:02.462 --> 00:13:03.045 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:13:03.045 --> 00:13:04.020 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The greater the number of cities 00:13:04.020 --> 00:13:05.562 align:middle line:84% that are connected together by roads, 00:13:05.562 --> 00:13:06.890 align:middle line:90% the faster they all grow. 00:13:06.890 --> 00:13:09.506 align:middle line:84% That dude built roads, and we don't know how. 00:13:09.506 --> 00:13:10.400 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Maybe he-- 00:13:10.400 --> 00:13:11.840 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Wait, did he actually? 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:12.800 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, he had roads before. 00:13:12.800 --> 00:13:13.435 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Did he? 00:13:13.435 --> 00:13:15.410 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, you saw him light up and connect. 00:13:15.410 --> 00:13:16.920 align:middle line:84% All those things were basically roads. 00:13:16.920 --> 00:13:18.337 align:middle line:84% You had the dudes moving along it. 00:13:18.337 --> 00:13:20.514 align:middle line:84% It's population increased in size. 00:13:20.514 --> 00:13:23.017 align:middle line:84% Our population has yet to increase in size. 00:13:23.017 --> 00:13:25.100 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I think you [I? beat it ?] before class 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:25.765 align:middle line:90% started. 00:13:25.765 --> 00:13:26.390 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:13:26.390 --> 00:13:27.787 align:middle line:90% I got a 15 dude. 00:13:27.787 --> 00:13:28.370 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:13:28.370 --> 00:13:30.578 align:middle line:84% So you feel awesome, but you're still not sure what-- 00:13:30.578 --> 00:13:32.453 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I still don't know what's going on. 00:13:32.453 --> 00:13:34.570 align:middle line:84% I do know that exploring is very good. 00:13:34.570 --> 00:13:35.215 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:13:35.215 --> 00:13:36.590 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I figured that one out. 00:13:36.590 --> 00:13:38.720 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So there's some sort of exploring. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:42.120 align:middle line:90% 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:43.850 align:middle line:90% It's good for something. 00:13:43.850 --> 00:13:45.195 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I got zero points. 00:13:45.195 --> 00:13:47.402 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:13:47.402 --> 00:13:47.985 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:13:47.985 --> 00:13:50.402 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And I got zero, too, but mine went from negative 00:13:50.402 --> 00:13:52.310 align:middle line:90% above. 00:13:52.310 --> 00:13:55.040 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: There's still a lot of confusion going on, OK. 00:13:55.040 --> 00:13:55.101 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:13:55.101 --> 00:13:55.350 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:13:55.350 --> 00:13:55.850 align:middle line:90% Next. 00:13:55.850 --> 00:13:59.600 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It's happy confusion. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:15:11.210 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:15:11.210 --> 00:15:12.940 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: How do you build a road? 00:15:12.940 --> 00:21:20.498 align:middle line:90% 00:21:20.498 --> 00:21:23.040 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I think it's showing you how the points are added. 00:21:23.040 --> 00:21:26.540 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:21:26.540 --> 00:21:27.950 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So how was that round? 00:21:27.950 --> 00:21:29.390 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It was fun. 00:21:29.390 --> 00:21:30.543 align:middle line:90% I wish that I could see-- 00:21:30.543 --> 00:21:32.460 align:middle line:84% I think there was a way to see which city they 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:34.138 align:middle line:90% were going to attack first. 00:21:34.138 --> 00:21:35.470 align:middle line:90% I didn't know what it was. 00:21:35.470 --> 00:21:35.970 align:middle line:90% I forgot. 00:21:35.970 --> 00:21:38.430 align:middle line:84% Also, I feel like it's sort of pointless 00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:41.340 align:middle line:84% that you have to click on a city again to explore it. 00:21:41.340 --> 00:21:43.827 align:middle line:84% I always want to explore it, as far as I can tell. 00:21:43.827 --> 00:21:44.410 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:21:44.410 --> 00:21:45.780 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:21:45.780 --> 00:21:49.112 align:middle line:84% So you feel that there is some redundancy going on? 00:21:49.112 --> 00:21:49.820 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh yes. 00:21:49.820 --> 00:21:50.670 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:21:50.670 --> 00:21:52.680 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:53.940 align:middle line:90% All right, cool. 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:55.740 align:middle line:90% Thank you very much. 00:21:55.740 --> 00:22:01.280 align:middle line:84% So these are kind of the things that, as players, you know, 00:22:01.280 --> 00:22:02.520 align:middle line:90% the sensations that you get. 00:22:02.520 --> 00:22:04.290 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:22:04.290 --> 00:22:07.770 align:middle line:84% You get kind of the joy of exploring, finding out 00:22:07.770 --> 00:22:10.600 align:middle line:84% new things, pushing back the fog. 00:22:10.600 --> 00:22:12.840 align:middle line:84% And the beginning of learning again, 00:22:12.840 --> 00:22:14.610 align:middle line:84% this confusion, this befuddlement. 00:22:14.610 --> 00:22:19.140 align:middle line:84% You don't actually know how your actions are changing things. 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:21.220 align:middle line:84% But if you play a lot of games, you 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:25.070 align:middle line:84% are usually sort of primed to accept a little bit of that. 00:22:25.070 --> 00:22:27.360 align:middle line:84% And sometimes it's balanced well enough 00:22:27.360 --> 00:22:31.357 align:middle line:84% that it sort of intrigues you rather than puts you off. 00:22:31.357 --> 00:22:32.815 align:middle line:84% But sometimes it just puts you off. 00:22:32.815 --> 00:22:35.700 align:middle line:90% 00:22:35.700 --> 00:22:38.385 align:middle line:84% Someone said that it felt good to save people. 00:22:38.385 --> 00:22:43.230 align:middle line:90% 00:22:43.230 --> 00:22:47.420 align:middle line:84% You described it as feeling kind of fun. 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:49.410 align:middle line:84% In the paper there are some different ways 00:22:49.410 --> 00:22:51.445 align:middle line:90% how we can describe fun. 00:22:51.445 --> 00:22:55.440 align:middle line:84% It's just eight different types, but even in the paper 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.140 align:middle line:84% it states it isn't meant to be a comprehensive list. 00:22:58.140 --> 00:23:00.660 align:middle line:84% It isn't meant to be a list that's exhausting 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:03.930 align:middle line:90% every single option out there. 00:23:03.930 --> 00:23:07.380 align:middle line:84% It's just to show that there are different kinds of fun 00:23:07.380 --> 00:23:11.550 align:middle line:84% when you play a game-- like exploring things, or inhabiting 00:23:11.550 --> 00:23:15.750 align:middle line:84% a role, or overcoming a challenge, 00:23:15.750 --> 00:23:23.346 align:middle line:84% or just passing time in a way to alleviate boredom. 00:23:23.346 --> 00:23:26.390 align:middle line:90% 00:23:26.390 --> 00:23:28.990 align:middle line:84% Sorry, I have a bit of cold so my speech 00:23:28.990 --> 00:23:31.080 align:middle line:90% is a little bit stunted today. 00:23:31.080 --> 00:23:33.660 align:middle line:90% 00:23:33.660 --> 00:23:36.920 align:middle line:84% There are a number of game mechanics in here 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:40.680 align:middle line:84% that generate some of these sensations. 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.560 align:middle line:84% I want to put aside about confusion and lack 00:23:43.560 --> 00:23:47.260 align:middle line:84% of other influence right now, because some of that's 00:23:47.260 --> 00:23:49.140 align:middle line:90% addressed in the tutorial. 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:50.830 align:middle line:84% If you went through the tutorial, 00:23:50.830 --> 00:23:53.580 align:middle line:84% it explains to you what all of the actions were. 00:23:53.580 --> 00:23:56.100 align:middle line:84% You probably wouldn't feel quite so confused 00:23:56.100 --> 00:23:58.410 align:middle line:90% about what you could do. 00:23:58.410 --> 00:24:02.490 align:middle line:84% However, I think it's reasonable to address the lack of control 00:24:02.490 --> 00:24:06.503 align:middle line:84% that you might feel, even after knowing what you could do. 00:24:06.503 --> 00:24:07.003 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:24:07.003 --> 00:24:11.610 align:middle line:90% 00:24:11.610 --> 00:24:14.550 align:middle line:84% These are the things that people would describe as aesthetics. 00:24:14.550 --> 00:24:17.380 align:middle line:90% The thing that the player feels. 00:24:17.380 --> 00:24:22.980 align:middle line:84% The paper describes them as desirable experiences. 00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:24.640 align:middle line:84% That's not necessarily always the case. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:25.850 align:middle line:90% It's not always desirable. 00:24:25.850 --> 00:24:29.640 align:middle line:84% I'm pretty sure that confusion was not 00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:33.900 align:middle line:84% a desired experience that the designer of this game 00:24:33.900 --> 00:24:34.920 align:middle line:90% wanted you to have. 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:37.895 align:middle line:84% By the way, one of the designers of that game 00:24:37.895 --> 00:24:40.020 align:middle line:84% is actually one of the writers of this paper, which 00:24:40.020 --> 00:24:42.640 align:middle line:84% is why we're playing this game in particular. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:45.610 align:middle line:90% 00:24:45.610 --> 00:24:47.417 align:middle line:90% So these are aesthetics. 00:24:47.417 --> 00:24:49.500 align:middle line:84% Let's talk about some of the mechanics of the game 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:50.010 align:middle line:90% execution. 00:24:50.010 --> 00:24:54.045 align:middle line:90% Hit the screen and bring it up. 00:24:54.045 --> 00:24:56.970 align:middle line:84% So let's talk about some of the mechanics of this game. 00:24:56.970 --> 00:24:58.260 align:middle line:90% Someone describe it. 00:24:58.260 --> 00:25:01.576 align:middle line:90% 00:25:01.576 --> 00:25:03.010 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Turn based? 00:25:03.010 --> 00:25:09.338 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK, so turn based. 00:25:09.338 --> 00:25:11.380 align:middle line:84% The game waits for you until you make a decision. 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:13.240 align:middle line:90% It's not real time. 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:16.715 align:middle line:90% Is it not real time? 00:25:16.715 --> 00:25:17.990 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It waits. 00:25:17.990 --> 00:25:18.615 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Huh? 00:25:18.615 --> 00:25:19.290 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It waits. 00:25:19.290 --> 00:25:19.960 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: It waits? 00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:21.800 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Except for when you run into barbarians, right? 00:25:21.800 --> 00:25:23.741 align:middle line:84% Don't you have 10 seconds or something to-- 00:25:23.741 --> 00:25:24.241 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:25:24.241 --> 00:25:25.570 align:middle line:90% Except for that. 00:25:25.570 --> 00:25:26.470 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:25:26.470 --> 00:25:28.303 align:middle line:84% The countdown doesn't start too quickly when 00:25:28.303 --> 00:25:29.974 align:middle line:90% you send your troops actually. 00:25:29.974 --> 00:25:32.379 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: At 10 seconds the line is still moving 00:25:32.379 --> 00:25:33.816 align:middle line:90% and you can collect more. 00:25:33.816 --> 00:25:35.941 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: They do that over the course of the game. 00:25:35.941 --> 00:25:37.524 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, but like the countdown 00:25:37.524 --> 00:25:39.310 align:middle line:84% doesn't start until you send your troops. 00:25:39.310 --> 00:25:39.893 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:25:39.893 --> 00:25:44.080 align:middle line:84% All right, so the truth is until you 00:25:44.080 --> 00:25:47.070 align:middle line:90% make your final move, right? 00:25:47.070 --> 00:25:50.990 align:middle line:84% And then the 10 seconds where it counts down 00:25:50.990 --> 00:25:55.860 align:middle line:84% and you see things continue to happen. 00:25:55.860 --> 00:25:57.170 align:middle line:90% OK, all right. 00:25:57.170 --> 00:25:58.540 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: There's combat. 00:25:58.540 --> 00:26:00.813 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: There's combat as a mechanism. 00:26:00.813 --> 00:26:03.270 align:middle line:90% There's some sort of AI combat. 00:26:03.270 --> 00:26:04.910 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:09.510 align:middle line:84% You don't actually directly tell your troops to attack. 00:26:09.510 --> 00:26:11.296 align:middle line:84% You just place them ahead of time, 00:26:11.296 --> 00:26:13.480 align:middle line:84% and then they just wail at each other, 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:18.570 align:middle line:84% using some sort of algorithm, some sort of computation on how 00:26:18.570 --> 00:26:23.170 align:middle line:84% that number, of how that addition works. 00:26:23.170 --> 00:26:25.504 align:middle line:90% What else is in the game? 00:26:25.504 --> 00:26:27.190 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Exploration. 00:26:27.190 --> 00:26:29.748 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Exploration? 00:26:29.748 --> 00:26:30.656 align:middle line:90% Go ahead. 00:26:30.656 --> 00:26:32.350 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] How you find 00:26:32.350 --> 00:26:34.155 align:middle line:84% where the cities are or sorta like how 00:26:34.155 --> 00:26:37.590 align:middle line:90% you prepare for the attack. 00:26:37.590 --> 00:26:40.430 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So how do you find cities? 00:26:40.430 --> 00:26:41.535 align:middle line:90% How do you find cities? 00:26:41.535 --> 00:26:43.410 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You just have to walk on top of it. 00:26:43.410 --> 00:26:43.993 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:26:43.993 --> 00:26:47.497 align:middle line:84% So you click on the purple squares. 00:26:47.497 --> 00:26:50.080 align:middle line:84% And then that shows you what is underneath the purple squares. 00:26:50.080 --> 00:26:50.690 align:middle line:90% It will defog. 00:26:50.690 --> 00:26:55.130 align:middle line:90% 00:26:55.130 --> 00:26:57.840 align:middle line:84% It's not full of war, exactly, but they have a sort 00:26:57.840 --> 00:27:01.850 align:middle line:90% of unexplored fog, right? 00:27:01.850 --> 00:27:07.610 align:middle line:90% 00:27:07.610 --> 00:27:10.620 align:middle line:90% Which you have to disappear. 00:27:10.620 --> 00:27:13.338 align:middle line:84% Is that the only clue about how to find a city? 00:27:13.338 --> 00:27:15.480 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Question mark. 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:19.090 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Sometimes you get the question hint. 00:27:19.090 --> 00:27:20.170 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:27:20.170 --> 00:27:22.004 align:middle line:90% And there's something there. 00:27:22.004 --> 00:27:24.600 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There's like lush terrain around cities usually. 00:27:24.600 --> 00:27:26.940 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Farms actually. 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:33.294 align:middle line:84% It's hard to tell on the screen, but on the iPad. 00:27:33.294 --> 00:27:37.160 align:middle line:84% Do the farms-- all make the cities. 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:39.240 align:middle line:84% So if you step on something green, you realize, 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:41.198 align:middle line:84% wait a minute, there's a city somewhere nearby. 00:27:41.198 --> 00:27:44.780 align:middle line:84% It's kind of Minesweeper-esque in that way. 00:27:44.780 --> 00:27:45.530 align:middle line:90% What else? 00:27:45.530 --> 00:27:47.840 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: The oasis? 00:27:47.840 --> 00:27:49.437 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: What was that? 00:27:49.437 --> 00:27:50.270 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: The oasis. 00:27:50.270 --> 00:27:50.853 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:27:50.853 --> 00:27:52.990 align:middle line:90% So what about the oasis? 00:27:52.990 --> 00:27:55.980 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You're also looking for it. 00:27:55.980 --> 00:27:58.835 align:middle line:84% As soon as you hit one of the squares of the oasis, 00:27:58.835 --> 00:28:02.000 align:middle line:84% you can more or less figure out where the other ones are. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:03.937 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK, because? 00:28:03.937 --> 00:28:07.910 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It seems to always be in the same 3 by 4 rectangle. 00:28:07.910 --> 00:28:11.315 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: So the oasis-- 00:28:11.315 --> 00:28:13.578 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You see like a corner of the river, 00:28:13.578 --> 00:28:16.120 align:middle line:84% then you know it's flowing this way and then that way, right? 00:28:16.120 --> 00:28:16.830 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yes. 00:28:16.830 --> 00:28:19.860 align:middle line:84% Well, the oasis is always a rectangle. 00:28:19.860 --> 00:28:21.456 align:middle line:84% So if you find a corner, yeah, you 00:28:21.456 --> 00:28:23.792 align:middle line:84% know that if you follow those things then-- 00:28:23.792 --> 00:28:24.625 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:28:24.625 --> 00:28:28.286 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You know it's grass on this side, water on this side. 00:28:28.286 --> 00:28:29.590 align:middle line:90% So it's always inside. 00:28:29.590 --> 00:28:31.000 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:34.200 align:middle line:84% So if the grid was like that, the moment you find one corner, 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:36.110 align:middle line:84% then you know which way to explore. 00:28:36.110 --> 00:28:38.960 align:middle line:90% So the oasis gives you clues. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:40.877 align:middle line:84% The title of your oasis alone gives you clues. 00:28:40.877 --> 00:28:42.627 align:middle line:84% It is the same way that the farms give you 00:28:42.627 --> 00:28:43.900 align:middle line:90% clues about the cities. 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:46.305 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] One of the mechanics 00:28:46.305 --> 00:28:50.182 align:middle line:84% is resource allocation, because we were trying 00:28:50.182 --> 00:28:53.506 align:middle line:84% to decide whether or not we should use technology, 00:28:53.506 --> 00:28:57.360 align:middle line:84% or to build roads, or outfit the cities with defense, 00:28:57.360 --> 00:28:58.996 align:middle line:90% or whatever. 00:28:58.996 --> 00:29:01.246 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: How do you allocate resources in this game? 00:29:01.246 --> 00:29:04.080 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: You tap it, I guess. 00:29:04.080 --> 00:29:06.870 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You just tap it, and what happens when you attack? 00:29:06.870 --> 00:29:16.250 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Certain actions [INAUDIBLE] 00:29:16.250 --> 00:29:19.850 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So you have a limited number of followers, 00:29:19.850 --> 00:29:23.630 align:middle line:84% and tapping assigns them to spends them, basically, 00:29:23.630 --> 00:29:29.290 align:middle line:84% to get them to follow some sort of task. 00:29:29.290 --> 00:29:36.268 align:middle line:84% So limited followers, (I should have stopped it to 00:29:36.268 --> 00:29:36.810 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]). 00:29:36.810 --> 00:29:41.392 align:middle line:90% 00:29:41.392 --> 00:29:42.160 align:middle line:90% Tapping assigns. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:48.830 align:middle line:90% 00:29:48.830 --> 00:29:49.810 align:middle line:90% Assigns the followers. 00:29:49.810 --> 00:29:51.954 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:29:51.954 --> 00:29:52.896 align:middle line:90% Other ones? 00:29:52.896 --> 00:29:57.140 align:middle line:90% 00:29:57.140 --> 00:29:59.200 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There's the scoring at the end? 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:00.450 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Scoring at the end. 00:30:00.450 --> 00:30:04.164 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Which is a summary in some sense. 00:30:04.164 --> 00:30:09.564 align:middle line:84% It seems to be different from what actually-- like when you 00:30:09.564 --> 00:30:13.170 align:middle line:84% end the level, you get a feeling of, did you do well 00:30:13.170 --> 00:30:14.450 align:middle line:90% or did you do not well. 00:30:14.450 --> 00:30:17.668 align:middle line:84% And then it didn't always correspond with the score. 00:30:17.668 --> 00:30:18.376 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:30:18.376 --> 00:30:19.420 align:middle line:90% The score is unnecessary. 00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:31.600 align:middle line:84% So the score is kind of different from what 00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:33.982 align:middle line:84% the game is immediately giving you feedback on. 00:30:33.982 --> 00:30:36.190 align:middle line:84% The score is kind of like a completely different kind 00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:38.020 align:middle line:90% of feedback. 00:30:38.020 --> 00:30:43.470 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I actually disagree that the score was like that. 00:30:43.470 --> 00:30:48.460 align:middle line:84% So I was very confused when we won the first level, 00:30:48.460 --> 00:30:51.440 align:middle line:90% because everyone died. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:54.653 align:middle line:84% But we got a score of zero, which kind of makes sense. 00:30:54.653 --> 00:30:56.085 align:middle line:84% And when I went a bunch of people 00:30:56.085 --> 00:30:57.960 align:middle line:84% died, but I still passed the level. 00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:00.440 align:middle line:84% And that made sense because I had two cities left. 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:03.750 align:middle line:84% And I still got a score of zero because I lost tons of people. 00:31:03.750 --> 00:31:06.250 align:middle line:84% Then when we made it so we didn't lose a single city, 00:31:06.250 --> 00:31:08.470 align:middle line:84% we got a score of 1,000 or something 00:31:08.470 --> 00:31:11.616 align:middle line:84% We didn't lose a single city and we had a lot of people. 00:31:11.616 --> 00:31:14.265 align:middle line:84% I thought the score made sense, maybe the level progression 00:31:14.265 --> 00:31:15.117 align:middle line:90% didn't. 00:31:15.117 --> 00:31:16.492 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Nathan lost some cities 00:31:16.492 --> 00:31:19.670 align:middle line:84% and still had a score of about a thousand or so. 00:31:19.670 --> 00:31:20.570 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:31:20.570 --> 00:31:22.528 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You lost-- you didn't get any points, 00:31:22.528 --> 00:31:25.372 align:middle line:84% and you didn't discover anything. 00:31:25.372 --> 00:31:26.330 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: There you go. 00:31:26.330 --> 00:31:27.525 align:middle line:90% So the score makes sense. 00:31:27.525 --> 00:31:28.900 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Also I was going to say 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:31.108 align:middle line:84% that he said that the score was possibly accumulative 00:31:31.108 --> 00:31:32.810 align:middle line:90% over all the phases done. 00:31:32.810 --> 00:31:35.273 align:middle line:84% And the score for the foreground looked 00:31:35.273 --> 00:31:36.758 align:middle line:84% to be equivalent to the [INAUDIBLE] 00:31:36.758 --> 00:31:38.050 align:middle line:90% 1,530, if I remember correctly. 00:31:38.050 --> 00:31:41.970 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: No, but the total score said 3,600. 00:31:41.970 --> 00:31:45.078 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:31:45.078 --> 00:31:46.620 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There was another mechanic. 00:31:46.620 --> 00:31:48.120 align:middle line:84% We didn't really get to discover it. 00:31:48.120 --> 00:31:50.622 align:middle line:84% But it was like glowing, O-A-I-S-I-S. 00:31:50.622 --> 00:31:51.330 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:31:51.330 --> 00:31:55.150 align:middle line:90% 00:31:55.150 --> 00:32:00.140 align:middle line:84% Clearly leading to something we haven't figured out yet. 00:32:00.140 --> 00:32:00.780 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:32:00.780 --> 00:32:01.680 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There was a special follower 00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:03.860 align:middle line:84% that we got that kind of like stalked us. 00:32:03.860 --> 00:32:05.873 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:32:05.873 --> 00:32:08.165 align:middle line:84% I think they call them experts or advisors or something 00:32:08.165 --> 00:32:10.722 align:middle line:90% of that nature. 00:32:10.722 --> 00:32:13.225 align:middle line:84% What was the advantage of doing that? 00:32:13.225 --> 00:32:14.250 align:middle line:90% Having followers return? 00:32:14.250 --> 00:32:17.060 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:32:17.060 --> 00:32:19.428 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Plus 20 for the beginning of the game. 00:32:19.428 --> 00:32:21.220 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So she started and you had more. 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:22.610 align:middle line:90% All right? 00:32:22.610 --> 00:32:24.498 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Here's a question. 00:32:24.498 --> 00:32:29.880 align:middle line:84% Every level that we beat in the game we got a glyph. 00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:31.760 align:middle line:84% We had two of them along the side. 00:32:31.760 --> 00:32:33.826 align:middle line:84% It's along the same lines of [INAUDIBLE].. 00:32:33.826 --> 00:32:35.190 align:middle line:90% It's unclear what they did. 00:32:35.190 --> 00:32:37.148 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It said that in one of the tutorials, 00:32:37.148 --> 00:32:39.227 align:middle line:84% you get all 12 glyphs, you win the game. 00:32:39.227 --> 00:32:39.810 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:32:39.810 --> 00:32:45.226 align:middle line:84% So there's some sort of glyphs equals win. 00:32:45.226 --> 00:32:46.220 align:middle line:90% Win? 00:32:46.220 --> 00:32:47.024 align:middle line:90% You know? 00:32:47.024 --> 00:32:48.840 align:middle line:90% Exactly how you win this game. 00:32:48.840 --> 00:32:49.650 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:32:49.650 --> 00:32:51.650 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There were also these little blue orbs 00:32:51.650 --> 00:32:54.240 align:middle line:84% that got transported into the artwork. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:55.146 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:32:55.146 --> 00:32:56.250 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And I have no idea what that does. 00:32:56.250 --> 00:32:58.560 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So where did those blue orbs appear? 00:32:58.560 --> 00:32:59.310 align:middle line:90% Did anyone notice? 00:32:59.310 --> 00:33:00.727 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: When you were uncovering 00:33:00.727 --> 00:33:01.875 align:middle line:90% the tiles I want to say. 00:33:01.875 --> 00:33:02.820 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But when you searched, if you didn't 00:33:02.820 --> 00:33:04.130 align:middle line:84% get one of those technologies at the top, 00:33:04.130 --> 00:33:05.963 align:middle line:84% you usually got a blue orb that would go up. 00:33:05.963 --> 00:33:08.230 align:middle line:84% Otherwise, I do not know what that blue orb does. 00:33:08.230 --> 00:33:10.195 align:middle line:90% He got lot of blue orbs. 00:33:10.195 --> 00:33:11.820 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: When you pick up the oasis-- 00:33:11.820 --> 00:33:14.350 align:middle line:84% when you walk over the oasis, you get blue orbs. 00:33:14.350 --> 00:33:19.660 align:middle line:84% So the oasis also gives you blue-- 00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:20.582 align:middle line:90% which makes sense. 00:33:20.582 --> 00:33:22.290 align:middle line:84% It's like the bluest thing on the screen, 00:33:22.290 --> 00:33:25.140 align:middle line:84% and then when you click on it, blue things move. 00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:27.610 align:middle line:84% So there's some sort of color coordination thing. 00:33:27.610 --> 00:33:32.640 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The barbarians steal your blue. 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:35.077 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I know where this meme is going. 00:33:35.077 --> 00:33:36.910 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, I was thinking that the blue-- 00:33:36.910 --> 00:33:38.400 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:39.844 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Oh, yes, yes, blue. 00:33:39.844 --> 00:33:42.136 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The one time they got to the oasis, something 00:33:42.136 --> 00:33:44.350 align:middle line:84% happened where everyone-- all the blue 00:33:44.350 --> 00:33:45.430 align:middle line:90% went to the barbarians. 00:33:45.430 --> 00:33:47.948 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It looks like it was a last line of defense. 00:33:47.948 --> 00:33:50.962 align:middle line:84% [INTERPOSING VOICES] Steal your blue. 00:33:50.962 --> 00:33:52.420 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So either the barbarians 00:33:52.420 --> 00:33:54.360 align:middle line:84% are taking away your blue, or you're using your blue 00:33:54.360 --> 00:33:55.560 align:middle line:90% to smite the barbarians. 00:33:55.560 --> 00:33:58.870 align:middle line:84% Either way you end up with no barbarians and less blue. 00:33:58.870 --> 00:33:59.370 align:middle line:90% Right. 00:33:59.370 --> 00:34:03.220 align:middle line:90% 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:05.340 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Do you think if that happened, 00:34:05.340 --> 00:34:08.570 align:middle line:84% we got down to zero blue, we would lose the game? 00:34:08.570 --> 00:34:10.370 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yes. 00:34:10.370 --> 00:34:11.545 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: That was my guess. 00:34:11.545 --> 00:34:12.920 align:middle line:84% There had to be some way to lose, 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:14.350 align:middle line:90% but we couldn't figure out how. 00:34:14.350 --> 00:34:17.612 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:34:17.612 --> 00:34:20.920 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You were at level four on like 15. 00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:23.210 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: 13, I think. 00:34:23.210 --> 00:34:26.627 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I can tell you one of the things 00:34:26.627 --> 00:34:28.210 align:middle line:84% that this particular game designer has 00:34:28.210 --> 00:34:30.489 align:middle line:84% told me is that he doesn't believe in game balance. 00:34:30.489 --> 00:34:33.460 align:middle line:84% He just believes in making a game start so ridiculously easy 00:34:33.460 --> 00:34:36.400 align:middle line:84% and end at an almost impossible level. 00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:39.070 align:middle line:84% So somewhere along the way you meet the level 00:34:39.070 --> 00:34:42.724 align:middle line:84% that you're good at, and that's a balanced game. 00:34:42.724 --> 00:34:46.150 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:34:46.150 --> 00:34:49.270 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: That's one way of looking at it. 00:34:49.270 --> 00:34:51.428 align:middle line:84% So we've identified a bunch of games mechanisms. 00:34:51.428 --> 00:34:53.595 align:middle line:84% We didn't go into things like roads and technologies 00:34:53.595 --> 00:34:54.845 align:middle line:90% and mines and stuff like that. 00:34:54.845 --> 00:34:56.608 align:middle line:84% There's a ton of game mechanics in here. 00:34:56.608 --> 00:34:58.275 align:middle line:84% These are the kind of things that a game 00:34:58.275 --> 00:34:59.400 align:middle line:90% designer can design, right? 00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:00.750 align:middle line:90% These are rules. 00:35:00.750 --> 00:35:03.770 align:middle line:84% Things as simple as the oasis is always in a rectangle. 00:35:03.770 --> 00:35:05.080 align:middle line:90% There's no reason for that. 00:35:05.080 --> 00:35:07.382 align:middle line:90% It could have been a river. 00:35:07.382 --> 00:35:08.090 align:middle line:90% But you're right. 00:35:08.090 --> 00:35:09.632 align:middle line:84% There is actually a rule in the game. 00:35:09.632 --> 00:35:11.200 align:middle line:84% Every time you find an oasis, it's 00:35:11.200 --> 00:35:14.720 align:middle line:84% always going to be of a rectangular shape. 00:35:14.720 --> 00:35:19.720 align:middle line:84% These are the things that a designer designs, 00:35:19.720 --> 00:35:24.970 align:middle line:84% and you get dynamics out of a bunch of these mechanics 00:35:24.970 --> 00:35:28.160 align:middle line:90% interacting with each other. 00:35:28.160 --> 00:35:33.940 align:middle line:84% So I'm going to give one example of a dynamic. 00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:37.780 align:middle line:84% One of the dynamics is that as you reveal information 00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:39.940 align:middle line:84% about the stuff that is underneath the fog, 00:35:39.940 --> 00:35:42.790 align:middle line:84% you start having more decisions to make. 00:35:42.790 --> 00:35:44.407 align:middle line:84% What's your next step going to be. 00:35:44.407 --> 00:35:46.990 align:middle line:84% Because you could click on the thing that you just discovered. 00:35:46.990 --> 00:35:49.910 align:middle line:84% Like if you find a city, one of the things 00:35:49.910 --> 00:35:52.090 align:middle line:84% that people were telling everybody-- search it right 00:35:52.090 --> 00:35:52.590 align:middle line:90% now! 00:35:52.590 --> 00:35:54.200 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:35:54.200 --> 00:35:57.120 align:middle line:84% But then you can also find a mine, 00:35:57.120 --> 00:35:59.350 align:middle line:84% and you're going to find followers into it. 00:35:59.350 --> 00:36:01.720 align:middle line:84% You could build a road, and some people I think 00:36:01.720 --> 00:36:03.903 align:middle line:84% might have noticed what road is this. 00:36:03.903 --> 00:36:05.320 align:middle line:84% Did people find out about anything 00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:06.223 align:middle line:90% about what road is this? 00:36:06.223 --> 00:36:07.740 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: They gave you more people, I think. 00:36:07.740 --> 00:36:08.195 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yes. 00:36:08.195 --> 00:36:09.340 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think one of the pop-ups said. 00:36:09.340 --> 00:36:10.882 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Your cities start actually 00:36:10.882 --> 00:36:14.580 align:middle line:84% growing in number when you connect them on the roads. 00:36:14.580 --> 00:36:17.120 align:middle line:84% And of course that helps with defense in the long run. 00:36:17.120 --> 00:36:21.145 align:middle line:84% So one of the dynamics in this game is that the further 00:36:21.145 --> 00:36:24.580 align:middle line:84% that you play in a level, the more kinds of decisions 00:36:24.580 --> 00:36:26.000 align:middle line:90% you're going to make. 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:28.240 align:middle line:84% At the beginning of the game, you 00:36:28.240 --> 00:36:31.870 align:middle line:84% can make no decisions besides which one of these two squares 00:36:31.870 --> 00:36:33.250 align:middle line:90% am I going to start searching. 00:36:33.250 --> 00:36:34.650 align:middle line:90% Up or left. 00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:37.110 align:middle line:84% I think you always start in one of the corners, 00:36:37.110 --> 00:36:41.170 align:middle line:84% so there are only two directions that you possibly search. 00:36:41.170 --> 00:36:42.790 align:middle line:90% What other dynamics are there? 00:36:42.790 --> 00:36:45.950 align:middle line:84% These are things that arise out of a combination 00:36:45.950 --> 00:36:48.288 align:middle line:90% of these mechanics. 00:36:48.288 --> 00:36:52.650 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Would one be huge kind of pre-perform a set 00:36:52.650 --> 00:36:54.320 align:middle line:84% of actions, like your exploration, 00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:55.570 align:middle line:90% you're searching and whatever. 00:36:55.570 --> 00:36:58.210 align:middle line:84% And then, after that, you just kind of let it go, 00:36:58.210 --> 00:37:01.217 align:middle line:84% and the barbarians come and do their bidding? 00:37:01.217 --> 00:37:01.800 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:37:01.800 --> 00:37:04.640 align:middle line:84% So one of the things is you set up 00:37:04.640 --> 00:37:10.150 align:middle line:84% initial conditions for, hopefully, things to work out, 00:37:10.150 --> 00:37:15.150 align:middle line:84% for sort of the systems to emerge in the behavior, 00:37:15.150 --> 00:37:16.630 align:middle line:90% in the long-term behavior. 00:37:16.630 --> 00:37:18.590 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:37:18.590 --> 00:37:20.350 align:middle line:90% What else? 00:37:20.350 --> 00:37:22.985 align:middle line:84% That's actually a dynamic, in this case. 00:37:22.985 --> 00:37:26.730 align:middle line:84% That's something you set up even before all your turns are over. 00:37:26.730 --> 00:37:29.560 align:middle line:84% Like you said, people in a mine-- the miners just 00:37:29.560 --> 00:37:31.540 align:middle line:90% keep digging each turn. 00:37:31.540 --> 00:37:33.270 align:middle line:90% You don't have to babysit them. 00:37:33.270 --> 00:37:34.780 align:middle line:90% They'll keep digging. 00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:36.610 align:middle line:84% And they'll find stuff without you 00:37:36.610 --> 00:37:40.350 align:middle line:90% telling them to do anything. 00:37:40.350 --> 00:37:42.190 align:middle line:90% What else? 00:37:42.190 --> 00:37:47.110 align:middle line:84% What else fits this kind of description of something 00:37:47.110 --> 00:37:50.760 align:middle line:84% that arises still kind of mechanically out 00:37:50.760 --> 00:37:54.205 align:middle line:84% of a combination of all of these dynamics? 00:37:54.205 --> 00:37:58.420 align:middle line:90% 00:37:58.420 --> 00:37:59.960 align:middle line:90% Let's say combat, for instance. 00:37:59.960 --> 00:38:04.730 align:middle line:84% When the red forces and your blue forces start, 00:38:04.730 --> 00:38:09.170 align:middle line:84% you know, like little ants start facing off against each other. 00:38:09.170 --> 00:38:10.711 align:middle line:90% What happens? 00:38:10.711 --> 00:38:12.128 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Like really snowballing. 00:38:12.128 --> 00:38:14.015 align:middle line:90% Like really snowballing. 00:38:14.015 --> 00:38:14.682 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right 00:38:14.682 --> 00:38:17.030 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It would start off kind of even or so. 00:38:17.030 --> 00:38:18.659 align:middle line:84% And then all of a sudden one force 00:38:18.659 --> 00:38:19.784 align:middle line:90% would just take a nosedive. 00:38:19.784 --> 00:38:20.760 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Uh-huh? 00:38:20.760 --> 00:38:21.520 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: At one point, the two forces were even, 00:38:21.520 --> 00:38:23.433 align:middle line:84% and then one got up to like 90, and one just 00:38:23.433 --> 00:38:24.683 align:middle line:90% started dropping and dropping. 00:38:24.683 --> 00:38:26.220 align:middle line:90% And this one just stayed at 90. 00:38:26.220 --> 00:38:28.690 align:middle line:84% You can see that too with the really small cities 00:38:28.690 --> 00:38:30.232 align:middle line:84% that have like 20 people or something 00:38:30.232 --> 00:38:31.440 align:middle line:90% that get like squashed. 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:33.350 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Squashed, right? 00:38:33.350 --> 00:38:37.150 align:middle line:84% So it has this interesting curve. 00:38:37.150 --> 00:38:40.620 align:middle line:84% On like a successful defense, the barbarians 00:38:40.620 --> 00:38:43.750 align:middle line:84% are usually here, and the followers-- 00:38:43.750 --> 00:38:45.682 align:middle line:84% you usually have a slightly lower number, 00:38:45.682 --> 00:38:47.140 align:middle line:84% because a huge number of barbarians 00:38:47.140 --> 00:38:49.085 align:middle line:90% that show up all of a sudden-- 00:38:49.085 --> 00:38:50.460 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But we have technology. 00:38:50.460 --> 00:38:51.380 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:38:51.380 --> 00:38:55.925 align:middle line:84% But often what happens is that you've got a number like that, 00:38:55.925 --> 00:39:00.290 align:middle line:90% and it kind of goes like that. 00:39:00.290 --> 00:39:00.790 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:39:00.790 --> 00:39:02.840 align:middle line:84% It starts off kind of like the barbarians still 00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:05.423 align:middle line:84% maintain your numbers, then all of a sudden it just collapses. 00:39:05.423 --> 00:39:07.730 align:middle line:84% This is what a successful defense in that game 00:39:07.730 --> 00:39:08.790 align:middle line:90% looks like. 00:39:08.790 --> 00:39:10.990 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But you can also flip that curve. 00:39:10.990 --> 00:39:13.240 align:middle line:84% Not necessarily flip it, but the followers can also 00:39:13.240 --> 00:39:14.010 align:middle line:90% take that kind of curve. 00:39:14.010 --> 00:39:14.510 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Oh, yeah. 00:39:14.510 --> 00:39:15.910 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Instead of just below the barbarians. 00:39:15.910 --> 00:39:17.000 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Oh, yeah. 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:17.940 align:middle line:90% Totally. 00:39:17.940 --> 00:39:19.690 align:middle line:84% That would be what an unsuccessful defense 00:39:19.690 --> 00:39:22.940 align:middle line:90% looks like. 00:39:22.940 --> 00:39:29.280 align:middle line:84% That will look more like that, and then it's like bleh. 00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:29.780 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:39:29.780 --> 00:39:34.160 align:middle line:84% There's usually more barbarians than there are people. 00:39:34.160 --> 00:39:36.910 align:middle line:84% So this is all arising out of the game mechanics. 00:39:36.910 --> 00:39:37.640 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:39:37.640 --> 00:39:42.290 align:middle line:84% This is not an aesthetic experience all by itself. 00:39:42.290 --> 00:39:46.010 align:middle line:84% This is just how the numbers, if you plotted 00:39:46.010 --> 00:39:49.830 align:middle line:84% by a fraction of a second by a fraction of a second, 00:39:49.830 --> 00:39:51.070 align:middle line:90% you'll get a graph. 00:39:51.070 --> 00:39:54.290 align:middle line:84% This is just the algorithm doing its thing. 00:39:54.290 --> 00:39:55.460 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:39:55.460 --> 00:39:58.310 align:middle line:90% What does this kind of-- 00:39:58.310 --> 00:40:04.100 align:middle line:84% I'm going to go back to a successful defense. 00:40:04.100 --> 00:40:07.790 align:middle line:84% So this arises out of the mechanics of the game. 00:40:07.790 --> 00:40:11.600 align:middle line:84% Everything that you do in the game to get salt, 00:40:11.600 --> 00:40:13.790 align:middle line:84% get followers into a city, get them 00:40:13.790 --> 00:40:18.230 align:middle line:84% technologies, mine stuff, search cities. 00:40:18.230 --> 00:40:20.870 align:middle line:84% Make sure there are enough followers by connecting 00:40:20.870 --> 00:40:22.090 align:middle line:90% the cities up with roads. 00:40:22.090 --> 00:40:23.840 align:middle line:84% The other thing that roads allow you to do 00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:26.000 align:middle line:84% is redistribute followers between cities 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:27.070 align:middle line:90% that are reconnected. 00:40:27.070 --> 00:40:29.570 align:middle line:84% That's the thing that you get to do in those last 10 seconds 00:40:29.570 --> 00:40:32.300 align:middle line:84% is that you don't just assign everybody that you've got. 00:40:32.300 --> 00:40:34.190 align:middle line:84% All the people, go into this one city. 00:40:34.190 --> 00:40:37.753 align:middle line:84% You can actually do that and connect them up with roads. 00:40:37.753 --> 00:40:39.045 align:middle line:90% You have 10 seconds to do that. 00:40:39.045 --> 00:40:41.930 align:middle line:90% 00:40:41.930 --> 00:40:46.360 align:middle line:84% So everything leads up to how many followers you've 00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:48.765 align:middle line:84% got in a city that the barbarians 00:40:48.765 --> 00:40:49.890 align:middle line:90% are going to attack, right? 00:40:49.890 --> 00:40:52.130 align:middle line:84% You know there's this interaction that 00:40:52.130 --> 00:40:55.060 align:middle line:84% keeps going on until all the barbarians are destroyed. 00:40:55.060 --> 00:40:57.323 align:middle line:90% Then you get this curve. 00:40:57.323 --> 00:40:59.406 align:middle line:84% And what part of the aesthetic does this generate? 00:40:59.406 --> 00:41:02.810 align:middle line:90% 00:41:02.810 --> 00:41:06.347 align:middle line:84% What does the player hopefully experience because of that? 00:41:06.347 --> 00:41:08.235 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You cheer for your forces-- 00:41:08.235 --> 00:41:08.902 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:41:08.902 --> 00:41:10.569 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And then you feel disappointed 00:41:10.569 --> 00:41:14.380 align:middle line:84% when things start going bad, and you kind of feel for them. 00:41:14.380 --> 00:41:15.280 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:17.995 align:middle line:84% And then when they pull out of it, because they're not like, 00:41:17.995 --> 00:41:19.000 align:middle line:90% yeah! 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:20.800 align:middle line:84% At this point it's like we are both kind 00:41:20.800 --> 00:41:22.090 align:middle line:90% of in the same trajectory. 00:41:22.090 --> 00:41:24.800 align:middle line:84% Sure they're dropping, but we're dropping too. 00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:30.000 align:middle line:84% Things aren't going so well, and then all of a sudden your folks 00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:31.640 align:middle line:90% come through, right? 00:41:31.640 --> 00:41:32.520 align:middle line:90% We were cheering. 00:41:32.520 --> 00:41:37.400 align:middle line:84% We were shouting our heads off, as if our cheers had 00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:41.840 align:middle line:90% any influence on the outcome. 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:44.920 align:middle line:84% I'm not quite sure how to describe that aesthetic, 00:41:44.920 --> 00:41:48.770 align:middle line:84% but that's what the player takes away from this game, right? 00:41:48.770 --> 00:41:51.430 align:middle line:84% There's this tiny little moment of the game. 00:41:51.430 --> 00:41:53.800 align:middle line:84% It's actually very finely tuned to generate 00:41:53.800 --> 00:41:56.620 align:middle line:90% exactly that experience. 00:41:56.620 --> 00:41:58.870 align:middle line:84% You're not quite sure what the outcome of this battle 00:41:58.870 --> 00:41:59.495 align:middle line:90% is going to be. 00:41:59.495 --> 00:42:01.895 align:middle line:84% I like to play the game for hours and hours and hours, 00:42:01.895 --> 00:42:03.520 align:middle line:84% and then you can kind of predict what's 00:42:03.520 --> 00:42:05.395 align:middle line:84% going to happen the moment the battle starts, 00:42:05.395 --> 00:42:07.867 align:middle line:84% because you already know what each technology agent does. 00:42:07.867 --> 00:42:10.450 align:middle line:84% But at this point in time when you're still learning the game, 00:42:10.450 --> 00:42:11.740 align:middle line:84% you don't know what each technology does. 00:42:11.740 --> 00:42:13.630 align:middle line:84% You don't know how the battles are going to turn out. 00:42:13.630 --> 00:42:15.080 align:middle line:90% It gets really, really exciting. 00:42:15.080 --> 00:42:16.247 align:middle line:90% So maybe there's a kind of-- 00:42:16.247 --> 00:42:19.570 align:middle line:90% 00:42:19.570 --> 00:42:23.300 align:middle line:84% how Marc LeBlanc, the designer of this game, described 00:42:23.300 --> 00:42:24.460 align:middle line:90% it was dramatic tension. 00:42:24.460 --> 00:42:28.720 align:middle line:84% I'm not quite sure if he's using that term exactly how it would 00:42:28.720 --> 00:42:30.730 align:middle line:90% be used in literary convention. 00:42:30.730 --> 00:42:32.980 align:middle line:84% But in this view it does feel tense, 00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:35.950 align:middle line:84% because there's an uncertain outcome about who's 00:42:35.950 --> 00:42:38.860 align:middle line:84% going to come out ahead, and then 00:42:38.860 --> 00:42:43.100 align:middle line:84% when it resolves in your favor, you feel great. 00:42:43.100 --> 00:42:48.430 align:middle line:84% That's basically one dissection using the MDA framework 00:42:48.430 --> 00:42:50.040 align:middle line:90% that we just went through. 00:42:50.040 --> 00:42:52.306 align:middle line:84% There's a whole bunch of mechanics 00:42:52.306 --> 00:42:55.020 align:middle line:84% that create a dynamic that creates 00:42:55.020 --> 00:42:56.230 align:middle line:90% an aesthetic experience. 00:42:56.230 --> 00:42:58.480 align:middle line:84% Which is the thing that you want your players to have. 00:42:58.480 --> 00:43:00.880 align:middle line:84% In this particular case, this is explicitly 00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:03.720 align:middle line:84% what Marc LeBlanc wanted his players to experience. 00:43:03.720 --> 00:43:06.820 align:middle line:84% He wanted them to cheer for the followers, 00:43:06.820 --> 00:43:09.820 align:middle line:84% even though that has no impact on the final result 00:43:09.820 --> 00:43:10.462 align:middle line:90% of the fight. 00:43:10.462 --> 00:43:13.120 align:middle line:90% 00:43:13.120 --> 00:43:16.960 align:middle line:84% So when you look at your games, I 00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:19.960 align:middle line:84% want you to be asking your play testers what 00:43:19.960 --> 00:43:21.580 align:middle line:90% they're feeling about the game. 00:43:21.580 --> 00:43:23.000 align:middle line:90% Usually after they're done. 00:43:23.000 --> 00:43:26.445 align:middle line:84% Say how do you feel about that, what 00:43:26.445 --> 00:43:27.820 align:middle line:84% did you like about the game, what 00:43:27.820 --> 00:43:29.340 align:middle line:90% didn't you like about the game. 00:43:29.340 --> 00:43:33.310 align:middle line:84% Both are aesthetic experiences that come out 00:43:33.310 --> 00:43:34.690 align:middle line:90% from the play of the game. 00:43:34.690 --> 00:43:37.290 align:middle line:84% This is much easier to do with people who are actually 00:43:37.290 --> 00:43:39.190 align:middle line:84% not in this class, because you're all 00:43:39.190 --> 00:43:41.860 align:middle line:84% thinking about the games from the rules level. 00:43:41.860 --> 00:43:45.257 align:middle line:84% If you go to somebody who plays games but doesn't really 00:43:45.257 --> 00:43:47.590 align:middle line:84% make games or isn't in the process of learning about how 00:43:47.590 --> 00:43:49.890 align:middle line:84% to make games, it's a lot easier for them 00:43:49.890 --> 00:43:52.330 align:middle line:84% to just think about well, I kind of 00:43:52.330 --> 00:43:53.800 align:middle line:84% felt crappy, because I didn't feel 00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:56.650 align:middle line:84% there was any way for me to come back in this game, you know. 00:43:56.650 --> 00:43:59.270 align:middle line:84% Or, yeah, I felt like I was ROFL stomping everybody. 00:43:59.270 --> 00:44:00.750 align:middle line:90% ROFL stomping is an aesthetic. 00:44:00.750 --> 00:44:03.890 align:middle line:90% 00:44:03.890 --> 00:44:06.865 align:middle line:84% Those are things that you can sort of take that 00:44:06.865 --> 00:44:10.390 align:middle line:84% to game designers, give you clues on whether your game is 00:44:10.390 --> 00:44:12.640 align:middle line:84% doing what you want it to do, for the mechanics 00:44:12.640 --> 00:44:14.800 align:middle line:84% that you're designing, whether the game is not 00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:17.740 align:middle line:84% doing what you want it to do, because maybe the mechanics are 00:44:17.740 --> 00:44:20.230 align:middle line:84% interacting in a way that creates a dynamic that you 00:44:20.230 --> 00:44:24.640 align:middle line:84% didn't want, or maybe the game is really not 00:44:24.640 --> 00:44:28.060 align:middle line:84% what you wanted to do and it's actually pretty cool. 00:44:28.060 --> 00:44:30.910 align:middle line:84% There's always the accidental discovery 00:44:30.910 --> 00:44:32.620 align:middle line:84% of your mechanics doing something 00:44:32.620 --> 00:44:34.330 align:middle line:90% that you didn't quite expect. 00:44:34.330 --> 00:44:37.660 align:middle line:84% Maybe you expected something to be 00:44:37.660 --> 00:44:40.750 align:middle line:84% kind of like cool and strategic and detached, 00:44:40.750 --> 00:44:44.510 align:middle line:84% but then your players end up feeling really tense 00:44:44.510 --> 00:44:46.600 align:middle line:84% and feeling that everything is on the line 00:44:46.600 --> 00:44:51.520 align:middle line:84% and everything could go wrong at any moment and they like that. 00:44:51.520 --> 00:44:52.120 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:44:52.120 --> 00:44:52.680 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:44:52.680 --> 00:44:54.790 align:middle line:84% That's something you can work with. 00:44:54.790 --> 00:44:56.373 align:middle line:84% But you may not necessarily understand 00:44:56.373 --> 00:44:58.207 align:middle line:84% that's what your game is doing if you're not 00:44:58.207 --> 00:45:00.580 align:middle line:84% asking your players what's the sensation that they're 00:45:00.580 --> 00:45:02.540 align:middle line:84% getting out of the game purely from the rules. 00:45:02.540 --> 00:45:04.790 align:middle line:84% When you're working with the prototypes in particular, 00:45:04.790 --> 00:45:07.570 align:middle line:84% it's very easy for you to make this connection back 00:45:07.570 --> 00:45:12.910 align:middle line:84% to your mechanics, because they can be experiencing 00:45:12.910 --> 00:45:15.860 align:middle line:84% terribly much from your artwork or from the sound effects, 00:45:15.860 --> 00:45:16.360 align:middle line:90% right? 00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:17.610 align:middle line:84% Unless you make your sound effects 00:45:17.610 --> 00:45:19.110 align:middle line:84% like a mouse, or something, and then 00:45:19.110 --> 00:45:21.220 align:middle line:90% it probably sounds pretty goofy. 00:45:21.220 --> 00:45:24.730 align:middle line:84% But they can only really get the aesthetic experience out 00:45:24.730 --> 00:45:27.100 align:middle line:90% of your rules. 00:45:27.100 --> 00:45:29.020 align:middle line:84% Obviously this is not the only way 00:45:29.020 --> 00:45:31.970 align:middle line:84% that you can convey an aesthetic experience. 00:45:31.970 --> 00:45:35.500 align:middle line:84% You can do things through art, sound, storytelling, 00:45:35.500 --> 00:45:37.060 align:middle line:84% characters, plot, and everything. 00:45:37.060 --> 00:45:41.140 align:middle line:84% We'll go into that a little bit more before assignment two, 00:45:41.140 --> 00:45:42.640 align:middle line:84% because you're going to be exploring 00:45:42.640 --> 00:45:44.080 align:middle line:90% that with assignment two. 00:45:44.080 --> 00:45:45.580 align:middle line:84% But there's this one particular kind 00:45:45.580 --> 00:45:50.290 align:middle line:84% of aesthetic, which I will refer to it in this class, 00:45:50.290 --> 00:45:52.020 align:middle line:90% as system aesthetics. 00:45:52.020 --> 00:45:53.890 align:middle line:84% The aesthetics that come out from the system 00:45:53.890 --> 00:45:56.990 align:middle line:84% of all of your mechanics working together. 00:45:56.990 --> 00:46:00.800 align:middle line:84% And, in this project, this first assignment, 00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:03.360 align:middle line:84% you don't have to worry about hitting the design aesthetic. 00:46:03.360 --> 00:46:04.470 align:middle line:90% You don't really have to. 00:46:04.470 --> 00:46:05.970 align:middle line:84% That's not the goal of this project. 00:46:05.970 --> 00:46:07.470 align:middle line:84% I want you to figure out everything 00:46:07.470 --> 00:46:09.510 align:middle line:90% that your game mechanic can do. 00:46:09.510 --> 00:46:11.250 align:middle line:84% And by the way, there was a question 00:46:11.250 --> 00:46:13.140 align:middle line:84% at the beginning of class, what if we wanted 00:46:13.140 --> 00:46:15.480 align:middle line:84% to change the mechanic because you discovered something 00:46:15.480 --> 00:46:16.450 align:middle line:90% along the way. 00:46:16.450 --> 00:46:17.020 align:middle line:90% That's fine. 00:46:17.020 --> 00:46:18.510 align:middle line:84% But whatever you change it to, make 00:46:18.510 --> 00:46:20.880 align:middle line:84% sure that you're going deep into that thing. 00:46:20.880 --> 00:46:22.660 align:middle line:84% Make sure that you're not just running 00:46:22.660 --> 00:46:24.520 align:middle line:84% with what you stumbled with, and then not 00:46:24.520 --> 00:46:25.820 align:middle line:90% developing it any further. 00:46:25.820 --> 00:46:31.590 align:middle line:84% Try to really, really explore what you eventually will 00:46:31.590 --> 00:46:34.470 align:middle line:90% declare that you're looking at. 00:46:34.470 --> 00:46:36.080 align:middle line:84% The reason for that is I want you all 00:46:36.080 --> 00:46:39.450 align:middle line:84% to have the experience of going really deep into mechanics 00:46:39.450 --> 00:46:41.550 align:middle line:84% and figuring out all the different things that one 00:46:41.550 --> 00:46:42.420 align:middle line:90% mechanic can do. 00:46:42.420 --> 00:46:45.110 align:middle line:84% So that later on when you all mix and match, and form them 00:46:45.110 --> 00:46:47.190 align:middle line:84% into assignment two and assignment three teams, 00:46:47.190 --> 00:46:48.782 align:middle line:84% you've got like a pool of knowledge 00:46:48.782 --> 00:46:50.490 align:middle line:84% and more importantly a pool of experience 00:46:50.490 --> 00:46:52.920 align:middle line:84% in sort of exploring what a mechanic can do. 00:46:52.920 --> 00:46:54.460 align:middle line:84% So you can take on new mechanics, 00:46:54.460 --> 00:46:56.400 align:middle line:84% you can share information with each other 00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:58.800 align:middle line:84% and use that later to generate interesting aesthetic 00:46:58.800 --> 00:47:00.023 align:middle line:90% experiences. 00:47:00.023 --> 00:47:02.440 align:middle line:84% Because in the end, this is what the players are here for. 00:47:02.440 --> 00:47:06.090 align:middle line:84% They don't care about the amount of work that you put into here. 00:47:06.090 --> 00:47:07.800 align:middle line:84% They only care about whether the game 00:47:07.800 --> 00:47:09.175 align:middle line:84% makes them feel the way that they 00:47:09.175 --> 00:47:11.070 align:middle line:84% want to feel right now while you're 00:47:11.070 --> 00:47:13.570 align:middle line:90% they're playing your game. 00:47:13.570 --> 00:47:17.697 align:middle line:90% So any questions? 00:47:17.697 --> 00:47:21.625 align:middle line:90% 00:47:21.625 --> 00:47:22.607 align:middle line:90% Nope. 00:47:22.607 --> 00:47:24.090 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:47:24.090 --> 00:47:25.980 align:middle line:84% Well we'll probably go a little bit more 00:47:25.980 --> 00:47:30.270 align:middle line:84% into things about mechanics later this month, 00:47:30.270 --> 00:47:33.270 align:middle line:84% but right now the rest of the class is actually time for you 00:47:33.270 --> 00:47:34.110 align:middle line:90% to work as a team. 00:47:34.110 --> 00:47:37.967 align:middle line:84% Some of you probably haven't seen each other since Wednesday 00:47:37.967 --> 00:47:40.050 align:middle line:84% and may not necessarily have talked to each other. 00:47:40.050 --> 00:47:41.190 align:middle line:90% So that's fine. 00:47:41.190 --> 00:47:42.200 align:middle line:90% Take time now. 00:47:42.200 --> 00:47:45.685 align:middle line:84% If you've got something that you need tested, 00:47:45.685 --> 00:47:46.560 align:middle line:90% you have two options. 00:47:46.560 --> 00:47:48.500 align:middle line:84% One, you can grab Rick and I. Or two, 00:47:48.500 --> 00:47:52.037 align:middle line:84% you can grab other people in the classroom 00:47:52.037 --> 00:47:54.120 align:middle line:84% who may not necessarily have saved their game out. 00:47:54.120 --> 00:47:55.495 align:middle line:84% Suggest asking people who haven't 00:47:55.495 --> 00:47:58.980 align:middle line:90% played a game for two tests. 00:47:58.980 --> 00:48:02.640 align:middle line:84% But tomorrow is actually the formal play test. 00:48:02.640 --> 00:48:05.850 align:middle line:84% So what you absolutely have to have Friday end of this class 00:48:05.850 --> 00:48:10.900 align:middle line:84% or what you have to have by the beginning of tomorrow 00:48:10.900 --> 00:48:13.980 align:middle line:84% towards that is something that can be played as a big class. 00:48:13.980 --> 00:48:16.100 align:middle line:84% Today there's no required play test. 00:48:16.100 --> 00:48:17.240 align:middle line:90% Tomorrow there is. 00:48:17.240 --> 00:48:20.223 align:middle line:90% All right? 00:48:20.223 --> 00:48:21.640 align:middle line:84% There's also reading for tomorrow, 00:48:21.640 --> 00:48:23.400 align:middle line:90% but it's not that bad. 00:48:23.400 --> 00:48:26.056 align:middle line:90% I think the total number is-- 00:48:26.056 --> 00:48:29.920 align:middle line:90% let me just make sure of that. 00:48:29.920 --> 00:48:31.240 align:middle line:90% Oh no, it's only part of it. 00:48:31.240 --> 00:48:31.740 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:48:31.740 --> 00:48:34.000 align:middle line:84% It's going to be just looking at one thing, which 00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:37.960 align:middle line:84% is the randomizing and add a functional dice in games. 00:48:37.960 --> 00:48:40.250 align:middle line:90% So, OK. 00:48:40.250 --> 00:48:41.900 align:middle line:90% Work in your teams. 00:48:41.900 --> 00:48:44.550 align:middle line:84% And all the materials right here we'll put it on the table. 00:48:44.550 --> 00:48:46.480 align:middle line:84% Contents from the following sources 00:48:46.480 --> 00:48:49.150 align:middle line:84% is copyright of the respective holders. 00:48:49.150 --> 00:48:50.560 align:middle line:90% All rights reserved. 00:48:50.560 --> 00:48:54.070 align:middle line:84% Excluded from our Creative Commons license. 00:48:54.070 --> 00:49:00.170 align:middle line:84% For more information, see ocw.mit.edu/fairuse. 00:49:00.170 --> 00:49:01.410 align:middle line:90% Oasis. 00:49:01.410 --> 00:49:02.320 align:middle line:90% PlayFirst. 00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:02.820 align:middle line:90% 2005. 00:49:02.820 --> 00:49:04.670 align:middle line:90% Video game. 00:49:04.670 --> 00:49:05.649 align:middle line:90%