Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.
description
Transcript of Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.
![Page 1: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
![Page 2: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
The other day I played a typing game on popcap.com…
I got really far and did really well, and there came a point where I got
bored.
![Page 3: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Then I played Bookworm on the same site.
I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.
![Page 4: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
People are amazing pattern matching
machines.
![Page 5: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Look at the places we can find a face
![Page 6: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
In fact, we tend to see
patterns where there aren’t any
![Page 7: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
When we grasp a pattern, we usually get bored with
it and iconify it
![Page 8: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
When we meet noise, When we meet noise, and fail to make a and fail to make a
pattern out of it, we get pattern out of it, we get frustrated and quitfrustrated and quit
![Page 9: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Once we see a pattern, we delight in tracing it,
and in seeing it reoccur
![Page 10: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
What’s fun is exercising your brain
![Page 11: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Games are puzzles
![Page 12: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
—they are about
cognition,
![Page 13: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
and learning to analyze patterns
![Page 14: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
When you’re playing a game,
![Page 15: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
you’ll only play it
![Page 16: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
until you master the pattern
![Page 17: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
once you’ve mastered it
![Page 18: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
The game becomes boring.
![Page 19: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Basically, all games are edutainment
![Page 20: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Some games
teach spatial relationships
![Page 21: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Some games Some games teach you toteach you to
explore explore
![Page 22: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Some games Some games teach you how teach you how to to aim preciselyaim precisely
![Page 23: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
We’re very good at seeing past fiction. This is why
gamers are dismissive of the ethical implications of
games - They don’t see “get a blowjob from
a hooker, then run her over.”
![Page 24: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
They see a power-up.
![Page 25: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
As critics of games, of course, we can see other
patterns.
![Page 26: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Players seeking to advance in a game will always try to optimize what they are doing.
![Page 27: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
If they are clever and see an
optimal path—an Alexandrine solution to a
Gordian problem—they’ll do that instead of the
“intended gameplay.”
![Page 28: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
They will try to make the They will try to make the gameplay as predictable gameplay as predictable
as possible.as possible.
Which then means it becomes boring, and not
fun.
![Page 29: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
In the real world, we call this “security” and “steady jobs” and
“sensible shoes” and “routine.”
Call it a treadmill, if you want.
![Page 30: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
As gamemakers, we are fighting a losing battle
against the human brain, which always fights to
optimize, assembly-line, simplify, maximize ROI.
![Page 31: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
If I were Will Wright, I’d say that “Fun is the process of discovering areas in a possibility space.”
![Page 32: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
Most long-lasting games in the past have been
competitive, because they lead to an endless supply of similar yet subtly varied
puzzles.
![Page 33: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
Instanced spaces in massively
multiplayer games are a designer’s
attempt to maintain control over the
puzzles that players are solving
![Page 34: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Larger minimum feature sets in online worlds are about increasing the permutations, the possibility space.
![Page 35: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
We talk so much about emergent gameplay, non-
linear storytelling, or about player-entered
content.They’re all ways of
increasing the possibility space, making self-refreshing puzzles.
![Page 36: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
We also often discuss the desire for games to be art—for them to be puzzles with more than one right answer, puzzles that lend
themselves to interpretation.
![Page 37: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
That may be the best definition of when something ceases
to be craft and when it turns into art
![Page 38: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
——the point at which it the point at which it becomes subject to becomes subject to
interpretation.interpretation.
![Page 39: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
We do happen to have various puzzles and
conundra that are like this.Try writing a book.
![Page 40: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
Or composing music.
![Page 41: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
Or understanding your significant other.
![Page 42: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
Or designing games.
![Page 43: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/43.jpg)
The point at which our game puzzles approach the complexity of those puzzles is the point at
which our art form becomes mature.
![Page 44: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
The gap between
those who want
games to entertain and those who want games to
be art
does not exist.
![Page 45: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
Because both entail posing questions—tough ones
even, ethical ones, even. Andgames will never be mature as long as the designers create them with complete answers to their own puzzles in mind.
![Page 46: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/46.jpg)
Even then, there will a class of player who prefers
the comfort of only tackling puzzles they know
how to solve.
![Page 47: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
In the caveman days, the wolves got ‘em.
![Page 48: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/48.jpg)
These days, we’re a bit more tolerant—the job
market gets them instead.
![Page 49: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/49.jpg)
So the challenge we all face is to solve our own puzzles that don’t have one right answer (PvP, instancing, player-entered content!)
![Page 50: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/50.jpg)
Until then, all
our games
are destined to be like tic-tac-
toe.
![Page 51: Then I played Bookworm on the same site. I quit when I saw that I was fighting the tide.](https://reader034.fdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051622/56814fd3550346895dbd96d5/html5/thumbnails/51.jpg)
Child’s play because the patterns are too easily
perceived.