Contents  Introduction  Levels of  Abstraction  Mastering the  System  Personal Growth  Exiting the Maze  Hybrid Focuses  A Fourth Focus  Conclusion  Printable version

Personal Growth

There are many games that do not focus on the system or the rules of the game in a noteworthy way and instead focus on the player and their position in the game. Role Playing Games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and computer RPGs like Ultima Online use this kind of focus.

Ultima Online has a great number of different actions the player can perform and also a large array of rules that the player uses and plays by, but the real focus of the game is for the player to build up their character and augment their position in the society. This focus of gameplay differs from the system focus because the rules and actions are only a means to an end and not the portion of the game that the player enjoys or plays for.

When the game's point is to augment and build up a character, their status or an environment, the game is using the growth focus of gameplay.

The growth focus of gameplay is not limited to the goal of advancing levels or gaining experience points but also include any game where the goal is to create something, such as in Dungeon Keeper, where the player is creating a dungeon to advance his power and minions. While there are battles with heroes, these battles are more a test of ones ability to build good levels and have a healthy army of minions, than an enjoyable activity in themselves.

SimCity, while technically not a game in itself as it doesn't have any rules, is often played with the rule of "building the best city" or "building a city without crime and transportation problems". In this way SimCity is being used with a focus on growth in the gameplay. The player is trying to build the environment, and the actions of placing buildings and roads or destroying them are relatively unimportant compared to how they are placed and the effect they have on the city.

While growth focus is about augmenting a players position or environment, gaining higher scores and lower times are not necessarily part of a growth focus. In a game with a system focus these elements are ways to rate the player's performance and mastery of the system. Even when the player is playing a game strictly to get a high score they are only playing to challenge others and their own mastery of the system. The way that getting a high score in a pinball game can be distinguished from getting a higher level in an RPG is by determining the purpose of the game. The pinball game is presented in a way that challenges the player to control and adjust to the movement of the ball, the points are awarded by the success of these actions. The RPG game is presented where the player must manage which monsters he chooses to fight by how powerful their character has become and increasing power is the ultimate goal. Instead of the ability to control the battle against the monsters, it is the ability to increase in power that is the key.

Next : Exiting the Maze