Notes on Games Britannia: Dicing With Destiny

Recently we've been watching a BBC series called Games Britannia, which was published back in 2009. The series follows Benjamin Woolley as he travels much of Britain and some of the world in his attempt to understand the history of games.

Woolley believes that games are a strong source of social, political and even religious history for our nation. The first episode centres on ancient games and leads towards games of the industrial revolution, marking various important points of gaming history in between.

The first game that is examined is a mysterious iron age game now called "The Stanway Game". Woolley speculates that the fact that it was buried with an important spiritual figure indicates that it could have been used for divining purposes to the ancient Britons.

Woolley's other investigations of ancient games with religious significance include Moksha Patamu (which has since been commercialised into Snakes & Ladders), a game about the Hindu path of enlightenment, as well as an early medieval game called Alea Evangelii.

Alea Evangelii (Game of the Gospels) is a form of an early Scandinavian game called tafl or hnefatafl, in which two armies are present on the board, with one outweighing the other in terms of numbers. Both hnefatafl and Alea Evangelii feature a king in the centre of the board, who must attempt to escape to a board edge. He has a smaller number of defending forces than the attackers who begin on all four edges of the board. The main difference between hnefatafl and Alea Evangelii is that the latter has great spiritual significance due to its Christian scripture context.

With brief mention of other games which became popular in early medieval history (such as chess, backgammon & draughts) he then goes on to talk about 9 Men's Morris. He presents some examples of the gameboard having been carved into the stone in cathedrals by bored church-goers and then goes on to briefly explain how the game is played.

I was in Norwich recently and decided to do a little investigating myself and managed to find what I believe is a variation on the typical 9 Men's Morris layout:

Possible Nine Men's Morris carving found in Norwich Cathedral

Before long, games turned away from being tools for divination and spiritual guidance and instead became a vessel for gambling. This began in the middle ages and continued all the way until the Victorian era where games began to be presented a method of instilling morals and teaching lessons to their players.

It was in Victorian times that games began to become commercialised and companies would print them in large runs, this was of political and social importance because it could then become widespread and therefore present a message or ideal to a large number of people.

The episode ended on an examination of chess and the way in which the game has developed over the ages, including its extreme popularity in tournaments around the world.

Dicing With Destiny gave a brief but in-depth overview of the history of our games, and how they've developed to suit the times. I find it no small coincidence that games were more spiritually guided in a time when religion was the major political power in the world, and that this side of games dispersed as society developed. As society and it's politics shift, so did the games that people were playing, and the reasons they had for playing them.

The Art of Game Design

I am a game designer.

I am a game designer.

I am a game designer.

I am a game designer.

***

If you haven't read The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Jesse Schell, 2008) then you may think I'm being somewhat presumptuous and possibly a bit weird.

In chapter 1 of Schell's book he speaks of what it means to be a game designer, as well as what it takes to consider yourself one. The confidence-building exercise which he employs (and that I have begun this blog post with) presents the idea that a game designer begins with the desire to be one. He iterates at various times throughout the chapter that confidence is extremely important. This is because it is very easy to doubt yourself when presented with your own failings and short-comings, or when observing the excellence of others. Schell states simply, 'Blow away these useless thoughts. They can't help you.' (p.2).

With these simple words to guide us (and brevity is the soul of wit, as some famous playwright once said) he then goes on to define some important skills that a game designer should be in possession of. While I fall somewhat short of this extensive list I am not perturbed because my skills are growing with every day. The chapter indicates that the most important skill of all however, is to listen. The broad notion of 'listening' has been categorised into five sub-groups, of which you should devote your skill equally.

Team - your co-workers and colleagues (they may have skills and ideas which you are lacking in)

Audience - the people who will play your game (feedback is the best basis for iteration of a game)

Game - the way the game is constructed and what it is trying to be (Schell gives comparison to being in-tune with your car and 'feeling' when something is wrong with it)

Client - whoever has assigned the task of making the game (in the professional world this is your employer, and it's definitely a good idea to listen to them!)

Self - while this one may seem fairly self-explanatory, it is always worth questioning yourself as to why you're making the decisions that you are (having a clear idea of what you're trying to achieve is just as important as having the ability to follow through with it, in my experience)

Finally, Schell speaks of 'the minor gift' and 'the major gift' of any skill. While some people are naturally gifted in an area and are born experts, Jesse considers this to be the minor gift if they don't possess the passion for the skill in question. The major gift is the love for the work itself. Practice and perseverance are far more important than any underlying innate talent.

While I have no idea what the future holds in store for me, I know what direction I want to steer it in, so here I am.

I am a game designer.

Paidea and Ludus & Other Concepts

Games can be difficult to constrain into broad archetypes but a very elegant form of it can be seen in the 'Paidea vs. Ludus' discussion.

Paidea means 'play' and is essentially the concept of enjoyment for its own sake. Running around with a toy plane pretending that it is flying would be considered paidea for example. The idea is that this is what you do when you're feeling imaginative or creative, there's no ultimate purpose to what you're doing beyond the fact that it's something you like to do.

Ludus is the concept of playing towards a specific goal. This could be things like football, where your goal is to get a higher score than the other team while abiding by a strict set of rules as to what you can and cannot do to achieve this. Generally less creative, as your role and what you must do are usually more restricted to fit the game.

With these broad ideas in mind I'll now state a few gaming examples of each:

Paidea

Dungeons & Dragons [D&D] - this is one of the better fitted games due to the nature in which it's played. A storyteller/adjudicator gives the players a situation or setting and lets them attempt what they like. There is usually a set of rules appropriate to specific tasks in these types of games but the important thing to take is that there's no set win or lose condition. The storyteller (called a DM in Dungeons & Dragons) adjusts and improvises the world and situations based on what the players want from the game. A game could end up with the players being more interested in making and selling shoes than fighting monsters, which is entirely fine. The rulebooks state on many occasions that they are simply guides and that if ignoring them would make for a better game then that's the way to go. Paidea at its core.

X3: Albion Prelude - the game and game engine obviously have many rules inherent within them and also contain some story and missions you can pursue if you wish. However, this game fits under the paidea category because you don't have to do any of the story or missions if you don't want to. You are given a spaceship at the start with a few simple guns and cargo space and you can make of yourself whatever you wish. If you want to start a haulage service you can do so. If you want to shoot everything you see this is also fine. Alternatively you can avoid conflict entirely, just exploring the universe and taking in the scenery. You can fly where you like from the beginning and do whatever you like at any step of the way. It's a game where you can make your own story. It also doesn't have an end (much like D&D) and therefore the only reason to stop would be by your own volition.

Ludus

Grim Fandango - A classic Lucasarts adventure game in which you guide the protagonist through a set narrative, making minor choices along the way but ultimately never affecting the outcome. The goal of this game is to solve the puzzles and further the story until it reaches its conclusion. Despite being entirely restricted throughout the game (even down to areas you can go to or people you can talk to) it isn't a downfall in any sense. The restrictions mean that the story can be better written and the dialogue more appropriate and witty. The puzzles and game-play elements help you to get immersed by making you think within the reality of the world and thereby become more involved with the story. This is something that is only possible in the rules and restrictions of a ludus game.

Pandemic - A board-game in which the player(s) must work within the rules to 'defeat' the game itself as it attempts to take over the world with deadly pathogens. There are a number of different modes to play the game in, especially with the expansion 'On The Brink' which adds more variation. Each mode has clearly defined win and lose conditions however and the players must attempt to think strategically about how to achieve their goal within the constraints imposed. The game would have little purpose if the rules weren't abided by as they determine the challenge and the point of playing. Without the board introducing the pathological cubes to various cities then there would be no lose conditions and therefore no challenge.

Paidea vs. Ludus

There is no justification for fun (as long as no-one is harmed in the process!) and what one person finds enjoyable another may find crude and unappealing. I don't think there is a competition between the two, as they both clearly have their place in the gaming world. However; the question of whether any game is singularly ludus or paidea is a difficult one and I'm not sure anything truly is. In D&D there is always the semblance of rules in the very fact that a storyteller is present and it is their decisions that ultimately affect the fate of the player's characters. Similarly X3 would not work if it did not have all of the content and coding that makes it what it is. You can do whatever you like in X3, as long as that involves flying spaceships around the X3 universe.

On the other end of the scale you can cheat or bend the rules of games such as Pandemic or Grim Fandango. There's still a set ultimate goal of course and if you're not adhering to that then you're not truly playing the games but using another person's savegame to get past a hard puzzle or ignoring the next 'Epidemic' card which comes up is not truly playing within the game creator's confines. This is a moot point however and we could be scrutinising games forever if don't get past the notion of absolutes when we're talking about such grey concepts as 'play' and 'fun'.

Agon, Alea, Ilinx & Mimicry

These weird looking words are further ways to categorise our theories of fun and how it's enjoyed:

* Agon - competition or struggle. The idea of a game being a fight or opposed challenge where something needs to be bested. An example would be fencing, where you must physically and mentally best your opponent with swordplay. Another example would be Starcraft, where you must outwit your opponent on a tactical level while also knowing the game mechanics on an intuitive level.

* Alea - chance or randomness. A game with a large degree of chance involved, such as Snakes & Ladders, where the winner is entirely determined by chance. Another example would be many popular MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft, where equipment and items have a percentage chance of appearing each time you perform a certain task (such as killing a boss monster).

* Ilinx - movement. A game that has large part of it revolving around movement in some manner. Flight games are a primary example of this, where you get a feeling of freedom of moment from being in control of your vehicle. Assassin's Creed or Mirror's Edge are great examples of this, where one of the main game elements involves mastering the movement of the characters and navigating the world with ease.

* Mimicry - role-play or simulation. This is the concept of being involved with the game, either caring about the characters (which're ultimately not real in any sense) or being able to believe the world or environment to some degree. Suspension of disbelief is the key to enjoying games that involve this, such as accepting that you're in danger and allowing yourself to get scared when playing a horror game. Another example would be the Armed Assault series where a large draw of the game is the attempt at portraying a realistic war environment. This wouldn't be an important part of development if mimicry wasn't a strong part of people's enjoyment of games.

Of course, most games are various mixtures of these 4 sub-definitions and will also fall under the main definitions as well. It is important to be aware of these concepts because it will allow you to understand what it is that people find appealing about particular games. I imagine that the most popular games have understood these concepts (or something very similar) and have managed to effectively promote those aspects and presumably cater to their strong points.

A little about me

A little about me

This blog was created as part of my Computer Games Design course and I was asked a number of questions as a little preface for any readers to get to know a little about me. Without further ado here are the questions and my answers:

What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading?

I'm currently reading Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett and alternating it with my endless struggle to read House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Both are excellent books, although the subject matter of Eisenhorn is possibly a little difficult to get to grips with if you don't know anything about the backstory of Warhammer 40k.

What is the title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading?

More than one for this question as well! It almost makes me sound prolific, turns out I'm just incredibly fickle and get bored of monotony though. I'm reading Challenges for Games Designers and also Yes Man by Danny Wallace (it isn't fiction, but it may contain a dose of hyperbole so I'm not sure if this counts). Everyone should read Yes Man by the way, it's incredibly inspiring!

What was the last live performance  you attended?

I think it was probably Dave Gorman's Powerpoint Presentation, which is a stand-up performance by the aforementioned guy. I would've used the word 'man' there instead of 'guy' but I felt that his last name would've made it into a literary faux-pas. 

What was the title of the last film you saw at the cinema?

Riddick! It was incredibly entertaining in a 13 year old's fantasy sorta way. Riddick runs around and kills things and people but he just wants to be left alone really.

How often do you read a newspaper?

I read articles online a fair amount, usually two or three a day. Although I don't blindly follow any particular paper. I tend to ignore things written in the Daily Mail more often than not but I've seen a silly story or two that I've enjoyed.

Which art gallery/museum  did you last visit?

I went to the Victoria & Albert in London a few weeks ago. It was such a crazy mash of everything that I couldn't help but love it a little bit! It's like someone took all the odds and ends from other museums that they didn't have enough space for a proper exhibit of and just kinda hurled them about the V&A. One moment I'm enjoying chunks of medieval gothic architecture, the next I'm looking at tiny Victorian shoes, then I'm staring down fashion of the 1970s!

How many hours a week do you spend playing computer games?

(the actual title was 'videogames' but I usually equate that with console games and I only have a PC)

I'd say about 5 hours on average, although that's likely to go up soon! It all depends on if I've been gripped by a game recently. Sometimes you find a game that you absolutely love and you just play it for hours and hours. It's like when you read a book and just can't put it down, tempting yourself to turn 'just one more page' and before you know it you don't have a social life.

How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than computer games?

Probably about 5 as well, although I'd like it to increase. I still haven't tested out my wargame on anyone here yet and I'm in the process of making a starship wargame as well. I have managed to play a few games of the X-wing miniatures game, plus I'll be bringing my copies of Pandemic and Settlers of Catan to uni when I eventually manage to retrieve them from Horning. My plan is to make lots of games while I'm here though, computer and traditional, so that means I'll be playing a lot as well!

Well, there's a cheeky insight into my personality. I hope you enjoyed it! Regular updates will actually be about games with any luck.