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CGDD Assignment 2: Reading Response

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  • Text: The Theory of Fun, Chapter-3: What Games Are
  • Tag: Game & Learning; Game Design; Brain Fucntion
  • Reading Response
    • Why do people love to play games?
      • Games come from the reality: we see games in the same way that reality is formed, and we processed rules of games just like we process real things. But stakes are much lower in games, which allows more freedom & exploration with games than in reality.
      • Also, finely designed game mechanism strikes a perfect balance between failure and pleasure, and that attract people to keep learning, trying & experiencing. 
    • What is your understanding about the relationship between learning and game described in this chapter?
      • As noted in the text, the process of gaming and learning is similar–while learning, we try to know about patterns and put that into practice; while gaming, we’re also exploring the rule of the games and master it to rule the game. While learning, we get motivated and excited once we get positive feedback of our learning outcomes. And game design is all about lengthening the learning experience, and how to give players feedback appropriately, so that they stay interested in exploring the gaming world. 
    • What is good game experience in your mind?  Examples?
      • For me, good game experience contains two parts.
        • The first one is the world view–in other words, whether a game is immersive for the audience. Great games provide players with a complete and interesting world to explore, and they achieve this by graphic & audio design and storytelling. Disco Elysium is a good example–the graphic & audio design is cool, and the storytelling tries to even shaking your recognition of values. Gris is another–the art design of this game has made it into an art piece, even if its gameplay is simple.
        • The second part is the feedback, the try-and-reward system of a game’s interactive design. Just like the book indicates, great interactive design continuously generates positive feedback for players, so that they could engage and enjoy the game more, just like a enjoyable learning experience. Hollow Knight, in this respect, is a good example. Even if the game control is quite challenging in the game, people still can’t get out of it because the great gaming experience.