Gameplay facts for kids

Gameplay is the way players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the connection between player and the game, game rules, challenges and overcoming them, plot and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it. Video game gameplay is how attracting the graphics and audio are to the player.

Overview

The gameplay of an early version of the puzzle game Edge

Along with the rise of video game development in the 1980s, the term gameplay was used only in the context of video games. Now its popularity has started to be used in the description of other, more traditional, game types. Generally, gameplay is about the general experience of playing a video game. It doesn't include other things like graphics and sound. Game mechanics, on the other hand, is the set of rules in a game that are supposed to make an enjoyable gaming experience. Academic discussions often use terms like game mechanics so they don't have to use gameplay. This is because "gameplay" is too general for academic discussions.

Gameplay types

• Cooperative gameplay
• Deathmatch
• Emergent gameplay
• Hack and slash
• Leveled gameplay
• Micromanagement
• Nonlinear gameplay
• Passive gameplay
• Twitch gameplay

Books

• Desurvire, H., Caplan, M., & Toth, J. A. (2004). Using heuristics to evaluate the playability of games. CHI '04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, Vienna, Austria.
• Fabricatore, C., Nussbaum, M., & Rosas, R. (2002). Playability in video games: a qualitative design model. Human-Computer Interaction, 17(4), 311-368.
• Jegers, K. (2008). Investigating the Applicability of Usability and Playability Heuristics for Evaluation of Pervasive Games. Internet and Web Applications and Services, 2008. ICIW '08.
• Korhonen, H., & Koivisto, E. M. I. (2006). Playability heuristics for mobile games. In Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Human-Computer interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (Helsinki, Finland, September 12–15, 2006). MobileHCI '06, vol. 159. ACM, New York, NY, 9-16. doi: 10.1145/1152215.1152218
• Korhonen H., Koivisto E.M.I. (2007). Playability Heuristics for Mobile Multi-player Games. In proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts, DIMEA 2007, ACM Press (2007), pp. 28–35. Perth, Australia. doi: 10.1145/1306813.1306828
• Nacke, L. (2009). From Playability to a Hierarchical Game Usability Model. In Proceedings of the 2009 Conference on Future Play on @ GDC Canada (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 12–13, 2009). FuturePlay '09. ACM, New York, NY, 11-12. doi: 10.1145/1639601.1639609
• Nacke, L. E., Drachen, A., Kuikkaniemi, K., Niesenhaus, J., Korhonen, H. J., Hoogen, W. M. v. d., et al. (2009). Playability and Player Experience Research. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory, London, UK. (online slides)
• Järvinen, A., Heliö, S. and Mäyrä, F. Communication and Community in Digital Entertainment Services. Prestudy Research Report , Hypermedia Laboratory, University of Tampere, Tampere, 2002.

See also

In Spanish: Jugabilidad para niños