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SiSSYFiGHT 3000
Overview
SiSSYFiGHT simulates a
playground fight between little
girls.
Overview
Each girl begins with 10 SelfEsteem chips
… and the goal of the game is to
reduce your opponents’ selfesteem to ZERO!
Overview
When there are only one or two
players left with any selfesteem, they win the game!
Setup
Each player starts with:
1. Three “Action” cards
2. Six “Target” cards, 1 “No Target” card
3. Ten chips.
Everyone should pick one of the six
colors.
Rules
Each Round:
• Choose an “Action” and “Target”
in secret.
• Reveal cards simultaneously
• Resolve actions
• All communication must be public.
• When you run out of chips, you’re out.
• When one or two people are left, they win.
Actions
• Solo:
 Target discards one chip.
• Team:
 If anyone else teams against this target,
she discards two chips per attacking player.
• Defend:
 Not an attack – choose “No Target” as your target.
 If no one targets you: lose one chip.
 Else, lose half the chips required (round down).
Coffee Break at 11:00
• Play until then
• Pick a different classroom
 3001
 3003
 3005
General Observations About
Sissyfight?
What’s fun about SiSSYFiGHT?
• What kinds of fun did you
experience?
• Can we get more specific than
“fun?”
What’s fun about SiSSYFiGHT?
• What kinds of fun did you
experience?
• Can we get more specific than
“fun?”
 Intrigue: Negotiation, Cooperation, Betrayal
 Challenge: Tactics, Problem Solving
 Drama
How do we get from…
• Cards
• Chips
• Rules
To…
• Cards
• Chips
• Rules
• Intrigue
• Challenge
• Drama
What’s missing?
“Rules”
“Fun”
The causal link…
“Rules”
“Behavior”
“Fun”
This is what sets games apart…
Games As Software
“Rules”
“Behavior”
“Fun”
Games As Software
“Rules”
“Behavior”
“Fun”
Code
Process
Requirements
A Design Vocabulary
“Behavior”
“Fun”
Process
Requirements
Mechanics
A Design Vocabulary
“Fun”
Mechanics
Dynamics
Requirements
A Design Vocabulary
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
The MDA Framework
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
Definitions
• Mechanics: The rules and concepts
that formally specify the game-assystem.
• Dynamics: The run-time behavior of
the game-as-system.
• Aesthetics: The desirable emotional
responses evoked by the game
dynamics.
The Designer/Player Relationship

Designer
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics

Player
The Player’s Perspective
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics

Player
The Designer’s Perspective

Designer
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
Understanding Aesthetics
• We need to get past words like
“fun” and “gameplay.”
• What kinds of “fun” are there?
• How will we know a particular kind
of “fun” when we see it?
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
• Sensation
Game as art object
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
• Sensation
• Fantasy
Game as make-believe
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
• Sensation
• Fantasy
• Narrative
Game as unfolding story
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
•
•
•
•
Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Game as obstacle course
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
•
•
•
•
•
Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Game as social framework
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Game as uncharted territory
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Expression
Game as soap box
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Expression
Submission
Game as mindless pastime
Clarifying Our Aesthetics
Charades is “fun”
Counter-Strike is “fun”
Final Fantasy is “fun”
Clarifying Our Aesthetics
Charades is
Fellowship, Expression, Challenge
Counter-Strike is
Challenge, Sensation, Competition, Fantasy
Final Fantasy is
Fantasy, Narrative, Expression, Discovery, Challenge,
Masochism
Each game pursues multiple aesthetics.
Again, there is no Game Unified Theory.
Clarifying Our Goals
• As designers, we can choose
certain aesthetics as goals for our
game design.
• We need more than a one-word
definition of our goals.
Formulating an “Aesthetic
Model”
For each aesthetic goal:
• Write a formal definition
• List criteria for success
• List modes of failure
• Serves as an “aesthetic compass”
• These are often reusable
Some examples…
Goal: Competition
• Definition: A game is competitive if
players are emotionally invested in
defeating each other.
• Success:
 Players are adversaries.
 Players want to win.
• Failure:
 A player feels that he can’t win.
 A player can’t measure his progress.
Goal: Pirate Fantasy
• Definition: A pirate fantasy conforms to
the genre conventions of pirate movies,
and permits the player to engage in
certain kinds of anti-social pirate
behavior.
Goal: Pirate Fantasy
• Definition: A pirate fantasy conforms to
the genre conventions of pirate movies,
and permits the player to engage in
certain kinds of anti-social pirate
behavior.
• Success:





Empowerment
Independence
Greed
Treachery
Prey upon Weak
Goal: Pirate Fantasy
• Definition: A pirate fantasy conforms to
the genre conventions of pirate movies,
and permits the player to engage in
certain kinds of anti-social pirate
behavior.
• Failure:
• Success:





Empowerment
Independence
Greed
Treachery
Prey upon Weak
 Vulnerability
 Compassion
 Generosity
Goal: Drama
Definition: A game is dramatic if:
• Its central conflict creates dramatic tension.
• The dramatic tension builds towards a climax.
Dramatic Tension
Clima x
Conflict
Resolution
Narrative Time
Goal: Drama
• Success:
 A sense of uncertainty
 A sense of inevitability
 Tension increases towards a climax
• Failure:
 The conflict’s outcome is obvious (no uncertainty)
 No sense of forward progress (no inevitability)
 Player doesn’t care how the conflict resolves.
Aesthetics of SiSSYFiGHT
• Fellowship: Negotiation,
Cooperation, Betrayal
• Challenge: Tactics, Problem Solving
• Narrative: Drama
Understanding Dynamics
• What about the game’s behavior
can we predict before we go to
playtest?
• How can we explain the behavior
that we observe?
Formalizing Game Dynamics
Input
(Player)
Rules
Output
State
(Graphics/
Sound)
The “State Machine” Model
Examples: Chess, Counter-Strike
Models of Game Dynamics
• Again, no Grand Unified Theory
• Instead, a collection of many
Dynamic Models.
• Dynamics models are analytical in
nature.
Some examples…
Example: Random Variable
Chance in 36
• This is a model of 2d6:
2
3
4
5
6Die7roll8
9 10 11 12
Example: Feedback System
• A feedback system monitors and regulates its own state.
Room
Thermometer
Heater
Too Cold
Too Hot
Cooler
Controller
An Ideal Thermostat
Example: Operant Conditioning
• The player is part of the system,
too!
• Psychology gives us models to
explain and predict the player’s
behavior.
Where Models Come From
• Analysis of existing games
• Other Fields:
 Math, Psychology, Engineering…
• Our own experience
Dynamics of SiSSYFIGHT
Competition,
Random Attacks
Equality
Scourge
Cooperation,
Team Attacks
On to Mechanics...
Understanding Mechanics
• There’s a vast library of common
game mechanics.
Examples
• Cards
 Shuffling, Trick-Taking, Bidding
• Shooters
 Ammunition, Spawn Points
• Golf
 Sand Traps, Water Hazards
Mechanics of SiSSYFiGHT
•
•
•
•
Turn-based
Hit Points
Public Communication
Simultaneous Action
Mechanics vs. Dynamics
• There’s a grey area
 Some behaviors are direct consequences of rules.
 Others are indirect.
 “Dynamics” usually means the latter.
• Dynamics and Mechanics are
different views of games.
• Dynamics emerge from Mechanics.
MDA
• A “Taxonomy” of Design
Knowledge




Aesthetics
Dynamics
Mechanics
…and the interactions between them.
MDA in SiSSYFiGHT
Simultaneous turns + attack actions 
MDA in SiSSYFiGHT
Simultaneous turns + attack actions 
Competition,
Random Attacks
Equality
Scourge
Cooperation,
Team Attacks
MDA in SiSSYFiGHT
Simultaneous turns + attack actions 
Competition,
Random Attacks
Equality
Scourge
Cooperation,
Team Attacks
 Betrayal!
SiSSYFiGHT Fiction
• Does SiSSYFiGHT do a good job of
conveying its subject matter?
• How can it do better?
SiSSYFiGHT Fiction
What other fictional genre or
subject matter could the
mechanics of SiSSYFiGHT simulate?
Exercise
• Choose a fictional genre and/or setting
that might fit this game.
• Adapt the game to your chosen subject
matter.
• Keep in mind the aesthetic qualities we
identified in the breakdown.
• How can the rules of the game be
changed to best support your fiction?
Brainstorming
• Everyone Grab a Sticky Pad
When I Say “Go…”
1. You will have 90 seconds.
2. Write down as many genre ideas
as you can.
3. One to a sticky note.
4. Keep it Short ( 5 words)
5. No idea is too dumb.
6. Work in silence.
Ready?
• Go!
Pens Down!
With your group:
• Get on your feet!
• Find some wall space
• Stick your ideas to the wall
• Put like ideas together
• Look for critical mass
• Narrow down a fiction to work on.
When your group has picked a subject,
you are free to go to lunch.
Feel free to get started on your design.
Don’t forget to sign up for an elective.
We will reconvene at 2:00.
Welcome Back!
• You’ve chosen a setting or fiction for
SiSSYFiGHT.
• Adapt the game to your chosen subject
matter.
• Keep in mind the aesthetic qualities we
identified at the beginning.
• How can the rules of the game be
changed to best support your fiction?
Discussion
• Let’s compare solutions. What
different approaches did we take?
Discussion
How did the game dynamics support
your subject matter?
Were the game dynamics and the
subject matter ever in conflict?
How did your choice of subject
matter influence your process?
Any Final Observations?
Coffee!
After the break,
go to your Elective A room:
World of Randomness: 3001
World of Creativity: 3003
World of Rulecraft: 3005