The elements of Game Design - Gameplay


Gameplay? play, game. What exactly is this thing? And why is it important?

The way that the gamer can interact with the game and the way the game handles, this being as brief a description of gameplay you can get. But gameplay is a very broad subject which can not be put into one box because it is a correlation of different entities.

"Ambiguous term for the total effect of all active game elements. Refers to the holistic game experience and the ability of the game to command the attention of the player."

And why is it important?

Gameplay is an enormous factor to me in whether a game is a success of a failure. I have come to this conclusion because if I as a games player are not able to interact with the game successfully I will end up getting frustrated by the game.


Does it exist as a definable set of rules?

I assume that in the gaming industry there are not a defined set of rules that games have to follow on the topic of gameplay, but I feel that the in the individual gaming companies they will have a set of guidlines or a standard they have set for their games to live up to. This will be put in place so that the organisations keep up their own high standards of gameplay so that they will keep up with the competition that are around.

Is it even important?

I understand the question being asked in the sense of "is gameplay even important?" so I will start by answering this question from my point of view, and for me gamplay is EXTREMLEY important for me. I would rather have a game that has amazing realistic gamplay rather than a game that has amazingly realistic graphics. I feel that gameplay makes a game, in the sense that if a player can not interact with a game the way that they want to they will get frustrated and it will end up with the player getting annoyed at the game.