Part

Player actions

You might say: what you do

The player chooses inputs and commits actions that change the game state.

What it does

Turns a system of rules into an interactive game rather than a passive display.

Ask

Which choice has a meaningful consequence right now?

What to look for

1. Inputs committed as actions
2. Movement, aiming, building or choosing
3. A changed game state after a choice

Parts

• Input action: A player input is mapped to an intentional action such as moving, aiming, building or choosing.
• Choice space: The set of actions that are legal, understandable and worth comparing in the current state.
• Action resolution: The game applies rules, timing and interactions to turn an input into a state change.

Sources

1. Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc and Robert Zubek, MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research, pp. 2–4Dynamics describes the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each othersí outputs over time.
2. Ernest Adams, Fundamentals of Game Design, introduction, p. xiiiThe gameplay consists of the challenges the player faces and the actions he takes to overcome them.
3. Jesper Juul, Design (MIT CMS.608 lecture, 2008), MIT OCW lecture slides 5, 8 and 12: player experience, meaningful play and iterative designMeaningful play: When relation between action and outcome is discernable and integrated
4. Daniel Cook, What are game mechanics?, game mechanics definition and feedback loops: action, effect, feedback, next actionPlayer performs an action
5. Daniel Cook, Building Tight Game Systems of Cause and Effect, Pacing; Option Complexity; Time PressureAt each stage of learning, you create a hypothesis, test it via your actions and refine your mental models
6. Steve Swink, Game Feel: The Secret Ingredient, opening; The Garden’s Ecosystem; Input; ResponseInput -- How the player can express their intent to the system.
7. Ian Schreiber, Game Design Concepts, Level 5: Mechanics and Dynamics, Now, About That MDA Framework Thing…; The Process of Design; The Process of PlayWhat actions can players take, and what effects do those actions have on the game state?
8. Tynan Sylvester, Decision-Based Gameplay Design, Decisions; Difficult DecisionsThe ace that gaming has up its sleeve is that it gives the player opportunities to make decisions and then observe the results of those choices in a consequence-free zone.
9. Robert Nystrom, Game Programming Patterns, Game Loop: Event loops; Patternprocesses user input without blocking, updates the game state

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Player actions" (player-actions) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/game-design/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal