Pattern Language for

Game Design
Pattern Language for
Game Design

Chris Barney
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I want to dedicate this book to the three people in my life who
brought me to the place where I had no choice but to write it.
To Jerry Levy, studying under you at Marlboro College set
the academic bar that I have strived for throughout my
career. You taught me to think deeply and to believe that
we must use our understanding to change the world.
To Christopher Alexander, whom I have yet to have the privilege
to meet, your words and insight into how we see the soul of the
universe inspire me. I hope with all my heart that my work here
will help open the doors of Pattern Theory to more designers
and help us to all build the strong centers we need to be whole.
To my father, Gary Barney, you are a living example of
Alexander’s nameless quality. My drive to make the world a
better place comes from you, and this book is my attempt to
do just that. I hope the pages that follow make you proud.
Contents

Preface: How to Use Tis Book, xvii

Pattern Library Website, xxi
Acknowledgments, xxiii
Author, xxv

SECTION I Introduction

CHAPTER 1 ◾ Introduction 3
WHAT IS THIS BOOK FOR? 3
WHY IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU? 4
WHY AM I THE PERSON WRITING THIS BOOK? 8
PATTERNS, CREATIVITY, AND ART 12
Why Are Tere Patterns? 13
Back to Art 14
Is Tere Room for Creativity and Innovation? 15
Diferent Designers, Diferent Patterns 15
Forming Patterns vs. Accepting Tropes and Stereotypes 16

SECTION II Background

CHAPTER 2 ◾ Background on A Pattern Language by

Christopher Alexander 21
PATTERN THEORY 24
CRITICISMS 24
IMPLICATIONS FOR GAMES 27
vii
viii ◾ Contents

CHAPTER 3 ◾ Background on the Use of Pattern Languages

in Other Fields 29
COMPUTER SCIENCE 29
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE 32

CHAPTER 4 ◾ Background on the Use of Patterns in Game

Design 35
BOOKS 35
Patterns in Game Design 35
Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design 38
SCHOLARLY ARTICLES 40
“Te Case for Game Design Patterns” 41
“Developing a Pattern Language for Flow Experiences in
Video Games” 42
“Design Patterns in Games: Te Case for Sound Design” 44
“Patterns and Computer Game Design Innovation” 45
OTHER GAME DESIGN PATTERN PROJECTS 47
LARP Pattern Language 47
Kind Fortress 47
Interactive Institute Swedish ICT 48

SECTION III An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design

CHAPTER 5 ◾ An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design 53

WHAT DOES A PATTERN LOOK LIKE, AND HOW CAN I
FIND IT? 53
Te Pattern Template 54
EXAMPLE PATTERN: MYSTERY-DRIVEN EXPLORATION 58
INTRODUCTION TO PATTERN EXERCISES 61

CHAPTER 6 ◾ Common Problems in Proposed Patterns 69

PATTERNS SHOULD ADDRESS A DESIGN PROBLEM 69
SHALLOW PATTERNS 70
CIRCULAR PATTERN 71
 Contents ◾ ix

PATTERNS SHOULD BE PRESCRIPTIVE 71

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS 72
ANTI-PATTERNS 72
THE DESIRE TO BE THE AUTHORITY/KILL YOUR BABIES 73

SECTION IV Pattern Exercises

CHAPTER 7 ◾ Pattern Exercises 77

EXAMPLE EXERCISES AND PATTERNS 78

CHAPTER 8 ◾ Basic Pattern Exercise 79

BASIC PATTERN EXERCISE 79
Pattern Purpose 79
Example Basic Pattern Exercise 80
Exercise 80
Pattern: One of Tese Days Tat’s Going to Get You Killed 85

CHAPTER 9 ◾ Structural Pattern Exercises 89

HIGHER-ORDER PATTERNS 89
Pattern Purpose 89
Example Higher-Order Pattern 90
Exercise 90
Pattern: Te Tree Bears Teory of Level Size 94
LOWER-ORDER PATTERNS 96
Pattern Purpose 96
Example Lower-Order Pattern 97
Exercise 97
Pattern: Old Me Was Afraid of Old You, But New Me Is
Stronger! … And Now I’m Afraid of New You 100
FORMAL AND FUNCTIONAL DESIGN ELEMENTS 102
FORMAL PATTERNS 103
Pattern Purpose 103
Example Formal Pattern 104
x ◾ Contents

Exercise 104
Pattern: Don’t Intellectualize My Pain! 110
Bonus Student Example: Temporally Unavailable Space 112
Pattern: Temporally Unavailable Space 112
FUNCTIONAL PATTERNS: PATTERNS FROM RULES 114
Pattern Purpose 114
Example Functional Pattern 116
Exercise 116
Pattern: Fight Like You Live 121
EMOTIONAL PATTERNS 124
Pattern Purpose 124
Example Emotional Pattern 125
Exercise 125
Pattern: Oh! Tat Went Unexpectedly Well 127
PLAYER EXPERIENCE PATTERN 129
Pattern Purpose 129
Example Experience Pattern 130
Exercise 130
Pattern: Te Risk of Knowing You 134
THEME PATTERNS 136
Pattern Purpose 136
Example Pattern 137
Exercise 137
Pattern: Bringing About the Apocalypse 143

CHAPTER 10 ◾ Focused Patterns 147

PATTERNS FROM MICRO, MACRO, AND META
CIRCULATION PATTERNS 147
Pattern Purpose 148
Example Pattern from Micro, Macro, and Meta Circulation
Patterns 150
Exercise 150
 Contents ◾ xi

Pattern: I Could Be Bounded in a Nutshell and Count

Myself a King of Infnite Space 155
BOSS ENCOUNTER PATTERNS 158
Pattern Purpose 158
Example Boss Encounter Pattern 159
Exercise 159
Pattern: We’re Going to a Dark Place Together 162
EMERGENT NARRATIVE PATTERNS 164
Pattern Purpose 164
Example Emergent Narrative Pattern 165
Exercise 165
Pattern: Te Tree Pillars of Meaning in Emergent Narrative 171
EMBEDDED AND ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVE PATTERNS 174
Pattern Purpose 174
Example Embedded and Environmental Narrative Pattern 176
Exercise 176
Pattern: I Tought You Should Know 182

CHAPTER 11 ◾ Patterns That Break the Mold 185

BREAKING SPACES PATTERNS 185
Pattern Purpose 185
Example Breaking Spaces Pattern 187
Exercise 187
Pattern: Know Your Past, Know Your Future, Know Yourself 195
PLAYER MANIPULATION PATTERNS 198
Pattern Purpose 199
Example Player Manipulation Pattern 200
Exercise 200
Pattern: Coercive Ludonarrative Resonance 204
PATTERNS IN INNOVATION 207
Pattern Purpose 207
Example pattern 208
xii ◾ Contents

Exercise 208
Pattern: Tere Had Better Be a Very Good
Explanation for Tis 212

SECTION V The Fifteen Properties

CHAPTER 12 ◾ Taking a Step Back: What We Have

Learned So Far 217

CHAPTER 13 ◾ The “Fifteen Fundamental Properties of

Wholeness” in Game Design 219
LEVELS OF SCALE 222
STRONG CENTERS 223
BOUNDARIES 224
ALTERNATING REPETITION 225
POSITIVE SPACE 226
GOOD SHAPE 227
LOCAL SYMMETRIES 228
DEEP INTERLOCK 229
CONTRAST 230
GRADED VARIATION 231
ROUGHNESS 232
ECHOES 234
THE VOID 234
INNER CALM 235
NOT SEPARATENESS 237

SECTION VI Advanced Pattern-Generation Exercises

CHAPTER 14 ◾ Advanced Pattern-Generation Exercises 241

PATTERNS FROM CORE MECHANICS 241
Core Mechanics 241
Pattern Purpose 242
Example: Pattern from Core Mechanics 243
 Contents ◾ xiii

Exercise 243
Pattern: Greater Choice Requires Greater Motivation 248
FINDING MISSING PATTERNS 251
Pattern Purpose 251
Example Finding Missing Pattern 251
Exercise 251
Pattern: And Now I Guess We’re Doing Tis 255
FINDING NEGATIVE PATTERNS 257
Pattern Purpose 257
Example Negative Pattern 258
Exercise 258
Pattern: Game, Know Tyself 262
FINDING POSITIVE PATTERNS FROM NEGATIVE ONES 264
Pattern Purpose 265
Example Positive Pattern 265
Exercise 265
Pattern: Familiarity Breeds Contempt, or at Least High
Expectations 268
USING PATTERNS FOR UNDERSTANDING 270
UNDERSTANDING TECHNIQUES 271
Pattern Purpose 271
Example Pattern 272
Exercise 272
Pattern: More or Less Running Away 274
UNDERSTANDING TROPES 276
Pattern Purpose 276
Example Pattern 277
Exercise 277
Pattern: Can I Do Tis Alone? 284
THE FIRST CHOICE 286
Pattern Purpose 286
Example Pattern 287
xiv ◾ Contents

Exercise 287
Pattern: It All Depends on How You Look at It 291
AUDIENCE PATTERNS 293
Pattern Purpose 293
Example Audience Patterns 295
Exercise 295
Pattern: Tis Game Isn’t about You … But It Is for You 300
THEORETICAL PATTERNS 303
Pattern Purpose 304
Example Teoretical Patterns 305
Exercise 305
Pattern: I See Where You Are Going with Tis 307

SECTION VII Building a Language

CHAPTER 15 ◾ Connecting Patterns into a Language 313

INTRODUCTION TO PATTERN LANGUAGE
CONSTRUCTION 313
BUILDING A PATTERN LANGUAGE 314
1. Make Sure You Have Enough Patterns 314
2. Add Keywords 316
Sample Keywords List 317
3. Understand the Scope of Your Language 318
Pattern Categories 319
Categories from Disciplines 319
Categories from Game Mechanics 320
Categories from Genre 320
Categories from Patterns in Game Design 320
Categories from Pedagogy 321
Categories from Live-Action Role-Playing Game (LARP)
Design 322
Meta-, Macro-, and Micro-Level Patterns 323
4. Adding Existing Parent Patterns 324
 Contents ◾ xv

5. Adding Existing Child Patterns 326

6. Linking Other Related Patterns 326
7. Suggest New Parents and Children 328
8. Use Exercise 24: Teoretical Patterns to Find Related
Patterns 329
9. Link Confdence 329

CHAPTER 16 ◾ Organizing and Maintaining a Pattern

Language 333
INTEGRATING PATTERNS FROM OTHER SOURCES 333
Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design 334
Pattern: I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can 341
Patterns in Game Design 344
Te Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses 347
Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses 349
Example Pattern from Lenses 350
Exercise 350
Pattern: Just Look at What You’ve Become 362
PITFALLS OF PATTERN RELATIONSHIPS 365
COMBINING PATTERNS 366
ELIMINATING PATTERNS 370

CHAPTER 17 ◾ Creating New Pattern Exercises 375

FRAMING THE INTENT OF THE EXERCISE 376
LISTING AND DESCRIBING EXAMPLES 376
ANALYZING THE EXAMPLES 377
ARTICULATING THE PATTERN 377

CHAPTER 18 ◾ Designing with a Pattern Language 379

INTEGRATING PATTERN LANGUAGE USE INTO EXISTING
DESIGN PROCESSES 380
PATTERN LANGUAGE AS THE BASIS OF DESIGN 381
xvi ◾ Contents

CHAPTER 19 ◾ Teaching Yourself or Students with Pattern

Languages 385
AN INSTITUTIONAL PATTERN LANGUAGE 387
DEVELOPING WITH PATTERNS 387
PROVIDING FEEDBACK 388
ASSESSING PATTERNS FROM OTHERS 389
DEVELOPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S PATTERNS 390
GROUP PATTERN EXERCISES 390
DIVIDING THE EXAMPLES 390
REVIEWING OTHER’S PROJECTS 391
CREATING KEYWORDS 391
CATEGORIZING PATTERNS 392
ASSESSING A PATTERN LANGUAGE 392
DESIGN EXERCISE USING PATTERNS 394

AFTERWORD, 397

GAMES REFERENCE, 403

REFERENCES, 465

INDEX, 469
Preface
How to Use This Book

M y goal with this book is to teach you a new way to approach game
design. You’ll learn how to take the games you’ve played and the design
tools you’ve already mastered and put them into a framework that you build.
Tat framework will give you access to all of the knowledge you already have
in a way that will let you understand when and why each tool is needed.
Tis book asks you to complete 25 exercises, each of which will help
you describe a pattern found in game design. Tese patterns will help you
understand or discover the techniques used to design games. Patterns that
you produce will be your own, diferent from those described by other
designers. You’ll then connect those patterns into a Pattern Language.
Tis language serves as the beginning of a framework that you’ll use to
organize your knowledge of game design so that you can always fnd the
right design tools to solve the design problems you face.

FIGURE 0.1 We all come to game design with the knowledge gained from a life-
time of playing games.
xvii
xviii ◾ Preface

Whoever you are, you already know a lot about game design. If you’re a
new student, you’re coming to your studies with the things you’ve learned
by playing dozens, probably hundreds, of games. But all of that knowledge
is buried in your memories and experiences of those games.

FIGURE 0.2 Degree programs hand students so many tools that it becomes hard
to know how to organize them.

As a student or beginning designer, your instructors or mentors hand

you more tools. But they do it so fast that you don’t have time to decide
where to put them, and by the time you graduate, you’ve dropped some of
them along the way and forgotten you ever had them.

FIGURE 0.3 Professional designers have accumulated so many tools that choos-
ing the right one can be daunting.
 Preface ◾ xix

If you’re a working designer, you have a vast warehouse of tools and

techniques that you’ve used or seen throughout your career. You have so
many options that sometimes it can be hard to decide which ones you
should be using or even what some of them do.
Te process that this book walks you through will help you look at
each tool you have, look at the games you’ve played, and see the tools used
to create it. You’ll look at each technique, understand its purpose, and
describe that as a pattern, then fnd its place in your Pattern Language so
you can fnd it again when the time is right to use it.

• Section I of this book looks at what precisely a pattern is. If you don’t
know, then it’s an excellent place to start. If you think you know what
a pattern is but you don’t know who Christopher Alexander is, then
I encourage you to take a look at this section. When I talk about a
pattern, I mean something particular, and I promise it’ll be worth
your time!
• Section II covers the origin of pattern theory and describes how
game design and other felds use it already. If you aren’t sure about
the idea of patterns and want to understand why they’re valuable and
how the techniques in this book developed, then you want to read
this section.
• Section III talks about how a pattern is created or discovered, and
shows you how to document your patterns. If you want to jump right
in and start digging for patterns, or you want to understand how
to get the most out of other people’s patterns, then you can jump
directly to this section.
• Section IV is where the exercises begin. If you’re excited to get
started, you can begin here and jump back to the frst three sections
when you have questions. You’ll want to complete each exercise at
least once, though each time you complete one, it’ll give you a difer-
ent pattern.
• Section V takes a step back from creating patterns and considers the
higher-level properties of game design, which you may have begun
to notice appearing again and again in the patterns you’ve created.
Ten it moves into more challenging exercises. You may want to skip
ahead to this section afer creating your frst few patterns if you feel
ready to add more depth to the patterns you’re describing.
xx ◾ Preface

• In Section VI, you’ll learn to connect your patterns into a language

that you can use to design games that work in the way you intend.
You’ll also learn how to combine your language with those of other
designers and adapt patterns that existed long before this book.
Next, you’ll learn to use your Pattern Language in your studio or
classroom with your classmates and colleagues.
• Tis book also includes an example design produced by students and
the patterns that they used to create it.
• Finally, this book includes a comprehensive list of the games used
in the example patterns, so you can easily fnd more information on
them to help you understand those examples.

FIGURE 0.4 Creating your own Pattern Language can give the structure you
need, whatever your background.

I hope that you fnd the process of working through these exercises as
rewarding as I have found the process of creating them.
Pattern Library Website

T he companion website for this book is available at

patternlanguageforgamedesign.com. Te site provides searchable
access to all the patterns listed in this book, with more added all the time.
It also contains the Games Reference with active links to all the referenced
sources for easy access.
Te website will allow you to add your patterns to the library and share
them with developers all over the world. Over time that functionality will
be expanded to allow you to create private languages for your dev team,
class, or institution.

xxi
Acknowledgments

I t’s traditional to say that you could not have written a book alone.
Now, at the end of writing one, I fnally understand how true that senti-
ment is! Tis book may exist because I set out to write it, but if it is read-
able, comprehensive, rigorous, and beautiful, I have some work to do in
providing thanks.
My eternal debt and gratitude to Kamela Dolinova, my life’s partner,
and to Meadow Osmun, my oldest and dearest friend, both authors in their
own right. Your close reading, research, and technical editing allowed me
to fnd the voice to say these words.
Jason Weiser and Christopher Totten have provided beautiful illustra-
tions for this text. Teir insight and playfulness may have saved me from
producing a humorless impenetrable wall of text. Tank you for giving
this book Lebendigkeit.
Tank you to Glenna Greer and Carter Seggev for their research work
building the Games Reference included at the end of this book.
I must also thank my students at Northeastern University who sufered
through and hopefully benefted from the development of the process that
this book describes.

xxiii
Author

Chris Barney is an industry veteran with over a decade of experience

designing and engineering games such as Poptropica and teaching at
Northeastern University. He has spoken at conferences including GDC,
DevCom, and PAX on topics from core game design to social justice.
Seeking degrees in game design before formal game design programs
existed, Chris built his own undergraduate and graduate curricula out of
oferings in sociology, computer science, and independent study. In pur-
suit of a broad understanding of games, he has worked on projects span-
ning interactive theater, LARP design, board games, and tabletop RPGs.
An extensive collection of his essays of game design topics can be found
on his development blog at perspectivesingamedesign.com.

xxv
 I
Introduction

1
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

WHAT IS THIS BOOK FOR?

Tis book will not tell you how to design games. Tis book is not a list of
rules you can follow to create games. It will not give you instructions for
creating the meaningful games you have inside, the ones that you know
will change the world. No list of design principles, methodologies, or even
lenses, no matter how insightful, is sufcient for that. Every game is difer-
ent and unique, and a book of techniques will never quite ft your needs.
Memorizing principles and rules of design will never give you the level of
mastery you need to shape games out of your passion.
What is this book, then? It’s a book of exercises that will help you orga-
nize your understanding of design into a language that you can use to cre-
ate games. If you’re a student, this book will help you teach yourself game
design. If you’re an experienced designer already, this book will help you
organize your hard-won understanding and insight. It will help you com-
municate to your colleagues why the things that you say are true. And if
you’re an instructor, this book is a new pedagogy. It will let your students
derive design principles and rules from their own gaming experience.
Tat process will prepare them to expand their design skills long afer
they have lef the classroom.
What is this magical process? Sadly there is no magic, only hard work.
But the short version is that this book will teach you how to apply the ideas
of the architect Christopher Alexander, who pioneered the concept of a
Pattern Language as the framework for architectural design (Alexander
et al. 1977). Computer programmers and, later, game designers took his
work and applied it to their felds. At its core, a pattern, as defned by
3
4 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Alexander, is a generalized solution to a design problem found by exam-

ining many existing examples. But a Pattern Language is not just a col-
lection of patterns. Tose patterns must be linked together so that any
designer can select the ones that work together to solve a specifc problem.
Because patterns are generalized and broadly applicable, any solution that
they generate will be unique to the needs of the designer using them.
Tis book does not provide a Pattern Language for game design. Instead,
it ofers a series of exercises for you to complete. Each one gives you a dif-
ferent way to create a pattern. Once you’ve worked your way through this
book, you can select the exercise that’s best suited for any design prob-
lem you face, and complete it again to generate new patterns that ft your
design needs. Over time, you’ll link all of the patterns you create to build
your own Pattern Language. Tis book contains only 24 exercises, but
using them you can discover hundreds of patterns.
I hope that over time we’ll share the patterns that we fnd with one
another, combine the ones that are duplicates, and recognize deeper pat-
terns based on the imperfect ones. Slowly, as an industry, we can come to
understand the deep structures of our design practice. And that will allow
us to create powerful, necessary games with craf, intention, and care.

WHY IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU?

If you already believe that making games is one of the most important
things you could do with your life, then you can probably skip the rest of
this section. But if you think that game design is just a fun career or a way
to make money with your technical or creative skills, then read on. If you
know why games must, must be carefully and thoughtfully designed, then
feel free to skip ahead. But if you think that all you need are your artistic,
technical skills and creativity, then this next section is for you too.
I believe that we use stories to tell each other about the world. Te idea
that early humans used stories to teach each other about the dangers of the
world and how to survive them is not new. But the way that we tell stories
has changed many times in the thousands of years since we sat in small
bands around fres and told each other tales. Te world has become more
complex, and the number of people in it has increased. As we moved from
hunter-gatherers to agricultural societies, the oral tradition became drama
and literature. As we moved from agriculture to industry, from cities to
nations linked across the globe, theater became cinema and television. As
the industrial age gave way to the information age and nations became
 Introduction ◾ 5

entwined in a fractally complex global society, theater has given way to

tabletop and live-action role-playing games, and then to video games.
Tying those two progressions together into some kind of unifed theory
of the development of human narrative and its interplay with the develop-
ment of human society would be a book in itself, but the idea is powerful
and useful. It seems to me that as society became more complicated, we
needed more robust ways to tell the stories necessary to understand the
world around us; to teach ourselves how to survive in our ever more com-
plex societies. Drama allowed us to tell more nuanced, compelling stories
to somewhat larger audiences. Literature allowed us to reach thousands
and millions with our narratives. Cinema gave us the best of both worlds:
the higher fdelity of the image, and the reach and durability of the printed
word.
We have reached a place where the world has become so complicated,
and the problems we face are changing so rapidly that we manifestly don’t
know how to solve them, let alone how to craf stories that allow us to
share that knowledge. Now we see the rise of interactive narrative. As
designers, we use it to tell stories that let the audience become players. We
watch players use our narrative frameworks to explore the problem spaces
presented by the stories we tell.*
If any of that is even partially true, then it puts a lot of pressure on us
as designers. Tere are still plenty of professional game developers, and
even more game players, who will argue that games are “just for fun,” and
that the games they play and make don’t afect their players. Games like
Brenda Romero’s Train† make a strong argument that games are indeed
more than just fun and do change the thinking of people who play them.
But a few examples are insufcient to prove this point, and it’s an impor-
tant point, so I am going to look at some of the mechanisms by which
games infuence their players.
First, as narratives, games have the same functional efect as any other
form of storytelling: they present a world for us to consider. And as in all
types of narrative, they can present information persuasively. As a portion

* Tis theory of the role of narrative in society is just a theory, albeit one I would like to spend
a few years of my life rigorously researching. It doesn't have anything to do directly with the
development or use of pattern languages, but it provides a good background to understand their
importance.
† Tere are many other examples of profoundly afecting games, such as Lucas Pope’s Papers, Please,

and White Death by Nina Runa Essendrop and Simon Steen Hansen.
6 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

of the feast of media we consume, they are part of the cultural rhetoric*
that shapes our view of the world.
Games are unique, however, in that they’re defned by mechanics that
players interact with, and those mechanics can reinforce their narrative
and form a type of participatory rhetoric. Te player participates in the
demonstration of the validity of the argument. Tat last sentence was a
bit dense; let me give an example. A player winning a game of Settlers
of Catan has participated in the case that growth is a necessary compo-
nent of success in a competitive economic environment. A winning player
must expand their settlements to generate a variety of resources in as large
quantities as possible. Tey are explicitly rewarded for building the longest
road and so on. Tat argument is not necessarily correct, because the arti-
fcial rules that constrain the game create it. Still, it feels very persuasive,
as you experience victory or defeat depending on your ability to play out
that argument.
And last, games are simulations of real-world systems: from a worker-
placement strategy game to a dating sim, from chess to playing house.
Sometimes the simulated systems are literal, and sometimes they’re
abstract. Games let you practice interacting with those systems, ofen in
simplifed situations in which it’s easier to experiment and come to under-
stand how they work.
If you’ve been playing games all your life, and if they’re so powerful and
capable of infuencing and teaching us, then why aren’t you a super soldier
or ace pilot or skilled plumber? Te answer is that we aren’t very good
at using the potential of games. Educational games are mostly inefective
and not engaging. (I say that having helped make more than a few.) AAA
titles are trying very hard to do a lot of things; however, those things are
all pulling in diferent directions, implementing systems and executing on
mechanics with high polish and not a lot of intention or understanding.
Tere are, of course, exceptions—games that make a strong argument
and have a profound impact on their players. If you think back on the
games that matter most to you, you will probably fnd some of the more
efective ones. For instance, compare the level “No Russian” from Call of
Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to the white phosphorus scene in Spec Ops: Te
Line. In Call of Duty, the designers put the player into a situation that tells
them to murder civilians. Te designers did this for plot reasons, and to

* Cultural rhetoric is the idea that everything around us, everything we produce, is infuenced by
the culture we live in.
 Introduction ◾ 7

give the player an emotional reason to hate the terrorists they are infl-
trating. In some ways it works, but it amounts to the trope of “fridging”
(killing a female character to motivate a male protagonist) applied to an
airport full of innocents. In Spec Ops: Te Line, the player is tricked into
thinking that the only way past a group of enemy soldiers is to use a drone
to target them for a mortar strike. Te game hides the nature of the target
from players; they see only markers on their radar that they assume are
enemy soldiers. To advance in the game, you have to commit an atrocity.
Afer you have located a nearby drone and mortar launcher and used it to
fre white phosphorus mortars into the cluster of “enemies,” you discover
that they were refugees; men, women, and children. To advance to the
next level, you walk past their charred bodies, including a mother holding
a small child to her chest. Despite the graphic and manipulative nature of
the sequence, it doesn’t feel like it’s using the shock value of the scene to
sell copies of the game. It is integral to this game about the horrors of war
and the way that interacts with their gamifcation.
Why did the level in Call of Duty feel ofensive, but the scene in Spec
Ops felt like an indictment both of war and of jingoistic shooters like Call
of Duty? Because Call of Duty is a valor fantasy, intended to be fun and
competitive and to have a story that makes you feel good about being a sol-
dier fghting for your cause. Call of Duty has mechanics, narrative, and art
that work to that end. Some aspects of the game, like the killing of civil-
ians or “Press F to Pay Respects” in Advanced Warfare,* work counter to
those goals. Te inconsistency in tone and mechanics across those games
makes the scenes intended to create emotional motivation seem manipu-
lative and disrespectful of both the player and the subject matter. Spec
Ops, on the other hand, is entirely focused on its intent of critiquing both
warfare and the military shooter genre. In that context, its use of forced
moral choice becomes a powerful emotional tool that feels appropriate.†
Te Pattern Language you build from the exercises in this book will
allow you to design games in a way that aligns all the aspects of your
game with the experience you’re trying to create through it. Patterns are
a neutral tool; games are not. Tey inherently have meaning, whether you

* “Press F to Pay Respects” is an infamous scene where players are attending a military funeral and
when they approach the cofn are prompted to press the F key to pay their respects. Many critics
found the mechanic shallow and disrespectful of the sacrifce of actual soldiers.
† Tat is not to say that all players were bothered by “No Russian” or that many players were not

angered by Spec Ops, just that the reactions of players to that level in Call of Duty were unexpected
to the developers, and players’ outrage at Spec Ops was the stated intent of the developers.
8 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

intend it or simply echo the culture around you. So you may fnd pat-
terns to examine the efects of racism and privilege, or you might fnd ones
to help you maximize player retention and monetization. Patterns won’t
make designers make “games for good,” but they will make you aware of
what all of the aspects of your game are doing and help you make sure that
it’s what you intended.

WHY AM I THE PERSON WRITING THIS BOOK?

I’ve spent around 25 years focused on learning game design. Yet I still
ofen don’t feel like a “real” game designer. I certainly never imagined
I’d write a textbook about it. But my own long, arduous, and circuitous
education in game-making led me to the conclusion that this book was
needed. I knew there had to be a better path than the one I had followed.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely in a class that’s part of an educational
program in game design or have been through one. Formal games educa-
tion is a fantastic development, not least because it means I now have a
job teaching game design. But it’s also still very new. Degree programs in
game design didn’t exist when I went to college in the late ’90s, and so I
had to fgure out how to learn it on my own.
Coming from a family of teachers, I knew that going to school was how
you learn things, so I went to a college that allowed me to design my own
program. And I learned a lot. But not enough to think of myself as a game
designer.
I knew from reading interviews with “real” designers that the way you
learn how to make games is by making them. So I started making games.
I’m still proud of many of them, but I knew there were designers out there
working far above my ability level. And I hadn’t broken into the industry,
so I clearly wasn’t a game designer yet. I didn’t even consider what I was
making “real” games, for a number of reasons that seem false and even
harmful to me now: I wasn’t getting paid for the work, or the games weren’t
digital, or I was more focused on interactive fction than mechanics.
Time for more school, I thought, and I got a master’s in computer sci-
ence with a focus on conversational artifcial intelligence (AI). I came out
of that feeling like I knew some things but still acutely aware of how much
I didn’t yet know.
Around this time, my good friend Link Hughes, who is currently a
game designer at Google, began insisting I come to the Game Developers
Conference (GDC) as a conference associate (CA). Afer three years of
applying, the program accepted me. Tat was probably the best advice
 Introduction ◾ 9

anyone ever gave me, not just because of what I learned about making
games, but because I met other game developers there. I talked to these
people I admired so much and realized they were only human. Some were
smarter than I was; some were better game developers. But not all of them.
I was new and inexperienced, but not hopelessly out of my depth.
So I made some more games, played more games, and applied for many,
many development jobs. And I got no callbacks, so I began to despair. All
my studies and practice didn’t seem to be worth much to the industry I
loved. Maybe I didn’t have what it took, and perhaps everyone could see
that but me. I hadn’t completely given up on my dreams, but I was close.
Ten one day, the call came. I was driving, and I pulled over to take it.
Afer my future boss and mentor told me that he was extending an ofer
to work as a sofware engineer and game designer on Poptropica, I stayed
parked on the side of the road for a while to cry. Even afer all my work, I
don’t think that until that moment I had admitted to myself how impor-
tant I thought games were or how much I needed to be a part of making
them.
Let me take a moment here to say that if you don’t feel that passion, if
you don’t have to make games, then put this book down and back away
slowly. Whatever your skillset, you will almost certainly be paid more for
it in another feld. Take that job instead, and you won’t have to bear the
heartbreak that this feld generates—and more importantly, you won’t
have the responsibility for making games. Because make no mistake: cre-
ating games is a huge responsibility. If you don’t yet understand why that’s
true, read on, and don’t worry, I won’t stop harping on it. Kidding aside,
the responsibility that game-makers hold is the heart of this book, and
you’ll need to understand it to understand why patterns are so important.
But let’s get back to the path to becoming a game developer and how my
journey led me to write this book. Te attempt by colleges and universities
to design programs that teach game design is admirable, and of course,
I’m enthusiastically in support of it. I’m not telling you about my educa-
tion as a way of griping about how hard I had it back in my day. (“We had
to design our levels uphill, both ways! And we didn’t even have graphics
tighteners!”) I’m not even telling you this because I think that the way I
had to learn was unfair compared to the programs that exist today.
I’m telling you this because I have become convinced that game design
is such a large, broad, delicate, and evolving art that we cannot teach it
in the time a degree program gives you to learn it. Te gaps that the cur-
rent system creates in new designers impact the entire industry. Of course,
10 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

many students go on to become great developers, but even the best of us

spend years flling those gaps and learning on the job.
Once I got my frst industry job, I recognized that my education was
far from over. I began to believe that I was a game designer (maybe), but
I didn’t fool myself that I knew everything. I learned that the best of my
colleagues were driven by passion, too, and while they were skilled and
generous, most of them didn’t have degrees in game development. Tey
came to their expertise through many diferent avenues, all driven by that
same sense that game-making is a subtle art. No great designer I’ve met
takes their job lightly.
One of my colleagues recommended a book called A Pattern Language
to the other designers on my team. But since it was the frst I’d heard of
it, and it was an architecture book, not a game design book, I added it to
my endless list without realizing how close I was to a key to solving the
problems I was seeing.
Fast-forward a few years, and I was attending the METATOPIA con-
ference, mostly to playtest a board game I was developing. While there,
I attended a talk titled “A Pattern Language for Larp Design” (Li and
Morningstar 2020). Tat was my frst real exposure to the formal idea of
patterns. I loved the idea, but its application was particular to live-action
role-playing games (LARPs). While I contemplated the usefulness of hav-
ing a Pattern Language for general game design, I didn’t pursue it then,
either.
A year or so afer that, I got a job teaching games in the game science
and design master’s program at Northeastern University. As I prepared
to pass on the things that I had learned, I couldn’t help but feel that my
schooling, and my early experiences adjacent to the industry, had failed to
prepare me adequately for the work. I knew that I had wasted years foun-
dering afer I graduated. And while my programs had taught me some
valuable skills, they hadn’t given me a concrete path to move from student
to functional game designer.
Game designers ofen advise hopeful new developers and students that
they should play all the games that they can and make games themselves;
to learn by observation and practice. It’s good advice, but I don’t think
it’s enough. Making games helped, reading about games helped; playing
games and thinking hard about them helped a lot. But there had to be a
better way. No one had told me what to look for when I played games, or
even how to look. And I had no way to judge whether the games I was
making were good or even improving.
 Introduction ◾ 11

When I started teaching, I read a lot of game design textbooks. Mostly

I was excited that such things existed since they hadn’t when I was in
school. Of course, the most generally useful to me as a designer was Te
Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell (2020). He mentioned the architect
Christopher Alexander, who had written the Pattern Language book I had
now heard of two times before. He also based several of his “lenses” for
game design on Alexander’s patterns.
A couple of semesters later, I had the opportunity to teach a graduate-
level class with the intimidating name “Spatial and Temporal Design.” It
turned out to be a course on using architectural theory in game design. At
this point, it was clear that it was fnally time to read this book that had
been chasing me through my career: Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern
Language.
Even with all of the buildup to reading it, I found myself unprepared for
the enormity of this book’s implications and scope. It’s not a book about
patterns in architecture. It’s a book that proposes a new and powerful way
to organize thought about a subject—in its case architecture, but with so
many other possible applications, about which this book explicitly specu-
lates. Tese ideas were so clearly crucial to game design that I immediately
assumed I had just missed the books and conference talks that explored
them.
A little research revealed that several books and doctoral dissertations
had indeed been written on the topic by game developers who were as
impressed with Alexander’s ideas as I was. But when I read what other
game designers had done with his work, I saw that all of the previous
attempts to apply Alexander’s ideas to game design were fawed in one way
or another. Tey were either too narrow in scope or focused on producing
one defnitive Pattern Language to rule them all. If I wanted to use the
idea of Pattern Languages in my teaching, I would have to fgure out how
to do it on my own.
I made my frst attempt in that Spatial and Temporal Design class,
and it was relatively successful. My students showed me great patience
as I assigned them my early attempts at pattern generation exercises. We
worked together to identify 117 patterns. Most of them were obvious
things that any game design student would be told in school. At frst, I
was disappointed, but then I realized something crucial: I had not told
the students those things. Instead, they had recognized those fundamen-
tals through observation and practice, and I had given them the tools to
do it.
12 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

At that point, I realized that the true power of Alexander’s ideas wasn’t
in the actual patterns that he identifed, but in the way that his Pattern
Language organized learning. I started talking to my game design and
teaching colleagues about my ideas, and one of them, Christopher Totten,
became very excited. He asked if I had considered writing a book. I hadn’t;
on some level, I still wasn’t sure that I was a real game designer, even
afer so many years and games. But I looked at the industry, struggling to
mature, and at my students, striving to master the complexities of design.
Eventually, I conceded that I needed to write this book: a textbook that
doesn’t teach game design directly but instead shows a way to use the pro-
cess of building a Pattern Language to learn game design.
What this book is, then, is the culmination of my attempts to learn
game design through the ad hoc processes that currently exist. It is an
attempt to put in your hands a set of tools that will allow you not to learn
the fundamentals of game design but to derive that knowledge through
your lens of experience. It is, I hope, the basis for a new pedagogy, one that
allows any aspiring game designer to unlock the principles that drive great
games—the kind that changes the world.

PATTERNS, CREATIVITY, AND ART

As I began compiling my work on patterns, I was pleased with what I
had. I felt like I had a manageable amount of work to do organizing and
structuring the exercises and making sure I was clear about the pattern
generation process. I thought I understood pattern theory, and how much
or little of it was necessary to share for readers to understand and use these
ideas and techniques. It turned out that I was wrong; the scope and signif-
cance of creating Pattern Languages far exceeded my initial assumptions.
All that became clear to me as I was speaking with a good friend about
my work: I was laying out the plan for this book and all of the theories I
just described for you. She nodded, agreeing that I was making a compel-
ling argument, but asked if I saw any place for art and creativity in my
theories, a question you may have been asking yourself. If I could look at
games and use these techniques to understand the patterns that under-
pinned their creation, then was I reducing game design to an elaborate
form of paint by numbers?
Of course, my immediate response was to say no, of course, not! Even
afer identifying a large enough group of patterns to use as a primary
design method, the very nature of those patterns would be general and
fexible. I would still need to apply creativity if I wanted to implement
 Introduction ◾ 13

those patterns in my designs in a way that produced unique games that

met my design goals. Tat’s all true enough, but knowing that this friend
was brilliant and certainly knew all of that, I bit my tongue and asked her
what she meant.
She told me the story of an argument she had with a hidebound profes-
sor in an undergraduate class. She had written a poem about a fower and
thought that it was enough that a poem was about the beauty of that fower
and the joy it brought her. Her professor, of course, disagreed. He wanted
to know the deeper meaning of the poem and her agenda in writing it.
Possibly he wanted her to recognize the role of cultural rhetoric in her art.
Maybe he wanted her to look closely at her work to see the craf she was
applying to generate the words that had appeared, to her, to fow sponta-
neously onto the page in an act of pure creativity and art. Or perhaps he
was just a jerk. Regardless, the incident stuck with her, and what she was
asking me was whether this idea of looking at the product of human efort
as being defnable through a set of patterns lef room for them to be art
and not just craf. I said that of course they did. She smiled at me a little
skeptically, and our discussion moved on. But she had succeeded in letting
some of the wind out of my sails and getting me thinking. I worried about
the problem for a while and eventually came to the following conclusions.

Why Are There Patterns?

It’s clear that we can fnd patterns in games as Alexander did in architec-
ture. Patterns seem to exist everywhere in the world around us—in the
natural world, but also in everything we create and do as humans. Why? I
think that this state is inevitable, given our understanding of the universe.
Tat may seem like a bold claim, but follow along.
Te laws of physics govern the universe, and those laws cause it to
behave in predictable, repeatable ways that explain the underlying pat-
terns we see around us. From the microscale of electrons orbiting nuclei to
the cosmic scale of the earth orbiting the sun, the nature of the universe
produces visible patterns. We live our lives dealing with the consequences
of those patterns. Te turning planet causes day and night, its path around
the sun causes seasons, and life has evolved in a world that contains these
basic patterns.
Te structures of life conform necessarily to those patterns. As life
becomes more complex and begins to exhibit behavior, the behaviors that
succeed are those that take advantage of the immutable patterns in the
universe. What I am describing, of course, is the theory of evolution. Now
14 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

consider that, as intelligence evolves, not only is it governed by the ability

to perceive those behavioral and environmental patterns, but intelligence
may well be defned as the ability to recognize and regulate behavior to
deal with those patterns.
Humans, then, are the most sophisticated pattern recognition machines
in existence. Tey are the inevitable product of an ordered universe. Tis
idea seems to echo Carl Sagan when he said, “We are a way for the cosmos
to know itself.”
Te nascent feld of machine learning and neural networks leverages
this idea of pattern recognition. While they are still a long way of from
consciousness, they lend support to our understanding of pattern recogni-
tion as a building block of intelligence in organic brains (Fogel 2001).
If humans are creatures that have evolved to recognize patterns and
order their behavior by them, then it seems reasonable that anything we
create is going to refect those patterns that we have perceived. It seems to
me that this is why there are patterns—in human behavior, organization,
architecture, art, literature, and video games.
All that said, we are imprecise organic machines, and the patterns we
perceive and imply are subject to individually limited data sets. Tere is
nothing “true” or “good” about those patterns. Te oldest, most persistent
patterns would be the ones that had the best outcomes for an individual’s
or group’s survival, not the ones that were true or just. And the existence
of a pattern does not mean that it is understood consciously. Similarly, the
inclusion of a pattern in a work of art or craf does not imply that the art-
ist used it intentionally. Down that track of reasoning lie stereotypes and
tropes, which I will discuss later.

Back to Art
Alexander looks at the world and seeks to identify patterns that architects
can use to shape “good” spaces that will enrich the lives of the people who
inhabit them. Computer scientists, in a more limited way, try to use pat-
terns to create sofware that will function better to fulfll its purpose. I am
attempting to look at the patterns in games and use them to create more
meaningful, useful games that fulfll my intent. We are all turning pat-
terns outward to shape and improve the world around us.
Artists, I think, are examining how the world afects them—seeing pat-
terns in how they feel and using those patterns to make other people feel
the things that they do. Tey are turning patterns inward and using them
to understand themselves. Tat’s not to say that artists don’t produce art
 Introduction ◾ 15

intended to create outward change in the world, or that architects and

engineers don’t have an inner life! We all combine our self-knowledge
and our perception of the world in our work. Te tension between the
two defnes human endeavor, and games sit very much on both sides of
that line.

Is There Room for Creativity and Innovation?

Only if we understand what patterns exist can we see the places where we
have not defned patterns and explore them. Only by observing the use of
patterns in the world can we apply them in original ways or know when
replicating the existing implementation of a pattern is all we need.

Different Designers, Different Patterns

Students that are given one of the exercises in this book produce difer-
ent patterns than professors. Given the same exercise, experienced game
designers notice diferent patterns than professors or students. While
some are “better” versions of others, ofen they difer because they are
from and for game designers with diferent perspectives and needs. A vet-
eran designer’s pattern may be profoundly insightful, but useless to a stu-
dent focusing on the fundamentals. A student’s results may be self-evident
to a professor, but help the student articulate their understanding of a core
concept. Tat same student might return to the same exercise years later
and generate an entirely diferent but equally valid pattern based on the
experience they’ve had since their frst encounter with the exercise.
Tis book encourages the development of a personal Pattern Language
that is what you, as a developer, need. It also promotes the sharing of pat-
terns as a form of communication, with all of the aforementioned in mind.
Te mutability of pattern exercises also means that the set of exercises in
this book can be used by designers from all areas of design to create pat-
terns that are useful to their respective felds. For example, given an exer-
cise based on themes in games,* a technical designer might come up with
a pattern describing a mechanic that generates a sense of loss. A sound
designer might detail a pattern for using character-based themes to cre-
ate an attachment to signifcant non-player characters (NPCs). And an
art director might generate a pattern about changing color usage to con-
vey danger in horror games—each of these coming from a single pattern
exercise.

* See Exercise 10: Teme Patterns.

16 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Forming Patterns vs. Accepting Tropes and Stereotypes

Naively accepting this view of the world as a collection of patterns could
lead to thinking that we perceive “truth” in patterns and that using them
is “good.” I don’t believe that’s true for several reasons. Patterns, outside
of those defned by the physical laws of the universe, are based on human
perception. Our ability to perceive and understand those, especially on the
unconscious level on which most patterns historically have been formed,
is limited and imprecise. Te patterns that have persisted are those that
give the most advantage to individuals and groups, not those based on
“truth” or that produced just outcomes. Tus we have patterns of slavery,
oppression, and abuse, things that generated at least a short-term advan-
tage for those implementing the patterns.
While Alexander created the modern conception of a Pattern Language,
the idea of patterns in human behavior or art has been around for a long
time. Stereotypes are formal patterns, organically developed, and based
on limited, reductionist observation. Tey create an advantage for the
in-group and reinforce the maintenance of an insular worldview. Te
research into their development is extensive. Tropes are a more recent and
intentional catalog of functional patterns in media. Te patterns identifed
as tropes are, of course, nothing new, but recognizing them, calling them
tropes, and using that knowledge to understand the context and intent,
explicit and implicit, of media is relatively new.
In this book I am not using the term “tropes” just to mean an informal
description of a pattern in the world or in games. By trope I mean a partic-
ular set of formal and functional mechanics that exists across games and
other forms of media, and that encapsulates a social context and mean-
ing. Te website TV Tropes contains a vast collection of proposed tropes.
However, it mixes tropes that ft my description and ones that lack the
social context that is relevant to me. For instance, the trope urban ruins
(TV Tropes 2020c) is loaded with a social context, while the trope check-
point is close to a purely functional element (TV Tropes 2020a).
Te process of generating patterns through the exercises in this book
forces you to think deeply about the mechanics and techniques used in the
games you observe. Te exercises will help you understand the purpose
behind those techniques, to see beyond their surface-level efects.
As you complete the exercises in the sections that follow, pay attention
to the kinds of patterns you see. Consider their efect and intent. Some
that you uncover will guide you toward creating innovative, compelling
 Introduction ◾ 17

games with the potential to change the world for the better. Others that
you observe will be recapitulations of the cultural rhetorics of intolerance,
misogyny, and fear. Yes, I am saying that those things are present at a deep
level in the games we play. I have included an exercise in Chapter 14 to help
you look at tropes and understand their efects on games that use them.
Part of the work of developing your own personal Pattern Language is
deciding what patterns you want to use to create your art—and to do so
with eyes wide open to the efects of those patterns. As an industry, part
of the work of converging on a shared Pattern Language will be choosing
what patterns we want history to see when it looks back on the world our
games are helping to shape. I hope we all choose wisely.
 II
Background

19
 CHAPTER 2

Background on A
Pattern Language by
Christopher Alexander

C hristopher Alexander wrote A Pattern Language: Towns,

Buildings, Construction in 1977. It represents the most actionable part
of his life’s work of trying to reform architecture. To understand why he
felt that reform was needed and how he thought that his idea of Pattern
Languages could help, I need to give some background and then discuss
his work itself, both before and afer this particular book.
Alexander observed that many modern buildings, from homes to ofce
buildings, were not pleasant places to be. Te accuracy of his observation is
debatable, but my experience matches his, and I am willing to accept it as
sufcient motivation for his work. Alexander cited a disconnect between
architects and the people who inhabited the buildings as responsible for
the faws in the buildings, though he did not clearly express the reasons
for that disconnect.
He looked at older buildings and saw that they were ofen more pleasant
to be in, both for himself and others he observed in them. He concluded that
the construction of these earlier buildings more directly served the needs
of their inhabitants. Possibly, this was because people at the time built their
own structures, or they were built by people focused on their needs.
From there, he considered the way that buildings are built today. Two
factors seem responsible for problems in the modern process. Te frst is
21
22 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

that the technical knowledge required to construct modern houses, not to

mention high-rises, is far greater than that needed to build a home a few
hundred years ago. Tus, the professionals that design and build homes
and larger structures have become more focused on mastering that body
of knowledge. Tis codifcation of knowledge about building into the feld
of architecture has led to that feld becoming focused on the skills and
artistic tastes of architects, rather than the actual needs of people inhabit-
ing their buildings. Not being an architect, I can’t speak to how accurate
that observation is. It certainly upset many other architects at the time the
book was published.
Te second factor is more social: modern architecture is almost exclu-
sively driven by capitalism or other institutional forces. Most homes are
not built at the request of the people who will live in them. Most high-rises
are not constructed at the request of the businesses they will host, let alone
by the employees who will work in them. Tus the controlling economic
interest for architects is disconnected from the people who will inhabit
their buildings.
Given this, it should not be surprising that most ofce buildings are
cubicle-focused or use an even more efcient open foor plan. Tus they
can ft as many workers as possible, rather than providing the most com-
fortable, individually productive workspace possible for however many
workers that space can accommodate under optimal conditions. Modern
buildings are not failing their owners. Tey are failing their inhabitants
because builders are putting preference on the needs (proft and efciency)
of the building industry, rather than the needs (comfort and happiness) of
the inhabitants.
As an architect himself, Alexander didn’t think that architects were
inherently evil or corrupt. He believed that as a profession, they had the
intent to create beauty and to provide the best possible physical space for
people to inhabit. But he felt that they were failing because, without the
personal or direct connection to the needs of their buildings’ inhabitants,
they just didn’t have a way to facilitate those needs. In the case of public
buildings, they focused on the requirements presented to them. In the case
of homes, they considered the abstracted needs of individuals.*

* For example: “People need kitchens,” not “this chief will use his kitchen to enjoy his craf in com-
fort,” or “this working programmer will only cook in an emergency and will be ordering takeout,
so his kitchen space should focus on dining rather than cooking.”
 A Pattern Language ◾ 23

Alexander arrived at a two-part solution. First, he realized that he could

look at existing buildings and derive patterns from the way they functioned.
Te second was an act of courage. He declared that there was such a thing as
a “good” building that “beauty” was more than a subjective personal feeling.
He understood a place to be good if it was serving the needs of the inhabit-
ants and beautiful if it was creating a feeling of happiness and contentment
in the inhabitants. He let these factors guide his observations of which pat-
terns belonged in his Pattern Language. He referred to this quality of beauty
and goodness in his earlier work as the “quality without a name,” though in
his later book Te Nature of Order he refers to it simply as “life.”
“Tere is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit
in a man, a town, a building, or a wilderness. Tis quality is objective and
precise, but it cannot be named” (Alexander 1979, p. 19). Tus, the “cen-
tral scientifc fact” (Alexander 1979, p. 54) of Alexander’s second theory of
architecture is that a strong reciprocal relationship exists between envi-
ronments and their inhabitants (Daws 2017).

Games and their designers have a strong reciprocal relationship with

their players. That might sound obvious, but as in architecture, it is some-
thing that we, as professional designers, somehow forget. It’s common for
designers to believe that mechanics have specifc singular effects without
consideration of their audience.

In Alexander’s conception of traditional architecture, buildings afect

the individuals that live there, and they should exist to serve the needs of
their occupants. Tey will function better if their designs are directly dic-
tated by those needs, rather than by an architect’s lofy conception of the
artistic or philosophical meaning of the building, or worse, by the archi-
tect’s understanding of the needs of the corporate or institutional owner
of the building.
His critique of modern architecture was that when architects looked at
the problems that a given structure needed to address and tried to solve
those problems based on their education and experience, they simply
failed. Tey created buildings that had all of the parts required but were
unpleasant to inhabit.
Of course, as a modern architect, Alexander also understood that the
thousands of occupants of a high-rise couldn’t directly control its design,
and the millions of occupants of a city or region couldn’t directly dictate
its construction. In his conception of a Pattern Language, he was trying to
24 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

fnd a way to capture the need-driven choices of existing architecture and

structure them in such a way as to allow architects to create their designs
based on the future needs of their buildings’ occupants.
He was not arguing that all old buildings have this quality and are
thus good, but rather that some few do: those created by builders that
understood their own needs and had the skills to actualize them in the
structures they built. Further, he argued that by examining those good
buildings and searching for patterns in the ways that they solve particular
problems, we could come to understand that quality ourselves and capture
that understanding in our descriptions of those patterns.

PATTERN THEORY

Our world can be understood as if it were interwoven by conscious

and unconscious patterns, whereby each pattern is linked to other
patterns. (Leitner 2020)

Tere has been an ongoing attempt to understand the work of Alexander

and to make it accessible to a broader audience. His life’s work, consisting
of more than a dozen volumes, is insightful, but its scope and complexity
are daunting. Te most concise and lucid distillation of this body of work
is Pattern Teory by Helmut Leitner. His analysis of the value of patterns
echoes my own.

While pattern theory originates in architecture, it is a general the-

ory of development (of change, of transformation, of unfolding, of
the creative process) and, as such, is relevant to almost every feld
of application, even for the very complex and for social systems.
(Leitner 2015)

If you would like more background on the aforementioned ideas, then I

cannot recommend this book highly enough. Reading Leitner’s book is
not necessary to understand the rest of this one, but taking the time to
absorb its slim 156 pages will make the theory here easier to follow.

CRITICISMS
As I mentioned earlier, Alexander upset a signifcant number of archi-
tects. His work continues to generate both praise and criticism more than
 A Pattern Language ◾ 25

40 years afer its publication. I want to address a few of the more cogent
criticisms before moving on.
Alexander’s work is far from perfect, and some of the criticism it gener-
ates is merited and requires consideration. However, a surprising amount
of it seems to be rooted in misunderstanding or a willful argumentative-
ness that is difcult to justify. For instance, a meta-analysis of criticisms of
A Pattern Language lists criticism that physical copies of his work look too
much like Bibles and thus suppress criticism (Dawes 2017). I am not even
sure how to respond to that.
On the other hand, many critics have pointed out that the examples
used by the 253 patterns are primarily from Western architecture. Tat is
demonstrably true. Further, because of that focus, the Pattern Language
that they defne is focused on creating spaces that will generate comfort
and pleasure in Western occupants. I do not agree with some of these
critics that this focus invalidates the concepts of A Pattern Language.
Alexander (1977) addresses this very concern in the book’s introduction:

Every society that is alive and whole will have its own unique and
distinct pattern language; and further, that every individual in
such a society will have a unique language, shared in part, but
which as a totality is unique to the mind of the person who has
it. In this sense, in a healthy society there will be as many pattern
languages as there are people—even though these languages are
shared and similar. (Alexander 1977)

It seems clear that given the imperative to extend the patterns he presents,
and the acknowledgment that anyone creating patterns will necessarily
defne patterns idiosyncratic to themselves, that Alexander did not intend
the 253 patterns shown to be applied blindly or universally. Furthermore,
he explicitly calls out the uncertain validity of those patterns in a conf-
dence rating assigned to each. Te rating ranges from 1 to 5 and indicates
whether a pattern is newly documented, seen pervasively, or successfully
used in existing projects.
One aspect of Alexander’s writing that I fnd appealing is his willing-
ness to use qualitative language. He describes things that are “good” or
“bad” in terms of architecture’s efect on people and society. He wrote
in this style in the face of the relativist sentiment prevalent in mid-20th-
century thought. It was much more acceptable to say that a thing was
26 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

neither good nor bad and that those kinds of value judgments were only in
the perceptions of the observer. While acknowledging that every person
will perceive diferently and that innumerable factors that shape us and
our societies afect those perceptions, Alexander nevertheless says that he
believes there are fundamental commonalities between people, whatever
their background.
His view fts well with my earlier premise that we are all pattern-rec-
ognition machines, and that while many of the patterns we see are social
and societal, many are also based in the physical world and thus universal
across individuals and cultures. Another way of looking at this would be
through the lens of self-determination theory, the idea that all individu-
als desire autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Patterns that increased
those feelings in individuals would be perceived by them as possessing
“the quality without a name.”
Last, some of the resistance to Alexander’s ideas comes from the fact
that they are openly utopian. He states his desire that architects physi-
cally build a better world. His descriptions of what that world would look
like, what patterns it would make it up, and what social changes would be
necessary to bring it about do not sit well with modern capitalist society.
Critics have stated that Alexander’s ideas do not leave room for people who
have desires that difer from his worldview. Tis implies that some people
want to work as much as possible, discard comfort for efciency, and so
on. Tat may be true to some degree, at least in the world as it is. Our soci-
ety is undeniably deeply focused on those kinds of goals. Alexander was
unashamed to take the position that those people were being infuenced
by larger social forces and making decisions against their own best inter-
ests. Tat argument comes down to a philosophical diference even if it’s
true: isn’t it the right of people to behave as they choose? I think that on
a moral and philosophical level, Alexander wanted to fnd a way to push
back against those very societal forces, to build a world that didn’t drive
people into those behavioral patterns.
Te tone of this line of criticism leads me to believe that the critics argu-
ing most loudly against his conception of good are the very owners that
pay architects to produce buildings based on their desire for proft or ef-
ciency rather than on the happiness of the inhabitants of the buildings.
Regardless of who is in the right in that moral debate, I don’t think that
it’s relevant to the validity of his theory of patterns, only to the types of
patterns an individual will consider good and how they will apply them.
 A Pattern Language ◾ 27

IMPLICATIONS FOR GAMES

All of this ties to the exercises in this book, which let you create a Pattern
Language for games based on the patterns that you see. How you assess
those patterns, which ones you see as “good” and which you see as “bad,”
will be based on who you are, your experience playing games, your cur-
rent design skills, and what you want players to get out of the games you
design.
One of the most valid points raised against the work in A Pattern
Language applies strongly to game design: the criticism that Alexander
drew entirely from Western architectural tradition as a source for his pat-
terns. Te criticism isn’t altogether valid, as he did look outside of Western
architecture. Still, as a part of Western culture, it is undeniable that his
patterns, at least in his early work, had that focus. An example used by
one of the critics highlights this problem. Alexander designed a housing
project in Lima, Peru, using A Pattern Language. Te project was not well
received. Te residents of the new buildings found them uncomfortable in
a variety of ways. For example, the homes used a pattern which calls for
“bed alcoves.” But in Lima, it was quite hot, and the sleeping nooks were
stufy and unpleasant. Te critic saw this as evidence that building based
on a Pattern Language does not result in buildings that are better to live
in than those built with other modern design models. Alexander himself
acknowledged the lack of success of this project, and it may have been a
factor in his move away from further development of the language that he
began.
Yet the problems encountered in this project were not related to the
concept or structure of Pattern Languages in general. Alexander fell vic-
tim to one of the very issues he was trying to avoid: he did not build for
the intended inhabitants of the building. Te Pattern Language he devel-
oped, and the specifc patterns applied to the project, were grounded in a
diferent set of inhabitants. It is critical to understand the people that you
are building for and to note as part of your patterns how tied to a spe-
cifc location or society they are. In game terms, we must be aware of our
audience both as we distill patterns and as we apply them. Patterns found
in Western shooter games from the 1990s to 2000s are unlikely to apply
well to the audience of casual puzzle gamers or Japanese dating sim fans.
To some degree, the exercises in this book work to mitigate this problem
by asking you to look for as diverse a set of example games as possible.
Patterns found in a set of games drawn from across genres and cultures
28 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

are more likely to be universally applicable. But there will be times when
you are specifcally interested in patterns that arise in a more narrow set of
games. When you generate such patterns, it will be necessary to note their
limitations and to take care when applying them beyond the scope of the
games that exhibited them.
Implicit in the preceding statement is the need to understand the target
audience of a game. Tis need was articulated by Michela Ott and her
colleagues (2011) in their paper on pedagogy in games: “Te frst basic
choice concerns the defnition of the target users and the elicitation of
their needs.” Tat audience may have been explicit in the game’s design,
or it may be the unintentional result of the focus of the designers. For
example, designers may have created a licensed Barbie game for pre-teen
girls from America. Or a game like Gone Home may have been organically
designed for people who experienced the painful early emergence of queer
culture as it played out in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For every game
you design and every game you use as a source in the pattern exercises, you
must be aware of its intended and actual audience. And in every pattern
you generate or use, you must be mindful of the scope of its applicability.
In terms of taking a moral and qualitative stance toward design, I
tend to side with Alexander and work to create a Pattern Language for
myself that will allow me to make games that will nudge players toward
that utopian outcome. Still, there is nothing in the process that necessi-
tates that focus. It is entirely possible to use the exercises to distill patterns
that will maximize monetization, encourage toxic behavior, or reinforce
hostile worldviews. I intend that statement as a warning and imprecation
to use these tools wisely while admitting that there is nothing in them
that requires an altruistic moral purpose—beyond our desire to judge the
quality of our patterns by their capacity to create Alexander’s quality with-
out a name.
 CHAPTER 3

Background on the Use

of Pattern Languages
in Other Fields

COMPUTER SCIENCE
In the early 1990s, as object-oriented programing was becoming a domi-
nant paradigm, several computer scientists took note of Christopher
Alexander’s work. Teir interest stemmed from the fact that to program
efectively, in an object-oriented manner, a programmer needs to analyze
any problem they are programming a solution for and conceptualize an
object-oriented solution. Tis process is known as object decomposition.
Te difculty is that while some problems suggest a clear object struc-
ture, many or even most could either be broken down in near-infnite
ways or do not seem to ft an object-based model at all. Any two program-
mers working at that time could look at a problem and generate entirely
divergent object models.
Te question of which model for a given problem was better was a com-
mon point of contention in programming teams. Was it better to generate
a model that most closely refected the real system or one that was the
simplest, or the most computationally efcient, or the easiest for program-
mers to understand? As computer scientists struggled with these ques-
tions, some turned to the concept of patterns for a solution.
Some, like Richard Gabriel, looked closely at the philosophy and pur-
pose of Alexander’s work. Gabriel was interested in creating programs that
29
30 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

were “beautiful” and that allowed programmers to more intuitively and

comfortably construct and maintain code. He saw a similarity with archi-
tecture, in that object-oriented design needed guidance and structure to
create consistently usable code. Gabriel (1998) quoted Alexander saying:

It takes away from them the everyday, lower-level aspiration that

is purely technical in nature (and which we have come to accept)
and replaces it with something deep, which will make a real dif-
ference to all of us that inhabit the earth.

But Gabriel saw the users of the code, its “inhabitants,” as being the pro-
grammers that wrote and maintained it, rather than the computers that
executed it or the people that used the programs it produced. In this concep-
tion, the users of a program would be the inhabitants of the user experience
design of the program and would have little or no stake in the underlying
technical structure of the code. Te programmers, on the other hand, would
have a deep stake in the structure and ordering of that internal logic.
Gabriel (1998) also anticipated problems with the implementation of
patterns in an object-oriented design similar to those Alexander faced in
architecture:

Te real reason that common patterns are not used rather

than tight abstractions is efciency. It is more efcient to write
abstracted, compressed code than uncompressed common pat-
terns, and it is more efcient to execute abstracted code in some
cases. For example, if we were to write the two lines that do map-
car and length, they would run about twice as slow as some com-
plex compressed version. Tis wouldn’t matter if computers were
big enough and fast enough for the programs we need, but right
now they aren’t. So we continue to pay with the sweat of people so
that computers can take it easy and users don’t have to be incon-
venienced. Perhaps someday the economics of this situation will
change. Maybe not.

While I agree with Gabriel’s take on the use of patterns in object-oriented

programming, his book on the topic doesn’t propose a concrete way to
create or discover the patterns he calls for, nor does it set forth example
patterns. It was a call to action for others in the industry to consider the
issues he raised when developing patterns.
 Other Fields ◾ 31

By far, the most well-known application of patterns in object-oriented

design is the much more concrete Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable
Object-Oriented Sofware (Gamma et al. 1994.) Te authors of this book,
ofen referred to as the “Gang of Four,” combined their considerable col-
lective experience and looked at a presumably vast amount of object-ori-
ented code to produce a set of well-defned, useful patterns. A signifcant
segment of the programming industry adopted the patterns in this book.
Tere has been some criticism and pushback, and while many of the pat-
terns do not apply to other styles of programming (such as functional or
aspect-oriented programming) that have become more popular over time,
it is not a stretch to say that these patterns have been the most infuential
and popular concepts in programming over the last 20 years.
Frankly, I’ve always kind of hated these patterns. I have used many of
them, and even consider some of them to be fundamental principles of
programming or necessary building blocks of any code I write. But they
always made me uncomfortable in a way that I was never able to articulate
until I began to work toward applying Alexander’s idea of patterns to game
design. In that light, I see several faws in the work of the Gang of Four.
Te fundamental problem is that they are not design patterns; they are
techniques that repeated across many designs. All of the patterns that are
listed are indeed found over and over again in object-oriented code. Tey
are useful in understanding how to structure aspects of that code in a func-
tional way, but they lack the two qualities required to be patterns in the
Alexandrian sense: they do not address specifc design problems, and they
do not have the structure of a language needed to produce whole designs.
Tey are useful principles that programmers need to understand to write
object-oriented code efectively, but they are not design patterns that a pro-
grammer can use to understand how object-oriented structure should be
best applied to address the specifc needs of any program as a whole.
To give a specifc example, one of the patterns is “Te Singleton.” A
singleton is an object that can only exist once in a body of code. You might
code a connection to a database as a singleton. In that way, every time you
tried to create a new connection, you would be given the same connec-
tion object. Tat would prevent diferent parts of your code from creating
unneeded extra connections, which could impact performance. So it’s an
excellent technique to use under certain circumstances. But what design
problem is it solving? When should it be used? Does it need or assist other
patterns?
32 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Additionally, the Gang of Four’s book lists 23 patterns. Tey did admit
that other patterns might be discovered, but conceived of the patterns
that they were suggesting as fundamentally true and largely complete in
terms of providing the structure and guidance needed for writing efective
object-oriented code.
Of course, many programmers who adopted the use of those patterns
became dogmatic about that use, and labeled any code that did not imple-
ment them as having “anti-patterns.” In some cases, non-conforming code
was fawed, but in others, it was merely solving a specifc problem using
a pattern that fts that problem rather than forcing the use of one of the
canonical patterns.

In short, the potential of a Pattern Language to reshape programming into

an engineering discipline that can produce code that is functional, main-
tainable, and “beautiful” has never manifested, despite the prevalence of
the use of “design patterns” in the feld. Tat failure has more to do with
the aspects of pattern theory that the authors neglected when producing
those commonly used patterns.

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

Te ideas of patterns and Pattern Language have come more recently
to the feld of social and behavioral science, with active research and
development beginning in the early 2000s. Tis feld has stayed closer to
Alexander’s original ideas than computer science did, the work mainly
being a direct implementation of pattern theory to areas such as organiza-
tional design, pedagogy, and creative learning.
Te most exciting outcome came from a group working on a Pattern
Language for creative learning. While they had the goal of producing a
Pattern Language, they also documented their process. Tey published
a paper describing their process and how to apply it more generally for
creating other languages (Iba et al. 2011). I discovered this work well afer
developing the methods used here. However, the rigor with which they
tested their process helped confrm my observations. Teir process con-
sists of fve steps: Pattern Mining, Pattern Prototyping, Pattern Writing,
Language Organizing, and Catalogue Editing. Te process is focused on
providing a framework to generate a language needed by a subject area
and produces a language document ready for publication.
 Other Fields ◾ 33

It is useful to consider the ways that Iba et al.’s process difers from
mine and why. Tey begin with an information discovery phase, in which
the group considers their shared knowledge of the topic of the language,
then does additional research to gain a broader perspective and makes
sure their understanding refects the needs of those who will be afected by
the language. In the case of their example language for creative learning,
they were professors at a university focused on creative learning, and their
additional research consisted of interviewing other faculty members and
students. Tis choice fts well with Alexander’s desire to construct build-
ings that meet the needs of their occupants in collaboration with those
people.
Second, their process included regular “pattern writers workshops” in
which in-process patterns were peer-reviewed and revised based on feed-
back. Te construction of their language was a major academic efort that
took many hundreds of hours and was the primary focus of the group
members during its execution. Te fnalized document consisted of 42
patterns. It was distributed to more than 4,000 students and was function-
ally complete on distribution.
Te most important diference from this process and what I describe in
this book is the focus of a central group on creating a language for broad
use by the feld. Te techniques you will learn in the following sections
are focused on the process of creating a personal language. Te language
may fnd broad use, but its intended value is the understanding you gain
by creating it.
 CHAPTER 4

Background on the
Use of Patterns in
Game Design

I am far from the frst game designer to get excited by the idea of pat-
terns for game design or even a Pattern Language for game design.
Before digging into the specifcs of the process I have developed, I want to
take a look at the previous attempts.
In this section, I am trying to provide a balanced critique of these books,
articles, and practical projects. I intend to use them to orient the work of
this book and make sure that it is advancing our industry’s understanding
and ability to use patterns. To that end, I am looking both at what these
scholars and designers are doing well and where they seem to be either
of track, mistaken, or producing incomplete conceptual work. I compare
these works with that done by Christopher Alexander to see whether they
fall short of it, meet that standard, or improve on his ideas. I have the
utmost respect for the work done by all of these scholars and could not be
writing this book without their insight. Please do not confuse my attempt
at a rigorous analysis and critique as disrespect or disregard.

BOOKS
Patterns in Game Design
Te frst of the two major books dealing with game design patterns,
and most evident by the title, is Patterns in Game Design (Bjoörk and
35
36 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Holopainen 2006). Tis book is impressive in its scope and provides a use-
ful catalog of observed patterns. Te authors discuss at length the two
ways that the patterns in the book were derived:

Transforming Game Mechanics

Given this initial conceptual framework, we proceeded by exam-
ining game mechanics and converting them to patterns.
Harvesting Patterns by Analyzing Games
Te second approach to create an initial pattern collection was
by “brute force” analysis of existing games, concepts and design
methods of other felds.
In line with this, we have created a collection of patterns, primar-
ily based on transforming documented game mechanics or well-
defned concepts from other research felds.
(Bjoörk et al. 2003)

Patterns in Game Design should be required reading for any new game
designer because it succeeds at its primary goal of creating a useful and
extensive vocabulary of game mechanics. However, I want to be clear
that I would not consider this to be a book of game design patterns in the
way that A Pattern Language is a book of architectural patterns. As stated
by the authors, the patterns listed in the book are simply abstract game
mechanics written up in a similar style to that suggested by Alexander.
Te patterns contained in this book fall short for several reasons.
First, the authors chose to divorce their patterns from the problems
they address:

Unlike most design patterns we have chosen not to defne pat-

terns as pure problem/solution pairs. Tis is due to two obser-
vations. First, defning patterns from problems creates a risk of
viewing patterns as a method for only removing unwanted efects
of a design. In other words, using patterns as a tool for problem-
solving only and not as a tool to support creative design work.
(Bjoörk et al. 2003)

Te result of this decision is patterns that don’t focus on the reason for their
use. I take issue with the idea that understanding the reasons for using a
pattern will invalidate its use in creative design work. Perhaps the issue
 Use of Patterns in Game Design ◾ 37

here is misunderstanding what Alexander meant by “problem.” Certainly,

he saw many problems with the architecture of his day and intended his
Pattern Language to help overcome them. However, that was not what he
was talking about when he said:

Each pattern describes a problem which occurs over and over

again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solu-
tion to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution
a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice.
(Alexander 1977)

Te problem he was referring to was not a specifc defect in a design that

needed a solution, but the desired outcome of the design that needed a
solution. While Alexander ofen started with a literal problem in existing
designs as the inspiration for seeking out the pattern that solved them, that
is incidental to the nature of the pattern. For example, in Pattern 159: Light
on Two Sides of Every Room, the design problem is stated as the follow-
ing: “When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms
which have light on two sides, and leave the rooms which are lit only from
one side unused and empty” (Alexander 1977). Tis statement addresses
the specifc problem of rooms with natural light on only one wall being
unused, or those rooms feeling unpleasant, dark, or claustrophobic to their
users. But it is just as accurate to rephrase the problem to focus on the
intended efect, perhaps like this: “To ensure that a room is welcoming and
that people gravitate toward its use, place windows on two walls. Tis will
ensure that it is well lit and comfortable for its occupants.” Te design prob-
lem is providing natural light in a space to make it comfortable to occupy
as much as it is preventing rooms from being dark and unused.
Looking at a problem from game design will help illustrate this point.
An example problem could be negatively stated as “Narrow doors in an
frst-person shooter (FPS) game cause players to be caught up in the geom-
etry and break the fow of play.” Or it could be more usefully stated posi-
tively as, “Door size and placement should refect and support the pace of
play.” Te understanding of the purpose of the pattern is what will allow
designers to know if they should be using it. To continue this example,
perhaps the frst design problem would result in a pattern saying that to
promote gameplay fow, doors should be twice the width of the character—
a reasonable, if very low-level, pattern. Without a problem statement, I
might be designing a horror-themed game and include pleasantly wide
38 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

doors per the pattern. Tat could undermine my higher-level goals of cre-
ating tension in situations where I want the character to have difculty
navigating to make the player feel the character’s sense of panic. However,
if the problem is part of the pattern, then I would know that it did not
apply to my situation. In fact, it might be a pattern that I would, in the case
of a horror game, want to violate explicitly. If I used the second version
of the problem, the resulting pattern is more general and applies to both
situations: “To create the intended fow and pacing for player movement,
designers should place geometry, doorways, obstacles, etc. in ways that
facilitate the intended pace of play.” In short, clearly stating the problem
that a pattern solves—or to phrase it diferently, the efect that the pat-
tern creates—is one of the critical diferences between a well-described
mechanic and a pattern suitable for use as part of a Pattern Language.
Despite rejecting problems as part of their “patterns,” Bjoörk and
Holopainen (2006) continue to acknowledge their importance: “As pat-
terns are general solutions the application of a pattern to any given situa-
tion requires a number of design choices specifc for the current context.”
By referring to patterns as “general solutions,” they tacitly acknowledge
that they must be solving for some problem or providing some efect.
Patterns from this source are heavily mechanics-focused, what I refer
to as shallow patterns. Tey are accurate and useful abstract summaries
of mechanics, but they do not provide the context or understanding of
when to use the pattern. Te template used in Game Design Patterns to
document the patterns includes a “Consequences” section; this is prob-
ably the most useful aspect of this work. However, the consequences are
described mainly in terms of the other mechanics-based patterns, so they
fail to describe the efects of the patterns fully.

Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design

Te second major work that attempts to incorporate patterns and a pat-
tern language is Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design (Adams
and Dormans 2012). Tis book probably comes the closest to creating
the beginnings of a pattern language for game design in the way that
Alexander envisioned for architecture. Despite that, I think that it falls
short in several ways.
Its frst shortcoming is in scope. Adams and Dormans are experts in
mechanical game design, so, unsurprisingly, their patterns focus on this
strength. Tat limited scope is not necessarily a problem for a group of
patterns intended to be the seed for a much larger language. However, they
 Use of Patterns in Game Design ◾ 39

defne only 16 patterns and present them as a nearly complete language,

only suggesting that designers should keep their eye out for additional
patterns.
In keeping with Alexander, the authors present a format to use in
recording a pattern. Teir template includes “intent,” “motivation,” and
“applicability” sections that address the question of when to use the pat-
tern. Finally, it includes “implementation” and “examples” sections. Each
entry contains most of the information that I would want to see in a
pattern. I do think that they take the drive toward abstraction a bit far
and that it can be challenging to know how the patterns apply outside of
their specifc descriptions. Tis combination of abstraction and specifc-
ity makes it hard to understand the full scope and power of the patterns.
Usually, a pattern gives only one or two examples of its use, further limit-
ing visibility on the usefulness of the pattern.
Te structure and content of these patterns are similar to the com-
puter science pattern collection in Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable
Object-Oriented Sofware (Gamma et al. 1994). Tat book defnes useful
patterns like “Te Factory Method,” but does not provide a framework to
help programmers understand when or why to use its patterns. Adams
and Dormans, like the Gang of Four, clearly understand when and how to
use their patterns. But they are so focused on those patterns that they fail
to provide the level of context necessary to show other programmers or
designers how to use them well as a design language.
I would suggest that patterns like “Static Generator,” which details a
way to add resources to a game, are more useful when placed into the
context of a language. If we provide a parent pattern that makes clear why
resources are necessary for a game, then it becomes possible to articu-
late why one type of resource generation is preferable over another. For
instance, consider the problem: How can a designer create space in a game
for meaningful tactical choices, both providing the player with forward
momentum and limiting their progress? You might derive a pattern like:
“A designer may wish to limit player progress by introducing a cost for
player actions. Te resource used to pay this cost can be provided in many
ways. See child patterns: Static Generator, etc.”
It would then be possible to look at each of the resource generation pat-
terns and understand how their implementation of the parent pattern dif-
fers and what more specifc problems they each address. I will revisit the
idea of improving and adapting patterns from sources like this one in the
section on integrating patterns from other sources.
40 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Te idea of a Pattern Language is appealing for several reasons. Te frst

that captured my imagination was the promise of having a single complete
language, shared between all developers, allowing clear communication
without limiting our designs with a rigid set of rules that would sap our
designs of creativity. Tat’s a noble goal, and if I knew that I was regarded
as one of the leading thinkers in games, as Adams and Dormans are, I
might think that I was the person who should or could create such a lan-
guage. Tey see the benefts of shouldering that burden for us and putting
their hard-won experience to good use: “Afer all, most of these patterns
have evolved in games over a long period. Design patterns allow you to
build on that experience without going through a long learning period
yourself.”
Te problem with that goal, though, is that game design is a vast feld, so
broad that even its best minds focus on particular parts of it; in the case of
Adams and Dormans, it’s deep systems and mechanics. Tose are impor-
tant aspects of game design, but so are the theme, narrative structure, and
art and sound design. I do not mean the implementation of art, narrative,
or sound—those are their own distinct disciplines—but the design in each
of those areas. Saying that art design is just part of the art department
and not part of game design would be like saying that mechanics design is
only part of game programming. I am not arguing that an art department
can’t be responsible for the art design of the assets that they are producing.
However, to create assets that are in line with the theme, narrative design,
and mechanical design, all disciplines must be engaging with the same
design language.
For any Pattern Language to be complete enough to be useful, it must
start at a high enough level to encompass each of those areas. Even for a
design team divided into those areas, such a language would be necessary
for those teams to best work together.
My last criticism of the Pattern Language section of Game Mechanics:
Advanced Game Design is that the authors do not provide a clear descrip-
tion of the process they used to arrive at the patterns they put forward. Te
lack of insight into the creation of their patterns limits the reader’s ability
to extend the Pattern Language they propose.

SCHOLARLY ARTICLES
A large number of scholarly articles and dissertations consider the idea of
patterns and a Pattern Language in games. Te focus of these is necessarily
 Use of Patterns in Game Design ◾ 41

narrow, but looking at a few provides insight into the ways that patterns
are understood and used in the game design feld.

“The Case for Game Design Patterns”

Te article “Te Case for Game Design Patterns,” published in 2002, argues
that game design needs patterns. It uses the term Alexandrian patterns,
which I think is a clear way to refer to them and distinguish patterns that
conform to all of his theoretical tenets from those that are just inspired by
his ideas. Te primary reason that the author, Bernd Kreimeier, suggests
that patterns are needed is to provide a shared vocabulary for game design-
ers. However, the article also mentions that the connections between pat-
terns could serve to provide a conceptual framework for that vocabulary.
Te article acknowledges that a shared pattern language would be most
useful if it covered the full scope of game design and that the breadth of
the feld makes that challenging.
Despite calling out the importance of patterns addressing problems, the
author states that “pattern methods are simply a successful way to express
existing knowledge” and that “patterns are simply conventions for describ-
ing and documenting recurring design decisions within a given context”
(Kreimeier 2002). Tis defnition results in seeking patterns that are just
the elements of design, rather than patterns that suggest ways to solve
deeper problems. Te frst example in the next section exemplifes the dif-
ference between Kreimeier’s approach and the one used in this book.
Last, this article does not discuss a process for deriving patterns. In the
absence of a methodology designed to produce and continually improve
upon potential patterns that are likely to be valid, Kreimeier states that the
“conventions of any pattern template do not guarantee (or prohibit) that
useful patterns will be found and documented.” Tis runs in direct oppo-
sition to the purpose of Alexandrian patterns. Alexander did not create
his patterns to provide a vocabulary for architecture; it already had that.
He created them to help architects understand when to use the techniques
that they already understood. In our discipline, we are still struggling to
understand the techniques we are using and developing and to under-
stand the formal and functional elements of the feld and their efect on
the games we are designing. Building a Pattern Language does help you
achieve those vital goals. However, its primary purpose is more signifcant
than that. It shows us when elements are needed, why we should be using
them, and how we might go about it.
42 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

“Developing a Pattern Language for Flow

Experiences in Video Games”
Te article “Developing a Pattern Language for Flow Experiences in Video
Games” (Lemay 2007) attempts to take a conceptual idea from game
design and develop a pattern language focused on producing that concept
in games. Tat feels like an important application of Pattern Languages.
For Alexander, the frst step in applying his Pattern Language to a proj-
ect was to identify what design problems the project was trying to solve.
He asked what the building was for, how people would use it, and how it
should make its occupants feel. He even referred to the subset of patterns
chosen for a project as that project’s Pattern Language. For instance, the
patterns used to build a small country home would be diferent from those
used to erect a barn or a cathedral.
In game design, we are nowhere near having a functionally complete
pattern language from which to select smaller project-specifc languages.
We are still at the point of generating preliminary patterns. We will then
have to stitch those together to create a broader language framework
defned by their interconnections.
Te patterns identifed in this article all seem like they will help to pro-
duce games that create a fow state, so in that way this work is successful.
Te author includes a section in each pattern titled “forces”; this is an idea
from Alexander’s work that is ofen dropped by groups trying to adapt his
work. Te forces section provides context for when a pattern is valid and
identifes the forces that may help a pattern function, lower its efective-
ness, or even prevent its use.
But this project falls short of being an Alexandrian Pattern Language
in several ways. First, it is so focused on the purpose of creating fow in
games that it does not address the question of when that is desirable. Te
implication of referring to fow state as “optimal experience” is that it is
always benefcial to create it and that any game that does not generate fow
in its players is suboptimal.
Te process used to derive the patterns also seems to be incompletely
described or fawed. Te listed patterns are created by using the pattern
format to describe theory, rather than by examining existing games that
generate a fow state and looking for patterns in how they do that. While
the idea may be sound and the pattern-shaped descriptions of the theory
may produce the desired results, they are not patterns in the Alexandrian
sense. You cannot derive a pattern from observation if you are trying
 Use of Patterns in Game Design ◾ 43

something wholly new, so there may be some value in creating patterns

from theory, as I discuss in Exercise 24. However, even in that case, it
would be essential to diferentiate those patterns from ones with empirical
support and to state a low level of confdence in their validity. Afer a few
dozen games implement such a pattern with successful results, a neutral
designer should be able to derive the same pattern observationally to vali-
date the theoretical one.
Additionally, this set of patterns lacks a contextual directive. As men-
tioned earlier, there is no statement of when or why creating a fow state
is desirable. Te implication that all games should produce this state is
demonstrably false. Take the examples of narrative-driven games like Life
is Strange or sandbox games like Red Dead Redemption 2. Te slow pace
of a narrative game is not conducive to a fow state, and yet the games are
immersive, compelling, and successful in their goals as games. Te sand-
box games may have moments of intense concentration that create a fow
state, but they also have long periods of introspective exploration in which
fow does not drive the immersiveness of the game. Tus, to be useful as
a language, these patterns require that piece of context. I would suggest
that these patterns, rather than being a language in and of themselves, are
children of a larger pattern that describes the use of fow in games.
Last, the author states that these patterns are interconnected.

Patterns in these languages are deeply interwoven and form a

densely interconnected network, having particular relationships
with each other. A particular pattern may be hierarchically con-
nected (either at a superior, identical or inferior level), modulat-
ing or modulated by, or conficting with another pattern. As the
complete collection of patterns is still under investigation the
exact network of interconnections will be presented later on.
(Lemay 2007)

I was, however, unable to fnd the descriptions of those connections outside

the article. Te lack of relationships and context diminishes the usefulness
of the patterns. It would be relatively easy to address all of my aforemen-
tioned concerns and make use of the ideas uncovered by this investigation
into the implementation of fow. Tat project should be within your reach
afer reading the “Integrating Patterns from Other Sources” section of the
book in Chapter 16.
44 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

“Design Patterns in Games: The Case for Sound Design”

Te fantastic article “Design Patterns in Games: Te Case for Sound
Design” (Alves and Roque 2013) uses the ideas of a pattern language to
help make it possible for sound design to begin during the ideation phase
of game design, even when the designers do not have extensive sound
design resources. Without question, their project succeeded admirably at
their stated purpose.
Te most notable thing about this project is the extensive attention
that they paid to the connections between patterns. Tey identify 81 pat-
terns related to sound design. Tey identifed more than 700 relationships
between those patterns! For each pattern, they provide multiple in-game
examples. Te naming convention used for the patterns provides a clear
sense of when the pattern should be used, for instance, “Suspicious NPC”
or “Imminent Death” (Alves and Roque 2013).
Tis project generated a printable set of cards and a wiki that includes
all of its patterns. Te cards allow designers to kinesthetically select and
consider the use of the sound patterns easily as they begin their design
process.
Tere are, however, some fundamental problems with their project in
terms of generating Alexandrian patterns. Te patterns proposed are at
best “shallow patterns,” situations where games might use sound and why.
Tey are more of a collection of sound use techniques and how they relate
to each other.
While the names of these patterns tell you when to use them and their
descriptions and examples show you how you might do that, they do
not reveal why you need those techniques in a broader sense. As shal-
low patterns, their logic and justifcation tend to be circular. Te pattern
Imminent Death suggests using sounds to indicate that the player’s death
is imminent so that the player will know that their death is imminent.
Te presentation on the wiki does, of course, go further and explain
that sound should be used for this purpose because the player may be
wrapped up in gameplay and miss other visual afordances of health. It
also acknowledges the emotional importance of death, in and out of the
game. Still, it does not discuss what that emotional impact is or how difer-
ent implementations of the pattern might afect it. Diferent efects might
indicate imminent death: an alarm sound, a rising heartbeat, or the fad-
ing of all audio, for instance. Each would serve a diferent purpose and be
appropriate in a diferent type of game. Te examples given show these
 Use of Patterns in Game Design ◾ 45

diferent implementations and demonstrate their efects, but recognizing

and understanding the diferences and their emotional output is lef to the
designer.
Tis article does not describe how to choose patterns for your game
outside of selecting them based on situations that occur in your game.
Understanding the interconnections of the patterns or techniques is
important. When there are a daunting number of connections, and using
all related patterns is not the intent, it seems necessary to have criteria to
help designers understand what patterns to use.

“Patterns and Computer Game Design Innovation”

“Patterns and Computer Game Design Innovation” details the process
used by the author, Kevin McGee, for creating Alexandrian patterns as
a way to encourage innovation in design. His work developed during the
process of teaching several game design courses in which he used pattern
creation as a core pedagogical technique. Based on the learning outcomes
of those courses, he considered this process to be successful.
Tere are several aspects to his work that validate my teaching expe-
rience and the theoretical framework that I am describing in this book.
Specifcally, he uses a pattern template as a tool for documenting patterns.
Templates are not uncommon among pattern projects. However, in addi-
tion to providing a pattern name and pattern description, he cites the
importance of including sections for “Feature,” “Forces,” and “Context.”
He references Alexander’s defnitions (McGee 2020):

• Feature: What is the “something” we want to build?

• Forces: Why is this “something” helping to make the built structure
“good”?
• Context: When (or, where) will this pattern work?

Tese defnitions difer somewhat from the explicit statements of the

problem that a pattern addresses and the description of a solution as I will
use them. However, in the examples given, the Forces statement is phrased
to include the problem implicitly by stating how the presence or absence
of the Feature will afect a game. Tis format has the beneft of showing a
more complex and nuanced understanding of how the problem and pat-
tern interact, but it comes at the cost of some clarity.
46 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

McGee’s work also proposes a set of characteristics stating what pat-

terns should be:

• Operational and precise: We “know what to do” to realize a pat-

tern—and we can clearly confrm the presence or absence of a pat-
tern in a particular built structure.
• Positive: Tey specify something specifcally good to achieve, rather
than being rules of the form “do not do X.”
• Flexible: Tere is more than one solution that satisfes a pattern, e.g.,
there are a multitude of diferent ways to attain “natural light on two
sides of a room.”
• Debatable: Te pattern is clear enough to criticize.
• Testable: We can confrm empirically whether people feel better in
structures that contain the pattern versus those that do not.
• End-user oriented: Tat is, not just something good from the per-
spective of builders/implementers.

Tese suggestions ft well within my understanding of the needs of a well-

formed pattern. Te article is critical of the implementation of patterns
within the computer science feld for reasons similar to those I expressed
in the previous section.
In many ways, the process described in this article is closer to my
work than any of the previously discussed attempts within game design.
However, the patterns it describes only look to a single source to fnd a pat-
tern. Te pattern identifed may indeed exist in other games. Still, I have
found that only by describing the use of a technique across many games
does it become possible to see the generalized pattern and not just describe
the method used by one game. Te author also does not discuss linking
patterns into a language or using more than one pattern in the design of
a game.

Tere have been many, many more articles written on the topic of pat-
terns in game design, but they seem to have generally the same strengths
and shortcomings in various combinations. Many sources touch on the
potential of pattern theory; none fully realize it in terms of game design.
 Use of Patterns in Game Design ◾ 47

Other articles are referenced and cited throughout the rest of the book as
relevant.

OTHER GAME DESIGN PATTERN PROJECTS

In addition to this scholarly work, several practical pattern design projects
have been begun and have produced some amount of progress.

LARP Pattern Language

Tis project details a pattern language built to help with the design of live-
action role-playing games (LARPs). It does not describe the process used
to create the patterns, and the overall number of patterns is low at only
15 patterns. However, it is one of the better attempts at creating a pattern
language outside of Alexander’s work.
Te project stands out for identifying the “resources” that relate to
LARP design. Tese underlying factors are time, space, energy, memory,
and criticality. Tey are uniquely relevant to this kind of game. Tey help
the patterns focus, and detailing them at the beginning of the language
gives the designer context (Li and Morningstar 2020).
Te author breaks the patterns into the categories of Setup, Plot, and
Interaction. Tese are analogous to the levels of scale that Alexander uses
to structure his language. I think that it’s interesting how diferent this
structure is and that it suggests that a language should refect the nature
of the work that it describes rather than merely mimicking Alexander’s
levels of scale.
Tis format breaks patterns into two sections. Te frst is a summary
header with the name and relationships to other patterns. A body follows
giving the problem, a high-level theoretical solution, an “Instruction,”
which is a practical application of the pattern, and fnally an example.
Te project states that its language is incomplete and invites the submis-
sion of new patterns. A signifcant number of patterns would be needed to
be added for the language to be functionally complete. Still, it is useful in
its current state both as an example language and for practical design use.

Kind Fortress
On the design blog Kind Fortress, Isaac Shalev has collected around 20
patterns over the past two and a half years. Tis collection is ad hoc and
seems to simply be driven by the patterns that the author has recently
observed. While he cites Alexander as an inspiration, he does not attempt
48 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

to present his patterns according to a standard pattern template or to relate

the patterns to each other in any way (Shalev 2020).
Te important takeaway from this pattern collection is the thoughtful
analysis of the function of each pattern identifed. While it would be dif-
fcult to use these patterns in an organized way to create a game design,
reading them is informative and suggests that the act of creating them is
part of the author’s game design learning process.

Interactive Institute Swedish ICT

Te Interactive Institute Swedish ICT houses a vast collection of more
than 700 game design elements that maps their relationships to each other.
Tis collection includes the patterns in Björk and Holopainen’s Patterns in
Game Design and expands upon them radically. Te scope of the project
is staggering. Te patterns identifed vary from incredibly detailed and
deeply interconnected to only partially complete “Speculative Patterns”
that explicitly call for further development.
Te pattern template used to document the patterns is very detailed and
provides the pattern name, short and long descriptions, examples, advice
on using the pattern, consequences of using the pattern, and relationships
to other patterns on a variety of axes. Te patterns are presented in a wiki
format and linked to each other with such density that half of the words in
a given pattern can be links.
As a collection of game design elements and a mapping of their connec-
tions, this collection is invaluable. However, as in Björk and Holopainen’s
published book, the patterns here do not address what problems they exist
to solve. As stated earlier, this lack of problem statements makes using the
collection as a design tool difcult.
While this collection of patterns does not provide a methodology for
deriving patterns, the published book does discuss that process.
One section of the wiki even considers the possibility of using the pat-
tern creation process as a pedagogy:

Designers and experienced gamers typically have a lot of knowl-

edge about gameplay. Tis knowledge may, however, not be easily
expressible in words, and this may make gamers misjudge how
much they actually know about games. We have during several
workshops with game students had good experiences letting stu-
dents identify their own suggestions for gameplay design patterns
afer presenting the basic idea but not the collection. Armed with
 Use of Patterns in Game Design ◾ 49

the design pattern concept, the students have easily put words on
design choices made in existing games and have then been able to
recombine them into new games. Besides showing them practi-
cally how patterns can be used for design and analysis this makes
them aware of their own knowledge of gameplay and empow-
ers them in the sense that they realize that they can themselves
develop descriptions of gameplay concepts when they need them.
(Björk 2019)

Tis analysis matches my experience using patterns in the classroom.

Each of the aforementioned pattern-related projects has strengths and
weaknesses. Each of them has contributed to our understanding of game
design. Each has shown ways that Alexander’s pattern ideas apply to game
design. However, none of these projects is perfect, and none of them fully
address the needs of the industry or make use of the full potential of creat-
ing a Pattern Language for game design.
Read that last sentence again. “Te full potential of creating a Pattern
Language,” not the full potential of having a Pattern Language. Possibly,
given time, I could create a functional Pattern Language. Tat language
would not be as useful to other designers as it would be to me, no matter
how clear or insightful the patterns I presented.
I would gain the beneft of having looked at hundreds of games, ana-
lyzed them, and discerned the patterns that make them up. Tat process,
more than the Pattern Language it produces, is the secret power whose
edge these projects dance around.
By taking the collected work in the preceding books, articles, and proj-
ects, refning and reimagining it in the mold of Alexander’s original work,
this book will build on the work that came before and inspire the creation
of individual pattern languages. Eventually, we may combine them into a
functionally complete language. It would not be a language written by any
one person or even one group of erudite game designers. Instead, it would
be a language distilled from the collected games that we have produced
over the past decades and millennia.
Te rest of this book lays out the process by which you can become one
of the designers with the power unlocked by creating a Pattern Language.
 III
An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design

51
 CHAPTER 5

An Introduction to
Patterns in Game Design

WHAT DOES A PATTERN LOOK LIKE,

AND HOW CAN I FIND IT?
Tis section is the heart of this book. In the following pages, I will explore
the process of deriving patterns from your own experience and research.
Yes, this book will provide 24 useful patterns, but these are just examples—
the by-products of showing you the process that you will use to create pat-
terns yourself.
Earlier I told you that this book wouldn’t teach you game design, and it
won’t. But, the process of creating patterns will teach you game design, or
it will give you the structure to organize the things you already know. Te
Pattern Language that you begin with these exercises will turn your learned
and intuitive understanding of games into a usable set of patterns that you
can share with your colleagues and use together to shape your games.
Christopher Alexander’s work is awe-inspiring. Te scope of his research
and the eccentric detail of his patterns manage to be practical and con-
crete, while at the same time encouraging designers to apply his ideas in
creative ways. His work suggests that designers should expand the Pattern
Language he began with his 253 patterns and that designers might even
develop entirely separate languages to address their own design needs. His
work describes the parts of a pattern and suggests that all patterns should
have those parts, but he does not give guidance as to how designers should
go about creating patterns that meet his specifcations.

53
54 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

I have tried to address this problem by providing a robust set of exer-

cises for pattern generation. Tese exercises do not generate specifc pat-
terns, but rather move to a higher level of abstraction and create either a
type of pattern or patterns in a particular area of design. It is beyond the
scope of this book to create a comprehensive set of exercises that would
build a “complete” Pattern Language. However, I believe this subset is suf-
fcient to teach you the skills necessary to continue expanding your own
Pattern Language generated by completing these exercises.
Te frst sections of this book have presented a lot of background and
theory. In the next section, I’ll give the template that I recommend using
when documenting a pattern. Ten I will present a completed pattern and,
fnally, the exercise that generated it.

The Pattern Template

Following Alexander’s lead, I have defned a Pattern Template, very simi-
lar to his, to use when documenting my patterns. Tis template represents
a synthesis of the work of other designers in applying patterns to game
design and my experience in using patterns to teach design. I strongly
recommend using this template until you’re very comfortable with the
process. Even then, maintaining a consistent format will make it easier for
other designers to read and understand your work.
If you’d prefer to see a concrete example of a pattern, feel free to skip to
the “Example Pattern” section later in this chapter and refer back to the
template if the meaning of any of the parts is not clear.

PATTERN TEMPLATE
Name: This should be an easy to remember and evocative name.
Confdence: This number rates the level of certainty you have that a pattern
is viable for use in developing games: how sure you are that it will have the
indicated effects, and any side effects it might have. See the later section
for details on rating your confdence in a pattern.
Image:* An iconic image to represent each pattern. This image can help to
convey the essence of the pattern and to serve as a mnemonic anchor for
remembering it.
Author: This is the name of the pattern creator or creators.

* Tere is a strong argument for the inclusion of an iconic image to represent each pattern. However,
the efort of fnding or creating such an image is high, especially for designers who are not art-
ists. If you do not have the means to generate high-quality illustrations, at least describe what you
would have illustrated or use images from existing games that demonstrate the pattern. If you do
this, make sure to cite your sources and respect copyrighted material.
 An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design ◾ 55

Design problem: Each pattern exists to solve a problem.* Describe

that problem here. If you see a pattern without a problem, look harder.
Identifying the problem is critical to knowing when, and if, you want to
use the pattern.
Description: Provide a detailed description of the pattern here. This sec-
tion should go into as much depth as possible. It should be long enough to
fully capture your pattern. Do not try to be concise to the point of reduc-
ing your description to a single sentence. It can be helpful to start with the
following format: In order to [achieve some design effect], a designer may
[take some design action, use some mechanic, etc.] because [explanation
of how the pattern produces the desired effect].

Games that use this pattern and how:†

1. Game name—Description of how the game applies the pattern. This

section should be at least a full sentence, not just two or three keywords,
that will make sense to another designer. To help you understand this
better, the following two examples illustrate how to do this well, and
how I’ve seen students do it poorly.
2. Good example game—This game uses the pattern in this particular way.
By doing this, the game creates these dynamics in the player experience
that solve the problem.
3. Not great example game (Don’t do this one!)—This game is about these
cool things! In it players do these things that do not relate to the pattern.
It uses these mechanics [a comprehensive list of the mechanics found in
this bad example, many of which are unrelated to the pattern].

Seed: This is the idea that was the starting point for the pattern. For
the exercises presented in this book, it will follow the format: Exercise
XX: Exercise Name—Game Element. This is important to record, as
you will use it in the process of connecting your patterns into a lan-
guage, as discussed in Section VI of this book. It will also allow your
colleagues or instructor to understand what kind of pattern you were
trying to create.

* What is a design problem? Te design problem that is addressed by a pattern should describe a
situation you face as a designer. A design problem is not simply the efect of a mechanic stated as a
question. It must capture the purpose and intent of the designer not just mechanically but in terms
of its efect on the player. In this way, a well-constructed pattern will ensure that you are designing
games that intentionally create an experience for the player. If this seems abstract, look over some
of the design problems in the example patterns provided for each exercise.
† In the pattern exercises you will in most cases be asked to analyze at least ten games. You do not

need to list all of those games here. I recommend citing at least three games that show diverse
implementations of your pattern. Having more games is fne if each shows a diferent use of your
pattern.
56 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Related patterns:
Parent patterns: A pattern or several patterns that are required by this pat-
tern for it to function well.
Child patterns:* Patterns that are suggested by this pattern or require it to
function well.
Keywords: Keywords that relate to this pattern. Use keywords to link this
pattern to others in a non-hierarchical way. The process of choosing key-
words is discussed further in steps 2 and 3 of the “Connecting Patterns into
a Language” section of Chapter 15 which discuss keywords and pattern
categories.

RELATED PATTERNS
This section of the Pattern Template exists to connect this pattern to
the others that you will create as part of your Pattern Language. The
section of the book that will help you create that language comes
much later, after all of the pattern-generation exercises. If you want
to wait to complete this part of the Pattern Template until you get to
that part of the book, that’s okay. If you want to try to fll it in as you
go, that’s okay too. Either way, you will probably be revisiting all of
the patterns you create to fll in or adjust this section.
The Related Patterns section of each example will also suggest other
pattern exercises that you can complete to fnd additional parent
or child patterns for the example. These are not part of the Pattern
Template, but you may fnd them useful if you’re having a hard time
thinking of a starting point when completing the suggested exercise.
You may also want to include these kinds of suggestions when writ-
ing your patterns to help other developers, or your future self, extend
your Pattern Language.

PATTERN CONFIDENCE
It’s essential to acknowledge that all patterns aren’t equally valid. Different
exercises create more or less reliable patterns, and you should carefully
consider your confdence in any generated pattern before you use it in your
designs. I recommend using this rubric for assessing your confdence in a
new pattern, and for updating that confdence as you use the pattern over
time. All patterns start with a confdence rating of 0, then add 1 for each of
the following items that apply.

* As you develop more patterns, other sections like Related Patterns or Alternate Patterns might
make sense.
 An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design ◾ 57

Some of the items are related and “stack.” For example, a Common
Pattern (+1) would also have to meet the requirements for being a Limited
Pattern (+1) and a Singular Pattern (+1) for a total of 3. You should apply
all the applicable labels. So if you had used this hypothetical pattern and
another developer had independently described the same pattern, you
would also apply Demonstrated Pattern” (+1) and Independent Sources (+1)
for a total confdence score of 5.
(+0) Theoretical Pattern: The Theoretical Patterns exercise (Exercise 24)
generates this type of pattern. You might also create a theoretical pattern
by adapting a pattern from an existing repository that doesn’t cite example
games. This pattern may be valid, but you don’t generate it from observa-
tion. Instead, you create it by imagining how a theory about game design
would ft the pattern format.
(+1) Single Example Pattern: This level of confdence comes from a
pattern that was generated based on one example. It’s entirely possible to
look at a single game and derive a valid pattern from it. However, it can
be challenging to determine whether what you see is an actual pattern or
just the results of a design technique or element that would yield a different
pattern if you looked at its use across many games.
(+1) Limited Pattern: If you’ve observed the pattern in fewer than ten
games, it’s a limited pattern. If you have a hard time providing the ten
examples in an exercise, this level of confdence may result.
(+1) Common Pattern: The pattern is visible in at least ten games,
probably many more. You have found a “common pattern” when you
stop recording examples at ten but could go on, and it’s a good sign
that you’ve done an excellent job formulating a pattern based on your
observations.
(+1) Demonstrated Pattern: A pattern is a demonstrated pattern if you,
or another developer, have used it in development, and the effect was as
intended.
(+1) Validated Pattern: This confdence level describes a pattern that’s
in common use among a variety of game developers and has been proven
effective through widespread use. At the time of the printing of this book,
it’s probably not possible to fnd a pattern validated through use. As you
work with patterns throughout your career, it may become more common.
A pattern might also be a validated pattern if you conducted empirical user
research to show that the pattern was effective.
(+1) Independent Sources: If more than one developer derives a pat-
tern, it has independent sources. In teaching, it’s common to discover this
kind of pattern as more than one group of students arrives at the same pat-
tern from different starting points. As the community of developers using
the exercises in this book increases and shares patterns, this will become
more common.
58 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

EXAMPLE PATTERN: MYSTERY-DRIVEN EXPLORATION

I have used this example in many classes to teach the concept of patterns
and how they apply to game design. It’s not the simplest possible example,
but it demonstrates the process well. Te exercises in the book begin with
a slightly more straightforward process and escalate in complexity to a
level considerably beyond this example.

Name: Mystery-Driven Exploration

Image:

FIGURE 5.1 Interesting but incomplete information can motivate explora-

tion in a variety of ways.

Confdence: 3
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Designers need to motivate their players to explore the
worlds they create.
Description: To motivate players to explore the worlds they create, a
designer may present the player with compelling but incomplete pieces
of information, and then give the player gameplay avenues that will allow
them to seek out more information and solve the mysteries of the game
world.
 An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design ◾ 59

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Journey—Journey opens with the view of a bright light shining from a

split atop an imposing mountain. The game does not explain the sight,
prompting you to investigate. The path in the direction of the mountain
is visibly open.
The second example of this pattern is also from Journey. As you play,
you regularly encounter small ruins. In the frst ruin and many after that,
there are murals depicting scenes from the game world. These scenes
are usually incomplete and ambiguous, raising as many questions as
they answer.
• Grand Theft Auto—A map of the game world shows the quests you can
do in the area surrounding you at the moment. The rest of the map is
visible, but you can’t see the available quests in the other areas unless
you explore.
• Skyrim (and many other Elder Scrolls games)—As you move through
the world, a horizontal compass in your HUD shows nearby quests and
points of interest. Since the indicated locations are nearby, unknown,
and often yield mechanical and narrative rewards, they motivate you
to divert your travel to seek them out, wandering off of the direct path
between primary game objectives.
• Bastion—As you explore the levels of Bastion, you can only see the
world directly around you. The rest of the world literally does not exist
yet. As you move forward, the ground rises into existence just in front of
the character’s feet. On a frst playthrough, there’s no way to know what
will appear as you move forward. That might cause a lack of motivation
to explore if you don’t have an active imagination! The game avoids
that problem by coupling the visual mystery of the missing world with a
charismatic and omniscient narrator speaking in a god-like voice-over,
always prompting you to act and describing the world as it appears.
• Dear Esther—At frst glance, this game seems to offer no clear direction.
There’s no HUD and no obvious path. However, the game presents
you with a narrative voice-over that’s compelling but vague. The world
appears to be open in all directions, but in actuality, the levels give you
a limited area to explore. The game avoids feeling on rails by presenting
you with a constant stream of visual cues to investigate. Some are small,
like a candle or farmhouse in the middle distance; others, like the radio
tower, are visible throughout the game. The narrative and visual weight
of the clues are generally proportional—things that look more important
turn out to be more important.
• Draugen—The world of Draugen is somewhat similar to Dear Esther,
except that the game also offers intriguing visual and narrative avenues
that are not immediately available to pursue. A sign indicating the
entrance to a mine, for example, is blocked by a locked gate. If you
60 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

approach, a companion suggests climbing the gate to explore. However,

your character only has the option to decline, which primes you to
explore in that direction as soon as possible.

Seed: Exercise 2: Higher-Order Patterns—Architectural Weenies*

Parent patterns:
Greater Choice Requires Greater Motivation† (Confdence: 2)—As you
apply Mystery-Driven Exploration, you are creating choices for the player.
The more mysteries you present the player with, the more important this
pattern becomes to maintain the player’s motivation to explore.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
curiosity.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns
to generate a pattern based on a level that presents a mystery through
embedded or environmental narrative.

Keywords: Navigation, Motivation, Narrative

Te seed of this pattern is “a tall structure visible from many points in

the game world,” which is a technique known as an “architectural weenie.”
In case you aren’t an architecture student or a theme park designer, an
architectural weenie is a tall structure placed in a theme park or even in
a city. Tis technique lets people use it to navigate from a great distance
and also draws them to it when they’re exploring. Te Imagineers coined
the term at Disneyland, and the Matterhorn is the archetypical example.
However, buildings like the Eifel Tower or the Dom in Cologne are also
great examples that predate Disney by decades or centuries. It would be
easy just to use that as a pattern (Kreimeier 2002, p. 9). It certainly sounds
like a pattern, a technique that exists to solve a problem. However, it is

* Pattern exercises are given in the next two sections of the book. For each exercise I show my work
for the exercise and give the pattern that my work produced as an example. Te exercise I used to
produce this pattern, the Higher-Order Patterns exercise, is a little difcult. When I present that
exercise, I give another example.
† Example pattern from Exercise 16: Patterns from Core Mechanics.
 An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design ◾ 61

missing an essential aspect of a well-formed pattern: being general. “Use

architectural weenies to provide wayfnding” is too specifc. When you
use an architectural weenie to solve the problem of wayfnding, you can
spot it a mile of.* Te goal of pattern exercises is to get the designer to
dig deeper than the immediate technique that inspired the pattern, to ask
what problem the technique is solving. Tus architectural weenies become
Mystery-Driven Exploration and can be applied in weenie-free ways. If
you structure a pattern correctly, you can apply it in many ways outside of
those used in the analyzed games.
Initially, when you are creating a pattern, you leave the last three items
blank. You may not be able to identify parent and child relationships when
you frst complete the pattern, because you will have such a small set of
patterns. As you develop more patterns, you will add these felds when you
recognize that two of your patterns are connected. I cover the process of
integrating patterns into a language in the sixth section of this book.
Keywords are also part of that process, and, initially, you may wish
to leave that feld blank as well. While you can decide on keywords for
your frst pattern immediately, you will likely fnd yourself revising them
repeatedly as you add more and more patterns and develop a standardized
set of descriptors. It’s fne to skip them in the beginning, as they have lim-
ited utility when you only have a handful of patterns to track. Eventually,
though, they will become a critical tool that will let you flter and search
your library for patterns on a specifc topic. Again, I will cover that process
in Chapter 15.

INTRODUCTION TO PATTERN EXERCISES

Te following pattern exercises will help you identify useful patterns.
Looking randomly at the games you play and trying to fnd patterns can
work sometimes. It might even yield helpful or exciting patterns. However,
given that there is an almost infnite number of patterns you could iden-
tify (superb pattern recognition machine that you are), it’s useful to have
tools to focus the patterns you observe toward the specifc problems you
face. You should also do all you can to make sure that the patterns you
recognize are as fexible and insightful as possible.
As you work through this book, I encourage you to do the exercises in
order. Tey build in complexity and specifcity, and passing through all of
them once will give you the start of a structure for the language you will

* See what I did there?

62 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

develop from them. Once you have completed the exercises once to build
the foundation of your language, you will be comfortable with the process.
Ten you’ll be ready to expand the vocabulary of your language by using it
in your daily design work. Your frst step when creating patterns will then
be to articulate the design problem you’re facing and select the exercise
that best fts that problem.
Each pattern exercise in this book consists of a set of steps. Tey begin
with a framing task/question: name a functional design element, or pick a
mechanic from a boss encounter, or choose an emotional efect.
You are then usually asked to list, through research or experience, a set
of games that match the design element you’ve chosen. So if you picked
“jumping,” you would then select games that used jumping in as many
diverse ways as you could. If you had identifed “immortal frst boss” as
a boss encounter mechanic, you would pick games that had an unkillable
frst boss.
You then analyze those games and how they achieve the efect you
observed in them. You need to describe what you see in some detail, again
avoiding using only one or two keywords. It’s surprising what insights you
can get when you force yourself to describe precisely the thing that seems
evident to you.
Next, you will look at the games you’ve analyzed and see if you observe
any patterns. Te exercises ask you to fnd ten games. Tat number is arbi-
trary; it is both too large for many new designers and far too small to gener-
ate indisputable patterns. However, listing ten games will force you to look
at edge cases and pick at least a few games that were not immediately obvi-
ous to you. Tese games will help you understand the scope of your pattern.
Tese exercises help you fnd and defne potential patterns. Don’t think
that because you were able to complete an exercise that the pattern you
have observed is true in some fundamental way. Te patterns you generate
are a good starting point, and you should look for them in games you see
going forward. Some you may discard as false starts, some you may adapt
many times as your understanding grows as a developer. But even these
limited nascent patterns will be useful and allow you to move forward as
a designer in a meaningful, practical way.
Here’s the exercise I used to create the Mystery-Driven Exploration pat-
tern shown earlier. Tis exercise is titled “Higher-Order Patterns” and is
the second pattern-generation exercise in the book. I will walk through
the process of answering each of these questions to create the Mystery-
Driven Exploration pattern.
 An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design ◾ 63

EXERCISE 2: HIGHER-ORDER PATTERNS

Step 1: Name a design element.
Step 2: What problem(s) does that design element solve?
Step 3: Pick one of the problems you identifed.
Step 4: List and describe ten games that also solve the same problem in as
many diverse ways as possible.
Step 5: Describe the way each game solves the design problem. Focus on
each game and try not to start looking for patterns as you write.
Step 6: What do those solutions have in common? The solutions may have
more than one thing in common. Some games may share one, and other
games share another. List and describe each.
Step 7: Is there a pattern? Briefy describe it. Do not create a formal descrip-
tion using the Pattern Template; just make the frst attempt to articulate
what you see.
Step 8: For each problem you identifed in step 2, you may repeat steps 3–7.

Te frst step, name a design element, is intentionally vague. It will

allow you to apply this exercise to virtually any design problem. However,
it doesn’t give much guidance for you to focus the pattern in any par-
ticular way. Tat makes this a good exercise for creating general, broadly
applicable patterns.

Step 1: Name a design element.

A tall structure, visible from many points in the game world.
I was teaching a class on architecture in game design at the time I
wrote this pattern, so I chose a design element we’d been discussing
in the class.
Te next question, What problem(s) does that design element
solve?, is intended to get the designer to start thinking about what pur-
poses design elements serve. It’s crucial to think carefully and iden-
tify actual design problems, rather than just restating the mechanic.
For instance, if the design element were “jumping,” it would not exist
to solve the problem of “letting the player jump.” Instead, perhaps
“allowing dynamic traversal” or, better yet, “increasing player auton-
omy by creating more dynamic movement options.”*

* Te frst sample for the Basic Pattern Exercise uses this design element, in case you were wonder-
ing what design problems jumping does solve.
64 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 2: What problem(s) does that design element solve?

A. Architectural weenies help motivate and facilitate the player’s
exploration of the world. Tese are two related but distinct
functions. I suspect that there are child patterns* related to
each.
B. Architectural weenies may create an iconic image or location to
set the tone of the game, such as the Great Tree in Ori and the
Blind Forest or the glowing mountain in Journey.
C. Tey can also create a narrative focus for the game, e.g., Death
Mountain in many Zelda games or the White-Gold Tower in
the Imperial City in Te Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

Step 3: Pick one of the problems you identifed.

A. Motivating and facilitating the player’s exploration of the world.
In this case, I identifed three efects that might be created by an
architectural weenie. I chose the frst one to explore in the rest of the
exercise.
Te next step asks you to name at least ten games that solve the
same problem as the design element you chose rather than ten
games that use that same design element. Exercise 1: Basic Pattern
Exercise looks at the design element directly; Exercise 2: Higher-
Order Patterns looks at the problems solved by the design element.
Focusing on the problems allows the exercise to uncover more
fundamental patterns by looking at the underlying purpose of the
design element rather than the element itself. Te phrase “higher-
order” here is about zooming out just a little, going from narrower to
broader, from specifc to more general. So in the case of this example,
I was looking for ten games that also solve the problem of motivat-
ing player exploration, not ten games that use architectural weenies.

* A child pattern is a pattern suggested by another pattern. Usually child patterns require that par-
ent pattern to function well.
 An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design ◾ 65

Step 4: List and describe ten games that also solve the
same problem in as many diverse ways as possible.
Journey, Grand Tef Auto, Assassins Creed, Skyrim, Bastion, Dear
Esther, Te Secret World, Draugen, Anthem, Te Room
Question 4 is relatively simple, but probably requires the most
time to complete. You need to articulate as precisely as you can
how each game you chose solves the design problem you’ve identi-
fied. In this case, how do Journey, Grand Theft Auto, etc. motivate
player exploration. If you find that all of your games are solv-
ing the problem in precisely the same way, you probably need to
think of more games that solve it in different ways. If you don’t,
you may end up converging back to a pattern that just describes
the technique you began with. The goal of this exercise, in terms
of the example, is not to describe architectural weenies but to
understand the higher-level, more fundamental pattern that they
express.

Step 5: Describe the way each game solves the

design problem. Focus on each game and try not
to start looking for patterns as you write.
• Journey—Te mountain in the distance in Journey gives you a
sense of direction and has a visually compelling, unexplained
light shining from its top.
• Journey—Te ruins that you can see in the near distance
throughout the game stand out from the initial desert land-
scape, ofering direction; when you get close, you can see the
embedded narrative of the partial murals on the ruin walls.
• Grand Tef Auto—Tere’s a map showing where it’s possible
to go, but the map is incomplete, which gives you a limited set
of short-term goals and teases future quests with the negative
space on the map.
• Assassin’s Creed—Te landscape you move through as you
play contains many high towers. Given the game’s climbing
mechanics, they are attractive locations. Te quest map is flled
in by showing more and more possible quest objectives with
each tower you reach.
66 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Skyrim (and many Elder Scrolls games)—Te Icons that appear on

the compass indicating points of interest provide immediate direc-
tions for exploration. Tey show you what kind of quest you will
encounter by going in a direction, but don’t give you any details.
• Bastion—Te world around the character is very limited but
forms continuously as you move so that every action results in
more of the world’s secrets revealing themselves.
• Dear Esther—Tere’s no apparent direction or goal at the
beginning of the game, but you have only a few paths you can
follow. As you move, you hear and see narrative snippets that
raise more questions than they answer.
• Te Secret World—One activity you can do in this massively
multiplayer online game (MMO) is collecting “Lore” snippets,
which appear as visually distinct hovering items in the game
world. Each one contains a bit of a story, but you usually fnd
them out of order.
• Draugen—Te world constantly presents appealing but inac-
cessible exploration options; most become available as the
game progresses.
• Anthem—Much of the drive to explore comes from entic-
ing vistas and collectible narrative items. But you also need
resources, and exploring is the best way to get them in the early
part of the game.
• Te Room—Tis mobile game presents you with one strange
puzzle box afer another, and you’re always given just enough
information to open it, but rarely any information about what
you’ll fnd when you do. Te game narratively implies occult
mysteries at every opportunity.

Te next question is probably the hardest. Here I ask you to look

for patterns. It is entirely possible, though unlikely, that no patterns
exist for you to fnd. It’s also possible that several or even many pat-
terns may be present. In this case, I just list a single aspect that the
example games share.

Step 6: What do those solutions have in common? Te solutions

may have more than one thing in common. Some games may
share one, and other games share another. List and describe each.
 An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design ◾ 67

Tey all provide the player with partial information.

If I had listed more than one property that the games had in com-
mon, I would have listed each here and considered whether each was
related to the others.
Finally, I ask you to articulate the pattern that you’ve observed.
Te response usually comes in the form of a short paragraph. In the
next step, you fll out the Pattern Template using the answers you
gave in all of the preceding steps.

Step 7: Is there a pattern? Briefy describe it. Do not

create a formal description using the Pattern Template;
just make the frst attempt to articulate what you see.
Yes. More than just providing information, that information is
partial and is intriguing, which creates a sense of mystery. Ten
the developer gives the player a clear path to pursue, gaining more
knowledge in the short term and eventually solving the mystery.
It’s important to note that the Example Games section of the
Pattern Template is not asking for the games from question 4 of the
Pattern Exercise, which asked for ten games that solved the design
problem in diferent ways. It’s asking for ten games that implement
the pattern as you have identifed it in question 7 of the exercise
where you articulated the pattern. Tese may or may not be the same
games, and, in fact, easily fnding additional games that implement
the pattern is a sign that the pattern is a good one.

Step 8: For each problem you identifed in step 2, you may repeat
steps 3–7.
If I wished, I could have returned to step 2 and looked for patterns
related to the other two design problems that I listed there.
 CHAPTER 6

Common Problems in
Proposed Patterns

U nsurprisingly, the first patterns a designer tries to articulate

are ofen fawed. Here are a few things to look out for as you work
through these exercises. I have seen these problems many times as my
students struggled with the legitimate difculty of mastering this process.

PATTERNS SHOULD ADDRESS A DESIGN PROBLEM

Tis problem is very important—it’s the faw I identifed in the book Game
Design Patterns, and I have seen students and, more commonly, experi-
enced designers produce patterns that do not consider the design problem
they address.
Some of the pattern exercises explicitly start with identifying a design
problem. Others start with a mechanic, then have the designer identify
games that use that mechanic, then look for the problems solved by the
mechanic in those games, and then fnd a pattern. As the process gets
more sophisticated, it’s easy to lose focus on the step of considering what
design problem your new pattern actually addresses. All of the exercise
instructions ask the designer to identify the problem. Tere is a section in
the Pattern Template for the design problem, and yet it’s common to see
patterns that use the format “Many games do x” rather than “In order to y,
designers may wish to x.”

69
70 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

If you miss the design problem, then it’s likely you haven’t fully under-
stood the implications of the pattern you’ve identifed. Without a prob-
lem statement, it’s also harder for you to know when you should be using
that pattern. For example, say you observe that in frst-person shooters,
there’s ofen a mechanic that limits how much you can shoot. Perhaps
it’s due to scarcity, weapon capacity, or overheating. You might create
a pattern like “Developers should limit the amount of damage a player
can do by limiting ammo capacity, rate of fre, or ammo availability.”
Tat seems reasonable. But why does that mechanic of damage-limiting
occur? Is that pattern always true? How much should a developer limit
damage?
It would be better if you also noticed that the mechanic of limiting
ammo is sometimes used to balance a multiplayer shooter, sometimes
used to create situations where the player feels either vulnerable or pow-
erful, and other times used to create strategic choices between weap-
ons. Ten you could instead create a pattern saying, “To create a cycle
of tension and release in game levels, a designer may limit access to the
resources that drive the core gameplay loops.” Tis pattern is far more
general. You would then list the example of ammunition in frst-person
shooters, but also perhaps health in a survival game, or building resources
in a real-time strategy (RTS) game. You might even pick one of the other
design problems that limited ammunition addresses and come up with an
entirely diferent pattern.

SHALLOW PATTERNS
It’s not enough to just look at what a game does. When analyzing a game,
that’s an example of your pattern; it’s essential to look at why it’s doing
what you say it’s doing.
For example, when I look at fghting games that clearly communicate
the results of combat and damage, I observe that some have destructible
armor. Seeing this, I might create a pattern that says, “To make damage
feel satisfying in a fghting game, a developer should have armor or char-
acter costumes that are destructible.”
However, when I think about why these games use destructible armor,
I see that, while it’s true that destructible armor is a way that those games
show damage, that may not be the primary reason they have implemented
it. I also see that some developers and publishers have the sexist percep-
tion that fghting games have a mainly young male audience. Tese groups
 Common Problems ◾ 71

seem to think that young men will like the game better if it presents female
characters in an objectifying way, such as making their armor fall of.*
Noting that, I would step back from the already limited pattern men-
tioned earlier and look more broadly at the ways that fghting games show
damage. Tat perspective results in a pattern more like, “To make damage
feel satisfying in a fghting game, it should refect the results of damage in
as many ways as possible. Physical damage to the avatars, health meters,
sound efects, animation, or other techniques may be used. Mechanisms
that refect damage should be informative, make the aggressor feel power-
ful, and make the victim feel vulnerable.”
Te second pattern is not about what techniques you should use but
about what efect that technique should have on the player if you want it to
make damage feel satisfying.

CIRCULAR PATTERN
Te example I ofen give of the circular pattern problem is “In order to cre-
ate a sense of fear, a designer may wish to include elements that generate
fear.” It may seem like I’m joking, but that was an actual pattern descrip-
tion submitted by a designer new to the process. Tey had gone through
the whole process and distilled their observations carefully and ended up
where they started without realizing it. Check to see if your pattern is in
the format: “To do x you should create a game that does x.” If it is, your
pattern is circular.

PATTERNS SHOULD BE PRESCRIPTIVE

Many students are reluctant to state their observations prescriptively.
When they observe a pattern, they try to describe it passively as a thing that
exists, rather than stating how to use that thing to produce well-designed
games. For example, if they have observed that many role-playing games
(RPGs) ofer the player quests, they will create a pattern with the descrip-
tion, “Many designers, when creating RPGs, design areas that ofer players
many quests.” Of course, this has the circular patterns problem discussed
earlier, but it is also just a description. Tere are several steps necessary to
correct this problem. First, ask: If there are quests in RPGs, what design

* I will not enter into the argument about whether this is the intent of the developers to be sex-
ist, whether fghting games are guilty of sexism, or whether fghting game players enjoy the way
that female characters are portrayed. If you are interested in that argument I recommend the
YouTube series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games by Anita Sarkeesian (https://www.youtube.com/
playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fzE62esf9yP61).
72 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

problem are they addressing?* Ten dig deeper by looking at whether

quests are the only mechanic that solves that problem, whatever it is. Te
resulting pattern is most useful if stated prescriptively: “To create situ-
ations where players can explore the identities of their characters in an
RPG, designers may create situations where the character’s actions will
have important but easily identifed and contained efects on the game
world.” Tis pattern, of course, would be supported by examples of quests
in RPGs, but also perhaps by dialogue trees, non-player character (NPC)
barks that change based on the character’s actions, etc.

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
One of the most common and hardest to avoid problems in pattern creation
stems from the fact that we are very good at seeing patterns. Tis becomes
a problem as we look over games and try to identify the use of some design
element, or in another similar observational step. It is straightforward to
look at one or two games, and arrive at a pattern when looking for, say,
the diferent ways that a set of games use jumping. In this case, you might
decide that jumping is used to get over obstacles and create a pattern about
using jumping to facilitate player navigation. Te tricky thing is that that
pattern is likely to be valid.
It is then natural to look for that pattern in the rest of the example games.
Typically you fnd it and pat yourself on the back for being so insightful.
Unfortunately, when you decided on a pattern, you stopped looking at the
remaining games objectively, and you may not have accurately described
all of the ways they were using the design element you were considering.
Te frst exercise in the book uses jumping as its seed element. Pay
careful attention to how I describe the use of jumping in each game, then
analyze the examples to generate several possible patterns. Tis process
allows me to fully understand the scope of the mechanic’s use and pursue
the most useful and insightful pattern for the exercise. And, of course, to
return to the exercise later and document the remaining patterns.

ANTI-PATTERNS
Some patterns may confict with others. Tat does not make either pattern
“wrong,” it just means that those two patterns are working to either solve
diferent problems or to solve a problem in mutually exclusive ways. When

* Of course, it's possible that quests in RPGs may be solving more than one problem … just maybe.
 Common Problems ◾ 73

you create a pattern, be aware that it may not always apply to a particular
problem, depending on the other patterns at play.
Sometimes you will be able to see this in the games you observe in an
exercise. A particular pattern will be apparent in some of those games but
not in others. When you see this, look at the sample games that do not
implement the pattern and consider what efect it would have on those
games. You may fnd that it would enhance the efectiveness of their solu-
tions to the problem. Tat’s a good indication of the strength of your pat-
tern, though it does not increase the confdence rating of your pattern
unless you altered the games to include your pattern and measured the
improvement.
On the other hand, you may discover that you can’t fnd a way to use the
pattern in the games that don’t already include it or that including it seems
like it would cause problems. Look at the games that do not use the frst
pattern you found. How do they still solve the problem you are looking
into or use the design element you’re considering? If they do, then you can
continue the exercise looking for the pattern governing how they address
the problem. When you document these new patterns, be sure to mark the
frst pattern as subtractive or anti-pattern for them.
Te term “anti-pattern” is ofen misused to mean any pattern that is
“bad.” Here we are using it to mean any pattern that works counter to
another pattern. A pattern is only ever an anti-pattern to another specifc
pattern. I am adopting this arbitrary use of terminology to express the
concept that a pattern can be useful in one situation and inefective or
harmful in another, without being inherently fawed.
Consider the following two patterns as an example. Te frst says that
you should increase character abilities in order to give the player a feel-
ing of growing agency and progress. Te second suggests limiting player
agency to create feelings of helplessness and vulnerability in horror games.
Te frst pattern is not invalid; it just probably shouldn’t be used with the
second.
In the last section of advanced exercises, there is an exercise for creating
“negative patterns.” Tese are not simply anti-patterns, but patterns that
actively prevent the solution of a problem.

THE DESIRE TO BE THE AUTHORITY/KILL YOUR BABIES

I have seen the label “anti-pattern” applied to any pattern that is not in an
approved canon of patterns produced by a privileged authority. Te way
I phrased that probably gives away my feelings about that practice. While
74 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

some patterns are more efective than others, and many potential patterns
will prove not to be valid, those are not anti-patterns. Looking at a pattern
that someone else has created and disagreeing with it is reasonable. You
should take care that you understand the problem that the pattern claims
to solve and look at the example games that the author claims use it. If
you can fnd a way to improve, rephrase, or clarify the pattern, then by all
means, do so, and keep that improved pattern for yourself. Let the author
know about your work; they may appreciate it or reject it, and that’s fne.
If you can’t fnd a way to correct the faws you see in the pattern, and
you can clearly state and demonstrate those faws through observation of
the example uses of the pattern, then reject the pattern as invalid. Again,
share your conclusions with the author, but recognize that whoever you
are, you are not “Te Pattern Authority” and do not get to dictate the
validity of another designer’s understanding of the discipline.
Tat said, if you are on the other side of this kind of interaction, listen.
If another designer has taken the time to read and understand a pattern
you have written, you are lucky. If they care enough to dispute it, and form
an argument as to why it’s fawed, and even suggest improvements or an
alternative to it, then you are privileged! Don’t hold too tightly to your
patterns: defend them vigorously, but be hungry to fnd solutions that will
make you a better designer and improve the overall understanding of the
discipline.
 IV
Pattern Exercises

75
 CHAPTER 7

Pattern Exercises

T hese next two chapters are the heart of this book. Tere are 25
exercises designed to help you create the beginning of your pattern
language. You can use each of these exercises to create dozens or even
hundreds of patterns, and I’ve designed each one to guide you toward a
specifc type of pattern. Te frst “basic” exercise could generate any pat-
tern, but the more specifc exercises will help you focus the process to cre-
ate patterns in diferent areas of design.
In this book, I’ve written exercises that focus on core game design con-
cepts. If this process proves as useful to other game designers and game
design instructors as it has to me, developers with more domain knowl-
edge may wish to extend this collection of exercises into other areas of
game design, from writing to art to sound design. In Chapter 18, I’ll dis-
cuss the process of creating new exercises.
Meanwhile, if you want these lessons to be efective:

• Do not simply read through all of the exercises and the sample pat-
terns that I’ve provided. While they’re all useful, the example pat-
terns themselves are not the point of this book. Tey’re just that:
examples to help you understand and work through each exercise.
• Do take the time to read each exercise, the full example of the com-
pleted exercise, and the resulting pattern. Once you’ve fnished read-
ing one, stop, go back, and complete the exercise yourself. Only then
should you move on and read the next exercise and sample pattern.

77
78 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Afer you’ve completed the frst few exercises, feel free to skip around and
complete those that match your interests. Te exercises in the “Advanced
Pattern Exercises” section are challenging. Tackle them whenever you feel
ready, but I wouldn’t recommend starting with them!
You can jump to the sixth section of the book any time as well. Tat
section talks about how to tie your patterns together into a language that
you can use in practical design work. But you should defnitely complete
at least a few exercises before reading it, so you can relate the section to
your work.

EXAMPLE EXERCISES AND PATTERNS

For each exercise, I include an example pattern and show the work of com-
pleting the exercise to create that pattern. Because each exercise is subtly
or even radically diferent from the last, it’s important to understand how
each step of the exercise helps you to uncover and articulate a pattern. I
recommend reading the resulting pattern frst, then reading through the
response to each of the steps above it. Look at how I distill the analysis of
each game into possible patterns. Ten consider how I describe the chosen
pattern in the Pattern Template.
Te steps of each exercise are a template to help you move through that
process, but I provide the examples to show the subtle function of that
process. I did not construct the examples to show an idealized process;
they contain the actual intellectual work of searching for and expressing
a pattern. Tey include bits of analysis that turn out not to be important,
just as your exercises will. When you’re having a tough time completing
an exercise, pause and read through the example again and think about
how the step responses work to produce the pattern.
 CHAPTER 8

Basic Pattern Exercise

BASIC PATTERN EXERCISE

Pattern Purpose
Te Basic Pattern Exercise is the most broadly applicable and could proba-
bly be used to generate any pattern. I’ve tailored the exercises that follow to
generate specifc kinds of patterns, but if you had to use just one exercise,
this would be the one! Because this exercise looks at design elements, it has
the potential to generate many patterns—more than one for each element.
You should focus on one pattern at a time, and complete the frst six steps
of the exercise before turning your attention to additional patterns.

EXERCISE 1: BASIC PATTERN EXERCISE

Step 1: Name a design element.
Step 2: Name ten games that use that element—the more different ways
the games use it, the better.
Step 3: Describe how each of those games uses the element you chose.
Try not to look for a pattern yet. Focus on accurately describing the way
each game uses the element you identifed.
Step 4: What design problems do the games use the element to solve?
Some games may use the element for one purpose, while others use
it for another. Many games use the elements in more than one way.
Describe the problems solved by your element for each of the ten games
listed in step 2.
Step 5: Look at steps 3 and 4. Are there patterns in the ways the games use
the element, and how do those relate to the problems they solve?
Step 6: Pick one of those patterns and describe it using the pattern template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.

79
80 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Example Basic Pattern Exercise

Exercise*

Step 1: Name a design element.

Jumping

Step 2: Name ten games that use that element—the more diferent ways
the games use it, the better.
Donkey Kong/Jumpman, Q*bert, Super Mario Bros†. Mirror’s Edge, Gravity
Rush/VVVVVV, Alice/Super Mario World/Crackdown, Guild Wars 2,
Tomb Raider (reboot), Prince of Persia (second reboot), Poptropica, Super
Meat Boy, Street Fighter/Soulcalibur/Devil May Cry, Doom/Quake/Splosion
Man, Tribes, Assassin’s Creed, Canabalt, Sonic, Trials HD

Step 3: Describe how each of those games uses the element you chose.
Try not to look for a pattern yet. Focus on accurately describing the way
each game uses the element you identifed.
Jumping is such a fundamental design element that I tried to go back and
select games that frst used the mechanic in historically signifcant ways,
as well as listing the most modern and innovative uses of the mechanic.
Initially, only six examples of signifcance jumped into my head, so I did a
small amount of research to see if there were general opinions on impor-
tant uses of jumping. Te willingness to pause and research a question
like this is essential to the pattern development process since we all have
played a limited number of games.
• Donkey Kong/Jumpman, Geometry Dash—Jumping is used to avoid
enemies and traverse the 2D space.
• Q*bert—A refex-based puzzle game made in the wake of Pac-Man,
it uses jumping as its only movement mechanic.
• Super Mario Bros.—Jumping is used to avoid enemies, traverse
2D/3D space, and as a way to attack enemies.
• Mirror’s Edge—Tis game uses frst-person jumping as pure traversal.

* Te answers to the questions in the exercises are intended to be a place to show your work and to
take notes on your process. What you write here is not part of the pattern you will produce. In the
following example, note that I list games in answer to step 2 that I don’t use in the fnal pattern or
even in the answer to step 3.
† Te game Braid can be seen as an intentional subversion of the way Super Mario Bros. uses

jumping.
 Basic Pattern Exercise ◾ 81

• Gravity Rush/VVVVVV—Jumping combines with control of physics.

• Alice/Super Mario World/Crackdown—Jumping with a glide. Also,
in-air control?
• Guild Wars 2—Jumping for exploration and as a puzzle. Tere’s little
need for it in world traversal, and none in combat.
• Tomb Raider (reboot)—Your ability to jump in this game is superhu-
man despite the more realistic tone of the game.
• Prince of Persia (second reboot)—Tis game features assisted jump-
ing where another character helps you jump farther than you can
alone. Te game is single-player so that may be just a double jump.
• Doom/Quake/Splosion Man/Tribes—Jumping for world traversal.
Jumping assisted by the physics of unrelated systems (Rocket
Jumping, Ski Jumping, Bunny Hopping).
• Street Fighter/Soulcalibur/Devil May Cry—Jumping for world tra-
versal, jumping as a combat move.
• Poptropica, Super Meat Boy—Jumping for world traversal with very
unrealistic physics.
• Trials HD—Jumping in unrealistic environments with very realistic
physics.
• Assassin’s Creed—Jumping “on rails” for world traversal, jumping to
escape enemies.

Step 4: What design problems do the games use the element to solve?
Some games may use the element for one purpose while others use it for
another. Many games use the elements in more than one way. Describe
the problems solved by your element for each of the ten games listed in
step 2.

• Navigation through the world space (all games listed)—All the games
I chose used jumping as part of world traversal. At a base level, jump-
ing gives you more movement options as a player.

• Creating a sense of autonomy in the player (all games listed)—

Jumping increases a character’s mobility in the game world, and that
can give you a feeling of greater agency as you play. Tere’s some
82 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

subtlety in how this works, though. In some games, characters can

jump in a way that more closely mirrors the real world, which can
make you relate to the character more. In other games, jumping lets
the character move through the world in ways you never could in
real life, which can still feel empowering because you’re controlling
the character.
• Creating a sense of danger for the player (Super Mario Bros., Mirror’s
Edge, Gravity Rush/VVVVVV, Super Meat Boy, Tomb Raider, Prince
of Persia, Trials HD)—Jumping can cause death in all of these games.
Te ratio of how dangerous jumping is to how much it lets you tra-
verse the world directly relates to the amount of power versus fear
that you feel when you play. In a game like Super Mario Bros., you
may die from jumping incorrectly, but mostly it increases your abil-
ity to navigate the world. In a game like Geometry Dash, jumping
allows you to progress through the world, but it’s also the main thing
that causes you to die when you do it incorrectly.
• Adding variety to the ways the player can interact with the world—
All games listed except Q*bert and Geometry Dash, in which jumping
is the only way you move through the world. But this is particularly
true in Guild Wars 2, where jumping isn’t a primary world traversal
tool and is mostly used in optional jumping exploration puzzles.
• Enabling player mastery through creating complicated, intricate
systems that require player skill growth—All games listed. It seems
like this connection is stronger the more central jumping is as a
mechanic, and the more complicated and subtle the jump mechan-
ics are.
• Enabling player mastery of game systems by creating opportuni-
ties for the player to subvert them (Doom/Quake, Tribes)—Tis is
interesting since, in the case of these games, the mechanics were not
meant to allow player subversion. Rocket jumping and ski jumping
were, on some level, bugs that players found and used to enhance
gameplay. Te developers, recognizing the value of the bugs, inten-
tionally incorporated them into future games.
• Character building through giving the character abilities the player
lacks (Mirror’s Edge, Gravity Rush, Alice, Tomb Raider, Poptropica,
Assassin’s Creed)—Superhuman jumping abilities help make the
 Basic Pattern Exercise ◾ 83

characters seem superhuman, but not inhuman. Improving a char-

acter’s most basic movement abilities lets you relate to the charac-
ter—I can jump, but not like that!— in a way a completely inhuman
ability wouldn’t.
• Maintaining immersion in the game world by making character abil-
ities and movement match your understanding of how the real world
works—Interestingly none of the example games above use jumping
in this way, but other games do (e.g., Silent Hill 2, Flashback).
• Enhancing combat by enhancing aggressive player actions (Street
Fighter/Soulcalibur, Super Mario Bros., Devil May Cry)—Te jumping
itself may not be aggressive, but it amplifes the character’s aggressive
action. A jumping punch to the head is just more impactful than a
standing punch to the head.

Step 5: Look at steps 3 and 4. Are there patterns in the ways the games
use the element, and how do those relate to the problems they solve?*
Yes.
• More complex mechanics provide more opportunities for player
skill. Tis taps into basic player needs like autonomy and mastery.
• When power has a cost, it’s frightening to use. Tis would generate a
pattern of dangerous jumping.
• Two great things that go great together, such as jumping and punch-
ing. Tis might be a very specifc pattern about those two mechanics,
or it might generalize to “movement and attack” or even to pairs of
mechanics that create a player experience together that is more than
either can produce alone.
• She’s just like me! vs. I want to be her when I grow up! Tis would
create a pattern about maintaining immersion by creating realis-
tic character abilities vs. character building through superhuman
abilities.

* Tere are clearly more patterns than I have listed. Don’t feel like you need to list them all. But list-
ing all the ones that jump out at you will make it easier to go back and fesh out the ones you don’t
choose later.
84 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 6: Pick one of those patterns and describe it using the pattern
template.
When power has a cost, it’s frightening to use.

Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.

For this example, I will only document one pattern. In the next section, I’ll
show the completed writeup for the pattern I chose. Describing the other
three patterns using the Pattern Template is an excellent way to practice
before completing the full exercise on your own.
Research:
Creating even simple patterns like this can take a huge amount of both gener-
alized game knowledge and knowledge of specifc games. It’s easy to feel like
the more you know about games and the more games you have played, the
better patterns you will see. Tat’s true to a degree, but you shouldn’t feel like
there’s no point in trying to create a pattern because you don’t know enough
yet. If you’re a new designer, the patterns you see may be basic, but they’re also
probably fundamental. Experienced designers may fail to identify relevant
patterns because they’re too obvious. Tat said, when you’re constructing a
pattern, do try to fnd at least ten examples. If you can’t think of that many
games of the top of your head, do some research. Te following sources are
from the research I did when I was creating this pattern. If you look at the cita-
tions, you’ll see that I’m referencing a scholarly article, an article on a popular
gaming website, a Reddit post, and a fan-made games FAQ website. It’s vital
to evaluate your research sources and understand how much rigor or opinion
there is in what you read. But it’s also essential to look beyond academic analy-
sis and consider both media perception and player experience. I do not list
the background research for each pattern in the book, but I commonly read a
dozen or more sources as I am investigating a possible pattern.
• “Te Rise of the Jump” (Butler 2014)
• “What Was the First Game with a Double Jump and Why Was It
Implemented?” (reddit 2016)
• “You Say Jump, I Say How High? Operationalising the Game Feel of
Jumping” (Fasterholdt, Pichlmair, and Holmgård 2016)
• “What Game Do You Tink Has Perfect Jumping Mechanics?”
(GameFAQs 2018)
 Basic Pattern Exercise ◾ 85

PATTERN NAME
As stated in the Pattern Template, the pattern name should be an “easy
to remember and evocative name.” There’s a fne line between easy to
remember and an inside joke or reference to a feeting meme. Titles should
be evocative, but they shouldn’t be a reference that only you or your close
friends will understand. Think about who will be reading your pattern and
make sure that the title, image, and example games are understandable to
the developers who will need to use the pattern.

DESCRIPTION AND EXAMPLE GAMES

You may notice that this pattern doesn’t have anything specifcally to do with
jumping. That’s not an accident. Many students will see jumping as the pattern
itself rather than just a mechanic. Designers tend to want to take the games
they’ve listed in steps 2 and 3 of the exercise and list those as their examples.
But it’s essential to look at the actual pattern you have generated and fnd
examples of its use that are not examples of the functional element from step
1. If you see many natural examples of wildly different implementations of the
pattern you’ve identifed, it’s a good indication that you’ve found a viable pat-
tern. If you fnd examples that only relate to your starting functional element,
then make sure that your pattern description refects that narrow focus.

Pattern

Name: One of These Days That’s Going to Get You Killed

Confdence: 2
Images:

FIGURE 8.1 AND 8.2 Jumping over a dangerous pit and sufering from a
weapon overheating are both examples of this pattern in action.
Author: Chris Barney
86 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Design problem: How do you maintain game balance and create tension
when giving the player greater power in their interactions with the game world?
Description: To maintain balance and create tension when designing char-
acter abilities, a designer may introduce consequences resulting from using
those abilities. The result may be something natural, like falling into a pit of
lava you try to jump over, or it may be something mechanical, like weapon
heat build-up or a stamina meter.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Super Mario Bros.—The ability to jump, which increases the character’s

ability to move through the world and defeat enemies, also puts him in
danger. Failing to jump over dangerous obstacles can result in Mario’s
death. Similarly, failing to jump over an enemy results in the enemy kill-
ing Mario.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice—Stealth-killing enemies is the easiest way
to defeat them, but failing to execute a stealth kill alerts the enemy and
nearby enemies and suddenly puts you in a dangerous situation.
• Anthem—Firing weapons increases their heat. Failing to manage that
resource, to self-limit the damage you are doing, can result in not being
able to fre your gun when you most need it.
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild—Link can climb almost anything, but he has
a stamina meter, so if he tries to climb something too high he will fall.
He can jump off things and glide, but if he runs out of stamina, he falls
to his death.

Seed: Exercise 1: Basic Pattern Exercise—Jumping

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
Just Look At What You’ve Become* (Confdence: 2)—As you apply the pat-
tern One of These Days That’s Going to Get You Killed you are introduc-
ing consequences for player actions and character advancement. Use this
pattern to ensure that character progression is a meaningful transformation.
I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can† (Confdence: 3)—The escalating diffculty
introduced by this pattern creates the mechanical need for the character
progression systems produced by One of These Days That’s Going to Get
You Killed.

* Example pattern from Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses.

† Example pattern conversion from Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design described in
Chapter 16.
 Basic Pattern Exercise ◾ 87

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
the functional element of mechanical character progression.

Child patterns:
And Now I Guess We Are Doing This* (Confdence: 3)—When you use
One of These Days That’s Going to Get You Killed to balance increases in
character abilities, you create situations where the character is in peril. You
can use these situations to force the player to adjust their playstyle using
this pattern.
The Risk of Knowing You† (Confdence: 2)—When you use One of
These Days That’s Going to Get You Killed to balance increases in char-
acter abilities, you both place the character in danger and create a sense
of risk for the player. Use this pattern to help you use those two effects to
create a stronger bond between player and character.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 4: Formal Patterns to generate a pattern based on envi-
ronmental hazards.
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
character stamina.
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
limited ammunition.

Keywords: Character Progression, Mechanics, Balance

* Example pattern from Exercise 17: Finding Missing Patterns.

† Example pattern from Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns.
 CHAPTER 9

Structural Pattern
Exercises

T his chapter contains several exercises that produce patterns

about aspects of design that afect your whole game. Each exercise
creates patterns focused on diferent aspects of game design. Whatever
part of the design process you specialize in, you will beneft from complet-
ing all of these exercises.

HIGHER-ORDER PATTERNS
Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise creates a very broad pattern, one that probably suggests many
more detailed or complementary patterns, but is less likely to require other
high-level patterns to function.
It’s tempting—and reasonable—to start with this pattern-generation
exercise. A high-level pattern is easy to fnd and an excellent introduction
to the process. However, because the process of distilling a pattern is a
skill and will improve with repetition, you should return to any early pat-
terns you produce with this exercise and refne or replace them with more
sophisticated later attempts.
Te second and third steps in the exercise cause you to move up a level
in abstraction. Tese steps acknowledge that most design elements can
solve many problems, and ofen, designers use them for multiple purposes
simultaneously. When choosing design elements based on a pattern you
created with this exercise, you need to look at all of the efects that element

89
90 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

has, and make sure that you want to introduce those efects into your
game. If not, then fnd a diferent element that doesn’t include the unin-
tended side efects. For this reason, I advise completing step 8 as many
times as possible—generate all of the patterns you can, based on the high-
level element you choose in step 1.

EXERCISE 2: HIGHER-ORDER PATTERNS

Step 1: Name a design element. For example, camera perspective (frst per-
son, isometric, third person, etc.), or levels, or monsters, or non-player
characters (NPCs).
Step 2: What problems does that design element solve?
Step 3: Pick one of the problems you identifed.
Step 4: List and describe ten games that also solve the same problem in as
many diverse ways as possible.
Step 5: Describe the way each game solves the design problem. Focus on
each game and try not to start looking for patterns as you write.
Step 6: What do those solutions have in common? The answers may have
more than one thing in common. Some games may share one and other
games another. List and describe each.
Step 7: Is there a pattern? Describe it briefy. Do not create a formal descrip-
tion using the Pattern Template; just make a frst attempt to articulate
what you see.
Step 8: For each problem you identifed in step 2, you may repeat steps
3–7.

Example Higher-Order Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Name a design element.

Many games have levels. By this, I mean gameplay levels, not charac-
ter or item levels.
Step 2: What problems does that design element solve?
• Users have a limited time to play a game.
• Player skill level increases throughout a game.
• Designers need to break up complex narratives.
• Players need variety in a gameplay experience, or they may lose
engagement.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 91

Step 3: Pick one of the problems you identifed.

Users have a limited time to play a game.
Step 4: List and describe ten games that also solve the same problem.
Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Soulcalibur, Rock Band, Tetris, Pokémon
Go, Fortnight, Clash Royale, Skyrim, Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Step 5: Describe the way each game solves the design problem. Focus
on each game and try not to start looking for patterns as you write.
• Super Mario Bros.—Te game is broken up into many levels in
a way that provides discrete chunks of gameplay. However, in
the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game, you
couldn’t save your game, so you had to play from the beginning,
meaning the levels alone didn’t solve this particular problem. To
some degree, it was possible to bypass levels if you knew secret
paths, so players could use levels in this game to solve the prob-
lem of limited playtime. But the developers hid these shortcuts,
so using them to freely access diferent parts of the game was not
their primary purpose in the design. Tis game may be an early
or formative use of the pattern.
• Doom—Tis game is a classic use of levels to create smaller
units of gameplay. You can complete each level in minutes, but
the overall playtime is much longer than in Super Mario Bros.
Developers used the discrete gameplay chunks to add additional
content in the form of expansions, the most recent of which they
released just recently, several decades afer the initial launch of
the game.
• Soulcalibur—Fighting games use the concept of levels in almost
the opposite way to the two previous examples. Individual
matches, whether against other players or artifcial intelligence
(AI) opponents, are only a minute or two long. Framing the game
as a series of matches against many opponents lets the developers
extend the average play session to much longer than the comple-
tion of a single fght.
• Rock Band—Te use of songs as levels works similarly to fght-
ing games, linking together shorter discreet matches into a longer
92 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

experience. Making the competitive multiplayer elements of the

game turn-based breaks up each player’s experience, allowing the
game to build tension and interest during the downtime while keep-
ing it short enough not to lose the attention of the waiting player(s).
• Tetris—Levels in the initial iteration of Tetris only partially serve
the purpose of breaking up gameplay. Te transition to higher lev-
els doesn’t interrupt gameplay, and the usual play session ends at
failure rather than at the end of a level. In this game, level is almost
purely a measure of difculty. You also can’t begin play at a high
level. Tere are only nine levels in the game, with the last continu-
ing indefnitely as your score accumulates. However, in the recent
Tetris Efect, the game is broken into more distinct levels. Each
level is paired with a diferent song and changes the game’s fow in
more complicated ways than just increasing the speed with which
blocks fall. Again, this more modern approach allows the game to
have many more levels and much more diverse gameplay. It’s also
possible to resume play at any level you’ve reached.
• Pokémon Go—Pokémon Go has a complicated use of levels. In
one sense, the game is an open world and not broken into game-
play levels. However, any individual encounter in which you
engage in the core gameplay loop of capturing a creature by
throwing balls at it can be considered a level. Tese encounters
might be too short to be a level or play session, but since this is
a mobile game, I think they accurately match a common play
session pattern. Te game has several other activities that map
well to the concept of levels: gym battles, raids, and player versus
player (PvP) battles. You can choose to engage with each if you
want a slightly longer gameplay experience.
• Fortnight—Te use of “levels” in Fortnight has changed a great
deal over the last few years of the game’s development. Initially,
the game focused on 30–60 minute cooperative levels, and even
introduced a very long play mode that ofen lasted four or more
hours—uncommon for non-persistent world multiplayer games.
Eventually, the game shifed its focus to the shorter “battle arena”
gameplay mode, where the level is static, the playable area shrinks,
and there are 100 players. Te game ends when only one player
remains, and usually lasts 10–20 minutes. Te runaway popularity
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 93

of this gameplay style during the game’s development caused part

of this shif. However, it also may be a more complicated process—
the style and duration of the game shifing to suit the largest audi-
ence. Te merits of this reactive style of design aside, the result is
a playtime tightly coupled with the duration desired by its players.
• Clash Royale—Tis is a mobile game with short PvP matches.
Te gameplay during a level is very intense and focused, but brief.
• Summoners War—Tis is a more complicated game that has
many level types. Te length of the levels varies, but ranges from
a minute to perhaps 5 minutes. It has both single and multiplayer
content and is in the mobile space. It’s interesting as an example
of the mobile game type that has both interactive play and auto-
play modes, where you initiate a level and make starting strategic
choices, but then only watch the gameplay out. Tese levels are
part of a slow progression gameplay style, letting you make prog-
ress in the game without engaging in its content actively. Tis
passive playstyle becomes necessary as the repetitive play needed
to progress exceeds the player’s interest in the content.
• Skyrim—Tis is an open-world game without discrete levels.
However, you can divide your gameplay into smaller chunks by
creating short-term goals that you can achieve in constrained
areas. Some of these take the form of dungeons to explore, and
others are quests you can focus on within the undiferentiated
world. Tis game uses levels in another interesting way: the crea-
tures and difculty of the game scale with your character’s level.
Tus, the gameplay experience of completing a specifc quest or
exploring a particular dungeon will be diferent depending on
how advanced your character is. In this way, the character’s level
can be viewed as a game level.
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild—In this game, the open world is inde-
pendent of the character’s level, so your geographic location is what
determines the challenge level of the game. When combined with
your current skill level, this creates de facto playable areas, even
though you can access any area at any point in the game. Each
area is generally larger than you can cover in a single session, and
as you progress your character, the playable area shifs. Tis gives a
sense of progression, but not a sense of discrete levels. A secondary
94 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

gameplay aspect more closely matches the traditional idea of lev-

els, though. Te challenge dungeons in the game provide discrete
chunks of content to engage with when playtime is limited. Tis
concept of allowing diferent gameplay styles that ft the player’s
needs is indicative of the pattern in all of the preceding examples.
Step 6: What do those solutions have in common? Te solutions may
have more than one thing in common. Some games may share
one, and other games share another. List and describe each.
Tese games break gameplay into chunks that ft the playtime of the
audience/platform.
Step 7: Is there a pattern? Describe it briefy. Do not create a formal
description using the Pattern Template; just make a frst attempt
to articulate what you see.
Yes: Units of design must ft the size of the play, not just the level size,
but also the reward frequency, progression rate, difculty ramp, etc.

Pattern

Name: The Three Bears Theory of Level Size

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 9.1 Level size should expand or contract to match the desired play
style of the game.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 95

Author: Chris Barney

Design problem: Players have a limited time to play a game.
Description: To design games that ft the players’ available time, a designer
may break up play into chunks. Designers may create this segmentation by
building discrete levels that take a set time to complete and sizing the lev-
els to ft the time the designer expects the game’s target audience to have
available. Alternatively, a designer can provide various activities within an
open world that take different lengths of time to complete, so the player may
choose how long they want to engage with the game. Or a designer might use
short repeatable chunks of play that players combine to build a play session.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Doom—This game is a classic use of levels to create smaller units of

gameplay. Each level lasts only minutes, but the overall playtime is often
many hours, as players complete multiple levels. These discrete levels
are each a part of a larger story.
• Soulcalibur—Fighting games use the concept of levels in almost the
opposite way. Similar to the levels in Doom, individual matches, whether
against other players or AI opponents, are only a minute or two long.
Fighting games do narratively link multiple matches, but rather than
breaking up a longer experience into shorter chunks, they build the lon-
ger structure out of the individual matches. Framing the game as a series
of matches lets the player extend the playtime to any length they desire.
• Skyrim—This is an open-world game without discrete levels. However,
designers allow the player to divide gameplay into smaller chunks by cre-
ating short-term goals achieved in constrained areas. Some of these take
the form of play spaces such as dungeons. Others are quests that give nar-
rative focus within the undifferentiated world. An interesting observation
about this game is that the creatures and diffculty of the game scale with
the player’s level, and so the experience of completing a specifc quest or
exploring a particular dungeon will be different depending on the charac-
ter level. Therefore the character’s level can be viewed as a game level.

Seed: Exercise 2: Higher Level Patterns—Many games have levels.

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 2: Higher-Order Patterns to generate a pattern based
on game level size.*

* Te parent pattern is suggested by the fnal conclusion of the exercise. Te write up of the pattern
in the pattern template focuses on a specifc aspect of the larger idea being generated, showing that
even a 'high-level pattern' may suggest patterns of higher levels.
96 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 9: Circulation Patterns to generate a pattern based on
the meta-circulation pattern found in Metroidvania-style games, in
which the playable area expands as the character gains new abilities.*
Use Exercise 13: Breaking Spaces Patterns to generate a pattern
describing how to adjust level size when moving a game’s play envi-
ronment from one venue to another. In step 3 of that exercise focus
on elements that change scale when the game is moved.

Keywords: Level Design, Audience, Playtime, Goals, Platform

LOWER-ORDER PATTERNS
Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise helps you fnd patterns that are suggested by or depend on a
pattern you already understand. Use this exercise when you encounter a
pattern that seems particularly complex or that has a lot of implications.
Tis exercise is challenging because you must recognize problems cre-
ated by patterns that you’ve observed or problems that are ofen paired
with a problem your frst pattern addresses. You must have a solid under-
standing of the dynamics that may result from the use of your patterns. If
you’re an inexperienced designer, this exercise may require research and
analysis of the games you used to create the original pattern.

EXERCISE 3: LOWER-ORDER PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a pattern generated by one of the exercises you have previ-
ously completed.
Step 2: If you were making a game with that pattern, what problems/ques-
tions would you have? List these problems and describe them.
Step 3: List ten games that have solved one of those problems.
Step 4: Describe the solution used by each game. Try not to look for a pat-
tern as you do this and focus on describing each solution individually.

* Tis child pattern is suggested by the analysis of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is entirely possible for
a pattern to have many child patterns and even to have more than one parent pattern. Parent and
child patterns should be noted when writing a pattern even if they have not been fully generated.
Designers should later pursue defning these patterns completely.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 97

Step 5: What do those solutions have in common? The commonalities in

the solutions may exist in all of the games or just some of them, and they
may have more than one thing in common. Describe each.
Step 6: List and briefy describe each pattern you see.
Step 7: Pick a pattern and document it in the Pattern Template.
Step 8: You may repeat this exercise for each pattern you observed.

Example Lower-Order Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a pattern generated by one of the exercises you have pre-
viously completed.
Don’t Intellectualize My Pain*
Step 2: If you were making a game with that pattern, what problems/
questions would you have? List these problems and describe them.
A. If health increases throughout the game to create progression for
the player, the display of the ever-increasing health may become a
problem as multiple rows of hearts accumulate and numbers rise
to illegible numbers.
B. If health increases throughout the game, then the impact
of losing health may decrease as the player’s perception of
their character progression is at odds with making them feel
vulnerable.
C. In a multiplayer game, the display of other players’ health may
become a problem if players need to monitor the health of mul-
tiple other players’ characters.
Step 3: Choose a problem and list ten games that have solved it.
Problem A, the formal difculties of increasing health.
Zelda, Skyrim, Hero Clicker, Dust: An Elysian Tale, Anthem, Last
Blade, Dark Souls, Te Secret World

* Example pattern for Exercise 4. Feel free to skip ahead and look at this pattern. It is a good example
of the kind of pattern that you will be using with the lower-order patterns exercise.
98 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 4: Describe the solution used by each game. Try not to look for
a pattern as you do this and focus on describing each solution
individually.
• Zelda—Larger enemies physically, new enemy attack types,
attacks take more hearts. Te amount that the character’s health
can increase during the game is limited by the number of hearts
that can be reasonably displayed.*
• Skyrim—Enemies scale with player progression, so they don’t get
easier to kill if you’re using the same equipment and tactics, but
players gain access to new equipment and special abilities. It’s not
possible to defeat some enemies with a low-level character but is
with a high-level character, even though their difculty has also
scaled up due to the player’s increased resources.
• Hero Clicker—Tis idle game has player stats, health included,
that increase exponentially and continually. Tey very quickly
become impossible to display visually, and even numeric rep-
resentations get out of hand, requiring new imaginary units of
measure to describe the continuing escalation. Te game is, to
a degree, a parody, and the nonsensical health display refects
that.
• Dust: An Elysian Tale—Te character’s health increases through-
out the game, but the visual display does not change. Enemy
difculty increases as well, keeping you in a similar state of dan-
ger throughout the game. Te character has other statistics that
afect their survivability, defense, armor, and so on. Difcult
enemies can kill the character in a few hits even in the late game,
so the character’s power increase is more focused on the abilities
that prevent the character from taking damage, such as ranged
attracts.
• Anthem—Te character’s health display size remains constant,
but is divided into smaller and smaller sections. Te amount of
health each section represents remains the same. Dead Space
uses a similar display technique.

* Te maximum number of hearts has varied between the games of the series. Tere were a maxi-
mum of 16 in the original game and 30 in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At 30 hearts the legibility of
this system has degraded considerably.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 99

• Last Blade—Although health does not increase in this old school

fghting game, it is one of the earliest examples of a useful tech-
nique for displaying large amounts of health in a meaningful
way. Your character has a green health bar; when that is depleted
it reveals a yellow bar, and then a red one. Only when damage
depletes all three does your character die.
• Dark Souls—Your character can gain only a limited amount of
health in the game, but they gain the ability to carry more and
more charges for their Estus Flask, which is essentially a health
potion. Having to remember to use the fask means that a charac-
ter remains vulnerable while still being able to gain a larger and
larger pool of health. Abstracting the extra health to an item with
multiple charges allows for a simple display.
• Te Secret World—Te size of the character’s health display
doesn’t change as their health pool increases in this massively
multiplayer online game (MMO). Te amount of damage dealt
by creatures at the same power level as the character remains rel-
atively constant, so your perception of the danger to your char-
acter is also stable. In the late game, the designers introduced a
system called AEGIS. It consisted of diferent types of damage
caused by various enemies and matching shield types that play-
ers could activate. Tis system is similar to the multiple layers of
health bar from Last Blade, though it’s considerably more com-
plicated. Tese shields also improve in efectiveness over time,
but don’t change how they’re displayed.
Step 5: What do those solutions have in common? Te commonalities
in the solutions may exist in all of the games or just some of them,
and they may have more than one thing in common. Describe each.
1. Tere are some visual indicators that the character is more
powerful.
2. Tere are some visual indicators that enemies are more powerful
and dangerous as the game progresses.
3. Tere are multiple avenues of power growth available to the
player, and health is only one of them.
4. Te game abstracts health into multiple layers: health and shield,
multiple health bars, health potions, etc.
100 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 6: List and briefy describe each pattern you see.

Stronger enemies or other increasing challenges balance the increase
in the character’s power. Tis statement combines items 1 and 2. I
think that items 3 and 4 are each a pattern, and these three patterns
would all support one another.
Step 7: Pick a pattern and document it in the Pattern Template.
I present the pattern combining solutions 1 and 2 from step 5.

Pattern

Name: Old Me Was Afraid of Old You, But New Me Is Stronger! … And
Now I’m Afraid of New You
Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 9.2 Monster facing warrior remembering Facing a recurring enemy

can be meaningful if you see them growing more powerful as you progress.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Designers need to give the player a feeling of progress.
Many games increase the character’s health and power as they progress
for this reason. The increase in power and resilience can interfere with the
game’s sense of tension, danger, or excitement.
Description: To maintain balanced gameplay in the face of a player’s
power curve, the rest of the game must have a matching power curve. The
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 101

designer must raise the stakes in other ways to prevent this from undermin-
ing the player’s sense of progress. Useful techniques include an increase
in the scale of threats faced by the growing character, mounting narrative
intensity, or a purely visual and thematic progression, as long as the player
feels that their progress is meaningful. (See the child pattern Look at Me
Now.)

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Zelda—Link gains additional hearts as the game progresses, but faces

larger enemies physically, new enemy attack types, and more damaging
attacks. The number of hearts that can be reasonably displayed limits
how much the character’s health can increase during the game, but it is
still reasonably large.
• Skyrim—Enemies scale with player progression, so they don’t get easier
to kill if you’re using the same equipment and tactics, but you do gain
access to new equipment and special abilities. It’s not possible to defeat
some enemies with a low-level character, but in spite of the parallel
health increases of both the character and the enemies, it is possible
with a higher-level character due to the player’s increased abilities and
gear.
• Dark Souls—Your character can gain only a limited amount of health in
the game, but they gain the ability to carry more and more charges for
their Estus Flask, which is essentially a health potion. Having to remem-
ber to use the fask means that a character remains vulnerable while
still allowing them to gain a larger and larger pool of health. Enemies
get progressively more dangerous, but even low-level enemies remain
a threat.

Seed: Exercise 3: Lower-Order Patterns—Don’t Intellectualize My Pain*

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
Don’t Intellectualize My Pain† (Confdence: 3)—If you want to establish
power and diffculty curves in your game, you must communicate the
power and state of the character. Use this pattern to guide the display of
character state.
I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can‡ (Confdence: 3)—Use this pattern to
guide your implementation of the escalating diffculty that you balance
character progression against in your game.

* Example pattern from Exercise 4: Formal Patterns.

† Example pattern from Exercise 4: Formal Patterns.

‡ Example pattern conversion from Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design described in

Chapter 16.
102 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 18: Finding Negative Patterns to generate a pattern
based on poor character progression.
Use Exercise 19: Finding Positive Patterns from Negative Patterns
to generate one or more patterns that contribute to successful char-
acter progression.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 11: Emergent Narrative Patterns to generate a pattern
by asking yourself the question, “What story do I tell myself when
I return to an area that I have already beaten?” This will generate a
diverse set of patterns depending on the games you examine.

Keywords: Balance, Character Progression, Damage, Diffculty, Enemy

Progression, Health

FORMAL AND FUNCTIONAL DESIGN ELEMENTS

Te next two exercises focus on creating patterns that deal with design
elements that make up the form and function of the game. For these exer-
cises, I defne formal elements as the physical or virtual components of a
game (its nouns), and functional elements as the mechanics or actions of
the game (its verbs).
For example, a game described as “a boy and his warrior father explore
a hostile world and fght together, combining their abilities to overcome
terrifying monsters and dangerous wilderness” would have the formal
elements of a boy, his father, terrifying monsters, and dangerous wilder-
ness. It would have the functional elements of exploring, fghting, having
abilities, and combining them. Of course, games are more complicated
than the high-level summary of God of War (2018), but it’s easy to look
at the description of any game, or part of a game, and identify the formal
and functional elements. Breaking game design elements into formal and
functional groups isn’t the beginning of some new taxonomy. It’s just a
practical way to focus on a particular aspect of games and create patterns
related to that aspect.
In art and architecture, formal and functional elements have more spe-
cifc meanings, but fundamentally they’re the most basic building blocks
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 103

of the discipline. Te more elemental the formal and functional elements

you choose for your patterns, the more fundamental the patterns you
derive from them will be. For instance, you might use the formal element
of “characters” to generate a more general pattern, or look at “boy” and
“father” to shape a more specifc one.

FORMAL PATTERNS
Pattern Purpose
The category of formal game design elements is so broad that it can
be challenging to pick one to use in this pattern. I use an exercise
in my classes where I have groups of five or so students each indi-
vidually come up with as many formal elements as they can in five
minutes. Then I have the members share their answers with the oth-
ers in their group. I ask them to pick the elements that either all or
most of the group members listed to use in the following exercise. If
you’re an experienced designer or have done this exercise a few times,
try thinking of the most unusual or complex formal elements you’ve
encountered. Those are often more difficult to work with, but also
yield exciting patterns.*

Sample Formal Elements*

Ammunition Target (Goal Post/Hoop) Maze Spaceship
Arena Gun Mini-map Sword
Armor Hallway Monster Teleporter Pad
Avatar Health Mountains Tools
Board Health Bar Non-Player Character Town
Car Health Pack/Potion Options Menu Train
Card Horse Pit Treasure
Castle/Fortress Inventory Platform Unit (Controllable)
Companion Items Power-Ups Water
Compass Ladder Save Point Wilderness
Cover Level Shield World Map
Dice Loot Ship
Door Mana Shop

* Tere are literally thousands of formal elements in games! Tere is nothing special about this list;
it is just intended as a prompt to get you thinking about other possibilities. If you fnd yourself
saying “But what about…” Te answer is probably “Yes that is a formal element too!”
104 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

EXERCISE 4: FORMAL PATTERNS

Step 1: Name a formal game design element.
Step 2: Name ten games that use the formal design element you chose in
as diverse ways as possible.
Step 3: Describe the way that each game uses the element.
Step 4: What design problems do those games use the element to solve?
For each game, describe the way the designers use the element.
Step 5: What do the uses from step 4 have in common?
Step 6: Are there one or more patterns in your observations? If so, describe
them.
Step 7: Pick one of the patterns and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 8: You may repeat step 7 for each pattern you observed.

Example Formal Pattern

In this exercise, I purposely chose a familiar, common formal element to
illustrate how a nuanced, insightful pattern can arise from observing the
use of even a simple, well-understood formal design element.

Exercise

Step 1: Name a formal game design element.

Health meters
Step 2: Name ten games that use the formal design element you chose
in as diverse ways as possible.
Te Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter, Dead Space (←Trespasser*),
Journey, Final Fantasy 13, Te Secret World, Doom (←MidiMaze),
Diablo, Silent Hill, Metro 2033/Mirror’s Edge, Halo (→Call of
Duty/Mass Efect)
Step 3: Describe the way that each game uses the element.
• Te Legend of Zelda—A user interface (UI) element of hearts rep-
resents character health.
• Street Fighter—A UI bar-shaped meter represents character
health.

* Arrows indicate that the use of the pattern evolved from one game to the next, so I am using the
game Dead Space as the example, but the technique was frst seen in Trespasser. Te implementa-
tion in Trespasser was poor and I want to use Dead Space because its implementation was better
and it is more widely known, but I want to show it’s debt to the earlier game
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 105

• Dead Space (←Trespasser)—A diegetic interface represents char-

acter health. Trespasser uses a heart-shaped tattoo visible in the
frst-person perspective, and Dead Space uses a set of lights along
the character’s spine, visible in third-person view.
• Journey—Te character’s cape indicates health. Super Mario
Bros. uses character size in the same way.
• Final Fantasy 13—Bar-shaped UI elements represent health and
“break.”
• Te Secret World—A bar-shaped UI element representing health
overlays a second bar tracking an “AEGIS”: shield.
• Doom (←MidiMaze)—A UI element in the form of a character
portrait refects the character’s health.
• Diablo—A UI element in the form of a glass globe holds charac-
ter health, represented in liquid form.
• Silent Hill—Te UI menu shows a character portrait that indi-
cates their health. Character behavior also refects health.
• Metro 2033/Mirror’s Edge—A camera flter that changes the
screen color or focus indicates health.
• Halo/Call of Duty/Mass Efect—A bar-shaped UI element indi-
cates health. A second bar-shaped UI element indicates a shield.
Tese difer from the on-screen elements in the previous exam-
ples, as one or both return to full over time.
Step 4: What design problems do those games use the element to solve?
For each game, describe the way the designers use the element.
• Te Legend of Zelda—Te hearts that indicate health are simple
and easy to read. Having low health increases tension in the game.
Te clear indication of health allows you to adjust gameplay style
to minimize death and the frustration of starting over a section of
gameplay. As the game progresses, the number of hearts that you
have increases, allowing the difculty of the world to scale as the
character’s power increases. Tis shif is independent of your skill
as a player increasing, which is less in the control of the developer.
Te growing row of hearts indicates the character’s power to the
player, serving a similar role to levels in other games.
106 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Street Fighter—Te health bar is a fne-grained way to show

health; it’s clear and easy to read, allowing for players to adjust
strategy as health decreases. Te prominent display of the health
bar causes it to become a central driver of tension in the game.
• Dead Space/Trespasser—Both of these games use a diegetic inter-
face, which is to say an interface integrated into the game world.
In Dead Space, it’s a segmented blue bar on the back of the charac-
ter’s spacesuit. In Trespasser, it’s a heart tattoo on the character’s
chest. Te health bar/heart serves the previously stated purposes,
but also removes a layer of artifcial interface between you and
the character without eliminating information from your view
as you play. Te implementation in Dead Space works better
because it’s always visible and because it’s diegetic. Trespasser’s
solution requires you to look down, since the game has a frst-
person perspective. It’s also problematic because it objectifes the
character by requiring the player to look down her shirt; this tit-
illation was a little uncomfortable at the time the game was made
and has since become more so.
• Journey—You can’t “die” in Journey, so the character’s cape is not,
strictly speaking, a health indicator. But in the parts of the game
where enemies attack the character, their cape becomes shorter
when enemies hit them. Te cape is a functional diegetic inter-
face, because it’s both a part of the game world and indicates not
just the character’s state but the player’s gameplay abilities. Te
length of time a character can fy is indicated by their cape as well.
Te earliest use of this kind of interface is probably Super Mario
Bros. In that game, eating a mushroom doubles the size of the
character, indicating his increased health. Increasing in size also
changes where he can ft and his collision with walls and ceilings.
• Te Secret World—In the original version of the MMO, health was
shown in a standard health bar. When the developers launched a
late-game zone set in Tokyo, they added a new health mechanic
and display. Called the “Aegis System,” mechanically it’s just an
extra shield you have to break through before you can do damage
to creatures. Te shield is a diferent color depending on the type
of monster you’re facing, and your ability to break through the
shields is tracked independently for each type. Mechanically, this
allowed the developers to reset the difculty of enemies in a way
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 107

that was independent of overall character power, theoretically

allowing players to complete areas with diferent shields in any
order. In practice, the interface for using the shields was over-
complicated and decreased the fun of playing the game.
• Doom/MIDI Maze—In the original Doom, a color-coded percen-
tile number indicates health. Te condition of the character por-
trait in the UI also refects their health. Tis type of display was
technically frst used in the game MIDI Maze. More than just
indicating the character’s health, this display ties the character’s
health to an emotional state.
• Ninja Pizza Girl—Te character’s “health” is her emotional state.
As she becomes sad or discouraged, the color of the game desatu-
rates toward monochrome. When she’s defeated, you can click on
her repeatedly to generate afrmative statements in her internal
monologue until color returns to the world. Tis system shifs
the focus of the game from physical damage to the inner life and
emotional state of the main character.
• Diablo—Te UI shows health and mana levels as globes. Tis display
is functionally just a standard health bar, but is tied thematically to
the setting of the game with the intent of increasing immersion,
and so this might be considered a semi-diegetic interface.
• Silent Hill—Te character’s health in this survival horror game
is indicated diegetically and functionally by auditory cues and
by the animations of the character moving. Te direct UI indica-
tion of health is the color of the character portrait, but the por-
trait is only visible when the game is paused and in the inventory
screen. Tis inaccessible display creates uncertainty and fear for
the player, as it’s difcult to know how badly injured you are in
the heat of combat.
• Metro 2033/Mirror’s Edge/Call of Duty 2—A screen efect indi-
cates health in these games that have automatic health regen-
eration. Metro 2033 and Call of Duty 2 apply a red flter to the
screen when the character is wounded. In Metro 2033, the efect
becomes more intense as the character takes more damage. In
Mirror’s Edge, the efect is a blurring of the screen as if the char-
acter’s vision is tearing up. Tis more realistic efect is a more
diegetic implementation of the design element.
108 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Halo/Mass Efect/Call of Duty 2—Halo was the frst major game

to use “health regeneration.” Te character has two bars indicat-
ing their health: a health bar and a shield bar. Only the shield
bar regenerates, but functionally the shield is just another health
pool, one that replenishes over time. Mass Efect used this same
technique, and it is now common in the genre. Call of Duty 2
adopted this system, but has only a single regenerating health
bar. Subsequent games elaborated on this system by lowering the
rate of regeneration as the character’s health drops.
• Final Fantasy 13—In combat, the health of the characters and
enemies are shown in a standard health bar. Additionally, there’s
a “break” meter. When this meter becomes flled, the character or
enemy is vulnerable for a specifed period. Tis system is an inverse
of the shield found in Halo, which makes the character vulnerable
when emptied. Tis implementation shows up in other games such
as later entries in the Soulcalibur fghting games. I can’t think of an
example of treating base health in this way, with a damage meter
that flls up rather than a health meter that depletes.
Step 5: What do the uses in step 4 have in common?
• Games add player health to create variable tension based on the
perceived likelihood of death.
• Simple, conspicuous health displays make damage and player
vulnerability a focus.
• Granular health displays allow strategic shifs based on health in
skill-based games.
• Tying health to the character’s emotional state through visuals
like portraits or animation can increase the player’s connection
to the character. Tis technique can fail if the visuals or anima-
tion impair gameplay.
• Hiding health indicators is used to increase the player’s anxi-
ety. Tis is efective when paired with a horror setting where
the character is supposed to feel fear. Te pattern Te Risk of
Knowing You* would be a parent of a pattern based on this use
of health indicators.

* Example Pattern for Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns.

 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 109

• Removing the micromanagement of health through regeneration

is used to focus players toward the emotional efects of high and
low health, and away from the strategic and mechanics-based
thinking needed to manage health manually.
• Complications to health systems ofen increase strategic depth.
• Complicated mechanical systems intended to increase player
engagement or have a particular efect can ofen have the oppo-
site efect. Tis efect is seen here for health systems, but it is true
in many areas of design.
Step 6: Are there one or more patterns in your observations? If so,
describe them.
• Yes. To create an emotional efect of anxiety or tension in a player,
a developer may put the player’s character in danger. When this
danger is binary, any harm to the character ends the game. Tus the
tension is very high, but also mostly static. If the threat is granular
and the character can receive some amount of harm before the game
ends, then the level of risk needs to be communicated to the player.
In these cases, developers may add interface elements to convey the
character’s state to the player. Te efectiveness of these elements is
relative to the fdelity of the information displayed. However, the
conscious thought required to process complex character state data
distances the player from the character and distances the player
from the emotional state of the character. To create the intended
efect, the developer must balance detail with legibility.
• I think that I could derive several more specifc patterns from
character health, but this pattern is probably a parent to most or
all of them.
Step 7: Pick one of the patterns and document it using the Pattern
Template.
I will describe the primary efect discussed in the response to step 6.
Step 8: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern observed.
I identifed only one pattern, or rather I generalized many obser-
vations into a single pattern. Specifc observations may form child
patterns.
110 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern

Name: Don’t Intellectualize My Pain!

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 9.3 Player controlling a sad hurt character It is much easier to

empathize with a character when their health matches their appearance in
the game.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Designers may need to connect players with the physical
and emotional state of their characters to increase empathy and immersion.
Description: It’s common to see health bars, life counters, shields, break
meters, etc. They are used for two related and, to some degree, opposed
purposes. First, they connect players emotionally with the state of their char-
acters. Seeing a character with low health evokes anxiety and caution in a
player, whereas seeing a character with full health encourages confdence
and boldness. Second, clearly understanding the state of a character allows
the player to engage strategically with the game. However, the more focused
a player is on the character’s mechanical state, the further removed they are
from a sympathetic emotional response to the character’s danger. To create
the desired balance between intellectual strategy and emotional reaction, a
developer must balance the visible mechanical detail of a character’s state
and the implied emotional effect of that state on the character and player.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• The Legend of Zelda—Hearts clearly indicate the character’s health. Though

they are non-diegetic, they provide an intuitive framework for the emo-
tional situation of the character. At the beginning of the game, having three
hearts means everything’s good, and having a quarter of a heart left means
things have gone very badly, and the level of drama and tension is high.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 111

• Street Fighter—Health bars are the primary formal element driving

strategy and drama. Attacks, blocks, etc. are, of course, the primary
functional elements. Still, the formal element of the health bar provides
feedback that connects gameplay moments and allows both mechanical
strategy and emotional narrative.
• Journey—The character’s cape is a functional diegetic indicator of the
character’s state. It both indicates how much damage the character has
taken and the length of time that they can fy.
• Final Fantasy 13/The Secret World—The break meter and the Aegis System,
respectively, are complex permutations of character state display. They are
used to introduce deep mechanical gameplay, but the heavy mechanical
focus shifts gameplay to a more strategic and less emotional mode.
• Silent Hill 2—There is no visible interface element indicating character
state during play. However, the character’s animations and sound refect
his state in a diegetic way; running causes the character to breathe loudly
and slow down. Being wounded causes the character to limp and causes
the player to feel their heartbeat in the controller (PS2). The uncertainty
and lack of precision of these indicators are intentional and increase the
player’s tension by connecting them to the character’s distress.
• Metro 2033/Mirror’s Edge—The red flter and blurry screen respectively
provide legible indicators of the characters’ state. The blurry screen is
arguably more diegetic, but the effect is similar. These effects would be
untenable in a game without health regeneration. Because they do not
persist for long, they provide strong stress stimulation in the player as
well as useful indicators of the character’s danger.

Seed: Exercise 4: Formal Patterns—Health Bars

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 2: Higher-Order Patterns to generate a pattern based
on user interface.
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
empathy.

Child patterns:
Old Me Was Afraid of Old You, But New Me Is Stronger! ... And Now I’m
Afraid of New You* (Confdence: 2)—The techniques described in Don’t
Intellectualize My Pain are a necessary part of implementing this pattern.
You must show the character and enemy states to establish tension and
show growth.

* Example pattern for Exercise 3: Lower-Order Patterns.

112 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 10: Boss Encounter Patterns to generate a pattern
based on enemy health indicators.
Use Exercise 17: Finding Missing Patterns to generate one or more
child patterns that contribute help to connect the player to the physi-
cal or emotional state of a character.

Keywords: Emotions, Mechanics, Player Feedback, User Interface,

Damage, Empathy

Bonus Student Example: Temporally Unavailable Space

A student, Zhihui Chang, generated this pattern in the frst semester that
I used patterns in my teaching. I have updated the format to match the
one used in this book as well as clarifying some English usage. I have also
expanded the examples section to refect the breadth of the application of
the pattern. Chang used the Basic Pattern Exercise as applied to mechan-
ics from a group project to generate this pattern.

Pattern

Name: Temporally Unavailable Space

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 9.4 Temporally Unavailable Space can be created in games using

a variety of mechanics creating entirely unique dynamics in the game.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 113

Author: Zhihui Chang (revised and expanded by Chris Barney)

Design problem: While simple static spaces are useful to introduce players
to basic movement and the fundamental mechanics of a game, they can
become too easy to read, navigate, and understand as player skills advance
throughout a game. Designers need to fnd a way to keep players engaged
with the environment.
Description: To create a dynamic and engaging playspace, a designer
should consider that the playspace is not just defned by the static architec-
ture of a level but by the space that a player can access at any given time.
By employing various techniques to limit and alter that space, a designer
can turn the simple traversal of a level into a spatial puzzle.
The pattern of Temporally Available Move Space has several appli-
cations. The simplest and most obvious example would be a moving
platform—space that is only accessible to a player some of the time.
The temporally available move space has different functionalities. For a
moving platform, players have to jump on it within a regular timing period,
which increases the diffculty and practices players’ skills. For a moving
guard with a limited view, a rock that blocks the view is an ideal hidden
place for players to avoid detection and allows players to guide their move-
ment path accordingly. Also, as these spaces are temporally available to
players, the shift changes players’ perception of space, making the game-
play more compelling. Also, there is temporally unavailable move space,
which is the opposite side of temporally available move space, like space in
front of a moving bullet. It has the same effect to limit players’ move space
and express useful information.*

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Assassin’s Creed—Dynamic enemy movement creates a constantly

shifting set of available space for undetected character movement.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—Enemy movement paths are visible to the player
as an ability. Looking at the paths and plotting movement through them
to avoid combat seems to be intended as a viable playstyle. The mate-
rials and crafting mechanics create tension with this implementation
of the pattern, as avoiding confict starves the player for materials and
weakens them when they encounter unavoidable combats.
• Super Mario Bros.—Moving platforms create temporary paths for player
traversal. Many other platformer games use this technique.
• The Secret World—Turret and enemy placements that cause instant death
or fail states create complex spaces the player must decode to traverse.

* Te only diference between available and unavailable space as Chang describes them is which
state is the default. I think that the idea of temporally unavailable space is more interesting and
evocative so I have used that as the pattern name.
114 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Ori and the Will of the Wisps—This game, and other Metroidvania-style
games, use player abilities to shift the temporally available space during play.
This application of the pattern allows reuse of gameplay areas in progres-
sively more dynamic areas as the temporally unavailable space decreases.

Seed: Exercise 4: Formal Patterns—Platforms

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
It All Depends On How You Look At It* (Confdence: 3) — Implement this
pattern before considering how you will apply Temporally Unavailable Space.
Understanding the experience you want your game to create for your player and
how that is affected by the camera perspective will guide your implementation.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns to generate a pattern
based on the player’s experience of feeling skilled. Look for the pat-
tern that will help you understand how to use temporally unavailable
space to control how skilled the player is feeling.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 16: Patterns from Core Mechanics to generate a pat-
tern based on Dishonored or Thief. Either of these games is likely to
result in patterns about the use of temporally unavailable space in the
context of stealth.

Keywords: Movement, Level Design, Enemies, Platforms, Character

Progression, Player Skill

FUNCTIONAL PATTERNS: PATTERNS FROM RULES

Pattern Purpose
Similarly to the Formal Patterns exercise, this exercise encompasses many
aspects of game design. Tis exercise focuses on observing patterns that
exist in the actions that you perform in any game.
Te subtitle of this exercise stems from the way that I present it to my
classes. Most physical games require an explicit statement of the rules for
the game. Tis is true of board games, tabletop role-playing games, and
traditional sports. Digital games ofen have the computer manage the

* Example pattern from Exercise 22: Te First Choice.

 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 115

rules and, as much as possible, hide the actual rules of the digital system
from the user.
For example, in a board game you might have the movement rule “on
your turn you may move up to four spaces,” whereas in a digital game the
movement rule might be that the player’s movement speed is up to ten feet
a second, but the game only tells the player to “press w to move forward.”
For this reason, it can be easier to apply this exercise to a rule from a
physical game the frst time you complete it. I ofen have my students pick
a functional design element and then look at the rules that relate to it in
physical games. Even if the students haven’t played a large number of phys-
ical games, it’s possible to review the rules of various games as research.
Of course, it’s entirely possible to apply the exercise to digital games,
and patterns found in physical or digital games may apply more broadly
to either type.*

Sample Functional Elements*

Abilities Dialogue Learning
Boss Fights Difculty Curve Open/Shut
Breaking Digging Push/Pull
Building Driving Quests
Buy/Sell Eat Racing
Carry Environmental Efects Relationship Management
Character Progression Fast Travel Resource Gathering
Choice Flying Running
Climbing Healing Status Efects
Collecting Healing Swimming
Combat Hiding Take/Put
Crafing Inventory Management Time Management
Damage Jumping Turns

EXERCISE 5: FUNCTIONAL PATTERNS

Step 1: Name a functional game design element.
Step 2: Name at least ten games that use that element in as many diverse
ways as possible.
Step 3: Describe how each game uses the element. Try not to think about
a pattern while you do this.
Step 4: What design problems do those games use the element to solve?

* Again, there are literally thousands of functional elements in games. Tere is nothing special
about this list; use it as inspiration but choose elements that are relevant to your design work.
116 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 5: Describe the patterns you see in the ways your example games use
the element.
Step 6: Pick one of the patterns and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.

Example Functional Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Name a functional game design element.

Combat
Step 2: Name at least ten games that use that element in as many
diverse ways as possible.
Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros., Doom, StarCraf, Torment: Tides
of Numenera, Street Fighter, Magic: Te Gathering, Kingdom Death:
Monster, World of Warcraf, Dungeons & Dragons, Life is Strange
Step 3: Describe how each game uses the element. Try not to think
about a pattern while you do this.
• Space Invaders—The primary method of interacting with
the world, the combat action of shooting, is the primary
mechanic of the game. Combat is real-time and player versus
environment (PvE).
• Super Mario Bros.—Jumping on enemies and shooting freballs
are methods to get past obstacles. Jumping becomes a combat
action, and outside of combat is the core mechanic of the game.
Te combat action of shooting is not a core mechanic and mostly
exists for variety. Combat is real-time and PvE.
• Doom—Shooting is the primary mechanic of interacting with
the world. Combat is real-time and PvP/PvE.
• StarCraf—Te combat action here would seem to be shooting,
but I think that is cosmetic. Te action you’re truly performing
in combat is “strategic choice”: picking a unit to match against
another unit. Te third-person isometric perspective makes the
player’s action “directing strategy,” and shooting is just the indi-
rect action of the units. Combat is real-time and PvP/PvE. Te
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 117

player is not playing a unit directly; they are an abstract com-

mander, so their action is directing, not whatever they direct the
units to do.*
• Torment: Tides of Numenera—Similarly to StarCraf, the player
is in an isometric third-person view, though closer in this case.
Tere is some mechanical combat-related strategy, tied to the
historical genre of the game, but the combat choices that feel
most integral to the game, interestingly, are narrative choices.
Te game has normal incidental combats and larger set-piece
combat/confict situations called Crises. In a Crisis, the players
make narratively driven choices with more complex goals than
“do damage to the enemy.” For instance, the player might direct
a character to turn of a strange device; this might take several
turns to do, during which time there might be incidental combat
actions. However, the ability of the player to focus on narrative
intent seems signifcant. Combat is turn-based and PvE.
• Street Fighter—Punching and kicking are the main combat
actions. Te game is entirely combat-focused, with both ofensive
and defensive moves. Te perspective is a third-person, side, or
isometric view depending on the iteration of the game. I would
describe the core combat loop as “dynamic strategy.” Combat is
real-time and PvP/PvE.
• Magic: Te Gathering—In this card game, combat is the primary
focus. Combat actions involve playing cards, but the focus is stra-
tegic player choice. Combat is turn-based and PvP.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—In this cooperative board game, com-
bat is the primary focus of the game, but about half the gameplay,
the other half being base-building and preparing for combat.
Te game overall focuses on emergent narrative driven by ran-
domized narrative events. In combat, strategic player choice is
important, but both attack and defense player actions have an
element of randomized narrative events. When you attack, you

* Tis more removed level of interaction is common in strategy-focused video games or in board
games. In this type of game there is usually no avatar and the player is usually an abstract com-
mander. For a concrete example, consider a board game like Risk where you move pieces around
a table to represent armies vying for territory and a physical game like tag where you are trying to
touch another player to win.
118 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

draw from a hit location event that drives the narrative efect of
your attack. When the monster attacks you, it draws its attack
from a deck of narratively driven options.
• World of Warcraf—In this MMO, combat is real-time and
choice-based. Tere is some skill in positioning your character,
but strategic choice is probably the most important aspect. Te
group-focused combat, where players take on diferent combat
roles and coordinate to complete encounters, refects the multi-
player and social focus of the game. Te game is in a close third-
person perspective. Players commonly modify the game to add
more information about the state of other players and monsters,
and over time many of these modifcations have been adopted by
the core game. Combat is PvE/PvP.
• Dungeons & Dragons—In this tabletop role-playing game, com-
bat may be more or less of a focus, depending on the players.
Combat is turn-based and involves detailed player choices. A
dice roll, modifed by the character’s skills, randomly determines
the success or failure of actions. Te player running the game
decides which actions require dice rolls and which are deter-
mined by narrative logic. Te mechanics of the game allow for
very detailed, mechanically focused combat.
• Life is Strange—Tere is little direct combat in the game, and
when it occurs, narrative choices, ofen made under time pres-
sure, resolve the conficts.
Step 4: What design problems do those games use the element to solve?
• Space Invaders —Te simple real-time combat creates tension in
the game and allows your direct actions as a player to infuence the
fow of the game. Tere’s no strategic choice involved in the shoot-
ing. Dodging movement and aiming work together to create a fow
state, which gives a high level of engagement for short play sessions.
• Super Mario Bros.—Combat exists primarily to complicate world
traversal and to create dynamic skill-based puzzles to overcome.
Te combat exists to facilitate the other aspects of the game
rather than being the focus. Making jumping the primary com-
bat action helps to keep combat from becoming the focus of the
game.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 119

• Doom—Te game is intensely combat-focused. Te application

of the shoot combat action has granularity and creates strategic
choices. Also, a very tight loop between health and ammunition
management, shooting, and movement generates visceral and
exciting gameplay. In the initial game, there are very few other
systems that would distract you from this loop.
• StarCraf—Combat in this real-time strategy game combines
long-term planning with short-term tactical choices. Tis com-
bination creates tension; players limit their future choices with
every decision they make. Combat is a feedback loop teaching
players whether their strategic decisions are correct or viable
in any given situation. Tis two-stage combat structure of slow
preparation followed by short bursts of actual combat allows
room for strategic choices in the real-time game.
• Torment: Tides of Numenera—Strategic, narratively driven com-
bat in the game aligns with its focus on narrative choice. Te
mechanics of combat let players use their items and character
abilities in meaningful ways. Combat creates tension, helps to
pace the game, and resolves conficts in a way that has narrative
weight.
• Street Fighter—Even more so than Doom, the core gameplay
loop of fghting games hangs on the immediacy and strategic
choice of the combat. Tat is to say, your choices as a player
aren’t limited by what guns you’ve acquired, how much ammo
you have, or whether you’ve found health recently. Everything
outside of your skill in using the character’s static abilities is
stripped away.
• Magic: Te Gathering—Tis is a deck-building and card-based
combat game. Te core gameplay is turn-based combat driven
by tactical choices based on long-term deck-building strategies.
Strictly speaking, the deck building is not part of the gameplay as
it is with a game like Dominion, but it’s still an important part of
the game structure that takes place between gameplay sessions.
Tis fts the model of StarCraf and serves a similar purpose.
Since combat is, in this case, turn-based, it’s less a source of ten-
sion based on time pressure and refexes, and more purely focused
on tactical and strategic choices. Combat is turn-based, so players
120 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

can administer the rules manually. Still, it also allows for strategic
thinking, given the virtually unlimited number of cards and card
combinations, in contrast to the ample but fnite number of unit
types in an real-time strategy (RTS) game like StarCraf.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Tis game contains many systems to
generate an emergent narrative. Te systems are based on strate-
gic player choices combining with random narrative events that
the various card decks generate. Integrating this technique into
low-level combat actions fts with the game’s overall design. Tese
choices which exist in each of the game’s phases make the very dif-
ferent parts, from travel to town building to combat, feel cohesive.
• World of Warcraf—Te abstracted nature of combat actions
(clicking an interface button to do each diferent combat action)
focuses both moment-to-moment combat and progression on the
character rather than on player skill. Te social and cooperative
nature of the dungeon, raid, and PvP combat activities align with
or possibly create the massively multiplayer nature of the game.
• Dungeons & Dragons—Almost all of the mechanics in tabletop
role-playing games are focused on defning the character you’re
playing. Diferent games vary in how focused they are on com-
bat, but Dungeons & Dragons falls on the combat-heavy end of
that scale. Combat in the game exists for at least two reasons. It’s
a narrative device to shape the pacing of the story, show the char-
acters’ ability to afect the world, and create tension. But it also
allows the players to see the efects of the choices they’ve made in
creating and developing their characters.
• Life is Strange—Te general narrative mechanics of the game
almost wholly sublimate combat. Te action of shooting someone,
when possible, is mechanically indistinguishable from any other
choice the player makes. Te consequences of combat are likewise
entirely narrative, which is to say the player has no health state,
and the result of confict is only to shif the direction of the story.
Step 5: Describe the patterns you see in the ways your example games
use the element.
Each of the games I discuss uses combat well. Tey’re all very difer-
ent games, and the way each implements combat refects its style or
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 121

genre. However, many other games across genres include combat and
execute it poorly. Te pattern here should refect why combat in each
of the example games is “good” despite the games’ radical diferences.
1. In games that have a simple gameplay loop, the core gameplay
action is also usually the combat action.
2. In games where strategy is the most important aspect of play,
combat is strategic.
3. In games that focus on narrative, combat has narrative causes
and efects, and is ofen resolved narratively rather than through
mechanical action.
Step 6: Pick one of the patterns and document it using the Pattern
Template.
I think that the aforementioned three observations generalize into
the following pattern: Te mechanics and efects of combat in a
game refect that game’s core gameplay actions and loops.

Pattern

Name: Fight Like You Live

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 9.5 Marine shooting giant gun etc. Te way you fght in a game
should match the rest of the game’s core mechanics.
122 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Author: Chris Barney

Design problem: It can be easy for a developer to copy elements from
other “good” games when their game is not focused on those elements,
and of course, what works well in one game does not necessarily work
well in another.
Description: To avoid combat mechanics that don’t help or even hinder
core gameplay, a developer should make sure that the functional elements
of combat align with those of the core gameplay loop. In applying this pat-
tern, it’s necessary to understand very clearly what the highest-level func-
tional elements of a game are, and then to understand what the functional
element of any combat mechanic is.
This pattern may seem a bit obvious, saying that strategic games should
have strategic combat, that action games should have active visceral com-
bat, or that narrative games should have combat driven by narrative mean-
ing. Many games use this pattern well. But a surprising number of games
do not, defaulting to shooter combat or combat that mimics the standard
for the genre that they ft into, without consideration of the core mechanics
that differentiate their game.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Doom—The core gameplay loop of Doom is shooting, with very little

else in the way. Other elements, such as resource management, serve
to tune the tension and excitement of the shooting. So shooting as the
functional element of combat for this game is optimal.
• Silent Hill—The core gameplay of Silent Hill focuses on creating a sense
of fear, anxiety, and horror through presenting the player with situations
of overwhelming, and often unknown, threats. The intentional use of
“awkward combat” as the core action of combat, both in terms of con-
trols and animations, enhances the perceived and actual threat that the
player feels.
• Super Mario Bros.—The core gameplay loop of Super Mario Bros. is
skill-based platforming, so its use of jumping as the functional element
of combat is optimal.
• StarCraft—The multilayered combat systems of this game are created
by and reinforce the base-building and resource-gathering systems that
make up the remainder of its gameplay. These systems combine to pro-
duce combat situations that are the result of strategic choices and that
require tactics that match that strategy.
• Torment: Tides of Numenera—The complex mechanics of combat in
this game reinforce its class-based character building, and the narratively
rich Crisis system matches its story-heavy NPC interaction systems.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—The AI and Hit Location decks that defne
combat in this game align with its design goals of creating an emergent
narrative in response to character choices.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 123

• World of Warcraft—The multiplayer interactions and class-based combi-

nations that this game refned and perfected match the character-driven
economy, faction-driven conficts, and social guild systems that defne
it as an MMO.
• Dungeons & Dragons—The complex, mechanically rich combat choices
in this game system contribute to its focus on character development
and class differentiation. A character’s “class” shapes combat, which
furthers role-play.

Seed: Functional Element—Combat

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
Familiarity Breeds Contempt, or at Least High Expectations* (Confdence: 3)—
As you implement Fight Like You Live to make sure your combat mechan-
ics echo and support the core mechanics of your game, you must use this
pattern to ensure that they are the most polished mechanics in your game
and live up to player expectations.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses to generate a pat-
tern based on the idea of “unifed design” from Lens #11 in The Art
of Game Design (Schell 2020). In a unifed design, all the elements
of the game work together to support the theme of the game. The
mechanics, sound, visual esthetics, and narrative all contribute to
the same design purpose. See how high level you can make this
pattern. If you stick to matching the esthetic theme discussed in this
lens you may end up with a pattern similar to Bringing About the
Apocalypse.† To help with this, look for games that have unifed
design but have little or no esthetic theme. If you succeed your pat-
tern should ft as a parent of both Fight Like You Live and Bringing
About the Apocalypse.

Child patterns:
I Could Be Bounded in a Nutshell and Count Myself a King of Infnite
Space‡ (Confdence: 2)—Use this pattern to help create combat within
tightly confned spaces when your game focuses on an intimate relation-
ship between the player and the enemy. In terms of the example games,
Doom uses this child pattern.

* Example pattern from Exercise 19: Finding Positive Patterns from Negative Patterns.
† Example pattern from Exercise 8: Teme Patterns—Post-Apocalyptic.

‡ Example pattern from Exercise 9: Circulation Patterns.

124 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 20: Using Patterns to Understand Techniques to gen-
erate a pattern based on using ineffective combat to cause fear in the
player. In this case you will have at least two effects in step 2 of the
exercise: games that do create fear with their ineffective combat and
games that do not. The pattern you derive will help you understand
how this technique functions.
Use Exercise 20: Using Patterns to Understand Techniques to gen-
erate a pattern based on using slow combat and many player choices.
As discussed in the exercise you will have at least the effect of “creat-
ing strategy” and failing to in step 2. You may think of games that use
this technique to create other effects.
Use Exercise 20: Using Patterns to Understand Techniques to gen-
erate a pattern based on using fast, simple combat. As discussed in
the exercise, one of the effects will be to create a fow state; there
may be other effects.

Keywords: Combat, Core Mechanics, Unifed Design

EMOTIONAL PATTERNS
Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise produces patterns that help to create emotional efects in
games. As with the other exercises in this section, it produces patterns
that span the game design disciplines. It may generate a pattern relating
to game art, or mechanics, or sound. It’s worth completing this exercise
many times for any given emotional efect, since human emotions, and
the things that produce them, are quite complex, and you won’t cap-
ture them with any one pattern. Patterns tend to be additive, and games
that produce any given emotion strongly are likely to employ multiple
patterns.

EXERCISE 6: EMOTIONAL PATTERNS

Step 1: Describe an emotional effect.
Step 2: List ten games that create this effect.
Step 3: For each game, describe the techniques used to create that effect.
Step 4: List the patterns you observe in the use of these techniques.
Step 5: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 6: You may repeat step 5 for each pattern you observed.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 125

Example Emotional Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Describe an emotional efect.

Delight
Step 2: List ten games that create this efect.
Monument Valley, Journey, Noita, Beat Saber, Te Tetris Efect, Gris,
Night in the Woods, Life is Strange
Step 3: For each game, describe each technique that the game uses to
create that efect.
• Monument Valley—Te visual world transforms unexpectedly,
revealing beautiful visuals and unexpected gameplay possibili-
ties. Tere’s a strong sense of mystery about the world, and the
mysteries unfold as a result of the player solving the game’s puz-
zles. Tere is an undertone of darkness to the game.*
• Journey—Simple controls and low-risk gameplay move you
quickly through a beautiful world. Tere’s a strong sense of a
mystery that exploring the world slowly reveals. Interactions
with other players are unexpected and only ever helpful. Tere is
an undertone of darkness to the game.
• Noita—Te reactions of the simulated world are very complex,
and lead to emergent consequences that can be so unpredictable
that they’re fun even when the results are catastrophic.
• Beat Saber—Te direct one-to-one control scheme is responsive
and satisfying. Te fantasy of swinging a lightsaber, and the sat-
isfaction of the rhythm mechanics, create a sense of power and
competence. Te game’s kinesthetic movement creates an experi-
ence of the music that feels like what people have been reaching
for when they play air guitar or drums.
• Te Tetris Efect—Te generally pleasurable experience of
clearing lines in Tetris combines with surprising visuals and

* Te slight tone of darkness allows a sense of relief, catharsis, or contrast when it is broken by a
beautiful moment. Tat break is a way to tip a merely beautiful moment over into a delightful one.
Tis idea is captured by Alexander in his description of “the nameless quality” as being slightly
bitter. I will discuss this in more depth in Chapter 13.
126 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

unexpected changes in gameplay intensity, which matches the

beautiful musical score of the game.
• Gris—Te game features simple mechanics, low-risk gameplay, a
mysterious story, and beautiful visuals and soundtrack. Tere is
an undertone of darkness to the game.
• Night in the Woods—Te game has a setting and story full of
mysteries. Tere is an undertone of darkness to the game. Te art
and music of the game are beautiful. Te characters are endear-
ing and relatable.
• Life is Strange—Not all of this game is delightful, but in the
moments when it evokes delight, there’s an unexpected posi-
tive event. Te art and music are beautiful, the characters are
endearing, and the game contains themes of both darkness and
hope. While there are occasional moments of stressful gameplay,
moments of delight come at low-stress times.
Step 4: List the patterns you observe in the use of these techniques.
• Unexpected events can produce delight.
• Beautiful visuals and audio contribute to delightful experiences.
• Simple mechanics are common, as are intuitive control schemes.
• Games evoking delight are ofen low stress or low consequences.
• Many of the aspects of delightful games are similar to those that
contribute to a fow state.
• Te revelation of mysteries can be delightful.
• Delightful games possess either a narrative theme of darkness
or place the player in a state of fow with gameplay tension. Te
result is that there’s the possibility of an adverse outcome present
in an unstable situation.
Step 5: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Te following pattern combines several of the aforementioned
observations.
Step 6: You may repeat step 5 for each pattern you observed.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 127

Pattern

Name: Oh! That Went Unexpectedly Well

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 9.6 Character looking surprised and happy as they stand over a
dead monster and the sun breaks through the clouds Moments of delight
can be emphasized by breaking the underlying tension.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Creating a genuine sense of delight in a game is diffcult.
Description: To create the sense of surprise necessary to tip the apprecia-
tion for a beautiful game or fortunate outcome over into a sense of delight,
a developer may need to create a situation where the outcome is uncer-
tain for the player. They might do this by creating a narrative landscape
that includes some ominous elements; they can then contrast that implica-
tion of danger or negative outcome with positive esthetic elements such
as beautiful visual and audio landscapes. These may combine with unex-
pected and positive mechanical results. The general moment-to-moment
gameplay at the point of delight may be relaxed, or if there is tension, the
delight may come from an intensifed sense of fow.
128 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Monument Valley—This game has simple and intuitive controls. Learning

and exploring the control scheme is part of the exploration of the game,
and many of the unexpected events in the game relate to the world
reacting to your actions in surprising ways. The game has darker under-
tones to its narrative, showing the past misdeeds of the character or her
predecessors. Most of the negative situations that you experience as a
player are not the direct result of your actions. The core experience of
the game focuses on creating moments of delight by changing the world
in unexpected and beautiful ways.
• Journey—This game has light gameplay and simple controls. The sound
and visual design are simple but beautiful. The game has a strong sense
of mystery, and the world unfolds in unexpected ways at many points
in the game. These effects are created by changing the color palette,
opening or constricting the gameplay space suddenly, adding a helpful
player, or in various other ways; the variety of possibilities is important.
However, there are darker themes in the game, showing the tragic past
of the civilization you explore. The game experience takes a darker turn
several times, setting you up to understand that things may not go in a
positive direction. However, once the game has established this tone
and the player recognizes that possibility, the unexpected events in the
game are most often positive and beautiful, creating the desired sense
of delight. The darker tone and more frequent negative situations make
the game more poignant and less delightful than a game like Monument
Valley.
• The Tetris Effect—This game creates a sense of delight through the
same pattern of uncertainty combined with positive outcomes, though
it also employs beautiful visual and audio design. The way that this
game differs from the previous two is that the sense of tension pro-
vided by dark narrative undertones is, in this case, provided by more
challenging gameplay. Diffculty in the game ramps up, pushing the
players to the edge of their ability to perform. In this game, the player
must achieve a fow state, and their sense of momentum and compe-
tence contrasts with the increasing feeling that they may fail. Unlike in
previous Tetris games, the increased tension does not continue until
failure, and is relieved by musical shifts, level changes, and complet-
ing zones. These points of release coincide with visual and auditory
displays.

Seed: Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns—Delight

Related patterns:
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 129

Parent patterns:
The Risk of Knowing You* (Confdence: 2)—To implement Oh! That Went
Unexpectedly Well you must create some sense of risk for the player. This
risk may be mechanical or narrative, and you can use this pattern to guide
you in creating it.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns
to generate a pattern about creating a sense of threat or impending
danger.
Use Exercise 14: Player Manipulation Patterns to generate a pattern
for creating a player experience of epiphany or unexpected success.

Keywords: Delight, Joy, Emotion, Uncertainty, Slightly Bitter

PLAYER EXPERIENCE PATTERN

Pattern Purpose
One perspective on game design is that its goal is not to produce games
but to shape player experience. Tat is, the games we design are just tools
we use to afect players. Tat’s a little unclear, but I think that it highlights
an integral part of the design process. Players have an experience when
they play a game; that’s not in dispute. We can’t control that experience
directly; we can only use the mechanics, narrative, art, etc. of our game to
try to elicit a response from players. Understanding how each aspect of a
game may infuence a player’s experience is key to making games that do
what we want them to. Of course, it’s also important to understand that
any given technique will have diferent efects on diferent types of play-
ers; that factor is the source of its own set of audience patterns discussed
in Exercise 23.
Sample player experiences: tension, release, challenge, reward, efort,
uncertainty/risk, balance, oscillation, contrast, variation, rhythm

* Example pattern from Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns.

130 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

EXERCISE 7: PLAYER EXPERIENCE PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a player experience.
Step 2: Name at least ten games that create this experience.
Step 3: Describe how each game achieves the intended effect. The more
different ways they realize it, the better. Try not to think about a pattern
while you do this.
Step 4: For each technique, describe why the technique has the intended
effect. Try not to think of a pattern while you do this.
Step 5: Look at the list of techniques you’ve created. Describe each pattern
you see.
Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.

Example Experience Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a player experience.

Risk, taken from the previous list of player experiences. Te func-
tional element of risk is the mechanic of chance or randomness
with the presence of signifcant stakes. I’m basing this exercise on
the player’s experience of taking a risk—of knowing there are conse-
quences to their actions, but not knowing the outcome. So I’ll defne
risk here as “the experience of uncertainty with consequences.”
Step 2: Name at least ten games that create this experience.
Poker, Roulette, Walking Dead, Life is Strange, Te Binding of
Isaac/Don’t Starve, Illimat, StarCraf, Eve Online, Tetris, Sekiro:
Shadows Die Twice
Step 3: Describe how each game achieves the intended efect. Te
more diferent ways they realize it, the better. Try not to think
about a pattern while you do this.
• Roulette—Tis is a straightforward construction of risk, in that
the game is not ongoing and the outcome is discrete: you either
win or lose. Tere’s some subtlety added by being able to bid on a
variety of more or less risky possibilities.
• Poker—Several mechanics create the experience of risk in poker:
early bidding based on the partial information of the cards you
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 131

have received so far; late bidding based on your hand without

knowing your opponents’ hands.
• Walking Dead—Tis is a choice-based narrative game. It creates
risk by putting you in situations where the stakes feel very high
(and ofen are), but not providing complete information about
the consequences or outcome of any choice you make.
• Life is Strange—Tis game takes the choice-based narrative for-
mula and complicates it by letting you rewind and remake your
choices. Te game periodically removes the ability to rewind
time.
• Te Binding of Isaac/Don’t Starve—Tese are procedurally gen-
erated roguelike games; when you die, you have to start over.
Generally, your skill increases between game sessions, and you
can make gradual progress as your mastery increases. Te pro-
cedural nature of the game means that the contents of the next
screen are always unknown.
• Illimat—In this physical game, each player has several long- and
short-term goals that compete with the other players. Players can
take only one action each turn, so most plans and strategies need
to be executed over multiple turns.
• StarCraf—Risk exists in both the short-term tactics the players
choose, such as how many troops to commit to a particular attack;
and the long-term strategies they pursue, such as what buildings
to build in what order, and what kinds of units to produce.
• Eve Online—Tis game, in many ways, is an economic simula-
tion. Much of the risk comes from the game creating opportuni-
ties for you to make a proft, and then allowing other players to
interfere.
• Te Tetris Efect—In the base game of Tetris, the desire to clear
four lines at a time to score the most points creates its sense of
risk. Te Tetris Efect enhances your ability to clear rows of blocks
by adding a mode where you can clear more than four lines at a
time—up to 16—at proportionately increased risk. Te uncer-
tainty comes from not knowing what piece will come next. Te
game mitigates uncertainty with the ability to set a single piece
132 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

aside to use later. Also, the speed that pieces fall is variable in this
version of the game, increasing uncertainty.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice—In this Soulslike game, you’re in
constant danger of dying if you make a mistake in the combat
action gameplay. When your character dies, you lose earned
experience that allows progress, and the percent lost increases
the more ofen you die. Tree systems reduce risk: the ability to
use health items, periodic cave points, and having the ability to
resurrect once between each save point.
Step 4: For each technique, describe why the technique has the
intended efect. Try not to think of a pattern while you do this.
• Roulette—Te player’s experience of risk in roulette is very
focused and straightforward. Tere’s only one player choice, and
the outcome is entirely unknown. Tis extreme focus creates the
intense, concentrated experience of risk that characterizes the
game.
• Poker—Te use of risk in poker is more complicated. Te escalat-
ing bidding increases the feeling of risk, while the increasing cer-
tainty of card reveals mitigates it. Risk spikes at the end of each
hand, and stakes build throughout the game until a single player
remains. Te game stays focused on the risk, but is far more com-
plex and is an excellent example of how varying risk can create
modulation in the player experience.
• Walking Dead—Te sense of risk is combined here with narrative
beats and is used to help align you with your character’s danger
as you play.
• Life is Strange—One would think that the ability to rewind time
would lower the sense of risk in the narrative choices, except
that the game periodically takes the ability to rewind away. At
frst, you’re lulled into taking more signifcant risks as a player
because of the safety net of rewinding time. But as gameplay
progresses, you become aware of the possibility that you won’t
be able to rewind, and this uncertainty enhances the feeling of
risk.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 133

• Binding of Isaac/Don’t Starve—Te constant, immediate danger

creates a situation where the consequences of your actions are
very high. Te procedural nature of the game means that the
contents of the next screen are always unknown. Game elements
like health items and dangerous creatures create a moment-to-
moment gameplay loop where you’re continually taking actions
that feel risky.
• Illimat—Because other players have time to observe and counter
any strategy between each turn, each player is almost constantly
vulnerable to having their plans thwarted. Tus they experience
a feeling of risk during much of the playtime.
• StarCraf— Te risk comes from the fact that your choices as a
player may have poor outcomes if the other players don’t behave
in the ways you expect.
• EVE Online—Te extreme feelings of risk in this game come
from the ability of the players to set the stakes higher and higher
as they progress in the game. Te real-world value of the in-game
stakes enhances the perception of risk.
Step 5: Look at the list of techniques you’ve created. Describe each
pattern you see.
• Higher stakes increase the feeling of risk.
• More unknowns increase the feeling of risk.
• Stakes can be mechanical or narrative.
• Extrinsic stakes can be compelling (gambling and Eve).
• Developers can modulate risk by changing stakes or unknowns
to create rhythm and pacing.
• A player’s risk can simulate their character’s danger.
Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
A player’s risk can simulate their character’s danger.
134 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern

Name: The Risk of Knowing You

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 9.7 Player looking fearfully at a controller as the character looks

over a clif Caption: Putting a player’s time or success at risk can help them
feel the character’s peril.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: It’s hard to make a player feel their character’s danger.
Description: To create a feeling of empathy in the player when the charac-
ter is in danger, the designer may want to put the player in situations where
they feel a sense of risk.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• The Walking Dead—The characters in this game are in an almost con-

stant state of fear, stress, and danger. Focusing the gameplay around
a sequence of meaningful, high-impact choices that the player must
make with incomplete information creates an ongoing sense of risk in
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 135

the player, which allows them to better empathize with the feeling of
danger that their character has.
• Life is Strange—Similarly to The Walking Dead, this game uses high-
risk narrative choice to create a connection to the characters’ peril.
Empowering the character with the ability to rewind time and fx mis-
takes mirrors the decrease in risk the player feels in their gameplay.
• Binding of Isaac/Don’t Starve—This high-intensity, high-risk game uses
roguelike mechanics to create an intense sense of risk that mirrors the
characters desperate, bleak, and unrelenting danger.
• Tomb Raider (reboot)—Single-use quick-time events resolve many tense
situations. These events are usually not very diffcult, and often allow
the player to succeed the frst time. However, they condition the player
to be uncertain of their ability to survive in any given situation, even as
the character’s power level or the player’s skill in the core mechanics
increases. This uncertainty helps the player to empathize with the con-
stant fear of danger experienced by the character in this game.

Seed: Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns—Risk

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can* (Confdence: 3)—Use this pattern to gener-
ate the challenge and tension that you need to create the emotional lever-
age you will use in The Risk of Knowing You.
One of These Days That’s Going to Get You Killed† (Confdence: 2)—
Use this pattern to balance increases in character abilities and maintain the
danger for the character and sense of risk for the player that you need to
implement The Risk of Knowing You.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 4: Formal Patterns to generate a pattern based on the
unknown.
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
empathy.

Child patterns:
We’re Going to a Dark Place Together‡ (Confdence: 2)—If you have imple-
mented The Risk of Knowing You throughout the game, you may use this
pattern to leverage the emotional connection of the player to the character
to create more intense and diffcult situations without alienating the player.

* Example pattern conversion from Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design described in
Chapter 16.
† Example pattern from Exercise 1: Basic Patterns.

‡ Example pattern for Exercise 10: Boss Encounter Patterns.

136 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Oh! That Went Unexpectedly Well* (Confdence: 2)—When trying to

create a sense of delight for the player, use this pattern to break the tension
created by The Risk of Knowing You.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 4: Formal Patterns to generate patterns based on
stakes, that is on the things that a player can lose. Those things could
be concrete and intrinsic to the game like gold or items, they could
be abstract and intrinsic like progress through a level, or they could
be extrinsic like the player’s time, or even cash bet on the outcome
of a game, or used to purchase in-game effects. Use this pattern to
understand what kind of stakes you should use and when to create
the tension, pacing, and rhythm you need for your game.

Keywords: Empathy, Risk, Danger

THEME PATTERNS
Pattern Purpose
As with Emotional Patterns, this exercise creates patterns across the spec-
trum of game design disciplines. However, I’ve aimed this exercise at a
higher level of abstraction. Here I ask you to consider whether there are
patterns across those disciplines.
In this exercise, I use the word “theme” in the esthetic sense (Mass
Efect has a sci-f theme), rather than in a literary sense (Call of the Wild
contains the theme of man against nature). Tis exercise is one of the more
complex and challenging in the book. Step 5 asks for an in-depth analysis
of the efects of the techniques you describe in steps 3 and 4. It’s possible
to skip step 5 and still produce a functional pattern, but including this step
produces far more useful and insightful patterns, so I strongly encourage
you to complete it.
If you’re looking for low-level, more specifc thematic patterns, you
can complete the Emotional Patterns exercise using a theme instead of an
emotional efect as your starting point. Conversely, if you’re looking for
higher-order emotional patterns to connect those generated by the earlier
exercise, you may complete this exercise using an emotional efect as your
starting point rather than a theme.

* Example pattern for Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns.

 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 137

EXERCISE 8: THEME PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a theme.
Step 2: Select ten games that feature that theme.
Step 3: Describe the techniques that each game uses to support or create
the theme. Consider techniques from all aspects of game design, includ-
ing art design, sound design, narrative design, and mechanics design.
Step 4: Describe how the techniques you listed apply within each disci-
pline across all of the games you cited.
Step 5: Describe how the patterns you describe in step 4 relate to the
deeper meaning or literary themes of the games.
Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 5 for each pattern you observed.

Example Pattern
In this exercise, I look at the techniques used to create a cosmetic theme.
Te process helps to identify many literary themes that result from the
mechanical, artistic, and narrative techniques used. Describing these
techniques also allows me to explore the structure of the theme, so that
the pattern I describe will help me to apply the theme in a way that gives
it a deeper meaning.

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a theme.

Post-apocalyptic
Step 2: Select ten games that feature that theme.
• Fall of the Last City*—Board game about the fall of civilization.
• Apocalypse World—Tabletop RPG set afer the apocalypse.
• Te Last of Us—Tird-person action game set in a fungus-zom-
bie apocalypse.
• Fallout 3—First-person shooter set afer a 1950s nuclear
apocalypse.

* Tis is an unusual experimental board game I designed. More details can be found in “Games
Reference” at the end of the book.
138 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Metro 2033—Russian frst-person shooter set afer a nuclear

apocalypse.
• Te Walking Dead—Narrative adventure game set afer a zombie
apocalypse.
• Te Long Dark—Narrative survival game set afer a natural
disaster ends civilization.
• Anthem—“New style MMO”* shooter set in an apocalyptic sci-f
world.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—Tird-person action game set in the primi-
tive afermath of a long-ago apocalypse.
• Tey Are Billions—Strategy survival game set afer a zombie
apocalypse.
• Torment: Tides of Numenera—Isometric RPG set in the fantasy
far-future afermath of many apocalypses.
• Te Flame and the Flood—Isometric third-person survival
game set along a great river in the tradition of Te Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn (Twain 2008).
Step 3: Describe the techniques that each game uses to support or
create the theme. Consider techniques from all aspects of game
design, including the art, sound, narrative, and mechanics design.
• Fall of the Last City—Tis game is diegetic to its setting; it has a
narrative design that posits that the game is played in the world
in which it is set. Te visual design of the game refects the set-
ting, with the game board and pieces made from scrap metal
and old canvas. A limited resources mechanic refects the harsh
conditions of the setting. A dwindling resources mechanic evokes
the desperation of the theme. Social confict mechanics help to
create a sense of hostility between the players. Zero-sum competi-
tive mechanics force the players to make hard strategic and moral
choices. Lethal combat mechanics create a sense of vulnerability
and helplessness in the face of the world. Te narrative of the
game is a retelling of the fall of civilization, so winning does not

* “New style MMO” is a term I have started hearing developers use to describe MMOs with small
group co-op play in a persistent world such as Destiny, Te Division, and Anthem.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 139

represent saving the world, but instead recognizing your ances-

tors’ part in the apocalypse.
• Apocalypse World—Te explicit narrative of the game sets the
theme, including the concepts of loss of mystery, selfshness, and
the difculty of being good in the face of deprivation. Te theme
is refected through the literal and metaphorical visuals of the
game as well. Strict black-and-white art refect the starkness of
the theme. Transactional social mechanics focus players on how
the theme changes the way the players relate to their humanity
and human connections. Te character advancement mechanics
refect the ease of getting ahead personally and the difculty of
improving the world. Te storytelling rules, or principles, instruct
the narrator to focus on creating a narrative in line with the theme.
• Te Last of Us—Te explicit narrative setting refects the theme.
Te secondary perspective character highlights the behaviors
of the player character and how the theme shapes their behav-
ior. Te game’s genre-specifc functional element, i.e., shooting
everyone, is turned from ludonarrative dissonance into a refec-
tion of the theme. Limited resources refect the scarcity of the
setting. Te predictable danger of monsters contrasts with the
higher threat of human enemies, emphasizing the literary theme
that we are the monsters. Te brutality of the combat mechanics
shows the brutality of characters within the setting. Te charac-
ter’s limited and largely realistic combat abilities create feelings
of vulnerability. While the game contains hope, saving the world
is not a possible outcome within the game.
• Fallout 3—Te retro-future visuals and audio match the explicit
narrative setting while also giving the game a sense of dark humor.
Te character progression that results in the character becoming
powerful matches the focus on the literary theme of might makes
right. Unpleasant narrative choices for the player present difcult
moral questions where the best choice for survival is not the best
moral choice. Environmental storytelling, showing the world that
was lost, is pervasive. Winning the game does not save the world
or make it a pleasant place to live.
• Metro 2033—Explicit narrative and bleak setting are supported
by realistic, bleak visuals. Limited resources create a sense of
140 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

vulnerability despite standard shooter gameplay. Winning the

game does not end the apocalypse.
• Te Walking Dead—Te explicit narrative is a zombie apoca-
lypse. A vulnerable secondary perspective character highlights
the horrors of the world. Te player faces constant unpleasant
moral choices, and winning the game does not end the apocalypse.
Visual and sound design refect the origin of the game as a comic
book, but they are consistent with the setting.
• Te Long Dark—As this is a survival game, resources are lim-
ited, and the world is the enemy. Of course, many survival games
also have an apocalyptic setting. In this case, humans were not
responsible for the apocalypse, which is relatively uncommon.
Most of the danger in the game is natural, and the environment is
the biggest enemy. Tere is no hope of fxing the central problem
of the game. Te stark stylized visuals refect the harshness of the
world. As befts the genre, crafing is important, but the things
crafed match the theme.
• Anthem—Tough humans aren’t responsible for the larger state
of the world in this game, they are responsible for the immediate
difculties of the characters in the game. Tere is no real hope of
fxing the world. Abstracted base building and character progres-
sion align with a theme of might makes right.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—Te setting of the game during the recovery
from an apocalypse is an interesting interpretation of the theme.
Te world is recovering, and the characters are rebuilding. Many
of the component themes of the responsibility of humanity for
the disaster and the barbarism that deprivation creates are still
present. Environmental storytelling is pervasive. Te robotic
enemies refect the nature of the apocalypse in the same way that
zombies do in Te Last of Us or wild animals in Te Long Dark.
• Tey Are Billions—Te setting is explicitly post-apocalyptic. Te
primary mechanic of base-building refects the difculty or futil-
ity of trying to survive in the world.
• Torment: Tides of Numenera—Te setting of the game is not
immediately recognizable as post-apocalyptic and appears to be
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 141

fantasy. Te theme is revealed through difcult moral choices, the

pervasive environmental storytelling suggesting the past civiliza-
tion, and focus on the responsibility of the character for the state
of the world.
• Te Flame and the Flood—Te stylized visuals refect the bleak
and emotionally harsh nature of the world. Pervasive environ-
mental storytelling shows what has been lost. Limited resources
refect the deprivation of the setting. Constant negative sta-
tus efects create a sense of vulnerability. Te awkward rafing
mechanic takes some autonomy away from the character and
creates a sense of helplessness. Te danger of combat refects
the harshness of the world and the vulnerability of the charac-
ter. Te melancholy sound design supports a sense of loss in the
theme.
Step 4: Describe how the techniques you listed apply within each dis-
cipline across all of the games you cited.
• Narrative design:
• Most games with a post-apocalyptic theme explicitly state that
theme in their primary narrative.
• Environmental storytelling is more prominent than in many
other themes, probably due to the need to show the world as it
was before the apocalypse.
• Te plot of many games with this theme is ofen either the sur-
vival of a small group or trying to understand how the apoca-
lypse happened. Tere is usually no hope of fxing the world, nor
of reversing, ending, or stopping the disaster.
• Difcult moral character choices are common, and games with
this theme ofen set the best mechanical choice for the player in
opposition to the best moral choice for the character.
• Visual design:
• Te visual design of games with this theme varies from stylized
to realistic. Te choice seems to directly correlate with whether
the game is trying to represent the world realistically or create
an emotional experience that captures the feeling of the theme.
142 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Sound design:
• Sound design within this theme also varies greatly, from melan-
choly folk to kitschy 1950s pop to grinding metal. Te pattern
here is that the music and sound design work together to shape
the way the player experiences the apocalypse.
• Mechanical design:
• Mechanics that model the type of apocalypse the game is represent-
ing are common. Tese games use mechanics that match the theme,
such as limited or dwindling resources, lethal combat, and the need
to protect a place or person that is more vulnerable than the player
character. Te mechanical design strongly refects the theme, creat-
ing a play experience that mirrors the difculties facing the character.
• Social mechanics:
• While sometimes cooperative, games with this theme usually set
players against each other in some way, creating a social experi-
ence that mirrors the experience of the characters.
Step 5: Describe how the patterns you list in step 4 relate to the deeper
meaning or literary themes of the games.
Te specifc techniques used in each category in step 4 directly relate
to the literary themes each game focuses on within the esthetic theme
of the game. Games that have the literary theme man vs. nature, for
example, feature a narrative where the apocalypse was either natural
or the results of it are confronted through nature. Tese games also
ofen feature survival mechanics that model the struggle against mor-
ally neutral but unstoppable forces, like cold or drought. On the other
hand, a game with the theme of we are the real monsters would use
techniques such as a narrative design focused on the responsibility of
the character—or humans in general—for the disaster, and enemies
that are more dangerous the more human they are. Te post-apoc-
alyptic esthetic theme is suited to a particular set of literary themes
and is usually composed of a number of them.
Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Te preceding analysis suggests a pattern relating the esthetic theme
to the literary theme and specifc mechanical choices, and thus how
those combine to create the player experience of the theme.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.
 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 143

Pattern

Name: Bringing About the Apocalypse

Confdence: 1
Image:

FIGURE 9.8 Greek warrior with gun All of the elements of a game must
ft its theme.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Designers often need to apply esthetic themes to the
game they’re creating.
Description: It’s often suggested that a game can be “re-skinned” with a
different theme, easily changing it from a sci-f to fantasy to post-apoca-
lyptic by shifting the visual presentation of the game. But for designers to
apply an esthetic theme most successfully, all aspects of the game must
refect that theme. The esthetic theme will also refect the deeper mean-
ings of the game—the literary theme. Examples might be man vs. nature
or man vs. man.
To fully realize the potential of a game’s esthetic theme, a designer must
integrate the thematic choices into all aspects of design, including visual,
audio, mechanical, social, and narrative. To do this, the designer must
have a deep understanding of the deeper meanings that a given theme
will generate within the game. The specifc techniques and patterns that
the developer uses to integrate their theme should match the meanings
the developer wants to create in their game. Only by doing this can the
developer be aware of and control the impact of the theme on their game.
144 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Games that use this pattern and how:

• The Last of Us—This game uses an explicit narrative to establish its post-
apocalyptic theme. It refects the theme in its visual design and its envi-
ronmental sound design. It uses a companion mechanic to emphasize
the brutality of its setting and to focus on the individual moral cost of the
apocalypse. It uses its primary gameplay loop of shooting, which often
creates ludonarrative dissonance to create a feeling of extreme violence
and its cost. It uses human antagonists that are more dangerous than
the monstrous ones to turn the horror of the setting back on humanity.
Limited resources force the player to think in the survival-oriented terms
experienced by the characters. All of these things combine to reinforce
literary themes like we are the monsters and man vs. himself that are
common within the post-apocalyptic esthetic theme.
• Guild Wars 2—The game explicitly establishes its fantasy theme using a
wide variety of narrative tropes, such as many exotic non-human races,
a great ancient evil, and heroes to struggle against it. It supports this
narrative design with beautiful and fantastical visuals. Complex progres-
sion systems for the characters support the idea of a journey to heroic
status. Challenges requiring increasingly large cooperative groups sup-
port the concept of good banding together to defeat evil. Regenerating
health and a low cost for dying take the focus of play away from the
player’s failures. The place where this game struggles the most is on
creating player investment in the scripted narrative of the world. The
scripted narratives feel impersonal or focused on characters other than
the player’s, and don’t generate as much investment as they could. The
interplayer narratives created by the large-scale cooperative mechanics
compensate somewhat for this shortcoming.
• Red Dead Redemption 2—The Wild West theme of this game either sup-
ports or explains design techniques in all aspects of the game’s design.
Prominent visual and audio elements evoke the theme. The explicit plot
of the game, following an outlaw gang trying to maintain its freedom as
the era draws to a close, is deeply thematic. More subtle design choices
refect the role of the outlaw within the setting. For example, a narrative
that forces the character to move from location to location takes control
away from the player and helps them identify with the role of the out-
law. That lack of control is countered by the general open-world design,
which matches the deeper struggle for freedom and autonomy inherent
in the setting. Specifc mechanics, like the gathering and crafting sys-
tems, match the theme far better than they would in a similar game like
Grand Theft Auto.

Seed: Exercise 8: Theme Patterns—Post-Apocalyptic

 Structural Pattern Exercises ◾ 145

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on
Brenda Romero’s talk “The Mechanic is the Message” (Symonds 2013).

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 8: Theme Patterns to generate child patterns. Focus
on techniques that apply to your specifc theme and not to others to
help generate lower-level patterns that will be children of this pattern.

Keywords: Esthetics, Meaning, Mechanics, Theme

 CHAPTER 10

Focused Patterns

T his chapter contains pattern exercises that are very focused or

specifc. Tese exercises will give you examples of how to hone this
process to produce patterns that are generally low level and address the spe-
cifc concerns of a particular domain of game design. Tese exercises may
or may not be directly useful to any given designer, but I do suggest com-
pleting them at least once to see how they difer from those in the previous
chapter. Tese exercises will also help you if you want to learn to construct
new pattern-generation exercises that focus on your area of expertise.

PATTERNS FROM MICRO, MACRO, AND

META CIRCULATION PATTERNS*
A note that this section may get a little confusing, as I’ll be discussing a
concept with the word “patterns” built into it, with a meaning that’s sepa-
rate from the patterns that are the topic of this entire book. As we go, I’ll
do my best to be as clear as possible as to when I’m discussing circulation
patterns and when I’m discussing patterns such as those we’re deriving
throughout this text. I’ll occasionally refer to the latter as “Alexandrian
patterns” to avoid confusion.
Circulation patterns defne how a player moves a character through a
gamespace and are usually discussed in terms of level design. However,
their scope extends beyond the way a character moves through a level
(macro circulation patterns) to include how the player moves through the

* I use this awkward construction to point out that the circulation patterns used as the starting
point for this exercise are not Alexandrian patterns, just repeated techniques. I could have just
said “circulation” but the phrase circulation pattern is in common use.

147
148 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

overall game (meta circulation patterns) as well as movement in individ-

ual encounters within a level (micro circulation patterns).
A comprehensive discussion of this concept and its usefulness is beyond
the scope of this book. However, I can provide a brief description of the
three levels of circulation patterns that I’ve found useful for Alexandrian
pattern generation in my classes.
Alexandrian patterns derived from meta-level circulation patterns tend
to be high level and address problems that other high-level elements in the
game are trying to solve, such as the game’s theme, narrative structure,
or genre. Some meta-level circulation patterns that have provided good
seeds for pattern generation include linear level progression, open world
with expanding access, hub-based level access, and temporally progress-
ing open world.
Macro-level circulation patterns are level specifc and may repeat in
each level of a game, or may shif or complicate as the level changes what
problems it’s trying to solve. Examples of macro-level circulation patterns
include linear progression, hub-based level, ability-gated area access,*
or multi-pathed linear levels.† All of these are useful starting points for
Alexandrian pattern generation.
Circulation patterns at the micro-level are encounter- or room-scale,
and focus on the use of specifc game mechanics such as player abilities,
monster abilities, room-level architectural design, or a combination of all
of these. One good example is the player movement sequences required to
defeat specifc enemies in Dark Souls and how those interact with the loca-
tions where the encounters take place. Another is the movement-based
puzzles found in the challenge temples in Zelda: Breath of the Wild or the
Tomb Raider reboot trilogy. Looking at the ways these micro circulation
patterns solve problems in game design can yield some rich Alexandrian
patterns as well.

Pattern Purpose
Like all of the pattern exercises thus far, working through this exercise
uncovers game design problems—in this case, problems that developers
solve using circulation patterns. But circulation patterns are a particu-
larly useful element to study when constructing a Pattern Language for

* Tis is commonly referred to as “Metroidvania” style level design, especially when this pattern is
also used on the meta and micro levels.
† Tis is ofen seen in levels trying to provide for several distinct types of gameplay, providing a

combat-heavy path and a stealth-heavy path for instance.

 Focused Patterns ◾ 149

your game, because they have three built-in levels of scale to look at: meta,
macro, and micro. When designing a game and identifying the highest
level problems you’re trying to solve, you’ll have more success if the pat-
terns you use at all three levels are in alignment. Tis is of course true
across all of game design, but it’s more easily visible when looking at this
kind of pattern, which maps clearly across these levels of scale.
Tis exercise, therefore, pays special attention to the problems that cir-
culation patterns solve. It asks you to observe subtle diferences in the way
circulation patterns are implemented, and the problems that those dif-
ferent implementations solve. Te result is that newer designers tend to
produce patterns that describe more fundamental uses of circulation pat-
terns, while experienced designers tend to note more abstract or higher-
level patterns. Both outcomes are valuable, and this is a good exercise to
come back to periodically as it will yield useful patterns many times over
your career.

EXERCISE 9: CIRCULATION PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a meta, macro, or micro circulation pattern. You can choose
one you’re familiar with or one you observe by looking at a specifc
game.
Step 2: Name ten other games that use this circulation pattern and describe
how they implement it.
Step 3: For each game, list and describe the problems that the circula-
tion pattern solves. Many problems may repeat, so while you should list
all of the problems you can identify for each game, you only need to
describe them each once unless there are differences.*
Step 4: List and briefy describe how the circulation pattern solves each
problem. This list will only describe how each game’s implementation of
the circulation pattern solves one problem in that game; however, your
descriptions should capture the subtle differences you noted in step 3.
Step 5: List and describe any patterns that you see in the way that your
circulation pattern solves problems across games.
Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.

* You do not need to copy–paste problem descriptions for each occurrence of the problem. You do
need to describe the subtle diferences in the problems though. If you only describe a problem once
and it’s repeated across all of your example games, you’re probably missing subtle diferences in
both the application of the circulation pattern and the details of the problem they solve.
150 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Example Pattern from Micro, Macro, and Meta Circulation Patterns

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a meta, macro, or micro circulation pattern.

Micro-level circulation pattern: circle strafng. Tis movement pattern
involves a character running in a circle around an enemy while facing that
enemy and engaging in combat.

Step 2: Name ten other games that use this circulation pattern and
describe how they implement it.

• Quake—Strafng was a tactic introduced in earlier frst-person games

by Id Sofware, but it became more widely used in games based on
the Quake engine due to a physics bug. Specifcally, the maximum
run speed of the character was calculated independently on the x-
and y-axis, resulting in the ability to move more quickly if you were
going both forward and sideways at the same time. Turning while
exploiting this bug resulted in circling the enemies at a speed that
exceeded the enemies’ ability to aim. While the inclusion of this bug
was unintentional, the developers later chose to leave the error in the
game through its various expansions and to include it in other games
that used the engine.
• Te Secret World—Combat in this game, like in most massively mul-
tiplayer online games (MMOs) of its era, involves hitting the tab key
to lock onto an enemy target and clicking special ability buttons to
perform attacks on that target. Enemies use some special attacks that
target areas of the ground around them, called area of efect (AoE)
attacks. You can move while performing combat actions, so circling
enemies while attacking to avoid their AoE attacks is a common
tactic.
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time—To engage in understatement for
a moment, the controls for Ocarina of Time were awkward and unin-
tuitive by modern standards. Controllers hadn’t evolved to handle
3D camera movement well. Te ability to lock on to an enemy was an
afordance to mitigate the difculty of the controls.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 151

• Soulcalibur*—As one of the frst fghting games to allow free move-

ment around a fghting arena, Soulcalibur makes use of the circle
strafng circulation pattern. Interestingly, since it’s common for both
characters to circle each other and both players to be viewing the
same screen, the circular movement doesn’t have the same efect as
in other games. To some degree, the circles cancel out each other,
and combat continues very similarly to how it would if the charac-
ters were restricted to a 2D plane of movement. Put another way, the
important thing is your distance from the other character, not your
combined orientation to the arena.
• GoldenEye 007—Tis game was one of the frst attempts at a “serious”
or realistic frst-person shooter on a game console. Te technique was
implemented in a similar way to Quake, but the use of a GameCube
controller made it somewhat more difcult. Both the game’s single
and multiplayer benefted from the circle strafng circulation pattern.
• Team Fortress 2—Te implementation in the game was functionally
identical to that of Quake.
• Galak-Z (←Asteroids ←Spacewar!)—Tese games are perhaps the
most abstract application of this circulation pattern. Moving con-
stantly around a target while facing it is perhaps the primary move-
ment pattern.
• Monster Hunter World—Tis game involves groups of players hunt-
ing enormous monsters. You can lock onto a monster in some cir-
cumstances, but the implementation has sometimes been buggy,
making circle strafng while locked on problematic. It’s possible to
manually face an enemy whole circling it, as in Quake.
• Battlefeld (helicopter piloting)—Circle strafng is common in
this game in the general case of a single soldier, but it has a more
interesting case as applied to the vehicles in the game. Specifcally,

* Te skill and strategy involved in the high-level play of fghting games is very high and very spe-
cifc. Discussing this kind of game is difcult because only a small percentage of players of these
games play at the highest levels of skill. In thinking about the use of the circle strafng circulation
pattern in this game, I’m focusing on the way it impacts my own play experience and that of other
players I’ve observed.
152 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

helicopters can circle a target and do devastating amounts of dam-

age. However, the controls to achieve the maneuver are very difcult.
• Star Citizen—Tis game is still in development, but it’s interesting
to see the iterative development of its space fight simulator combat.
A variety of diferent circulation patterns are used in the combat of
this game. Discussion of their intricacies is out of the scope of this
pattern, but the ability to circle an enemy while fring on it is one of
the three main patterns.

Step 3: For each game list and describe the problems that the circula-
tion pattern solves.

• Quake—Combat for a frst-person perspective needs to maintain

high speed and frenetic movement while also allowing enclosed level
designs and a resource (ammunition pick up) based mechanic.
• Te Secret World—Movement should feel important to combat, even
though it doesn’t always increase the level of skill needed to succeed,
given a tab-targeted and timed skill activation combat system.
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time—Te game needs to provide an
exciting and challenging player experience, even given limited
controls.
• Soulcalibur—When implementing a 3D space in a traditionally 2D
genre, you should ensure that it deepens gameplay without alienat-
ing players accustomed to the preexisting gameplay.
• GoldenEye 007—Provide a way to engage in more advanced move-
ment-based combat in a frst-person perspective, given the limita-
tions of early game console controllers.
• Team Fortress 2—Circle strafng helps balance diferent player classes
in action combat. (Tis asymmetrical usefulness of this circulation
pattern is one of many techniques that may be applied.)
• Galak-Z (←Spacewar! ←Asteroids)—Creates a constant sense of
forward motion when there’s limited space, while also allowing for
deeper combat options.
• Monster Hunter World—Creates movement-based combat for groups
of players facing a singular opponent in an open space.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 153

• Battlefeld (helicopter)—Provides engaging and useful gameplay for

vehicles in a game while not unbalancing the gameplay.
• Star Citizen—Circle strafng helps resolve the problem that, given
the very high speeds of the player’s ships in this game, combat can
feel removed from the action and enemy ships are barely visible to
the attacking player.

Step 4: List and briefy describe how the circulation pattern solves each
problem.

• Quake—Although the initial bug in the physics implementation of

the game was unintentional, it made the circle strafng circulation
pattern even more benefcial than it otherwise would have been. Tis
micro-circulation pattern supported the frenetic movement-based
combat that these games used as their core gameplay loop.
• Te Secret World—Tis MMO focused on creating the feeling of
dynamic movement-based combat while still relying on timed attack
abilities and hit probabilities/damage rates that were based on character
statistics more than player skill. To overcome this, the developers intro-
duced mathematical bases for combat mechanics to encourage player
movement. Enemies would attack areas in front of them, and players
were informed of this mechanic by visible ground efects. Circling ene-
mies to avoid these attacks became a primary micro-circulation pattern.
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time—When a player was locked on to
an enemy, circle strafng became an easy and natural movement pat-
tern. Te developers of the game incorporated this movement style
into the encounter designs for many of the game’s memorable bosses.
• Soulcalibur—Free movement adds depth and strategy to the game,
but circle strafng actually works to remove some of that efect. What
it does add is a great deal of visual variety and interest. It’s more fun
to watch the characters dancing around each other than just moving
back and forth.
• GoldenEye 007—Given developers’ limited experience creating man-
ageable frst-person controls at the time, and the inexperience of players
in dealing with that perspective on console controllers, it’s interesting
to note that circle strafng may be easier on a controller than with a
mouse. It gave players a stronger sense of mastery in this game.
154 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Team Fortress 2—In this class-/role-based frst-person shooter (FPS),

the technique of circle strafng was asymmetrically useful to difer-
ent character classes. Characters with low health and high mobility
were able to use this technique to deal with slower, more durable
opponents.
• Galak-Z (Spacewar!, Asteroids)—Circular movement patterns allow
the player to be in constant motion without moving of the edge of
the screen or requiring levels to be unmanageably large.
• Monster Hunter World—Making players face enemies that are
always vastly more powerful than they are raises the stakes of avoid-
ing damage. While monsters move freely about the world and chase
scenarios are common, circle strafng is also a required circulation
pattern for many to most fghts.
• Battlefeld (helicopter)—Flying a helicopter in this game is challeng-
ing on its own, but the circle strafng mechanic is vastly more so. Te
difculty increases the value of players who have mastered the skill,
as well as ensuring that the technique doesn’t dominate the game-
play on a regular basis. Helicopters are therefore useful and feared,
but don’t render the other aspects of the game useless.
• Star Citizen—Implementing circle strafng seems to have been efec-
tive at bringing space combat into a closer scale and also adding to
the variety of viable strategies without becoming dominant.

Step 5: List and describe any patterns that you see in the way that your
circulation pattern solves problems across games.

• Accommodation of gameplay space, which is to say level size. Tis cir-

culation pattern works either to take advantage of limited space avail-
able or to keep players closer together through the circular movement.
• Accommodation of controls, to give a sense of movement and pro-
vide tactics and strategy given a limited set of controls, or the pres-
ence of other mechanics that limit autonomy in other ways.

Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the pattern template.
Accommodation of gameplay space.

Step 7: You may repeat step 5 for each pattern you observed.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 155

Pattern

Name: I Could Be Bounded in a Nutshell and Count Myself a King of

Infnite Space
Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 10.1 Encouraging circular circulation patterns can bring combat

into close range while maintaining dynamic movement.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: How to bring players into the proper distance from each
other to encourage an optimal combat experience.
Description: To bring players close to each other, but not too close, a
designer may wish to implement mechanics that support player interac-
tions at the desired distance. The more mechanics that support interaction
at a particular distance, the more likely the players will be to engage in play
at that distance, and the more natural and rewarding play at that distance
will feel.
The circle strafng micro-circulation pattern is a good example of a func-
tional technique that supports player interactions at a close to mid-range.
It works particularly well when combat in the game needs to take place
in a small space. That space may be small due to level size constraints, in
which case the combat design can ft that limitation. Alternately, the avail-
able space may be unbounded, and the combat may be designed to bring
players into proximity to each other.
156 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

The implementation of this circulation pattern has the effect of making

the most important spatial factor the distance to the opponent, rather than
the scale of the environment.
Clearly, the answers to the aforementioned design problem are as varied
as the different kinds of combat found in games. This pattern focuses on the
circle strafng circulation pattern and how it can help create a constrained
player distance in games where its implementation fts the intended com-
bat style. There are many other circulation patterns, and many other formal
and functional techniques that address the design problem in differentially
constrained design spaces. However, they should all share the larger pat-
tern described in the frst paragraph of this description.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Quake—Strafng was a tactic introduced in earlier frst-person games by Id

Software, but it became more widely used in games based on the Quake
engine due to a physics bug. Specifcally, the maximum run speed of the
character was calculated independently on the x- and y-axis, resulting in
the ability to move more quickly if you were going both forward and side-
ways at the same time. Turning while exploiting this bug resulted in circling
the enemies at a speed that exceeded their ability to aim. Although the
inclusion of this bug was unintentional, the developers later chose to leave
the error in the game through its various expansions and to include it in
other games that used the engine. This micro-circulation pattern supported
the frenetic movement-based combat that these games used as their core
gameplay loop, and helped to allow this kind of combat within the rela-
tively constrained level spaces that the game engine could support.
• Galak-Z (Spacewar!, Asteroids)—These games are perhaps the most
abstract application of this circulation pattern. Moving constantly
around a target while facing it is perhaps their primary movement pat-
tern. Circular movement patterns allow the player to be in constant
motion without moving off the edge of the screen or requiring levels to
be unmanageably large.
• Soulcalibur—As one of the frst fghting games to allow free movement
around a fghting arena, Soulcalibur makes use of the circle strafng cir-
culation pattern. Interestingly, since it’s common for both characters to
circle each other and both players to be viewing the same screen, the
circular movement doesn’t have the same effect as in other games. To
some degree, the circles cancel out each other, and combat continues
very similarly to how it would if the characters were restricted to a 2D
plane of movement. Put another way, the important thing is your dis-
tance from the other character, not your combined orientation to the
arena. However, the circular movement again allows the characters to
be in constant forward motion while remaining in a confned space and
maintaining a constant distance from each other.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 157

• Star Citizen—This game was still in development at the time of this writ-
ing, but it’s interesting to see the iterative development of its space fight
simulator combat. A variety of different circulation patterns are used
in the combat of this game. Discussion of their intricacies is out of the
scope of this pattern, but the ability to circle an enemy while fring on
it is one of the three main circulation patterns. In the broader scope of
this game, the play takes place over extremely large spaces. But in com-
bat situations, limiting the size of the area where a combat encounter
happens can make combat feel more immediate and allow the greater
visual interest of being able to see your opponent clearly. Because the
game takes place in the vastness of space, it’s not easily possible to limit
the encounter space size through level design. By implementing ship
controls that allow circling and fring on a target and weapons that are
effective at close range, players are encouraged to engage in combat
while remaining close to each other.
• Zelda: Ocarina of Time—Effective combat in this game requires that the
player use the “Camera Lock-On” feature. This locks the camera onto
the enemy and shifts the player’s movement to be relative to the enemy,
making circle strafng easy and solving some camera control issues on
this early 3D console game.

Seed: Exercise 9: Circulation Pattern—Circle Strafng

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
Fight Like You Live* (Confdence: 3)—For I Could Be Bounded in a Nutshell
and Count Myself a King of Infnite Space to function, the combat action of
your game must allow this circulation pattern. So, not only is Fight Like You
Live a parent, but its implementation must be compatible with this pattern.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a high-level pattern
based on combat. There should be a number of high-level patterns
that you can fnd by looking broadly at games with very different
combat.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 10: Boss Encounter Patterns to generate a pattern
based on any boss encounter that takes place in a confned space
and requires circular movement around the boss.

* Example pattern from Exercise 5: Functional Patterns.

158 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Subtractive patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 4: Formal Patterns to generate a pattern based on envi-
ronmental hazards. It would seem that environmental hazards would
work against this pattern since moving in one direction and attacking
in another makes situational awareness more diffcult.
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
long-range combat. By long range I mean sniping or artillery, which
would work against the circular movement patterns encouraged by
this pattern.

Keywords: Movement, Circulation Patterns, Combat

BOSS ENCOUNTER PATTERNS

Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise focuses on patterns that relate to boss encounters, and is
probably the most specifc exercise in this book. Tis kind of encounter
isn’t present in every game or even every genre. But there are a lot of design
techniques that have developed around this specifc type of encounter.
Tis exercise will help you extract patterns from those techniques.
You can use the example of this exercise to generate patterns around
most any complex game design aspect. It’s similar to the Formal and
Functional Game Design Elements exercises (Exercises 4 and 5), except at
a higher level of complexity. Boss encounters are made up of many formal
and functional elements. Tus, the patterns this exercise produces are also
more complex, and observing and articulating them is signifcantly more
difcult and advanced than the earlier exercise.

EXERCISE 10: BOSS ENCOUNTER PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a boss encounter from a game you know well.
Step 2: Describe the player experience that encounter creates.
Step 3: List up to ten other games that create the same effect using a boss
encounter.
Step 4: For each game, describe the techniques those games use to create
that effect.
Step 5: List and describe the patterns you observe across all ten games.
Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the pattern template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed in step 5.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 159

Example Boss Encounter Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a boss encounter from a game you know well.

Doctor Klein and Te Colossus, Melothat from Te Secret World

Step 2: Describe the player experience that encounter creates.

Tis is a difcult encounter in the horror MMO Te Secret World, which hap-
pens at the end of a fve-player dungeon called Te Ankh. Before it, you have
a chance to fght each of the creatures you’ll face in the fnal battle. Te player
experience is a mix of dread and frustration, evoking empathy for the charac-
ter’s putative emotions of fear and hatred. Te game accomplishes this by using
several techniques that I’ll list here for comparison with the games in step 3:

• Te fght is complex and has several phases. You’re unlikely to be

successful in completing the encounter the frst time and are likely to
have died a number of times in the preceding encounters.
• Te game uses narrative during the lead-up to the boss encounter to
support the intended player experience, providing documentation of
the atrocities perpetrated by Doctor Klein.
• Te monsters have patterns that you need to learn and respond to
precisely.
• Mechanically, the fghts include instant death mechanics that can be
avoided, but are likely to kill the group of players at least a few times
as they memorize the monster patterns.
• Enemies have either escaped the characters before (Klein) or have
returned when the characters thought they were defeated (Te
Colossus, Melothat)
• Some of the battles use a timer, meaning that you have to be able to
deal with a certain amount of damage in that time to be able to win.
For this reason, you might not be able to win no matter how well you
play and may need to come back when you’re more powerful.

Step 3: List up to ten other games that create the same efect using a
boss encounter.

• Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2

• GLaDOS from Portal
160 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Te Lich King from World of Warcraf: Wrath of the Lich King

• Te Final Choice from Life is Strange
• Dear Esther (Radio Tower)

Step 4: For each game, describe the techniques those games use to cre-
ate that efect.

• Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2—As the primary boss enemy for the
game, Pyramid Head appears several times. Most times you encoun-
ter him, he is invulnerable and you must either avoid or bypass him
in some way. Figuring out how to survive these encounters results
in many character deaths for the player. Background narrative sup-
ports the perceived threat of this boss.
• GLaDOS from Portal—Tis boss is built up in narrative throughout
the game. When the actual confrontation comes, it requires mas-
tery of the game mechanics while introducing many new elements,
which will likely cause you to die many times while you fgure them
out.
• Te Lich King from World of Warcraf: Wrath of the Lich King—As
the fnale of this WoW expansion, this fght is extremely difcult.
Te ten-person fght requires precise play and includes many com-
plex mechanics, including a particular fght phase that results in
instant death for all the characters if they do not properly coordinate
their movement. Learning how to win this fght can take a group of
players weeks of practice, and the scale of the difculty helps evoke
the level of world-saving heroism that the characters are experienc-
ing. It also produces catharsis and satisfaction, which is in keeping
with the hundreds of hours of gameplay players have invested at that
point in the game.
• Te Final Choice from Life is Strange—Tis is not a battle, but an
encounter where the character faces the storm they have known
was coming for the entire game. Te content of this encounter
is entirely narrative, where the only mechanic is a single binary
choice you must make for the character under no time pressure.
Te character has to decide whether to save their oldest friend and
 Focused Patterns ◾ 161

person they have fallen in love with, or to save the entire town from
the devastating storm. Te experience of the impossibility and
unfairness of this choice are conveyed to the player by having them
spend 20 hours of gameplay saving the character’s friend over and
over, and by leading them down a path where the only possibility is
this decision point. Te frustration and anger the player feels at the
unfairness of the game are a good proxy for the character’s experi-
ence. It’s also probably a metaphor for a teenager’s fear of coming
out.
• Te tower at the end of Dear Esther—Again, this is not a fght but an
encounter. In this case, the player has been wandering alone through
a beautiful but desolate island. Tey have listened to a voice-over that
is clearly their character’s voice talking about their life. Tey are at
the end of their life and alone, having lost their life partner. In the
end, the player is confronted with a tall radio tower, and the only way
to end the game is to climb it and jump of, killing their character.
Te emotional battle that many players experience over whether to
“let” the character kill themself mirrors the struggle of the character
to let go of their life and fnd peace.

Step 5: List and describe the patterns you observe across all ten games.

• Players are more tolerant of negative emotions when they are deeply
invested in the game and within sight of the end.
• Te games do not directly create the emotions of the characters in
the players.
• Te experience being created has its roots throughout the game, not
just in the boss encounter.
• Te most powerful and intense character emotions and experiences
are refected in sometimes unpleasant player experiences.

Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the pattern template.
I think that all of these patterns that may exist across games combine
uniquely in the situation of a boss encounter.

Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed in step 5.
162 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern

Name: We’re Going to a Dark Place Together

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 10.2 Te stronger the player’s bond with the character the more
likely they are to continue playing when the experience is difcult or
unpleasant.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: It’s hard to make the player feel what the character feels,
especially when the character’s experience is intense or diffcult.
Description: To help the player empathize and understand the intense or
diffcult emotions of a character, the developer may need to create similar
but less intense emotions in the player. However, when these emotions
are unpleasant by themselves, the developer may want to create them in a
focused situation where the player’s investment in the game is high.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Silent Hill 2—Creates feelings of dread and powerlessness in the player

by confronting them repeatedly with an unkillable monster. Forcing the
player to escape and run away many times creates feelings of frustration.
These emotions mirror the character’s feelings of terror, helplessness,
and growing self-loathing. The game subtly tracks the player’s reactions
to these emotions using various invisible mechanics, such that the end-
ing is satisfying to different player response types.
• The Secret World—By the time the player faces Doctor Klein and The
Colossus, Melothat at the end of The Ankh dungeon, the narrative has
made the player understand that Klein, while human, is a monster. He
and his creations have killed the players many times already, raising
 Focused Patterns ◾ 163

their frustration. This helps the players stay invested in both the plot
and gameplay of the dungeon, making the experience of killing him
viscerally satisfying and allowing easy identifcation with their character
persona.
• Portal—Again, the player has been carefully positioned by the narrative
and given a high level of mastery over the game mechanics. The intro-
duction of new mechanics and the breaking of the established game
conventions enhance the feeling of GLaDOS’s omnipotence and make
it feel to the player like she is “cheating,” mirroring the character’s feel-
ings of betrayal.
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King—The fnal fght with the
Lich King is punishingly diffcult. Many players took weeks of play
just to defeat this single boss. Players are willing to put in this extreme
level of effort because at this point in their play, they have many hun-
dreds of hours invested in the game. The defeat of this boss monster
is the result of “heroic” effort on the part of both the characters and
players.
• Life is Strange—Over the course of the 20 or so hours of gameplay, the
player uses the character’s ability to rewind time to explore the con-
sequences of their actions. The player navigates the character into the
situation of being in love with her best friend, and faced with a choice
of whether to save her or the town they live in. The time invested and
the emotional bond combine with the unfairness of the choice to create
feelings of frustration and anger in the player that mirror those in the
character.
• Dear Esther—At the end of the game, the player makes the choice to
end the character’s life by jumping from a high tower. This choice is only
meaningful because of the environmental and explicit narrative of the
game up to this point. If the choice were presented at the beginning of
the game, it would either be meaningless or something that the player
would be unwilling or unmotivated to do.

Seed: Boss encounters that make you feel like the character feels.
Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
empathy.
Use Exercise 22: The First Choice to generate a pattern based on a
relatable main character. Start with step 2 and use “create a relatable
main character” as your answer.
164 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Child patterns:
The Risk of Knowing You* (Confdence: 3)—Use this pattern to help build
the emotional connection between player and character that are needed to
support We’re Going to a Dark Place Together.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern for a less
intense emotion than you will be depicting in your character. The
classic emotion wheel is a good place to look for emotions of differ-
ent valence (Wikipedia 2020).

Keywords: Empathy, Investment, Attachment, Diffculty, Negative Player

Experience

EMERGENT NARRATIVE PATTERNS

Tis next exercise frst requires that you understand the concept of emer-
gent narrative—story beats that are created by player interaction with
game systems, then joined into a coherent narrative in the player’s mind.
By its very nature, emergent narrative is difcult to create. Controlling
the kinds of narratives that emerge is even harder. Instead of describing a
set of techniques for building emergent narratives or a theory of how they
work, I’ve designed a pattern exercise that looks at this narrative form and
extracts a set of techniques and theory in the form of patterns. Te process
asks you to look at the games that produce an emergent narrative and ask
creative questions about how that narrative is constructed.

Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise will help you look at examples of emergent narrative and
begin to understand the techniques that make them successful. Step 1 in
this exercise is challenging. Te old aphorism that there’s no such thing
as a bad question is not true here. If you fnd that the question you asked
is failing to help you generate a useful pattern, consider asking a difer-
ent question. Keeping the question simple and empirically answerable will
help you successfully complete the exercise the frst few times.

* Example pattern for Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns.

 Focused Patterns ◾ 165

EXERCISE 11: EMERGENT NARRATIVE PATTERNS

Step 1: Ask yourself a question about emergent narratives. For instance, how
many player choices are needed in a scene, level, or game before emer-
gent narratives occur? Or, how are the kinds of emergent narratives in a
game related to the type or diversity of mechanics in a game? Be creative.
Step 2: List and describe ten games that have an emergent narrative.
Step 3: For each game you chose, what is the answer to your question for
that specifc game?
Step 4: List and generalize your answers from step 3.
Step 5: Do these answers hold up across all of your games, or can you
generalize them to do so?
Step 6: List and describe any patterns that your question and answers
sound like they’re describing.
Step 7: Select one pattern and describe the problem it’s solving, then docu-
ment it using the pattern template.
Step 8: You may repeat step 7 for each pattern you observed in step 6.

Example Emergent Narrative Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Ask yourself a question about emergent narratives.

When a game makes many choices available to allow a diverse set of nar-
rative options, which choices are perceived by players as having narrative
importance?

Step 2: Look at ten games that have an emergent narrative.

• Te Elder Scrolls: Oblivion—Open-world role-playing game (RPG)

• Te Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild—Open-world RPG
• Moon Hunters—Procedurally generated, roguelike RPG
• Apocalypse World—Player-driven, tabletop RPG
• Fallen London—Choice-based, text-heavy RPG
• Susurrus: Season of Tides—Choice-based, text-heavy massively mul-
tiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)
• Anarchy Online—MMORPG
• Anthem (freeplay mode)— Open-world shooter
166 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Gloomhaven—Campaign-based board game

• Kingdom Death: Monster—Campaign-based board game

Step 3: For each game you chose, what is the answer to your question for
that specifc game?

• Te Elder Scrolls: Oblivion—In this open-world RPG, the player can

interact with the world in many ways, exploring the world and the
available non-player character (NPC), monster, and quest interactions
in almost any order. Te primary plot of the game is designed and
not emergent, but the actions you take outside of the primary quest
are optional. Te subset completed by a given player, taken together,
builds an emergent narrative. Te interactions that seem most mean-
ingful are those that alter the character in some signifcant way.
• Te Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild—Tis game is also an open-
world RPG, but the game structure is subtly diferent. Te overall
scripted narrative is much stronger, and the open-world gameplay
is structured to generate more cohesive units of narrative organi-
cally. Instead of ofering scripted side quests, the game allows you
to either engage with or avoid open-world encounters like enemy
encampments, shrines that you can explore in “any” order, and the
eight “divine beasts” to fght. Te narrative signifcance of these seems
to depend on their difculty, and the degree to which they move the
player toward the larger scripted narrative goal.
• Moon Hunters—Tis is a complex and strange procedural game with
a short playthrough time, and is meant to be played many times.
Because of the brief playthrough, most events are designed to have
narrative signifcance. Which events seem most important becomes
determined by the intent of the player. Because a player can quickly
get a sense of the overall story, it’s common for players to seek out
specifc randomly available events in pursuit of a particular narra-
tive outcome. Te collection of events the player chooses reinforces the
signifcance of those events.
• Apocalypse World—Unlike most older tabletop RPGs, this game
and others that use its base rule set (Powered by the Apocalypse)
drive the narrative based on player choices rather than on a plotline
prescribed by the game master. Systems exist that allow the game
 Focused Patterns ◾ 167

master to introduce or advance narrative elements in the world, but

even those systems are driven by player actions. Te world the game
master creates is therefore focused on the characters’ actions and the
players’ intentions. Most events that take place feel like they have nar-
rative weight, because the player, game master, and game systems are
focused on giving events signifcance.
• Fallen London—In this choice-based text adventure, the player
is faced with a never-ending series of choices as they advance a
huge number of scripted plotlines. Some plotlines have many end-
ings, and they follow a variety of narrative structures. Te primary
mechanic driving narrative advancement is the resource cost of dif-
ferent choices. Given that players have limited resources, the per-
ceived importance of any choice is derived not just from the player’s
understanding of the visible narrative but from the cost of the diferent
choices. Tus, expending a large number of resources on a choice
that seems insignifcant invests that choice with narrative impor-
tance. Of course, the designers use this intentionally, and the payof
for those kinds of choices is carefully maintained.
• Susurrus: Season of Tides—Tis was a choice-driven, massively mul-
tiplayer text adventure game that was never fully realized due to the
realities of development and the limited resources of the developers.
However, the design is still interesting and instructive. In this game,
the narrative beats available to any given player were determined by
a world state resulting from the actions of all the players. Because
the players knew that their actions were altering the overall world,
completing and even repeating mundane tasks had the potential to
be narratively important, as it might shif and advance the story for
all players. Part of the reason that the play of this game failed was that
there was no feedback to the player as to which actions they made
afected the world.
• Anarchy Online—Although this MMO had a very complex setting,
it didn’t have the kind of focused, progressive story found in other
genre members such as World of Warcraf. Most gameplay was either
exploratory, challenge-based, or procedurally generated. Because
most of this gameplay did not have explicit narrative importance, rid-
ding a dungeon of mutants did not afect the state of the world; the
player defned the signifcance of any action. Some players didn’t
168 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

assign narrative to their actions and simply used the gameplay as

a means to mechanically advance their characters. However, more
than in any other multiplayer game I have observed, many players
constructed elaborate narratives from these explicitly insignifcant
events. Te developers facilitated this player habit by including many
locations that had no in-game use, but which acted as narrative
stages for the role-play of the players.
• Anthem (freeplay mode)—In this story-driven open-world multi-
player frst-person shooter, the freeplay mode provides a space for
world exploration and freeform gameplay that also ofers character
advancement outside of repeatable story-based missions. Events that
occur in this mode have little overall narrative signifcance, but most
of the player stories I hear about the game relate to some situation
encountered by a group of players in this mode. Te randomly varied
enemy placement and world events that comprise this mode create
an opportunity for players to generate small but meaningful emer-
gent narrative experiences: “Do you remember that time when…?”
• Gloomhaven—In this campaign-based board game, players pro-
gressively unlock chunks of the overall story. Although there’s little
variation in the fnal shape of that story, a given group of players
may experience it in any order. Additionally, most players will never
complete the entirety of the campaign, and thus have very diferent
narrative experiences at the point when they stop playing. Te script-
edness of each unlocked narrative chunk is provided by the designers,
but the act of choosing which chunk to experience increases its weight
for each group of players.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Unlike Gloomhaven, this game does not
have a tightly scripted narrative arc. Each session of this campaign-
based board game generates a piece of narrative for the players
that is signifcant, both because of how hard it is to survive in the
extremely hostile world, and due to the comedic, horrifc, or simply
unexpected turns the game can take. Most choices the players make
have signifcant consequences for the characters, and the overall story
and high perceived likelihood of failure make each action memorable.
Additionally, the overall setting is intentionally flled with unex-
plained elements. Some have explanations that might be uncovered
at some point; others invite players to use the actions of their charac-
ters to explain the state of the world.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 169

Step 4: List and generalize your answers from step 3.

• Te interactions that seem most meaningful are those that alter the
character in some signifcant way.
• Te narrative signifcance of these seems to depend on their dif-
culty, and the degree to which they move the player toward the larger
scripted narrative goal.
• When many events have a narrative payload, which events seem
most important becomes determined by the intent of the player.
• When players choose to engage in events, the various events selected
reinforce each other’s signifcance.
• When the content of a game is cooperatively generated, most events
feel like they have narrative weight because everyone is focused on
giving events signifcance.
• Te perceived importance of any choice is derived not just from the
player’s understanding of the visible narrative, but from the cost of
the diferent choices.
• For players to ascribe meaning to their actions, they need feedback
on the efect those actions have on themselves and the world.
• When most gameplay interactions don’t have explicit narrative
importance, players may construct elaborate narratives from these
explicitly insignifcant events if they’re given a context in which their
actions can be meaningful.
• In multiplayer games, shared events that lack larger narrative signif-
cance may be translated into meaningful stories by the players that
share the experience.
• In games consisting of scripted narrative vignettes, and in which the
player controls which subset of narrative components to engage with,
the larger narrative that emerges can be perceived by the players as
more meaningful due to their active participation in constructing it.
• Players are likely to construct meaningful narratives when most
choices they make have signifcant consequences for their characters,
their actions have dramatic consequences, and the overall story and
the high perceived likelihood of failure make each action memorable.
170 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 5: Do these answers hold up across all of your games, or can you
generalize them to do so?
Tese answers all seem universally true across games that have an emer-
gent narrative. Te more of these things that are present, the more mean-
ingful the emergent narrative. Tese might even be a part of a higher-order
interactive narrative pattern.
Tese qualities increase the meaningfulness of emergent narratives:

• Tey alter the character in a meaningful way.

• Tey alter the world in a meaningful way.
• Tey are difcult.
• Tey move the player toward a medium- or long-term goal.
• Tey are chosen by the player.
• Tey contribute to a narrative goal chosen by the player.
• Tey connect with other narrative events.
• Tey are intentionally constructed to have a narrative payload.*
• Tey have a cost that is proportional to their narrative consequence.
• Tey make the player aware of their impact on the characters or
world.
• Te world provides rich narrative hooks to relate emergent events to.
• Tey are shared with other players.

Step 6: List and describe any patterns that your question and answers
sound like they’re describing.
“To allow players to construct meaningful emergent narratives, develop-
ers should provide players with context, motivation, and consequence for
their actions in the game.”
I think this is a good parent pattern that addresses the design problem
for this exercise. Te 12 bullet points from step 5 are probably each a child

* While designers cannot construct an emergent narrative for the players, they do have control over
the narrative content of the pieces that the players are building their story out of. Moon Hunters
leans into this and procedurally generates a world littered with mythopoetic puzzle pieces for the
player to assemble.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 171

pattern. It’s tempting to create a single comprehensive pattern that tells

designers to choose as many of the bullet points as possible when creating
their game, but that would lose the fexibility and power that breaking
them into independent patterns would give. Also, each of those child pat-
terns may apply to other parent patterns outside of emergent narrative.

Step 7: Select one pattern and describe the problem it’s solving, then
document it using the pattern template.
Step 8: You may repeat step 7 for each pattern you observed in step 6.
Pattern

Name: The Three Pillars of Meaning in Emergent Narrative

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 10.3 When developers provide context, motivation, and conse-

quence players can construct meaningful narratives.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Given the reality of limited resources, when creat-
ing design elements that encourage emergent narratives, designers need
to maximize the narrative potential of every element. How can design-
ers know if a given game element will contribute to meaningful emergent
narratives?
172 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Description: To allow players to construct meaningful emergent narratives,

developers should provide players with context, motivation, and conse-
quence for their actions in the game.
There are many child patterns that contribute to this pattern; two are
listed and 12 other possibilities are provided in the suggested exercise, and
there may be more. But each one contributes to either the context of, moti-
vation for, or consequences of an event that could be part of an emergent
narrative.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim—The degree to which the three pillars are
present for emergent narrative elements in this game varies. At worst,
the events are isolated and unrelated to the player or the world: a group
of bandits in a cave with no associated NPCs or consequences for “rid-
ding the countryside” of them. At best, all are present: killing an NPC
in town results in the guards becoming hostile, the character attracting
the attention of the assassins’ guild, and the inability to wear holy armor
due to your evil actions.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—On a base level, the motivation for most
events in this game is either survival or to see what happens. But as the
game and the emergent narrative progress, player motivations compli-
cate. Essentially, every event in the game has signifcant consequences,
and most consequences are immediate and clear. The narrative context
for actions is always given, and it is additive. Early in the game, you have
only the immediately provided context. Yet as the game progresses, the
context of the emergent narrative increases and eventually exceeds the
designer-provided context of the game world.
• Apocalypse World—This is a tabletop role-playing system, so the degree
to which these pillars are present in any specifc use of the system is
dependent on who is running and playing in the game. However, the
system itself helps to ensure that these things are present by stating prin-
ciples like “give everyone and everything a name” (context), “say what
happens” (consequence), and “play to see what happens” (motivation).
• White Death—This is a live-action role-playing game where the events
are largely up to the players, so, as with Apocalypse World, the degree to
which the three pillars are present for each is variable. However, the game
is designed to help provide context, motivation, and consequence for the
actions of the players. A full discussion of the game’s nuances is outside
of the scope of this example, but the narrative frame of the game provides
context and consequence. The characters are endowed with attributes
that give motivation and that interact with the attributes of other play-
ers to create consequence and motivation. The interaction of the simple
mechanics of the game with the role-play of the players produces perhaps
the most compelling narrative experience created in any game, ever.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 173

Seed: Exercise 12: Emergent Narrative Patterns—What makes emergent

events narratively meaningful
Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on
the theory that The Three Pillars of Meaning in Emergent Narrative is
generalizable to narrative in general.

Child patterns:
I Thought You Should Know* (Confdence: 2)—Use this pattern when you
need to give context for a piece of emergent narrative.
Greater Choice Requires Greater Motivation† (Confdence: 2)—When
you have applied The Three Pillars of Meaning to situations where there are
emergent narrative and player choices, then those choices will be meaning-
ful. The more signifcant you make choices, the more of them your game
will be able to support.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
If narrative meaning is enhanced by adding consequence, context,
and motivation, then it would be useful to have patterns describ-
ing ways to add those pillars to a game. Here are the qualities I
found when creating this pattern. The pillars they relate to are in
parentheses.

1. They alter the character in a meaningful way. (consequence)

2. They alter the world in a meaningful way. (consequence, context)
3. They are diffcult. (context, motivation)
4. They move the player toward a goal. (consequence, motivation)
5. They are chosen by the player. (context, motivation)
6. They contribute to a narrative goal chosen by the player. (moti-
vation, consequence)
7. They connect with other narrative events. (context, consequence)
8. They are intentionally constructed to have a narrative payload.
(context, motivation, consequence)
9. They have a cost that is proportional to their narrative conse-
quence. (context, consequence)
10. They make the player aware of their impact on the characters or
world. (context, consequence)

* Example pattern from Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns.
† Example pattern from Exercise 16: Patterns from Core Mechanics.
174 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

11. The world provides rich narrative hooks to relate emergent

events to. (context, motivation)
12. They are shared with other players. (context, consequence)

There are many ways that you can approach generating these
patterns.
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to look at each of these state-
ments as a theory.
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to look at statement 3 as the
functional element of diffculty.
Use Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns to look at statements 5 or
6 as the experience of choice.
When you have completed all of the exercises in the book, come
back to see if you can fnd other exercises to use to investigate these
twelve statements.

Keywords: Emergent Narrative, Meaning, Diffculty, Autonomy, Choice,

Cost, Economy

EMBEDDED AND ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVE PATTERNS

Pattern Purpose
Te ideas of environmental narrative and embedded narrative are related,
but slightly diferent. A designer creates environmental narrative by plac-
ing things in the game world such that they tell a story about what has
happened before the player’s arrival. It might be a trail of blood and a
single empty child’s shoe in BioShock, or a set table in a house with a par-
tially eaten meal and a knocked-over chair. Tis type of narrative usually
gives the player an intriguing mystery or allows them to piece together a
coherent story over time. Games like Gone Home consist almost entirely of
environmental narrative as the core mechanic, while others like BioShock
use it to reinforce the theme of the primary narrative.
Embedded narrative, on the other hand, is diegetic—narrative that’s
meant to have been produced and placed into the world by that world’s
inhabitants.* Te murals found in Journey or the books found in Te Elder
Scrolls games are embedded narrative.

* Of course, in games the developer is adding the narrative in either case, so technically in games all
narrative is embedded. But as a designer there is a diference between telling the player and char-
acter something by staging a scene for them to observe, and creating a world where the inhabitants
have embedded narrative elements into the world to tell each other things.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 175

In the real world, environmental narrative is evidence of events

that people have left behind by accident, while embedded narrative
is meaning that people have built into the world on purpose. For
example, imagine walking into a Catholic church in a poor neighbor-
hood. You see the images in stained glass depicting the life of Christ
and the stations of the cross. Those are embedded narrative: they tell
you something about the beliefs of the people who created the space,
because those people placed them there for you to see. You also see
the worn velvet of the pews, the tattered hymnals, and a piece of gum
stuck to the cover of a Bible. Those tell you about the people who use
that space, about their poverty and piety, not because they wanted to
tell you those things, but because you have seen the consequences of
their lives.
I ran across an excellent example of environmental vs. embedded
narrative in games in an episode of The Game Maker’s Toolkit. The
circular saw blades that you see embedded in the wall in the Half-Life
level Ravenholm are environmental narrative. They show the player
that they can use these blades to cut head-crab zombies in half. In
Dead Space, on the other hand, the bloody writing on the walls saying
“Cut off their limbs” is an embedded narrative. The person who wrote
it did so for that as the next person to come along, you would see it and
get the message.
Te real purpose of this distinction isn’t to correctly categorize each
piece of narrative in your game; it is to use the diference to help you con-
sider the purpose and execution of each narrative element as you embed it
in the environment.
If you consider patterns created by the previous Emergent Patterns
exercise, you might imagine emergent game systems that allow players to
create environmental narratives through the course of their play. Tese
might be as straightforward as bullet marks and monster or player-char-
acter corpses in a frst-person shooter, or as complex as the overall world
state in a game like Minecraf. Tese systems can also yield interesting
patterns.
Te patterns created by this next exercise are very focused and are use-
ful for designs that make careful use of narrative technique. Even if this is
not your focus as a designer, completing this exercise is useful for develop-
ing an appreciation and understanding of these techniques.
176 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

EXERCISE 12: EMBEDDED AND ENVIRONMENTAL

NARRATIVE PATTERNS
Step 1: Pick a game level.
Step 2: Describe the narrative of that level.
Step 3: List and describe ten techniques used to incorporate that narrative
into the level.
Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 for three to fve different games that share a
similar narrative.*
Step 5: Remove techniques that don’t apply across games, or generalize
them so that they do.
Step 6: List and briefy describe each pattern you observe.
Step 7: Select one pattern and document it using the pattern template.
Step 8: You may repeat step 7 for each pattern you observed in step 6.

Example Embedded and Environmental Narrative Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a game level.

Te Car Park in Te Secret World. (“Contract Killers”)

Step 2: Describe the narrative of that level.

Your character is sent to investigate a missing team of allies. You enter
an underground parking structure in Tokyo, where you frst discover
the bodies of enemies of the team, then the bodies of team members.
Eventually, you fnd that the whole team has been killed, not by the enemy
but by a mysterious force. As you try to leave the parking structure, that
force attacks you—and it’s the ghost of a child. You must avoid confronta-
tion with it as you fee.

Step 3: List and describe ten techniques used to incorporate that narra-
tive into the level.

1. Environmental narrative in the general setting: Te lighting and

sound design use horror techniques to create a sense of danger.
2. Environmental narrative vignettes showing strange behaviors:
Lights and mechanical devices like gates and car alarms malfunc-
tion, establishing that things are not normal.

* Tis exercise works well when done in a group. If you are doing this exercise with a class, divide it
into teams of four or fve and then combine your work for step 3.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 177

3. Embedded narrative: You can access surveillance camera footage

showing some of the things you will encounter, but they are not clear.
4. Embedded narrative: You can fnd security logs that suggest that
something strange was going on here before the events that have
brought you here.
5. Environmental narrative showing suggestions of violence: Damage
to the environment and blood splatters and trails are introduced.
6. Environmental narrative evidence of violence: Some allies are found
dead, killed in a way that suggests a known enemy.
7. Environmental narrative evidence that the obvious is not true: Te
enemies you suspected of killing your allies are also found dead,
killed in the same way as your allies.
8. Glimpse of the true threat: You see the ghost several times in the
distance before you reach your target.
9. Environmental narrative vignette, final reveal: A more compli-
cated environmental scene where you discover that all of your
allies are dead, all of the expected enemies are dead, and then
you are confronted by the ghost and begin to flee the parking
structure.
10. The level design is a descent to the truth and an escape back to
the surface. The shape of the level is a labyrinth, with only one
path in and back out. Areas are gated to make you feel constantly
trapped.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 for three to fve diferent games that share
a similar narrative.

• First level of BioShock

Narrative: Your character’s plane crashes, and you’re forced to
enter the mysterious and dangerous environment of an abandoned
undersea city that has sufered a catastrophe. You want to fnd
out what happened, but you’re primarily trying to escape. You’re
quickly given instructions by a distant “ally,” and try to follow
them in order to survive. Te frst instructions are to rescue the
ally’s family.
178 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Techniques:
1. Embedded narrative in the form of inner monologue.
2. Environmental narrative showing immediate plot developments
from the plane crash includes items foating down in the water
throughout the level and parts of the plane hitting the city.
3. Environmental vignettes showing more distant events: New
Years’ Eve party in the club, etc.
4. Environmental details showing the decay of the city, faded paint,
distressed prop items.
5. Environmental details showing the destruction of the city by its
citizens, broken down bathroom.
6. Environmental scenes with NPCs: Te death of the person sent
to meet you, the woman with a gun in her stroller.
7. Embedded propaganda clip as you descend into the city of
Rapture.
8. Embedded narrative in the posters and ads promoting Plasmids.
9. Embedded narrative in the form of the radio broadcasts from
“Atlas.”
10. Environmental set pieces like the drone killing the frst Splicer
that attacks you.
• First level of Dead Space
Narrative: Your character is sent to repair a damaged mining space-
craf. You become stranded when your small repair ship crashes into
the city-sized mining ship. You must survive long enough to repair
your ship. Te character is personally motivated by a romantic part-
ner who was on the mining ship.
Techniques:
1. Embedded narrative of video communication from love interest.
2. Environmental narrative of debris feld around planet.
3. Environmental narrative of rescue crew’s clean ship vs. old min-
ing ship with trash and wear signs.
 Focused Patterns ◾ 179

4. Environmental narrative of ship’s damage from crash landing.

5. Embedded narrative of welcome video in landing bay.
6. Environmental narrative of landing bay lobby flled with luggage.
7. Environmental set piece of frst Necromorph attack on ally
NPCs.
8. Environmental narrative of blood trails and dead crew.
9. Embedded narrative of bloody note on the plasma cutter repair
station telling the character to cut of their limbs.
10. Environmental narrative of unseen NPC voice-over cries for
help.
11. Sound efects refecting the malfunctioning equipment and close
pairing of sound efects with the musical score.
• Hospital level of Silent Hill 2
Narrative: Your character is following an elusive NPC who enters the
hospital in the abandoned town of Silent Hill. You are under constant
threat from creatures in the town, where you’ve become trapped by
mysteriously destroyed roads. In the larger game, you’re motivated by
trying to fnd your supposedly dead wife who has sent you a message
and by trying to understand what’s happening in the town.
Techniques:
1. Environmental narrative vignette, girl going into the hospital.
2. Embedded narrative, map of the hospital on the wall.
3. Embedded narrative, doctor’s note about disturbed patients.
4. Worn, dilapidated textures, overturned furniture.
5. Doctor’s notes from disturbed patient that describe the reality
the character is experiencing.
6. Locked door sounds.
7. Darkness and no power.
8. Radio static sounds warning of monsters.
180 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

9. Navigational signs (foor levels, room names).

10. Patient props, magazines, and stufed animals.

Step 5: Remove techniques that don’t apply across games, or generalize

them so that they do.

1. Embedded narrative normal communications: Logs or notes lef

by the previous inhabitants of a space, sometimes directed to you,
or sometimes justifed as communications with bosses or friends,
or as personal journals. Tese may be video, audio, or written
communications.
2. Embedded narrative communications: Notes scrawled on walls or
paper. Tese can be found at the player’s leisure, but are short and are
understood to have been lef for whoever came along next.
3. Embedded narrative barks: Shouts from the next room, brief radio
messages calling for help. Generally directed at whoever can hear
them.
4. Embedded narrative instructions: Signs to help people use the space,
from street signs to room name plaques to maps.
5. Embedded narrative exposition: Propaganda/welcome videos, post-
ers, etc. Used to tell the player things about a space that its inhabit-
ants would generally know. Ofen tightly themed with the rest of the
environment.
6. Environmental narrative: General texture, lighting, and audio
choices that create the desired environment. Tese are not telling a
specifc story but are telling the larger story of the space.
7. Environmental narrative showing what happens here, not a specifc
event, but the accumulation of evidence of the things that ordinarily
occur in this place.
8. Environmental evidence: A single or small set of sounds, textures, or
objects, such as a single bullet hole or a lone bloodstain, that don’t tell
a full story, but point to a specifc thing that happened.
9. Environmental vignettes: Larger collections of environmental assets
that tell a small, specifc story. Usually, these are static; they are
 Focused Patterns ◾ 181

something simple and singular that happened. For example, a dead

body and bloody footprints going away down the hall.
10. Environmental set piece: A more complex set of environmental
assets and possibly events that happen around the character while
they are playing. Te character may or may not be able to interact
with them, but their interaction can’t change the meaning of the
events.

Step 6: List and briefy describe each pattern you observe.

1. A wide variety of diferent embedded and environmental techniques

are used in all cases.
2. Te use of techniques escalates as the level progresses, reinforcing
the gameplay pacing of the level.
3. Embedded narrative exposition is more common at the beginning of
levels.
4. Embedded narrative communication is ofen used as a tutorial or to
provide hints.
5. Environmental set pieces are ofen used as narrative climax beats or
to introduce a climactic gameplay moment.
6. General backstory is conveyed by narrative exposition and pervasive
texture, lighting, and sound choices.
7. Specifc backstory is conveyed through embedded communications
and environmental vignettes.
8. Immediate events are shown through embedded barks and environ-
mental set pieces.

Step 7: Select one pattern and document it using the pattern template.
Te uses of embedded narrative exposition to give the player context that
the character, or the average person in the story, would already possess.

Step 8: You may repeat step 7 for each pattern you observed in step 6.
Tere is clearly a meta-level pattern here about the density and structure
of the embedded and environmental narrative, and how that relates to the
intensity of the game experience. All of the games I examined had a very
182 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

rapid narrative beat and a high density of embedded and environmental

narrative. To fully describe that pattern, it would be necessary to look at
games with both slower narrative pacing and less dense embedded and
environmental techniques.

Pattern
I have chosen a relatively simple and specifc pattern to complete this
exercise to show that it can produce both low- and high-level patterns.
It’s tempting to pursue the highest level, the most “powerful” pattern that
you can see. If this is your frst time completing this exercise, try to stay
specifc and return to the exercise later to look for the higher-level patterns
that unify the lower-level ones you started with.

Name: I Thought You Should Know

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 10.4 It’s old news to the character, but the player needs to hear it.

Author: Chris Barney

Design problem: Designers often put players into a situation that they
know nothing about, but that their character would be familiar with.
Description: To convey commonly known information and still let the
character seem like an insider in the situation, the developer may wish
 Focused Patterns ◾ 183

to put the information the player needs to know into embedded narrative
aimed at other characters that might be new to the space.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• BioShock—When you enter the bathysphere to descend into Rapture, a

propaganda video plays that gives the purpose and origin of the city as
the player sees it for the frst time.
• Dead Space—As the player leaves their repair ship and enters the
mining ship, a video plays in the landing bay, giving the history of the
ship.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare—In the intro sequence, you ride in a
car and listen to a political speech that sets the scene for the game.
This speech is overlaid with several other types of environmental narra-
tive; complete the suggested exercise for Child Patterns using this game
instead to see if you can fnd them.

Seed: Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns—

Techniques found in the Tokyo Car Park instance in The Secret World
Parent patterns:
The Three Pillars of Meaning in Emergent Narrative* (Confdence: 3)—I
Thought You Should Know provides context, one of the three pillars
described in this pattern.
Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns
to generate a pattern based on the intro sequence of Half-Life and
that of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I might call the pattern this would
produce “Where the heck am I?”

Keywords: Narrative, Embedded Narrative, Context

* Example pattern from Exercise 11: Emergent Narrative Patterns.

 CHAPTER 11

Patterns That
Break the Mold

O ne of the legitimate issues I’ve heard with the idea of document-

ing patterns and creating a Pattern Language is that using such a cre-
ation inherently limits the design space and creativity of designers. With
how fexible and abstract patterns can be, and how they can create new,
innovative solutions to old design problems, I think this concern is mostly
exaggerated.
However, when creating patterns in the observational way that this
book describes, we are limited to the set of design problems that we have
example solutions for. Game design is becoming more robust as a feld, but
it’s still comparatively new, and I would never say that we’ve exhausted the
set of possible design problems that can be addressed through games! So it
stands to reason that we need to be able to create patterns to address new
problems and to extend the known design space.
Te patterns in this section each try to do that in a diferent way.

BREAKING SPACES PATTERNS

Pattern Purpose
When we consider a game design, one of the problems we must address is
where we intend the game to be played. Tis question may be infuenced
by the platform we’re aiming for or by the audience. Or it may be one of
the primary choices we make, which then afects those other factors.

185
186 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

As games shif with changes in technology, the spaces we can play

them in shif as well. Our options for where we might want our game to
be played are increasing, but our control over where our game is actually
experienced is decreasing.
I conceived this exercise as a way for designers to understand how space
afects the play of a game and to consider the efect of moving a game from
one targeted space to another.
For this exercise, spaces are defned as the venues of play. You can fnd
a discussion of this concept in Lens #3 of Jessie Schell’s Te Art of Game
Design (2020). Schell’s venues are evocative and poetic, but essentially break
down to the kinds of places you can play a game. Tese can include private
spaces: at your computer, on the couch with friends, or on your phone in
private. Public game spaces can happen on your phone while you’re doing
something like waiting in line, with a group in a game like tag in the park,
or even performatively with a sport such as baseball or football.
It would be easy to create an exercise that looked at games that are meant
to be played in a particular space and that produced patterns describing
how to develop games for that kind of space. Tose will be valuable pat-
terns, and I encourage you to do that! However, this exercise focuses on
understanding how games can break out of the spaces in which they were
originally designed to function.
“Breaking spaces” is defned here as taking a game that would typically
be played in one space and moving it into another, usually with afor-
dances and alterations to make the game adapt to the new space.

EXERCISE 13: BREAKING SPACES PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick two venues.
Step 2: Describe ten games that “break spaces” by moving between these
two venues.
Step 3: List the elements that those games use to break spaces.
Step 4: List the effects of those elements.
Step 5: List and briefy describe each pattern you observe.
Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.*
Step 7: Then think of a game that does not break spaces.†
Step 8: Can you apply the pattern to that game?

* At this point you may not have the problem that the pattern you have observed solves. Tat's okay
in this case; the problem will be derived in the next steps.
† To put it another way, pick a game that has not been adapted to a new space or ported to a new

hardware platform.
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 187

Step 9: What effect do you think you will create by breaking spaces in the
game you chose in step 7? Frame this effect as the problem for your
pattern.
Step 10: You may repeat steps 6–9 for each pattern you observed in step 5.

Steps 7 through 9 of this exercise are intended to let you make a prelimi-
nary assessment of the viability of your pattern. If you can’t imagine how
your pattern would apply to the games you select, then it’s a good indica-
tion that it’s not a strong or useful pattern. Being able to imagine applying
the pattern is a positive sign, but it doesn’t indicate that your pattern is per-
fect. The only way to build that confdence is through repeated successful
application of the pattern.

Example Breaking Spaces Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick two venues.

Tabletop → Tablet

Step 2: Describe ten games that “break spaces” by moving between

these two venues.

• Chess → Battle Chess—Early digital implementations of chess were

very literal adaptations of a traditional chessboard and rules to a
digital presentation. Battle Chess altered the game by making use
of the digital medium to depict each capture as a battle between the
pieces. Te game didn’t provide control in the battles, so the out-
come was always the same as in a normal game of chess. An artif-
cial intelligence (AI)-controlled opponent was provided at frst, and
later versions or clones of this game ofered online play. It could be
argued that this game was the origin of turn-based strategy games
that added gameplay to the battles and less abstract, more represen-
tational battlefeld maps. Mobile (clone) versions of this game pro-
vide a more kinesthetic touch experience.
• Magic: Te Gathering → MTG: Arena—Tere have been two sig-
nifcant digital implementations of the collectible card game Magic:
Te Gathering, i.e., MTG: Online and more recently MTG: Arena.
Te digital implementations take advantage of the medium to both
188 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

manage the mechanics of the game and, in the more recent versions,
to provide more engaging play with a thematic playspace and ani-
mated card efects and creatures. Both ofer online and AI-based
play, tutorials, and some thematic story-based elements. A mobile
version, MTG: Duels, provides a touch-based interface but doesn’t
alter the gameplay meaningfully.
• Ticket to Ride—Te digital version of this game is a literal interpreta-
tion of the physical game, with AI opponents and computer manage-
ment of the mechanics. Te digital implementation vastly reduces
the amount of time it takes to play the game. Te mobile version was
developed frst, though a desktop version is available. Te total cost
of the game and all expansions is much lower for the digital versions,
and they ofer tutorials and enhanced visuals.
• Elder Sign → Elder Sign: Omens—Te digital version of this game
is mechanically identical to the physical version. Interestingly, the
abstract mechanics and the degree to which they were dissonant with
the game theme made the physical version one of the less engaging
games in this franchise. Te digital version, however, makes good
use of visuals and sound to create a more horror-focused experience.
Tere is little tutorial scafolding, but the base gameplay is straight-
forward in a digital implementation. Again, a tablet version was
implemented frst, and a desktop port was created later.
• Carcassonne—Te digital implementation of this board game is per-
haps the most literal of all the games discussed here. While it’s simple
and easy to use, it provides very little digital enhancement. Simple
tutorial and multiplayer elements are provided. Te mobile version,
which was developed frst, is designed with the idea of passing a sin-
gle mobile device among a group of players to be played in a similar
venue to the physical game. Te desktop version provides signifcant
visual enhancements, along with more focus on online multiplayer.
• Warhammer → Warhammer Quest 2—Tere have been a lot of digital
adaptations of the Warhammer franchise. Tese range from close rep-
lications of the tabletop war game to real-time action games. Tey’ve
varied in level of quality, but those that mirror the physical game in a
way that provides an intuitive digital experience have been the most
successful. In general, the games have provided both single-player
modes with AI opponents and multiplayer with online opponents.
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 189

• Clue—Tere have been many ofcial and unofcial adaptations of

this game in a digital medium. Te digital versions provide a gradu-
ally increasing level of visual fdelity, and take care of information-
hiding and the mechanical management of the game. Interestingly,
the games don’t add much narrative embellishment and largely
reproduce the logic problem that is the core of the game. Te most
recent implementation supports both local and online multiplayer
with global rankings, as well as multiple themes from vampires to
the Orient Express.
• Settlers of Catan → Catan Universe—Tis implementation is very
close to the physical board game, with the computer managing the
mechanics of the game. Tere are some graphical afordances such
as visual indicators of who gains resources from which tiles each
turn. Te game provides AI as well as online multiplayer, and exists
on both mobile and desktop platforms, with the mobile platforms
developed frst.
• Scrabble → Scrabble/Words With Friends—Digital versions of this
game date back as far as 1988. More recent mobile versions are also
available. Te addition of online play and integration with Facebook
made the Words With Friends clone vastly popular for several years.
One branded mobile version allowed players to play on a tablet and
use their phones as their word trays in a way that kinesthetically
mirrored physical play. Digital versions provide AI opponents and
resolve questions of what words are valid.
• Labyrinth—Te physical version of this game used knobs to tilt a
play board to roll a ball through a maze* while avoiding holes. Te
digital implementation of this game was frst produced for mobile
devices and added signifcant gameplay and control enhancements.
Te controls used the mobile device’s gyroscope to allow the player
to tilt the phone.

Step 3: List the techniques that those games use to break spaces.

• Chess → Battle Chess—Enhanced visuals, gameplay speed

* Ironically the game Labyrinth is actually a maze. A true labyrinth has only a single winding path
that leads inevitably to the center.
190 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Magic: Te Gathering → MTG: Arena—Tutorial, online matchmak-

ing, enhanced visuals
• Ticket to Ride—Reduced playspace size, online matchmaking, asyn-
chronous play, single-player AI
• Elder Sign → Elder Sign: Omens—Asynchronous play, thematic
sound and music, automated management of game systems
• Carcassonne—Pass and play, tutorial, online matchmaking, new
single-player game modes, automated management of game systems
• Warhammer → Warhammer Quest 2—Single-player, story focus,
microtransactions, tutorial
• Clue—Tutorial, automated management of game systems, enhanced
visuals, sound, reduced playspace size, online matchmaking,
microtransactions
• Settlers of Catan → Catan Universe—Tutorial, automated manage-
ment of game systems, enhanced visuals, sound, reduced playspace
size, online matchmaking
• Scrabble → Scrabble/Words With Friends—Tutorial, automated man-
agement of game systems, reduced playspace size, online matchmak-
ing, asynchronous play, social integration
• Labyrinth—Automated management of game systems, more varied
content, difculty scaling, kinesthetic use of mobile devices

Step 4: List the efects of those techniques.

• Tutorial—An interactive tutorial can make a game more accessible

by making the same level of instruction available to all players. In the
non-digital versions of a game, superior instruction may be available
if an experienced player is present, but that can’t be assured and is
especially unlikely for a new game.
• Enhanced visuals—Not all digital versions focus on this technique,
but it’s ofen seen as important. Te games that beneft most use
enhanced visuals to increase the amount of information they can
convey to the players. For physical games that provide a high-quality
kinesthetic experience, providing a high-quality digital presentation
can help to match player expectations.
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 191

• Reduced playspace size—Tis is inherent in the tablet medium, but

it has the practical efect of allowing more convenient play by freeing
it from the table. Essentially, play could take place in any of Schell’s
venues. Te cost of this efect could be the loss of the tactile and kin-
esthetic elements of play.
• Asynchronous play—Te ability to easily preserve the game state
allows asynchronous play, where a single game can be stretched over
many days. In this way, a play session moves from being a complete
game to being a single turn. Tere’s the obvious beneft of allowing
multiple simultaneous games and increased accessibility. Reducing
the play time also allows much longer games to ft well into the ofen
short mobile play length.
• Single-player/Single-player AI—While some conversions provide
local multiplayer gameplay, many do not or don’t focus on it. In
these cases, it’s common to provide AI-controlled opponents to
allow for solo play. Tis can have the beneft of allowing for player
learning in a safe environment. It does radically change most
games, however, and difers from the fundamentally social nature
of board games.
• New single-player game modes—Many multiplayer physical games
have solo gameplay rules, but the addition or inclusion of this kind
of play is common in digital interpretations. Tis refects the more
physically solitary nature of playing these game versions.
• Tematic sound and music—It’s not unusual for gamers to create
soundtracks for playing their favorite board games, but the devel-
oper agency in creating this kind of experience is signifcant. Te
importance of creating mood varies depending on how thematic a
game is, but in almost all cases, it makes the play experience more
compelling.
• Automated management of game systems—In recent years, board
games have developed more complex systems. Perhaps this is in
response to the complexity allowed by digital games, or just an
increase in the sophistication of game-makers or the tastes of game
players. In any case, it has caused games to become harder to learn,
and to consume more time and space. Te automation of many of
those systems generally has a positive efect, though it’s possible to
automate things that could be meaningful choices for players.
192 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Pass and play—Some games that use this technique are trying to rep-
licate the play experience of the physical game as closely as possible.
Te difculty is ofen that the other players are lef without anything
to look at while others are playing, particularly when there’s hidden
information and the game device can’t be shared. An early version of
Scrabble used multiple devices to good efect, but it’s no longer avail-
able, and this technique is not common in other games.
• Story focus—It’s relatively uncommon to see a focus on story added
to games, but games that have a signifcant story focus beneft from
the tools that a digital implementation provides.
• Microtransactions—Games with a lot of physical expansions ofen
provide those expansions through microtransactions. Other games,
like Magic: Te Gathering or other collectible card games, ofen ofer
digital packs of cards as microtransactions.
• Online matchmaking—Tis is also related to accessibility. Allowing
for online play of competitive games gives players without access to
local opponents the ability to play the game. In the best cases, this
play can meet or exceed the standard of local play. Te efectiveness
of this technique depends on how much fdelity is lost in the trans-
lation to a digital game. Usually, what is lost is direct access to the
other players. In games with a large social component, this may have
a signifcant negative impact.
• Social network integration—Tapping into a user’s existing social
network grid allows for both competitive and cooperative play with
others that the player knows outside of the game. Unlike some digi-
tal games that merely tax a social network, most board games ofer
meaningful play.
• More varied content—Te ease of access allowed by the digital mobile
platform can lead to the player exhausting the available gameplay,
particularly in more story-driven or cooperative games. Adding new
content or extending the scope of the physical game can extend the
life of a game somewhat. However, this kind of content delivery can
lead to a game that is dependent on it, and that will not live long past
the end of active development.
• Difculty scaling—Variable difculty has been seen in some
board games in the past few years, but it’s more common in digital
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 193

adaptations. Either the difculty of the game itself may be adjusted

or the skill of the AI opponents. Tis both allows for a more gentle
learning curve and extends the life of the game.
• Kinesthetic use of mobile devices—A few games make good kin-
esthetic use of mobile devices, either by allowing motion con-
trols or using the touch screen to mimic real-world manipulation
of game pieces. More ofen, satisfying physicality is lost in digital
adaptations.

Step 5: List and briefy describe each pattern you observe.

1. Loss of physicality is compensated for by enhanced visuals.

2. Loss of in-person social information is compensated for by enhanced
information presented in the digital interface.
3. Loss of in-person social information is compensated for by easy
access to competitive/cooperative play online.
4. Loss of personal instruction is compensated for by automated
tutorials.
5. Loss of opponent skill growth is compensated for by variable AI/
game difculty.
6. Lower game price is compensated for by microtransactions and paid
downloadable content (DLC).
7. Story is introduced where the physical game is very thematic or
includes some narrative.
8. Tematic music and sound efects are introduced when the game is
heavily themed.
9. Sound efects that mimic physical gameplay (dice rolling, pieces
clacking) are used ofen, but particularly in abstract games.
10. Large-scale social play (leaderboards, tournaments) are introduced
in competitive games.

Step 6: Select one pattern and document it using the pattern template.
I think the aforementioned patterns break down into the two pattern
seeds. Each can be its own pattern, though they both point to a parent
194 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

pattern that probably applies across all games that are moved between
mediums or venues.

• Some changes to physical games to adapt them to a digital medium

are made to compensate for aspects of a game that are lost when
the game is no longer physical. Games that make this transition
successfully fnd ways to maintain the aspects of the game that
defne it.
• Some changes to physical games to adapt them to a digital medium
are made to take advantage of the capabilities of the new medium.
Games that are successful in this transition make sure that any new
features are aligned with the existing aspects of the game.

Step 7: Ten think of a game that does not break spaces.

Gloomhaven is a tactical combat adventure board game. It is a long-form
campaign-based game played over dozens of two- to four-hour sessions.
Te game is relatively expensive at $100 plus any expansion content. It
supports one to four players and requires a large play area. Te game fea-
tures a persistent world and many complex mechanics.

Step 8: Can you apply the pattern to that game?

Yes. Clearly, the adaptation of this game to a tablet-based or computer-
based medium could have many advantages, but would be a complex pro-
cess. Successfully adapting this game for a digital format would require
a deep understanding of the tabletop design space, the intended player
experience, and the digital design space.

Step 9: What efect do you think you will create by breaking spaces in
that game? Frame this efect as the problem for your pattern.
Adapting this game well could enhance the narrative and world-building
aspects of the game and alleviate the difculty of “getting the game to the
table” or fnding the time, space, and friends to play with. It could also
make the game much easier to learn.
Te biggest dangers would be avoiding the temptation to just turn it
into a co-op fantasy action-adventure game or even a turn-based strategy
game. Part of the adaptation would be looking at all of the systems in
the game and seeing what could be automated without eliminating all the
interesting player choices.
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 195

It would be important to preserve the sense of a persistent world, and

to either make the play time of each encounter short enough to ft into a
mobile play session or allow the turns of an encounter to be played out
asynchronously. You would also want to take advantage of the digital
medium to include things like voiced non-player characters (NPCs) and
an enhanced visual presentation of the ever-changing world map, while
still showing that the players are responsible for the changes to the world.
To frame the way that this pattern informs the design of this kind of
adaptation, I would say: “When moving a game from one medium or
venue to another, many things about that game will change. While some
of those may be obvious, it can be difcult to understand what must and
what must not be changed and why.”

Step 10: You may repeat steps 6–9 for each pattern you observed in
step 5.

Pattern

Name: Know Your Past, Know Your Future, Know Yourself

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 11.1 What parts of a game do you need to keep when you adapt it,
and what parts change or disappear?
Author: Chris Barney
196 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Design problem: When moving a game from one medium or venue to

another, many things about a game will change. While some of those may
be obvious, it can be diffcult to understand what must and what must not
be changed and why.
Description: When moving a game from one platform or venue to another,
a designer must understand the design of the game, the existing playspace,
and the target playspace. Merely understanding the game to be adapted is
not suffcient.
Some aspects of the game will exist to serve a particular purpose that’s
intrinsic to the starting medium and won’t function the same way in the
new medium, or should be replaced by techniques that serve the same
purpose more effectively in the new medium.
For example, in a tactical board game, a player may select a unit to
attack with, then choose what ability to use, then roll some dice, count the
successes, and calculate damage. That whole process might be replaced
by a real-time combat system, where the player presses a button to attack
a nearby enemy and damage is dealt automatically. That might seem to
achieve the same effect, but several points of player strategy have now
been replaced with refex-based action or moved from player control to
game logic. If the purpose of combat in the original game is player tactics
and strategy, then any implementation in the new medium should allow
the same tactical and strategic choice for the player.
Additionally, the designer must understand the design space of the new
medium in order to select techniques from it that preserve the game’s intent
when implementing that game’s mechanics in the new venue. The danger
here is the temptation to add unnecessary techniques from the new medium,
just because they’re expected or common within the target medium.
For example, progression systems are common in tactical games in a
digital medium, but it would be a mistake to try to add progression systems
to an adaptation of chess. Likewise, a musical score or battle sound effects
would add little to that kind of game. More useful would be features that let
you explore possible move paths and rewind games to explore and develop
your strategic skill, or an AI that could comment on the moves you were
making, helping you understand the game more deeply.
To successfully move a game from one medium or venue to another,
a designer must consider each element of the game’s original design and
assess whether it serves a purpose intrinsic to the game or is the result
of a context-specifc implementation. Then they must consider the target
medium and whether the element will function in the same way in the new
medium. If it won’t, then they must fnd a new element that will serve the
same purpose in the new medium. Even if the existing technique suffces,
they must consider whether there’s a more effective element in the new
medium. Further, a designer must be cautious of adding any new elements
to the game, and only do so if those elements strengthen the game.
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 197

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Magic: The Gathering—There have been several iterations on a digi-

tal adaptation for this collectible card game. Each iteration has imple-
mented the basic mechanics of the physical game. All of them use music
and sound effects that ft the setting or replicate the sounds of cards in
the physical game. The visuals of the earlier games replicate the physi-
cal game, and only embellish to indicate information like what cards are
playable or are being targeted. All versions include single-player modes
that match the player against AI opponents and also contain narrative
content; these serve as tutorials and training for new players. The most
recent iteration, Magic: The Gathering Arena, differs from the physi-
cal game more in presentation, though the mechanics are the same.
It provides 3D interpretations of creatures and distinct spell effects.
This may have been done to compete with other similar digital collect-
ible card games (CCGs) such as Hearthstone. Online multiplayer is the
focus of these games, and the business model of selling card packs has
been implemented here using microtransactions. Most important, the
design focus of card-collecting, deck-building, and competitive play is
refected in most design choices.
• Labyrinth—The physical version of this game is focused on creating
a challenging, refex-based puzzle. The digital implementation of this
game manages to faithfully capture this experience. The digital version,
however, takes advantage of the ability to add many levels, implement-
ing more complicated pinball-like mechanics and puzzles. All of the
additions to the game help to create the same kind of kinesthetic puzzle
experience as the physical game.
• Warhammer Quest 2—There have been many digital adaptations of
this franchise of miniatures combat games. This specifc implementa-
tion focuses on capturing the small-scale strategic combat of the physi-
cal game in a single-player context. While this implementation doesn’t
seek to recreate the totality of what’s possible with the physical game,
it takes advantage of the ability to automate the bookkeeping aspects
of the game and provides enemy AI to make the game accessible to
single players. Additionally, the single-player focus allows for more nar-
rative content that draws on the complex world-building of the physical
game.

Seed: Breaking Spaces Patterns: Tabletop to Tablet

Related patterns:
Parent patterns: None.*

* Tis may be a top-level pattern. I cannot think of any exercise in this book that would reliably
generate a parent for this pattern. Can you?
198 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns to generate a pattern
based on an element from a game that you’re considering moving to
a new platform. If you were moving chess to a digital form, you might
choose turn-based movement. If you were moving Candy Crush to a
virtual reality (VR) platform, you might choose the top-down camera
perspective. When you’re done, consider the resulting pattern and
see if it applies to your new platform. If the pattern helps you translate
the player experience between platforms, then add it as a child here.

Keywords: Venue, Adaptation, Tablet, Board Game

PLAYER MANIPULATION PATTERNS

A word of caution regarding player manipulation: patterns generated by
this exercise can go very wrong for a variety of reasons. If we look with
clear eyes, we have to admit that almost everything we do as designers is
intended to manipulate the player. Mechanics are supposed to make the
player feel powerful or vulnerable. Narrative exists to provoke a desire for
revenge, or love and sympathy for an NPC. Most of the time, the player
goes into the game fully aware of what they’re in for. In a sense, this is one
of the primary reasons that we consume media, whether it’s music that
makes us cry, or a book that spurs us to political action, or a movie that
makes us believe in heroes and have hope. We line up and consent to be
manipulated.
But when we as developers have those tools in our hands, we’re ofen
tempted to use them in the most efective way possible, and ofen that
can mean using these patterns and techniques in ways that the player is
not expecting. Tis calls back to the example of Spec Ops: Te Line from
the Introduction. Tat whole game is based on making the player believe
they are playing one sort of game in order to confront them about the
experience they have been having. Te player is manipulated into enjoy-
ing the shooter gameplay, then is gradually made uncomfortable with
that enjoyment as the tropes that support it are stripped away. Finally,
in the game’s big reveal, the developers admit that they have been lying
to and manipulating the player the whole time. Te moment is efective
and powerful, and I fully support the developers’ choice to engage in this
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 199

type of manipulation. Tat said, there’s a legitimate ethical question that

you need to ask every time you choose to manipulate the player in a way
that they may not be aware of: How are your manipulations going to afect
the player? Can they cause harm? As a designer, you have to make the
choice as to whether the potential harm your emotional or psychological
manipulations might cause is justifed and ethical. All I can ask is that you
make it openly and intentionally.

Pattern Purpose
Since we’re trying to create a player experience with the games we design,
the behavior of players in response to our games is a critical component.
Player experience can difer from the expected in two main ways: when
players behave diferently from what the developers expect, and when
the developers cause players to behave in ways that they would not have
expected to. Looking at these two possibilities leads to two very diferent
sets of patterns. Tis exercise will focus on distilling patterns that allow
the developer to understand what causes these unexpected experiences.

EXERCISE 14: PLAYER MANIPULATION PATTERNS

(APPLYING EMOTIONAL PATTERNS)
Step 1: Pick an experience from a game that you weren’t expecting. It can be
an emotion, like surprise, sadness, regret, or greed. Or it can be a more
complex concept, like understanding that teamwork is the only way to
win in a game where there is player confict. To differentiate this exer-
cise from Emotional Patterns (Exercise 6) or Player Experience Patterns
(Exercise 7), be sure to choose something that surprised you. Remember,
one of the keys to player manipulation is subverting expectations.
Step 2: List and describe ten games that create the same effect, whether it’s
unexpected or not. This process will help you separate patterns of player
manipulation from simpler emotional patterns.
Step 3: For each game, describe the techniques that it uses to create that
effect, and whether the effect was expected or unexpected.
Step 4: List and describe the patterns you see in the techniques that these
games use.
Step 5: Pick one pattern and describe it using the Pattern Template.
Step 6: Think of a game that does not produce the effect you chose.
Step 7: If you can imagine how to apply the pattern you identifed in step
5, describe that process.
Step 8: If you cannot complete step 7, then pick a different game in step 6.
Step 9: If you fail to complete step 7 several times, discard your pattern
from step 5 and proceed to step 6 with the new pattern.
200 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Example Player Manipulation Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick an experience from a game that you weren’t expecting.

BioShock. Te thirst for revenge. I was not expecting the motivation that
the frst half of the game set me up to feel when I discovered that I had
been manipulated.

Step 2: List ten games that create that efect.

• BioShock—First-person shooter.
• Max Payne—Tird-person shooter.
• God of War—Tird-person spectacle fghter.
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver—Tird-person action.
• Prototype—Tird-person action.
• Phantasy Star IV — Turn-based RPG.
• Red Dead Redemption—Tird-person open world.
• Soulcalibur—Fighting game.
• Werewolf—Social deduction party game.
• Te Prisoner’s Dilemma—Game theory problem.

Step 3: For each game, describe the ways that it creates that efect.

• BioShock—Te player is misled by their main contact during the frst

half of the game and spends the second half trying to get revenge on
their betrayer. Tis is efective, as the player has been misled as much
as the character has.
• Max Payne—As a player, you’re quickly immersed in the charac-
ter’s world, both narratively and through the intro gameplay. Ten
you’re put into a level where you’re unable to stop the murder of
the character’s wife and child. Tere are signifcant social problems
with this narrative, and a game made today would undoubtedly
receive deserved criticism. Nevertheless, the introductory sequence
efectively connects your motivations as a player to the character’s
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 201

obsessive drive for revenge by making you feel powerless at the

game’s start. Of course, sexist if genre-consistent tropes are layered
on top of this mechanical motivation. Te bullet time efect, where
time slows down and you can execute the impossible feats of marks-
manship commonly seen in John Woo movies, creates the scenes of
slaughter that are in keeping with the character’s descent into obses-
sion, madness, and violent revenge. Tere is some indication that the
player should question or object to the actions of the character.
• God of War—Te character’s family is immediately murdered. Te
plot reasons for this are somewhat convoluted, but the character has
an immediate and extreme obsession with vengeance. Te player
may sympathize with the character, but it’s the over-the-top violent
gameplay, which is very well-executed, that motivates the player
to take the extremely violent actions that the character desires.
Ludonarrative dissonance is ofen cited as an issue with games, i.e.,
the problem of core gameplay not being congruent with the story a
game is telling. In the case of God of War, there’s a strong sense of
what might be called ludonarrative resonance. Tere’s little indica-
tion that the player should object to the actions of the character in
the early parts of the game. Te character’s actions are called more
into question in later installments of the franchise.
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver—Early in the game, the character is
betrayed and turned into a vampire. Te character’s quest for revenge
frames the early part of the game, until they discover that they have
been manipulated and then seek revenge on the person who was
manipulating them. Later, the character’s motivations shif yet again
when they discover the reasons for their manipulation. At the end
of the game, the player is given a choice: save the world, or in some
sense betray the game and become evil. Te constant misdirection in
this game sets up the player to want to make this choice—as revenge
on the developers for jerking them around for 30 hours! Later games
in the series canonize this choice.
• Prototype—Te character is the product of an experiment that has
turned him into a violent killing machine with superpowers. Over
the course of the game, he destroys a good portion of the city and
kills hundreds of soldiers and bystanders in the pursuit of revenge.
Using his destructive powers is core to the gameplay, and is well
202 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

implemented and intended to be fun. Te wanton destruction is in

line with the personality of the character. Tere are strong indica-
tions that the character’s actions are problematic, but no real option
to act diferently.
• Phantasy Star IV—Although the full plot of this game is not driven
by revenge, the frst section builds a relationship between the main
character and his mentor, and she is later killed at a dramatically
appropriate point. Te scene is efective because the player has spent
a lot of time getting to know the mentor.
• Red Dead Redemption—The theme of revenge is realized in
a complex way in this game. The character is forced to under-
take a series of morally questionable missions by a government
agency that’s holding his family hostage. This results in a sim-
ple quest-giver structure, but also gives time for the player to
develop resentment for the agency and watch the character suffer.
Eventually, the main character is killed and is unable to enact his
revenge, but the player takes control of the character’s son and
kills those responsible for holding him hostage and killing his
father. Essentially, the player gets to directly experience all of the
actions that inspire revenge.
• Soulcalibur—Revenge is occasionally cited in the backstories of the
characters in this game, but for the players, it is one of the primary
motivators. As this is primarily a two-player competitive game, half
of the players lose each time it’s played. Calls for one more game or
best two out of three are standard. Te thirst for revenge is generated
directly in the players, and the game strives to make the player feel
like next time they might win.
• Werewolf—Te primary driver of this game is social deception.
Tere’s little explicit call for revenge in the setting of the game, but
in repeated play, characters who are killed by “the werewolves” (or
“the mafa” or “the witches”) typically seek revenge on the players
they were betrayed by in the previous game.
• Te Prisoner’s Dilemma (iterative)—In the iterative version of this
classic game theory construct, a player is infuenced in their choices
by the past actions of the other player. With no outside infuences
on the players’ choices, their distrust and the logic governing their
actions very closely resemble a thirst for revenge. When this element
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 203

is introduced into a game with outside factors that should infuence

the player not to pursue revenge, this becomes even more evident as
players pursue their desire for revenge even against the logical fac-
tors that make it a suboptimal choice.

Step 4: List and describe the patterns you see in the techniques that
these games use.

• Coercive Ludonarrative Resonance—I use this term to mean the

case when the gameplay and the narrative are in alignment, but the
experience of the character and player are not in alignment. In this
scenario, the character’s narrative forces the player to recontextual-
ize their experience of the gameplay.
• I’ll Miss Our Time Together—Te player is given time to bond with
an NPC so that they will have a stronger emotional reaction to the
loss of that NPC.
• Next Time, Gadget!—A primarily multiplayer pattern where the loss
of a game is the primary motivation for playing again.

Step 5: Pick one pattern and describe it using the pattern template.
Coercive Ludonarrative Resonance

Step 6: Tink of a game that does not produce that efect.

Super Mario Bros.

Step 7: If you can imagine how to apply the pattern you identifed in
step 5, describe that process.
In this game, Mario is motivated by a damsel in distress trope, but Mario
shows little reaction to either the enemies that are responsible for kidnap-
ping the princess or the non-diegetic message that she’s in another castle
at the end of each level. A few simple changes to the game’s sound design,
such as sounds of disgust when he crushes Goombas or sounds of frustra-
tion when the princess is yet again not where he expected to fnd her, could
show Mario’s emotional reactions.
I think these kinds of changes would probably give Mario more depth
of character, but they would also undermine the game’s light tone. For
any game, it’s worth considering whether the game’s themes would make
it a darker and less fun experience. If so, you should think about whether
those themes and tropes are the best choices.
204 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 8: If you cannot complete step 7, pick a diferent game in step 6.

Step 9: If you fail to complete step 7 several times, discard your pattern
from step 5 and proceed to step 6 with the new pattern.
Pattern

Name: Coercive Ludonarrative Resonance

Confdence: 3
Image:

FIGURE 11.2 When gameplay and narrative are aligned the player may
fnd themself pulled into an experience they didn’t expect.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Sometimes as a designer, you want to give the player a
sense of empathy for a character’s experience that the player may not be
familiar with or predisposed to. For example, a player may not know what
it’s like to have a murderous thirst for vengeance, or a suicidal sense of
despair and loneliness.
Description: To help align the experience of the player with the experience
of the character, a designer may wish to create gameplay that is enjoyable
for the player, but that also aligns with the experience of the character.
By performing the gameplay actions required to complete the game and
watching the consequences of those actions play out for the character, the
player can get a sense of responsibility for, and participation in, the state
of the character.
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 205

As with all patterns that manipulate a player, this is a delicate technique. It’s
very easy to create situations where the player will become uncomfortable,
and either not wish to continue the game or become genuinely upset with the
game and the developer. If the designer is not always aware of the potential
experiences of the player, it’s possible to unintentionally use this pattern in
cases where the developer is aligning the mechanics of the game and its nar-
rative. This may be the case in the example of God of War (see later).
As the example games show, the more aware of and prepared for the
narrative and mechanical experience of the game that players are, the
more comfortable they will be with having their experience shaped by
the ludonarrative resonance.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Max Payne—The game uses various techniques to create a situation

where the character is seeking revenge and willing to kill anyone and do
anything to get it. The smooth shooting mechanics and satisfying bullet-
time mechanics make the process of enacting the character’s revenge
“fun” for the player. But the scale and intensity of the violence become
uncomfortable for the player, highlighting the character’s instability and
obsession—an effect the narrative intends.
• God of War—Again using some pretty heavy-handed tropes about
violence against women and children and the expected masculine
response, the frst God of War game places the character on a path
of bloody vengeance. The combat gameplay is extremely well imple-
mented and satisfying, allowing the player to guide the character along
an ever-escalating path of violence. This is in keeping with the nar-
rative, and for many players is a satisfying and cathartic experience.
However, players who enjoy the action gameplay but are uncom-
fortable with the depicted actions and motivations of the character
fnd themselves increasingly caught between having fun and causing
actions through their gameplay that they fnd unacceptable, even in a
fctional narrative.
• Spec Ops: The Line—This game sets up a military frst-person shooter
experience narratively and mechanically. As the game progresses, it
shifts the narrative to call the mechanics of the game into question.
There are many mechanics in the game, and the character who is in
alignment with them performs them unselfconsciously. The player may
or may not be comfortable with these mechanics or the narrative. Late
in the game, the character’s perspective shifts, and he becomes aware
of the horror of his actions. This either releases the player from the ten-
sion they had been feeling between their objection to the narrative and
mechanics, or explicitly shows them that they should have been experi-
encing this kind of discomfort.
206 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Dear Esther—The slow, meditative gameplay, linear-level progress, and

pacing of narrative exposition work together to give the player the expe-
rience of a sad and tired man at the end of his life. The game’s unavoid-
able conclusion in the suicide of the character confronts the player with
the choice of accepting or rejecting the narrative and gameplay experi-
ence they have had.
• Virginia—The experience of this game is created by unifying the dif-
fcult and limiting experience of being a professional woman working
in a male-dominated world in the 1970s with gameplay that limits the
player’s control over their experience of the game. I found this extremely
effective after recognizing what was happening during the frst scene
of the game. Other players who did not recognize the reasons for the
gameplay limitations did not understand that their frustration with the
game was intended to mirror the frustration of the character.
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifce—The narrative of this game focuses on men-
tal illness and the pain it can cause in someone’s life. The mechanics of
the game create an ongoing dread of dying using a threat that the player
may lose all progress if they die too often. It creates a sense of obsessive
searching for imaginary signs in the world around you by asking the player
to line up objects in perspective to form arbitrary symbols. And it creates
a sense of panic by periodically plunging the character into a world on
fre and forcing them to escape by running blindly through the fames. The
game is explicit about the kind of experience it’s seeking to create, and
players who engage with the game get what they signed up for.

Seed: Exercise 14: Player Manipulation Patterns—The Thirst for Revenge

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on
Brenda Romero’s talk “The Mechanic is the Message” (Symonds 2013).

Child patterns:
We’re Going To A Dark Place Together* (Confdence: 2)—The sense of
investment in the character that Coercive Ludonarrative Resonance pro-
duces is necessary or very helpful when implementing this pattern.
Just Look At What You’ve Become† (Confdence: 3)—For character
progression to be believable as transformation, the mechanical and nar-
rative changes must be aligned as described in Coercive Ludonarrative
Resonance.

* Example pattern for Exercise 10: Boss Encounter Patterns.

† Example pattern for Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses.
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 207

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
shame.
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
schadenfreude.

Keywords: Player Manipulation, Mechanics, Narrative

PATTERNS IN INNOVATION
Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise looks at the ways that games are innovative and uncovers
the patterns they use to create that innovation. As always with these exer-
cises, the purpose is not merely to identify the innovative elements in spe-
cifc games, but rather to see what underlies them. Noticing an innovative
game and replicating that successful innovation has a higher chance of
producing a viable game than simply trying something completely new
and untested. Applying this process may seem counterintuitive here, and
indeed, it won’t inherently create innovation—it may only ever make your
game be the second to do something. Tat may be preferable to true inno-
vation if you’re concerned with the viability of your game. Te real pur-
pose of this exercise, though, is to look deeper than a specifc mechanic or
technique and discover how that technique produced innovation.
I’ve designed this exercise to help developers understand what things
allow some innovations to be more successful than others. By complet-
ing this exercise, and applying the patterns you uncover, you will increase
the chances that the innovations you devise will succeed in producing the
efects you intend. Tese patterns will not hand you new techniques that
are magically guaranteed to produce successful innovative games, but
they will help you choose and assess the innovations you’re considering.

EXERCISE 15: PATTERNS IN INNOVATION

Step 1: Make a list of at least ten of the most unusual games you can think of.
Step 2: List the things that those games have in common.*
Step 3: Pick and describe one item from your list in step 2.

* Te similarity doesn't necessarily have to be in the thing that is unusual about the games. Noting
a mundane thing that is shared by many innovative games may still lead to a pattern that will help
you be innovative.
208 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 4: For each game you listed in step 1, list and describe the techniques
that game uses to achieve the effect you picked in step 3.
Step 5: List and describe the patterns that you see in the use of those
techniques.
Step 6: Pick one of these patterns and document it using the Pattern
Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you identifed.

Example pattern
Exercise

Step 1: Make a list of the ten most unusual games you can think of.
I arrived at a list of 17 games to start with. Since they are very diferent, I
decided to list commonalities from as many games as possible and then
eliminate the games that seem to be unusual for diferent reasons.
White Death, Death Stranding, Beat Saber, Disco Elysium, Johann
Sebastian Joust, Persona 5, Kingdom Death: Monster, Starwhal, Katamari
Damacy, Te Stanley Parable, Te Path, Pathologic, Virginia, Catherine,
Te Void, Dear Esther, Nier: Automata

Step 2: List the things that those games have in common.

Unusual story (narrative premise), unusual core mechanic, combination
of genres, unusual control scheme, abstract or intellectual meaning

Step 3: Pick and describe one item from your list.

Abstract or intellectual meaning—Many games that are not innovative
have abstract or intellectual meanings. BioShock and Torment: Tides of
Numenera, for instance, are wonderful games with deep themes, but they
are simply exceptional instances of established game forms. Tere are
certainly also games that are innovative that either have little narrative
coherence or are concerned with more common themes. However, of the
17 games I listed, 13 have abstract or intellectual meanings. I was trying
to list games that are both unusual and to some degree “good games,”*
which is to say that they at least have good gameplay and aren’t just strange
for the sake of being strange. Tose with any narrative coherence exhibit

* See the ffeen fundamental properties of wholeness in Chapter 13 for more detail on what might
be objectively considered a “good game.”
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 209

abstract or intellectual meanings. Te others focus on gameplay to the

almost complete exclusion of narrative.

Step 4: For each game you listed in step 1, list and describe the tech-
niques that game uses to achieve the efect you picked in step 3.

• White Death—Tis live-action game uses the combination of several

mechanics to cause players to behave in strange ways that are emo-
tionally evocative. Tese mechanics are a pairing of an emotional
state and a physical limitation, such as “you feel superior to every-
one taller than you” and “you must keep your hands on the foor.”
In addition, the game is played in a small, lit area in a dark room,
and features melancholy vocal music by artists such as Nick Cave
and Johnny Cash. Te narrative premise is that the characters are
trapped in a cold place and slowly freezing to death. As the game
progresses, they are “freed” from their bodies by the players who
have already died. What emerges from this set of mechanics and
this theming is a harrowing game about letting go of the things that
cause us pain. Te narrative is tightly coupled to, and supportive of,
the mechanics in producing the meaning.
• Death Stranding—Mechanically, this game is a literal walking sim-
ulator. Narratively, it is a story about uniting a post-apocalyptic
America by traveling across it on foot, and physically and socially
connecting the survivors. Te meaning of the game is conveyed both
through its mechanics and through somewhat heavy-handed narra-
tive exposition.
• Disco Elysium—Tis game is perhaps about the psychological origins
of self-destructive behavior, the potential for redemption, and the
process of putting yourself back together afer hitting rock bottom.
Te core gameplay loop seems not to be particularly innovative. Still,
the way that the game validates the player making strange character
choices that they might avoid in other games is unique and creates a
narrative that is among the strangest that I have seen.
• Persona 5—Each game in the Persona series explores diferent
aspects of the self through the lens of characters that manifest the
archetypes of those aspects to battle evil. Te games include mechan-
ics that defne those aspects through the social relationships of the
210 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

characters. In this way, the mechanics are tightly coupled with the
visual and narrative metaphors. Persona 5 is the most polished and
sophisticated example and the most easily available now.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Tis board game combines a city-build-
ing mechanic, monsters with complex behaviors, and characters
that both become important to the players and die ofen to create an
emergent narrative that explores the search for meaning in a nihilis-
tic universe. Te AI systems for the creatures are revolutionary, but
they stand out even more here because they help create the emergent
narrative that builds player connection to the characters.
• Te Stanley Parable—Tis game starts with the mechanical tropes of
the frst-person shooter genre and extrapolates the meanings those
mechanics have, then walks the player through the absurdist results.
• Te Path—Tis is a short game with the mechanic of walking down
the path “to grandmother’s house” from the story of Little Red Riding
Hood. Te player may either stay on the path or explore the woods as
each of seven young girls that represent diferent archetypes. Te sto-
rytelling is done exclusively through environmental narrative and a
brief, cryptic cutscene at the end of each girl’s journey. Te slow pace
of the game serves to give the player time to think about the meaning
of the things they see. Much of the meaning is metaphorical.
• Pathologic—Tis complex Russian game focuses on themes of the
nature of evil, the price of totalitarianism, and the search for self-
worth, among others. Te gameplay has a survival horror feel, with
a focus on managing scarce resources and iterative play. Tose
mechanics reinforce both explicit and environmental narrative. It
uses visual and narrative metaphor, and is symbolism heavily.
• Te Void—Tis game is also by IcePick Lodge, the creators of
Pathologic. Both the theme and gameplay are intentionally opaque,
and the game is designed as a method for contemplating its own
meaning, and perhaps the meaning of a poem by the Russian poet
Maximilian Voloshin. Again, limited resources and repetitive game-
play expose the player to symbolic imagery and events over and over.
• Virginia—Te themes of this game arise from the experience of being
a marginalized person in a position of responsibility. Te mechanics of
the game are subtractive, which is to say that they start with mechanics
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 211

that are common and expected, then strip them away to create feelings
of limitation in the player that mirror those of the character.
• Catherine*—Te narrative and meaning of this game focus on mas-
culine fragility, and present a reductive and negative view of women
driven by the main character’s fear. Te platforming mechanics of
the game create a tense environment where these themes play out.
Te character/player’s actions are also tracked in a second, dating-
sim-like portion of the game, and a variety of endings are possible
based on the player’s choices. However, those choices seem to refect
the real-life actuality of the fears depicted in the game.
• Dear Esther—Te gameplay is simple exploration in a covertly linear
world, exposing the player to narrative and visual beats in the form
of voice-over and environmental narrative. Eventually, the player
enacts the character’s suicide and watches as his soul soars free of
the pain that was his solitude at the end of his life.
• Nier: Automata—Intense action gameplay engages the player in
combat and destruction against a robotic enemy, while the envi-
ronmental and explicit narrative delve into the futility of war and
the nature of being human. Te game is also iterative, and diferent
meanings are revealed each time a section of the game is repeated.

Step 5: List and describe the patterns that you see in the use of those
techniques.
Games that have an innovative mechanic ofen use it to emphasize a
deeper meaning that is created by the narrative framing of the game. Tis
suggests that the innovative mechanics may have been conceived to sup-
port the deeper meaning. Or, that successfully creating deeper meaning
in a game requires mechanics that go beyond those that are common in
games that don’t share that meaning.

Step 6: Pick one of these patterns and document it using the Pattern
Template.
I only synthesized a single pattern out of this portion of the exercise.

* To say that Cathrine is problematic is an understatement; see this article from Slate (Auerbach
2014). However, it is an innovative game that uses its narrative and mechanics together to make a
statement (Rochefort 2017). Understanding how it does that is valuable, regardless of the problem-
atic nature of its meaning.
212 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you identifed.
While I only arrived at one pattern, it would be worth considering these
games in the light of the other commonalities listed in step 2: unusual
story (narrative premise), unusual core mechanic, combination of genres,
unusual control scheme

Pattern

Name: There Had Better Be a Very Good Explanation for This

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 11.3 When a crafing mechanic is tied to themes of survival it

becomes a compelling part of the game’s core purpose.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: As gamers and game designers mature, the desire to
create and experience more meaningful games increases, but the exist-
ing vocabulary of mechanics and narrative structures seems to impose
limitations.
Description: To support deeper and more complex narrative meaning,
designers may need to devise new mechanics that support the meanings
they wish to create. Many games that succeed at creating a deeper mean-
ing also introduce innovative mechanics to support that meaning.
If you’re attempting to build a game around an innovative mechanic,
it’s useful to think about what meanings that mechanic might support. The
 Patterns That Break the Mold ◾ 213

new mechanic may seem strange and unapproachable on its own, but
when seen in the context of a supporting narrative, it can create a powerful
experience for the player.
If you’re designing a game that has a deeper meaning, think about
whether established mechanics are suffcient to support it. If they are not,
then explore new mechanics. If you create those mechanics in support
of the understood narrative and user experience, they’re more likely to
succeed.
In either case, any new mechanics or narrative structures you conceive
of should be carefully playtested as early and as often as possible, as our
conception of a new mechanic’s effect often does not survive its frst con-
tact with a player.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Death Stranding—Narratively, this is a story about connecting a post-

apocalyptic America by traveling across it on foot and socially connect-
ing the survivors. The meaning of the game is conveyed both through
its mechanics and through somewhat heavy-handed narrative expo-
sition. Mechanically, this game is a literal walking simulator, but the
mechanics of walking and carrying supplies have been built out to a
degree never seen in a game before. The moment-to-moment game-
play loop is just managing your ability to walk. The consequences
of carrying and delivering goods are also extremely robust, from the
detailed reports you see of every delivery you make, to the develop-
ment of routes that you travel, to the social responses of the characters
receiving your deliveries.
• Virginia—The themes of this game arise from the experience of being a
marginalized person in a position of responsibility. The mechanics of the
game are subtractive, which is to say that they start with mechanics that
are common and expected and then strip them away to create feelings
of limitation in the player that mirror those of the character. When play-
ers experience the game, they are expecting a particular set of mechan-
ics and the effects those mechanics have. Taking away the mechanic has
the result of taking away the expected effect.
• Dear Esther—The gameplay is simple exploration in a covertly linear
world, exposing the player to narrative and visual beats in the form of
voice-over and environmental narrative. Eventually, the player enacts
the character’s suicide and watches as his soul soars free of the pain that
was his solitude at the end of his life. The innovation in this game was
in removing the common gameplay elements of a frst-person game and
leaving only the exploration, environmental narrative, and voiced expo-
sition. The player has only the choice of whether to complete the game:
that this is the only choice is the very point of the narrative.
214 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Seed: Exercise 15: Patterns in Innovation—Abstract or intellectual meaning

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses to generate a pattern
based on the idea of “unifed design” from Lens #11 in The Art of
Game Design (Schell 2020). I suggested this exercise in Exercise 5; if
you completed it there, then look to see if the pattern you generated
fts as a parent here. If you did not take on the suggested exercise at
that point, take the pattern you produced by completing it now and
see if it fts as a parent to Fight Like You Live* and Bringing About the
Apocalypse†.

Child pattern:
I See Where You Are Going With This‡ (Confdence: 2)—Use this pattern
when trying to create context and supporting mechanics for innovative
mechanics that you have created by implementing There Had Better Be a
Very Good Explanation for This.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns to generate a pattern
for learning new mechanics. Pick games that are teaching new or
unusual mechanics well. Use this pattern to guide your introduction
of the mechanics called for by There Had Better Be a Very Good
Explanation for This.

Keywords: Narrative, Meaning, Mechanics, Innovation

* Example pattern from Exercise 5: Functional Patterns.

† Example pattern from Exercise 8: Teme Patterns.

‡ Example pattern from Exercise 24: Teoretical Patterns.

 V
Te Fifeen Properties

215
 CHAPTER 12

Taking a Step Back

What We Have Learned So Far

O ver the course of the previous 15 exercises, you should have had
a chance to apply much of the theory presented in the frst sections
of this book. You should have, at this point, completed each of those exer-
cises at least once. You have seen at least my 15 example patterns, and if
you’re working in a class or with a group of other developers, you will have
seen many more.
It’s likely that you’ve noticed things that these patterns have in com-
mon. Some of those things are higher-level patterns. You may eventually
choose to document those patterns: that is an important part of the pro-
cess of converting your patterns into a Pattern Language and is covered in
detail in a later section of the book.
Beyond those directly implied parent patterns, you may be seeing prop-
erties that various patterns have in common even when they seem to be
in no way related. In my experience of developing and writing the pat-
terns I’ve used in my teaching, and of writing this book, I began to feel
the need to fnd a consistent language to use when expressing these shared
properties.
Frankly, I found this irritating, as I have worked very hard not to invent
and promote new jargon and terminology. Te industry might beneft
from a shared vocabulary, but the way to get there is not for me to become
yet another developer insisting that my words are the best words.

217
218 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Nevertheless, I found myself wanting to clearly express these properties

that were becoming evident. At this point you may be feeling the same, or
if not, you should at least be comfortable enough with the process to be
ready to look at these properties.
Turning once again to the work of Christopher Alexander, I found
the concepts that I was struggling with clearly articulated. Te following
chapter discusses them in detail.
 CHAPTER 13

The “Fifteen
Fundamental Properties
of Wholeness” in
Game Design

A s a game designer, I fnd it very appealing to center my work and

my understanding of design on the precept that design can be “good.”
To do that, and not have it just be a matter of opinion or esthetic prefer-
ence, there must be a rubric by which I can evaluate the design and know,
not only whether it’s valid or functional, but whether it is good.
In A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander describes good architec-
ture as having what he calls “the nameless quality.” He sometimes refers to
this quality as “wholeness,” and later in his work as “life.” In English, this
sounds a bit strange, but in German, the word lebendig is used to describe
the “aliveness” of nonliving things (Leitner 2020).*
Alexander continued to work and evolve his theories about design long
afer completing his work from A Pattern Language. In his later work, Te
Nature of Order: Te Phenomenon of Life (Alexander 2004), he proposes
“ffeen fundamental properties of wholeness.” Te website of the TKWA

* German is a bit complicated in the way that words can change to be diferent parts of speech and
the word leben, or “life,” can become lebendig, or “lively,” or become the noun Lebendigkeit, which
can be used to describe inanimate things.

219
220 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Urban Lab has an excellent discussion of these properties (Kubala 2020a).

In this book, Alexander lists these properties as

levels of scale—strong centers—boundaries—alternating repe-

tition—positive space—good shape—local symmetries—deep
interlock—contrast—graded variation—roughness—echoes—
the void—inner calm—not separateness

Tese properties are all rather abstract concepts, but they are powerful,
and afer spending the time to understand them, you will begin to see
them everywhere. At this point, late in Alexander’s career, his concern
was exploring the ways that diferent aspects of the universe embody the
property of life. By “life,” he does not mean the biological processes of
being alive, but something closer to the German word Lebendigkeit. Tis is
the nameless quality that he describes in A Pattern Language—the quality
that makes spaces or things whole. By his defnition, something that has
that nameless quality is

alive—whole—eternal—comfortable—free—exact—egoless—
not simply beauty—not only ftness for purpose—slightly bitter

Tose ten words or phrases, ultimately, are Alexander’s rubric for judging
whether a design is good. Designs that contain a high density of the ffeen
fundamental properties of wholeness embody the words that make up the
nameless quality.
Again, all of that can seem very abstract, subjective, and perhaps even
spiritual, but I don’t think that’s the case. Assessing design to determine
whether it is good is, and should be, difcult. But I agree with Alexander
that it is something you must do deliberately and precisely. I do not know
if Alexander’s ffeen properties are a sufcient vocabulary to describe the
kind of dynamic, interactive design that we do as game designers. But I do
think that it is an excellent place to start.
Jesse Schell gave a talk about Alexander’s ffeen properties, titled “Te
Nature of Order in Game Narrative” (Schell 2018), at the Game Developers
Conference in 2018. In this talk, he applies the ffeen fundamental proper-
ties to narrative design in games. I recommend listening to it; his analysis
is excellent, and the conference session is available for free. Listening to his
talk made it clear to me that there is value in trying to understand how the
fundamental properties apply not just to narrative but to games in general.
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 221

Later, I’ll describe Alexander’s properties and the nameless quality as

they apply to game design. But before I can do that, I must explain those
words he uses to describe the nameless quality and describe them in game
design terms:

• Alive—Te game is complex and dynamic. It doesn’t feel static or

fxed. Te act of playing the game is one of discovery and meaning.
• Whole—All of the parts of a game, i.e., its mechanics and its visual
and narrative elements, work together to create a unifed experience
for the player.
• Comfortable—It feels good to play the game. Te subject matter is
not necessarily pleasant, but the act of playing the game feels like
something you should do and want to do.
• Free—All aspects of the game are there because they are an intrinsic
part of the game, not because other games have them. Players can
play the game without feeling hampered by mechanics or tropes that
act against the intent of the game.
• Exact—Every aspect of the game serves the designer’s intended pur-
pose, and the player understands that purpose.
• Egoless—Te game does the things necessary to serve its purpose, to have
its intended efect. It does not include esthetics or systems to make itself
more appealing to an audience if those systems hinder its core design.
• Eternal—Te game will continue to serve its purpose beyond the
current technology cycle. Te success of the game at achieving its
design goals is not dependent on any current fad in mechanics,
genre, or visuals.
• Not simply beauty—Te game has substance beyond the appeal of its
presentation. Playing the game makes an impression on the player.
• Not only ftness for purpose—Te game has a depth of intent; its design-
ers realized that it’s not “just for fun.” It accepts that all games have mean-
ing, and the game acknowledges and embraces the depth of its meaning.
• Slightly bitter—Playing the game has weight; the actions of the
player and the character feel like they have consequences. Te game
leaves the player thinking about the experience long afer they have
stopped playing.
222 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Keep the understanding of these terms in mind as we move on to discuss-

ing the ffeen fundamental properties of wholeness as they apply to games.
As we progress, you’ll notice that the properties have strong relationships
with one another and, in fact, are interdependent with each other. It might
be possible to describe them in isolation, but that misses the point and the
power of this set of concepts.

FIGURE 13.1 Not just ships, but the fying mechanic existing at three levels of
scale.

LEVELS OF SCALE
Since elements of the game vary in size and scope, they should exist at
multiple levels of scale. In architecture, and thus in the level design of
games, the elements are spatial; they may exist in the foreground, middle
distance, or on the horizon. Having levels of scale gives a sense of detail,
context, and potential. It allows the inhabitant to be grounded, under-
stand where they are, and feel a part of something larger. In the interac-
tive context of game design, levels of scale also apply to mechanics, sound
design, narrative, social design, and so on.
A game might exhibit levels of scale when placing a character next to
a much larger creature, and then putting them both in the courtyard of a
soaring castle that sits at the foot of a forbidding mountain. But it might
also show levels of scale when a player crafs a potion, and later crafs a
fortress, and still later orders the building of cities across a continent. Or it
might incorporate them in allowing a player to join a party with other play-
ers to slay a monster, and also to join a guild to hold territory or support a
chosen group of players in long-term play, and then thrust all of the players
on a server into confict with those on other instances of the game world.
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 223

FIGURE 13.2 Each system is complete in itself and also contributes to the overall
game.

STRONG CENTERS
For spaces or games to function, the elements that make them up must
work together. But that statement alone is not sufcient to help designers
organize their designs efectively. Te idea of strong centers is that the ele-
ments of a game that interact directly should relate strongly and reinforce
each other. Diferent groups of related systems should collectively support
each other at a higher level of scale. Te need for strong centers is present
for the physical elements as in architecture, but it is also necessary for
mechanical and narrative elements.
Strong centers can be seen in level design when the spaces a player
moves through have a clear purpose both in gameplay and within the fc-
tion of the world: a town that huddles at the edge of a desert, fully a believ-
able town but also a place for the character to prepare for the challenges
ahead. Te mechanics of a game show strong centers when each mechanic
is rewarding to interact with and also combines with the other mechanics
of the game naturally to create an experience that feels whole, as shown in
the illustration of the systems in Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
224 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

FIGURE 13.3 Not just clear literal boundaries in gamespace, but boundaries
between game systems.

BOUNDARIES
Games consist of multiple elements of any given type: spatial, mechani-
cal, narrative, or esthetic. Te boundaries between these components or
groups of components should help defne and focus attention on their pur-
pose or center.
Tis dynamic is analogous to architecture in the case of spatial ele-
ments, like the boundary between levels, or between desert and forest.
It is equally valid for more abstract elements like narrative or mechan-
ics. In terms of mechanics, a boundary might exist between resource
gathering and spending, or between traversal and combat. Narrative
boundaries might exist as plotlines, or more concretely as quests or
cutscenes.
Additionally, the boundaries of one type of element are ofen related
to those of another when they share a purpose. For instance, an environ-
mental damage mechanic, a desert location, and the narrative beat of a
character sufering regret for his past actions might all work together in
a game. Te boundaries of these elements, in terms of the player’s experi-
ence, should also be related. Aligning these boundaries creates stronger
centers.
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 225

FIGURE 13.4 Alternating repetition in the fow of gameplay.

ALTERNATING REPETITION
Repetition is frequent in games for a variety of reasons, from building
player mastery to creating a rational development pipeline to the reuse of
assets. By creating a pattern of alternating repetition, the designer can cre-
ate rhythms in the game.
Tese rhythms can be visual as they are in architecture, for example,
the pattern created by the repetition of window–door–window, window–
door–window on a block of row houses in Baltimore. But they can also be
narrative, creating story beats, or even mechanical. Consider the difer-
ence between a long string of combats and the pattern of confict, reward,
recovery. As earlier, the patterns of alternating repetition span the difer-
ent elements of a game and must support each other for the best efect.

FIGURE 13.5 All the elements the game needs and only the elements that are
needed.
226 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

POSITIVE SPACE
To apply the idea of positive space to games in a general way, consider
“space” as a concept rather than a literal volume. Te existence or pres-
ence of any element in a game takes up space within that game. Every
element added to a game has positive space; all of the elements of the game
together should defne that game’s positive space. Te positive space of one
element contributes to another’s if they, together, support the purpose of
the game at higher levels of scale.
Tis is true for the geometry within a level, or on a larger scale for levels
within a game. Te climbable buildings in Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag cre-
ate a cohesive dynamic play environment. Te game’s islands group those
spaces into cohesive chunks, and travel between them on various ships
presents a diferent, alternately repeating visual and spatial experience.
But both the islands and the ships are part of the pirate esthetic that the
game is presenting.
Positive space can also be seen in mechanics or in narrative. Looking
at Black Flag again, the game’s divergent systems of traversal, stealth, sail-
ing, and ship-based combat all are necessary parts of the experience of the
game. Te most evident faws are when there are parts of the game that do
not feel necessary, such as collectibles with no narrative justifcation. In
Alexander’s words, there can be “no lefovers.” If some aspect of the game
is not part of the positive space of a larger level of scale, then it cannot be
part of the wholeness of the game.

FIGURE 13.6 Each “shape” in the game is pleasing and fts the whole, whether it
is a space, a mechanic, or a piece of the story.
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 227

GOOD SHAPE
Alexander also uses the term “adaptation” to describe good shape, such
as a house that fts well into its environment. Does it serve its intended
purposes, to shelter the family that lives there, act as a strong center for
their lives, and situate them within their neighborhood and city? Good
shape is situational. A home might have good shape for a family, but not
for a lone person. Or it might have a good shape if found in one country,
but poor shape in another. Centers that have the nameless quality dis-
play this “ftness for purpose,” but go beyond it when they contain other
properties.
At a low level of scale, understanding good shape in terms of games
is easy: a space with a strong center, well-defned edges, local symme-
tries, and so on. Or a mechanic that is simple to use and understand,
that serves a clear purpose and creates gameplay intentionally and legibly.
Good shape is harder to see when the level of scale is more substantial.
A game level, for example, has good shape when it has good shape as a
whole and when all of its components also have good shape. A piece of the
story has good shape when it is meaningful, discrete, and fts well within
the larger narrative, but also contains characters that have good shape
themselves.
Tis is the place where it is most valuable and necessary to apply the
terms that Alexander uses to describe his nameless quality. Look at any
element of a game and ask yourself if it is alive, whole, comfortable, and so
on. Ten step back and look at the systems and levels of the game, then at
it in its entirety. Are all of those things still true?
Striking a block in Beat Saber has good shape. It’s visually satisfy-
ing, the sound it makes, the slight vibration of the controller, move-
ment of your arm, the trajectory of the sliced parts as they respond to
your blow, the knowledge that your strike was not perfect. They are
whole, comfortable, exact, slightly bitter. Those things are as true for
a full song level in the game as they are for the single strike; both have
good shape.
228 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

FIGURE 13.7 Two asymmetrical armies in asymmetrical siege warfare, but with
symmetry between some units.

LOCAL SYMMETRIES
Symmetry is defned as “the balanced distribution of equivalent forms or
spaces about a common line or point” (Kubala 2020b). It applies at difer-
ent levels of scale.
When applied to the entirety of a thing, symmetry can cause that thing
to seem lifeless or mechanical. Imagine a castle where each room on the
right of the castle has a mirror on the lef side. Te castle sits in a clearing
next to a river, and on the other side of the river is an identical clearing
and identical castle.
Tis problem with global symmetry applies to aspects of a game out-
side of its physical layout, such as a story where every character has an
evil counterpart, or a war game where all sides have identical units and
resources.
When only individual aspects of a thing are symmetrical at lower levels
of scale, symmetry is local. In contrast to the earlier negative example is
a story where both the hero and villain have a best friend but otherwise
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 229

dissimilar lives. Or a war game where both sides have similar units but
face each other in an asymmetrical siege.
Local symmetries have the efect of creating strong centers that create
order out of the overall chaos without feeling artifcial. In these examples,
you can see this idea applies to all aspects of game design, from the narra-
tive structure to multiplayer combat mechanics.

FIGURE 13.8 Te deep interlock of the traditional holy trinity of classes in mas-
sively multiplayer online games.

DEEP INTERLOCK
A game’s components must interconnect; they must have boundaries,
form positive space together, and support each other’s strong centers.
Tis property is about how they should be connected. Tese connections
should be deep and meaningful, but they should also create ambiguity.
In spatial terms, the boundaries between spaces should ofen be sof,
making it unclear which space one is in at each moment as you pass from
one to another. Stepping from the desert zone to the forest zone in a
game with only the separation of a loading screen is not deep interlock.
Watching the trees become smaller and be replaced by scrub and then cac-
tus as you walk is better. Helping the farmer at the edge of the forest fend
230 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

of the desert cats while he repairs his irrigation systems that have become
clogged with sand is better yet.
In mechanical terms, aspects of one mechanic should be part of another,
improving the function of both. A simple example would be the ability to
run in a game being connected to the ability to jump. Te mechanics are
distinct, but the interlock between them is deep.

FIGURE 13.9 Te contrasting game spaces of open felds and a maze.

CONTRAST
Te idea of contrast is understood and applied across most of the disci-
plines of game design. Contrast is present in open and cramped spaces,
light and dark rooms, music and silence, and combat and respite. What is
less obvious is how the rest of the properties inform the application of con-
trast. Te two things that are contrasting both need to be strong centers.
It is not enough to have a strong center juxtaposed against a meaningless
contrasting element; the second element must also be part of the positive
space created by the whole. Tere must be a reason for both the element
and its contrasting element.
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 231

If combat contrasts with moments of tranquility, those quiet moments

must have a purpose in the game, or they will just be boring dead space.
Perhaps tranquility exists in the space of time that it takes a player’s health
to refll. Perhaps those moments allow the player to absorb the damage
that the combat has done to the world or give room to strategize about
the next confict. All of these things might even be true, providing deep
interlock between the contrasting elements. Tat contrast could then be
the building block for the alternating repetition that structures the fow of
combat and recovery in the game.

FIGURE 13.10 Te gradual shif from the darkness of a dungeon to the light of
day.

GRADED VARIATION
Graded variation describes another way that elements connect. Any time
two elements are present, the transition between them may be sudden or
gradual, forming a gradient between them.
In physical space, that gradient might be the change between grassy
areas and patches of dirt, or a dark room and the daylight outside. Either
could happen suddenly or gradually; generally gradually is better.
In a mechanical sense, it might be an increase in characters’ abilities
throughout the game. Transforming a weak character into an unstoppable
juggernaut halfway through a game is not as efective at giving a player a
sense of growth by breaking that transition into a set of levels or power
unlocks. In many cases, moving from discrete levels to skills that improve
over time or abilities a player can acquire and then develop can be even
more efective.
232 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

In a narrative context, you might see an opportunity to incorporate

graded variation in showing a character’s descent into madness. Suddenly
declaring the character to be unhinged is both narratively jarring and
likely to be an ofensive portrayal of mental illness. Slowly introducing
inconsistencies in the character’s behavior or perceptions and showing the
consequences of those would allow the player to notice the changes organ-
ically, and allow the developer more subtlety in their portrayal.
All of these things—space, mechanics, and narrative—are stronger
centers when they change from one state to another gradually, allowing
for subtlety in the players’ experience.

FIGURE 13.11 Roughness in input mechanics as well as in textures or plot.

ROUGHNESS
While simple to understand as a concept, roughness can be hard to apply
to games. For Alexander, imperfections and complexities in space allow
for better contrast, deeper interlock, and even strong centers at lower levels
of scale.
In games, it can be technically challenging to create a sense of roughness.
Creating a street that doesn’t feel antiseptic was a challenge, and remains
so even as graphical fdelity increases. Roughness might take the form of
textures showing surfaces with imperfections or pieces of geometry that
don’t line up with the grid you’re placing them on. In games with rough-
ness, similar things aren’t identical; houses or non-player characters don’t
endlessly reuse the same model with no variation.
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 233

FIGURE 13.12 A distressed texture might be the most literal example of rough-
ness in a game.

Mechanically, roughness is difcult because mechanics are, well,

mechanical. To create “rough” jumping physics requires more work than
using the simplest mathematical calculations, perhaps introducing analog
variables that rely on player controls or dynamic interactions with surface
materials. When systems have that sense of detail and complexity, they
are also likely exhibiting good shape and deep interlock with other sys-
tems. Te game Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an example of this kind
of roughness. Character movement is complex and ofen unexpected, but
never feels random or imprecise.
Narrative roughness can come from details that are unexpected or
not fully resolved. It’s not an excuse for carelessness though, and too
much roughness could make the story seem poorly thought out or hard
to understand. But there is still room for details that leave the player
wondering. Te unexplained embedded narratives found in BioShock
are a good example, as is the mysterious man with the briefcase in
Half-Life.
234 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

FIGURE 13.13 Echoes occurring in spaces but also in mechanics and narrative.

ECHOES
Tis property relates closely to levels of scale, as the presence of two simi-
lar things at diferent levels of scale can create echoes. However, echoes
can exist across all aspects of a design. Te choice of architectural style
might echo in the selection of instruments for the soundtrack. Te theme
of the dangers of power in the narrative might echo in the splash damage
of weapons. Tese kinds of echoes, of course, result in deep interlock and
make the centers of each element stronger.
In Assassin’s Creed, for instance, you see echoes in the shape of the
character’s hood and the physical eagle that is used to indicate places that
the player can climb to unlock new areas of the map, and the player con-
stantly looking down on the world from a great height.

THE VOID
Te void property is about the use of negative space. In architecture, nega-
tive space is defned by the places that the building is not, such as the emp-
tiness of a courtyard, the spaces between buildings or a green belt of trees
between housing developments.
Again in games, space must be taken conceptually. In a physical sense,
it is about creating spaces that have strong centers that are supported by
negative space, whether it is a castle surrounding a quiet courtyard or an
empty bowl. Negative space can be found in the ocean between the con-
tinents in World of Warcraf or the clifs that form the edges of the open
world of Anthem.
Narratively, it is about the pauses in the narrative in which noth-
ing happens, the story beats that provide contrast to the action. Tis is
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 235

FIGURE 13.14 Sometimes the experience of space and gameplay is defned by

the things that are absent from it.

exemplifed by the moments in Life is Strange when the character can

sit down and the player can watch the camera slowly pan around the
environment.
Mechanically, the void might be the things a player can’t do: the fact
that the lack of the ability to jump creates interesting circulation patterns,
or that the lack of ranged weapons creates natural melee combat or stealth
gameplay. Te game Virginia relies very heavily on mechanical negative
space, removing mechanics that the player expects to encounter to create
the experience of a character who does not have access to the personal
agency that those mechanics represent.

INNER CALM
In architecture, inner calm is about removing the unnecessary parts of a
building or space, this helps to create simple spaces that serve their pur-
pose. Tis is not to say that spaces with inner calm must be plain or even
uncluttered, just that everything in the space serves a purpose and does
not distract from the intent of the space.
236 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

FIGURE 13.15 Fighting the constant drive to add features to meet genre and
audience expectations.

In games, this property is similarly about focus and simplicity. It is

about the removal of unnecessary elements from a game. Inner calm is
not merely functionalism, which states that there should be no element
not necessary for the function of the thing being designed. It is instead
more inclusive, stating that all the factors that are present should contrib-
ute to the strong centers and good shape of the game. Tese contributions
might be spatial, mechanical, or esthetic. Tere should be no elements that
detract or distract from the wholeness of the game.
Tis property can be hard to notice in a game that possesses it, but its
lack is easy to see in a game full of one-of mechanics or systems that make
you grit your teeth every time you have to interact with them. A game like
Monument Valley possesses inner calm not just because of its beauty and
meditative gameplay, but because it contains no elements or systems that
are unnecessary. Conversely, a game like the 2016 reboot of Doom fails
to produce a sense of inner calm, not because it is a violent and frenetic
game, but because it includes systems, like suit upgrading, that distract
from its elegant core gameplay loop.
 Properties of Wholeness ◾ 237

FIGURE 13.16 Each part of the game connected meaningfully to the next.

NOT SEPARATENESS
Similar to inner calm, this property states that all the elements of a design
should be part of that design and share its intent.
In architecture, not separateness means that the elements of a structure
do not exist in isolation. Each room in a house supports the function of the
rooms it touches; houses work together to form cohesive neighborhoods,
towns, and cities.
In games, that might mean that each scene in a level works to create the
experience of that level, and that levels feel connected by theme and nar-
rative. Te areas you explore in a Metroidvania-style game have a strong
sense of not separateness; those in Super Mario Bros. do not.
But not separateness also exists through a game’s levels of scale, in
its alternating repetition, its local symmetries, deep interlock, graded
238 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

variation, and echoes. Tere is nothing lefover in a design that has not
separateness, because every part of the game is connected and integral
to the whole. Tis property shows in the relationships between the ff-
teen principles—when you notice that every mechanical system supports
another. When jumping encourages dynamic exploration, exploration
results in a sense of discovery. Art and theme create a sense of wonder and
joy. Tat joy shows in the spirit of freedom and autonomy that the charac-
ter is shown to experience when they jump.

Tis is my application of one of the most insightful conceptual frame-

works I have ever encountered to game design. Te ideas in this section
are very large, and my exploration of them is just the beginning of under-
standing the ways they can inform our designs. Each of you reading this
has a diferent set of skills that span the breadth of the industry. Once you
have a grasp of the ffeen fundamental properties, you can begin to apply
them to your specialties. Our work as designers must fully embody these
properties if we want our games to have strong centers, inner calm, posi-
tive space, and not separateness—if we’re going to make games that are
fundamentally whole.

APPLYING THE FIFTEEN PROPERTIES OF

WHOLENESS TO YOUR PATTERN LANGUAGE
Now that you have added these concepts and terms to your vocabulary
you can start considering them as you document patterns. Going forward
I have added the properties to the keywords sections of the example pat-
terns; they are listed in italics at the end of the keywords. I fnd that I am
easily able to list three or more properties that are enhanced by each pat-
tern I document.
When you are using your Pattern Language to drive or assess your design,
keep a tally of how many patterns in your design support each of the prop-
erties. If you fnd that one or more of the properties are unsupported by
your patterns, consider whether your design should have those properties.
If you think that they are necessary, then you should consider additional
patterns that will help you incorporate those properties into your game.
 VI
Advanced Pattern-Generation Exercises

239
 CHAPTER 14

Advanced Pattern-
Generation Exercises

T his next set of exercises is united by the fact that they’re all quite
difcult; they require that you understand the pattern creation pro-
cess well. Each exercise has a basic premise that’s more complex than just
picking an aspect of game design. Te introductions to these patterns will
be a bit longer and include a more complete discussion of the premise of
the exercise.

PATTERNS FROM CORE MECHANICS

Core Mechanics
Before engaging with this exercise, I want to clarify what I mean by “core
mechanics.” I covered the idea of looking at the most basic building blocks
of a game in the exercises about formal and functional design elements.
Core mechanics, then, are simply the set of basic mechanics that form the
core gameplay loop.
To identify the core mechanics of a game, I like to imagine how a non-
designer might describe the thing that makes a game awesome to a friend.
For Overwatch, they might say, “Tere are all of these awesome characters
with cool abilities,” or for Assassin's Creed, “You get to parkour all over the
city and kill people like a badass ninja.” A Doom enthusiast might describe
it as “an over-the-top run-and-gun killing spree.”
You then need to take those descriptions and think about what mechan-
ics they’re actually talking about, and how those mechanics facilitate the

241
242 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

experience the gamer describes. Here’s how I'd do that for the aforemen-
tioned examples:

Overwatch → cool characters! → asymmetrical roles → complex

metagame
Assassin’s Creed: parkour! → dynamic traversal → exploration/stealth
Doom: run and gun! → dynamic enemies/static resources → movement-
based combat

Sometimes it can be hard to decide which mechanics are core to a game.

Many elements may be necessary to a game without being core to its iden-
tity. For instance, you couldn’t have Skyrim without inventory management
or a crafing system. But those systems, while an important part of the game,
are not what defnes it. You could make the argument that in a game as large
as Skyrim, diferent styles of play even have diferent sets of core mechanics.
In which case, any subset of players could give very diferent descriptions of
what makes the game great. One player might say, “You get to be a master
thief or assassin, and you can steal anything and kill anyone,” while another
might say, “You get to fnd dragons everywhere and slay them.” I’d argue
that the elements of gameplay that are consistent across all play styles consti-
tute the actual core mechanics. In the case of Skyrim, I’d suggest that those
are exploration and the constant potential for heroic action. Te specifcs of
what constitutes “heroic action” varies across players: it might be fghting
dragons or pulling of a difcult assassination. Te commonality is that at
any point, you feel like you’re moments from a situation where you get to
embody the kind of character you are playing in a meaningful way.

Pattern Purpose
Understanding how sets of mechanics combine to create singular user
experiences is essential. Tis exercise will help you to see and articulate
these combinations of mechanics, and produce the patterns that govern
how to create groupings like this efectively.

EXERCISE 16: PATTERNS FROM CORE MECHANICS

Step 1: Pick a game.
Step 2: Write down how a non-designer would describe what makes that
game awesome.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 243

Step 3: Figure out what they’re actually describing. Use your understanding
as a designer to translate for them; don’t describe what you understand
as an expert to be the important gameplay features.
Step 4: Describe the consequences of the mechanic you described in step
3. How does the mechanic you identifed create the experience the
player described?
Step 5: Name and describe the way that ten other games use that mechanic
to create the same experience.
Step 6: List any patterns you see.
Step 7: Choose one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 8: You may repeat step 7 for each pattern you observed.

Example: Pattern from Core Mechanics

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a game.

Anthem

Step 2: Write down how a non-designer would describe what makes that
game awesome.
You have an Ironman suit and you can fy anywhere in this whole crazy
world and blow things up with your friends!

Step 3: Figure out what they’re actually describing.

• High levels of player mobility.

• Wide choice of activities or objectives.
• Cooperative asymmetrical combat.
• Level/world design that takes advantage of player movement abilities.
• Beautiful space to explore.

So, which of these mechanics are core? I would say that high levels of
player mobility and the choice of activity or objectives are the core
mechanics. Multiplayer supports the fun of the core mechanics. Good
level and world design make the core mechanics challenging and
rewarding. And the beautiful world helps drive the exploration. Tis is
a complex game, and there are many patterns that work to support the
244 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

core mechanics, including a loot-based progression system and a myste-

rious setting. Still, the strongest center is the ability to go anywhere and
do anything.

Step 4: Describe the consequences of the mechanic you described in

step 3. How does the mechanic you identifed create the experience the
player described?
From the very beginning of the game, the player has almost unparal-
leled mobility. The ability to fly and travel at speed through a large
world creates a sense of freedom and empowerment. The game drives
exploration through assigned plot missions early in the game, but play
is intended to extend beyond the completion of the plot. Motivation
is extended somewhat by the inclusion of collectibles and lots of long-
term objective-completion goals. However, these alone would be insuf-
ficient to maintain long-term interest in the game. Character power
progression and challenges of escalating difficulty are the primary
drivers of play at this point. The activities that players continue to
engage in are the ones that allow them to make meaningful progress
on this axis.
Where the game fails is in the places where activities that are
intrinsically enjoyable become meaningless on the axis of character
progression.* So, world exploration and engaging in emergent play
lose focus, even though they are intrinsically enjoyable elements.
Completing linear, instanced scenarios gains focus, and while it’s an
enjoyable aspect of play for many players, it deviates from the core
gameplay loop of exploration and discovering unexpected challenges
and events.

Step 5: Name and describe the way that ten other games use that
mechanic to create the same experience.

• Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag—Tis franchise in general uses free

movement and diverse goals in an open world as its core gameplay
loop. Tis general design choice is bolstered by the addition of an

* Tere has been a great deal of criticism for Anthem due to the imperfections in its loot progression
and lack of endgame content. Tose are valid critiques; however, there has been some correction in
these areas and I do not feel that the faults in the early implementation of this system impact this
analysis of its core mechanics.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 245

island-based map that lets you sail to any island at almost any time.
Te overall progress of this single-player game is more limited, so
there is less of an issue of motivating long-term play. Moving through
the game world freely, in this case by climbing or sailing, is similarly
gratifying. Tis core mechanic is hindered by the fact that many of
the activities that you can pursue—collectibles in particular—feel
artifcial, and are neither intrinsically fun or extrinsically rewarded
by progression systems. As a result, they don’t drive the core game-
play loop efectively.
• Te Elder Scrolls—Tis game may only partially ft this mold, in
that the nature of the physical movement through the game world
is not a focus of the game. It does ft in the sense that it’s an open-
world game, and provides a wide variety of activities to engage
in during play. Te mechanics of player progression are tied to
every activity you can perform, and so whatever activity you pur-
sue, your character advances in power. If there’s a weakness in
the implementation of these core mechanics, it’s that the activities
you can engage in don’t always tie strongly into an overarching
narrative.
• Ori and the Blind Forest—In contrast to the preceding game, move-
ment is the primary focus of this game. Your ability to explore the
world is limited by the skills and movement abilities you have access
to. In this way, this game doesn’t ft the pattern, in that exploration is
gated by movement. However, the very limiting of movement allows
the game to maintain a relatively constant level of difculty, even as
the abilities available to the character grow. Te further you progress
in the game, the more open the world becomes, and the closer it gets
to the core mechanic of Anthem.
• Minecraf—As with the graphical presentation, movement in this
game is primitive. But because of your ability to alter the world,
you’re able to move freely throughout the world. Te developers
haven’t done much to structure player behavior in this game in terms
of setting specifc goals. But the crafing progression and resource
distribution systems make the game’s player movement abilities—
that is, world-altering abilities—a perfect embodiment of the “go
anywhere, do anything” core mechanic.
246 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Eve Online—In this massively multiplayer game, which simulates

vast sprawling space empires struggling for proft and dominance,
the individual players have free movement in a local sense. You
can move anywhere in the larger conceptual space of the universe,
though that’s mitigated by the danger posed by other players and
enemies present in those locations. Te game is overall very skill-
based, and it takes a long time to acquire many of those skills.
However, since the game has existed for well over a decade, a large
percentage of players are able to engage in virtually any activity
that’s possible within the game. While player progression is a major
driver of player activity for the game’s long, leveling-up period, the
core gameplay is also driven by the complex oppositional activi-
ties of other players. Which is to say, you can go anywhere and do
anything, but many of the things you might do either oppose the
activities of other players or will be opposed by them. Tis creates
sustainable long-term play for players that fnd the available activi-
ties compelling.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—While the spatial movement in this game is
more dynamic than in a game like Skyrim, it's not as free as in a
game like Anthem or Assassin’s Creed. Character abilities like climb-
ing and rappelling are limited to areas designated by the developers.
Tere’s a strong linear story progression that gates access to the dif-
ferent areas of the map, but once areas become accessible, they are
freely explorable. As in the Assassin’s Creed games, there are collect-
ible systems present in the game, though here there’s at least some
narrative and mechanical justifcation for them. Te emergent chal-
lenge of fghting the large-scale monsters in this game provides per-
haps the most intrinsically compelling “do anything” gameplay out
of these example games.
• Dungeons & Dragons—As a tabletop role-playing game with a
human game master, this game truly allows players to go anywhere
and do anything. Complex and fne-grained character progression
provides long-term mechanical motivation for player exploration
and activities. Te game master provides narrative motivation, so
the degree to which it’s compelling is tied to the game master’s sto-
rytelling ability.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 247

• Pokémon Go—In this geolocated augmented reality game, the char-

acter’s ability to go anywhere is limited by where the player can phys-
ically go. At release, the options available for player interaction were
very limited, allowing only for capturing new Pokémon and collect-
ing resources at geolocated points. In the three-plus years since the
game’s release, the diversity of gameplay available has increased dra-
matically and is comparable to that available in the console versions
of the franchise.

Step 6: List any patterns you see.

1. Te degree to which dynamic spatial movement (fying and climb-

ing in most cases) is compelling is tied to how meaningful the char-
acter/player reasons are for going to places accessible through that
movement.
2. How compelling optional (or required) player activities are is deter-
mined by a number of factors including:
a. Narrative relevance
b. Intrinsic activity fun
c. Contribution to character progression

3. Te greater the degree of character freedom (of movement or choice),

the stronger the motivation required to make players feel like the
choices they make are enjoyable and rewarding.
4. As player movement options increase, players have more choices of
where they can go at any given moment. When combined with many
activity options in open-world games, this freedom can create deci-
sion paralysis and fat-seeming gameplay.

Step 7: Choose one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.

3. Greater choice requires greater motivation.

Step 8: You may repeat step 7 for each pattern you observed.
248 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern

Name: Greater Choice Requires Greater Motivation

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 14.1 Too many quests can be overwhelming, but seeing a burning
building makes the choice clear.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: How do you keep players motivated to explore and inter-
act with systems as the scale of the game world and available activities
increase?
Description: The greater the degree of character freedom (of movement or
choice), the stronger the motivation required to make players feel like the
choices they make are enjoyable and rewarding.
In a very linear game, every player action visibly leads to progress, and
the player is unlikely to feel that their actions aren’t meaningful. When
games are nonlinear, allow a lot of player exploration, or give constant
action options, players might not be sure which actions are optimal, i.e.,
whether they’re generating meaningful progress or are just a waste of time.
Players thus require more and more motivation to feel confdent in their
choice to pursue a particular action. There are many patterns that suggest
how to generate player motivation; they tend to indicate that any possible
activities in the game should provide either meaningful narrative or mechan-
ical progress, and ensure the player understands the nature of that progress.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 249

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Horizon Zero Dawn—The spatial movement in this game is dynamic

and includes character abilities such as climbing and rappelling, though
these are limited to areas intended by the developers. There is a strong
linear story progression that gates access to the different areas of the
map, but once areas become accessible, they are freely explorable. The
collectible systems present in the game include at least some narrative
and mechanical justifcation. They also are diegetic to the game, since
you sell the collectibles to non-player characters (NPCs) who ask you to
collect them for currency, which you can then use for character progres-
sion. The emergent challenge of fghting the large-scale monsters in this
game provides perhaps the most intrinsically compelling “do anything:
gameplay of any of these example digital games. These battles, which
are the most iconic activity the players engage in, generate resources
you can use both for progression and as consumables. The overall nar-
rative and quest-giving NPCs encourage you to explore the map, but the
nature of the incidental activities you engage in creates a world where
you can see the positive results of any action you choose.
• Ori and the Blind Forest—In contrast to the preceding game, movement
is the primary focus here. Your ability to explore the world is limited by
the skills and movement abilities you have access to. While you can’t
initially go anywhere you want, the eventual goal is to go everywhere.
Unlike in a linear game where you move through the game space
sequentially, this game uses a nonlinear space that you move through
cyclically. As your increasing freedom of movement gives you access to
more and more of the space, you return to areas of the game over and
over. This very limitation of movement allows the game to maintain a
relatively constant level of diffculty, even as the abilities available to the
character grow.
• The game is essentially over once the world is completely open, so in
that sense, this game might be seen as falling outside of this pattern.
However, there’s motivation to return to previously visited spaces to
collect resources you need to continue character progression. This pro-
gression, of course, unlocks further movement options, and the cycle
repeats. In terms of story, a strong overarching narrative motivates the
player, but short-term motivation is generally very simple and discon-
nected from the larger meaning of the game.
• Pokémon Go*—As a geolocated augmented reality game, Pokémon Go
limits the character’s ability to go anywhere using the player’s ability
to move through non-digital space. It’s likely that no other game has

* As a mobile title with continuous updates, the gameplay has changed radically over the course of
the game. Te changes made to the game refect the consistent design methodology of iterative
incremental improvement. Te game is discussed here as it was in the spring of 2020.
250 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

as large and dense a playspace, with the exceptions of Niantic’s other

games that use the same dataset of interaction locations. As a player in
this game, you can literally go anywhere. In keeping with this pattern,
each activity the player may engage in must provide the player with a
strong sense of motivation. The game achieves this through the deep
interlock of all its systems. Each system provides the resources for inter-
acting with the other systems, and every system is resourced by multiple
other systems. This allows players to engage only with activities they
also fnd intrinsically rewarding.

Seed: Exercise 16: Patterns from Core Mechanics—Go anywhere, do

anything
Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
The Three Pillars of Meaning* (Confdence: 2)—When trying to apply
Greater Choice Requires Greater Motivation, this pattern describes the
way that motivation can combine with context and consequence to create
meaning. (At least in the context of emergent narrative as described in this
pattern.)

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 9: Circulation Patterns to generate a pattern about cir-
culation systems for exploration in open world games.

Child patterns:
Mystery-Driven Exploration† (Confdence: 2)—Navigation and exploration
are one set of choices that Greater Choice Requires Greater Motivation can
help players to make. The more options for exploration a player faces, the
more compelling a mystery will need to be to drive the player.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern about
player choice.

Keywords: Autonomy, Choice, Meaning, Motivation, Open World, Deep

Interlock, Inner Calm

* Example pattern from Exercise 11: Emergent Narrative Patterns.

† Example pattern from Chapter 5.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 251

FINDING MISSING PATTERNS

Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise looks at an existing pattern and asks whether it’s efective in
isolation. Te answer to this question is almost always no, or if it is yes, then
it could solve the problem more efectively if it was supported by parent and
child patterns that reinforced its efect. I include the question here to give
you a chance to think about how this pattern would function in isolation.
When you looked at it during the exercise that you used to create it, you
were looking at real games in which the pattern was working in concert with
many others. Consider it now all on its own, trying to solve its problem, and
compare that with how efective it was in the example games you cited. Tis
exercise will help you make sure it’s that efective when you use it.

EXERCISE 17: FINDING MISSING PATTERNS

Step 1: Choose a pattern you’ve created that has no parent or child patterns
listed. Look at the design problem it solves.
Step 2: Can this pattern best solve its design problem alone?
Step 3: If not, then look at ten games that implement this pattern and also
solve the problem well. Some of these games can be the example games
you initially cited, but it’s good to look for other games now that you
have some distance from the seed pattern.
Step 4: For each game, list and describe the design elements that support
or enhance the effect of the pattern. At this point, try not to look for fully
formed patterns in these elements.
Step 5: List and describe any patterns you see in your response to step 4.
Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: Does this pattern require your seed pattern? It might, if this pattern is
more specifc or lower level than the seed pattern. If so, list the new pattern
as a child of the seed pattern and the seed pattern as a parent of this one.
Step 8: Is this pattern enhanced by the seed pattern? This may be the case
if the pattern is higher level or more fundamental to solving the problem
than the seed. If so, then list the seed pattern as a child of the new pat-
tern. List the new pattern as a parent of the seed pattern.
Step 9: You may repeat steps 6 to 8 for each pattern observed in step 5.

Example Finding Missing Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Choose a pattern you’ve created that has no parent or child pat-
terns listed. Look at the design problem it solves.
Pattern: One of Tese Days Tat’s Going to Get You Killed
252 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern problem: How do you maintain game balance and create ten-
sion when giving the player greater power in their interactions with the
game world?

Step 2: Can this pattern best solve its design problem alone?
Tis pattern is general and high level, and it’s tempting to say that an
adequate implementation of the pattern will address its design problem.
However, it will be stronger if it has the context of a parent pattern that
addresses why the player is given the particular power over the environ-
ment. Depending on how the increase in ability is meant to make the
player feel—more powerful, out of control, the best hope against impos-
sible odds, or whatever—there are also likely to be child patterns that
modify the pattern’s efect.

Step 3: If not, then look at ten games that implement this pattern and
also solve the problem well.

• Super Mario Bros.—From the origin pattern: “Te ability to jump,

which increases the character’s ability to move through the world
and defeat enemies, also puts him in danger. Failing to jump over
dangerous obstacles can result in Mario’s death. Similarly, failing to
jump over an enemy results in the enemy killing Mario.”
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice—From the origin pattern: “Stealth kill-
ing enemies is the easiest way to defeat them, but failing to execute a
stealth kill alerts the enemy and nearby enemies and suddenly puts
the player in a dangerous situation.”
• Anthem—From the origin pattern: “Firing weapons increases their
heat. Failing to manage that resource, to self-limit the damage you
are doing, can result in not being able to fre your gun when you
most need it.”
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild—From the origin pattern: “Link can climb
almost ANYTHING, but he has a stamina meter, so if he tries to
climb something too high, he will fall. He can jump of of things and
glide, but if he runs out of stamina, he falls to his death.”
• Quake—Some of the most powerful weapons in the game have splash
damage that can easily hurt or kill the character, which makes them
feel dangerous to use.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 253

• Star Wars Roleplaying Game—A Jedi player can at any point boost
their powers by tapping into the “dark side of the force,” but doing
so builds up “dark side points” that can cause dramatic negative
mechanical and narrative efects.
• Te Elder Scrolls: Morrowind—It’s possible to create magical efects
that are very powerful, like jumping for miles or fying, but these
efects don’t include afordances to protect you. Jumping for a mile
can end by crashing into the ground and dying, or a fying potion
will end, dropping the character from their current height to their
death. As a player, you can mitigate these efects with careful plan-
ning, but they help make magic feel like it has consequences in a very
natural way.
• Life is Strange—Te main character has the ability to rewind time. At
frst, it feels like it gives you unlimited do-overs, and it’s used to con-
struct puzzles that can only be solved with repetition. But the power
doesn’t work in all circumstances, and sometimes using it causes you
(and the character) to learn things they would rather not know.
• Torment: Tides of Numenera—Magic items give the character pow-
erful efects, but using too many at one time (or even having them on
your person) causes negative side efects.

Step 4: For each game, list and describe the design elements that sup-
port or enhance the efect of the pattern.*

• Super Mario Bros.—Te narrative and gameplay progression that your

jumping enables takes you into more and more dangerous situations.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice—To take advantage of stealth kills, you
have to engage in risky behavior; getting close to enemies puts you
in danger. When you alert an enemy, the gameplay changes from
stealth to action.
• Anthem—Gameplay is frenetic, so you’re commonly in situations
where you’ve failed to watch your heat gauge, and your weapon goes
into cooldown. Tis situation leads to alternate gameplay. Extreme

* For each game I list the design element in italics for clarity.
254 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

mobility and the need to move to collect health and ammo ofen puts
you in sudden and unexpected gameplay situations.
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild—Weapon breaking also puts you in situ-
ations where you suddenly lose power, a weapon in this case, and
where you have to self-limit the use of your powers. Having open-
world traversal abilities, but a world where certain areas are more
dangerous than others, lets you get into dangerous situations that
you have to alter your gameplay style to survive.
• Quake—Te need to constantly move to avoid damage, and collect
weapons and health ofen puts you in dangerous situations.
• Star Wars Roleplaying Game—Te combination of mechanical drive
to power and consequences of power is bolstered by the conficting
narrative desires to be the hero and to create dramatic situations by
following a darker narrative path.
• Te Elder Scrolls: Morrowind—Te open world and interaction of
large numbers of systems empower you as a player, but also create
emergent consequences to chaotic player behaviors. Most of the sys-
tems are meant to be used in moderation and produce reasonable
results when used that way, but they also allow you to take them to
an extreme and reward you with chaotic outcomes.
• Life is Strange—Te linear narrative and gameplay path force you to
use your rewind powers in a particular way. Te game manipulates you
into thinking it’s a choice-based game, but the time-rewinding power
turns those choices into iterative steps in pursuing the linear outcome.
• Torment: Tides of Numenera—Narrative choice in this game is real, but
narrative choice is very mechanics heavy, in that the choices available are
statistics dependent. Tis makes the magic items/side efects mechanic
efective both for players pursuing a combat-mechanic-heavy path and
for those following a more narrative-choice-driven gameplay style.

Step 5: List and describe any patterns you see in your response to step 4.

1. Using an ability leads to situations where you need to use the ability
more.
2. Triggering the consequences of the player’s power instigates new
gameplay styles.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 255

3. Reinforcing the mechanical limit-pushing with narrative context is

common and efective.

Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Triggering the consequences of the character’s powers instigates new
gameplay styles for the player.

Step 7: Does this pattern require the seed pattern?

Yes. Te new pattern is a child pattern that enhances the efect of the
parent.

Step 8: Is this pattern enhanced by the seed pattern?

No. In this case, the child pattern identifed requires the parent pattern
rather than just being enhanced by it.

Step 9: You may repeat steps 6 to 8 for each pattern observed in step 5.

Pattern

Name: And Now I Guess We’re Doing This

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 14.2 Unexpected events can force players to transition between

gameplay styles, in this case between stealth and combat.

Author: Chris Barney

256 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Design problem: Players can get trapped in comfortable gameplay loops,

which can both bore them and keep them from taking advantage of all the
gameplay possibilities of your game.
Description: To get players to transition from one gameplay type to
another, developers can take advantage of players’ tendencies to push their
characters’ limits and abilities. When you build in lethal consequences to
overextending character abilities, you create a situation where the player
has to change their way of playing to survive.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice—To take advantage of stealth kills, you have
to get close to the enemy. If you fail to kill the enemy, the gameplay
changes from stealth to combat action or to traversal as you fee.
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild—Weapon breaking also puts you in situations
where you suddenly lose power, a weapon in this case, and must either
fee or change to a different weapon and fghting style. Having open
world traversal abilities that depend on stamina, and a world where cer-
tain areas are more dangerous than others, often drops you into danger-
ous situations where your stamina runs out, and you have to alter your
gameplay style to survive.
• Anthem—The character has very powerful abilities and weapons, but
the abilities have cooldowns, and the weapons can overheat and can’t
be fred. Gameplay is frenetic, so you’re commonly in situations where
you’ve failed to watch your heat gauge or your abilities are on cooldown.
This forces you to transition from offensive combat to traversal. While the
general focus is still fast-paced action revolving around combat, the use of
this pattern creates changes in pacing and a chaotic rhythm to the action.

Seed: Exercise 17: Finding Missing Patterns—One of These Days That’s

Going to Get You Killed
Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
the functional element of gameplay rhythm.

Child patterns:
One of These Days That’s Going to Get You Killed* (Confdence: 3)—The
consequences suggested by this pattern are an excellent way for develop-
ers to implement And Now I Guess We Are Doing This.

* Example pattern from Exercise 1: Basic Patterns.

 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 257

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 9: Circulation Patterns to generate a pattern about how
the circulation pattern changes when a player shifts from combat to
stealth-focused gameplay. Look at games that contain both of these
gameplay types in step 2.

Other related patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate the pattern I Could
Get Used to This based on the theory “using an ability leads to new
situations where you need to use the ability again.” I think there is
a pattern about designing situations that use a new ability after you
introduce it. Games that do this well add new abilities that support
the core gameplay and continue to provide situations that use those
abilities for the rest of the game. What will the relationship between
these two patterns be?

Keywords: Abilities, Consequences, Mechanics, Player Motivation,

Alternating Repetition, Deep Interlock, Contrast

FINDING NEGATIVE PATTERNS

Negative patterns are related to the anti-patterns discussed in earlier
in the book in Chapter 6. Negative patterns cause a problem in a game
or actively prevent its solution by other patterns. You can usually state
them in the form, “To avoid [problem], a designer should avoid [pattern
description].”

Pattern Purpose
Tese patterns have some utility in terms of avoiding bad design. But
they’re also useful as a way to understand a given problem. Mapping out
negative patterns around a problem can make it clearer where to look for
the patterns that solve it. Additionally, in games we ofen want to create
negative situations, environments, or experiences for dramatic or game-
play purposes. As a designer, you might use a negative pattern inten-
tionally. A negative pattern like “to avoid causing the player too much
stress, the designer should avoid putting their character in a constant
state of danger” is useful if your goal is to create an unpleasantly stressful
situation.
258 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

EXERCISE 18: FINDING NEGATIVE PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a game with a design faw.
Step 2: Describe that faw.
Step 3: List ten games that have the same faw. The more different the
games are, the better.*
Step 4: List and describe the elements that contribute to the faw in each
game.†
Step 5: Describe the patterns you see in how the listed elements produce
the design faw you described in step 2.
Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.
Step 8: Consider a game that does not have the design faw from step 2.
Would applying your pattern in that game cause the faw?

Example Negative Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a game with a design faw.

Dreamfall: Te Longest Journey

Step 2: Describe that faw.

Combat. Pretty much everything about this game’s combat is a nega-
tive experience for the player, but I think the combat is just a symptom
of the faw. Bad combat stems from implementing a feature that’s core to
the perceived game type (in this case action-adventure) but is not core to
the actual experience of the game. So I'll call the underlying faw “false
core mechanics.”

Step 3: List ten games that have the same faw. Te more diferent the
games are, the better.

• Dreamfall: Te Longest Journey (combat)

• Dreamfall: Te Longest Journey (stealth)
• Silent Hill 2 (combat)

* Te problem should be a real design faw, not just something you don’t like. Do not list ten frst-
person shooters because you don’t like that kind of game.
† Describing frst-person shooter games and saying their problem is having a frst-person perspec-

tive and shooting is not what you are being asked to do!
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 259

• Te Secret World (stealth)

• Doom 2016 (progression systems)
• Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield (cooking)
• Mass Efect 1, 2, and 3 (Planetary Interaction Systems)

Step 4: List and describe the elements that contribute to the faw in each
game.

• Dreamfall: Te Longest Journey (combat)—Te focus of this game is

story and exploration, with light puzzle-solving elements added for
pacing and to provide challenge. Te combat systems of this game are
not well-implemented; they’re buggy and have awkward controls. As
a result, the outcome of any combat encounter is somewhat arbitrary,
and even when you succeed, the experience is frustrating and unsat-
isfying. I think a lack of time, budget, and expertise in implementing
3D action combat all contributed to the combat feeling tacked on.
• Dreamfall: Te Longest Journey (stealth)—Te implementation of the
stealth elements of the game are independent of the combat in terms
of gameplay and mechanics. But they sufer from the same problems
and detract from the overall game experience for the same reasons.
I’ve included them as a separate entry because they show that this
problem is not about combat per se, but about including a poorly
implemented system in core gameplay.
• Silent Hill 2 (combat)—Tis is a counterexample, since while the
combat in this game has the same faws as the combat in Dreamfall,
in this instance the poorly implemented combat systems enhance
the game rather than weaken it. Te core gameplay loop of fearful
exploration requires that there be the possibility of combat, but that
combat should be something to avoid and fear. Te awkward combat
system helps the player feel the same fear of combat that the charac-
ter does.
• Te Secret World (stealth)—Te core gameplay loops of this game
are exploration and character progression, with puzzle-solving
and combat used to create difculty and provide pacing. Te game
also features many stealth missions that the player base generally
fnds either frustrating and difcult, or pointlessly easy. Te stealth
260 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

mechanics of the game aren’t clearly implemented, and they ofen

fail to create the intended experience. Sometimes, however, they
work wonderfully and create the tense, exciting experience intended.
Again, I think a lack of time and budget to polish the mechanics and
a lack of developer experience in implementing these mechanics is
likely the cause of the poor implementation.
• Doom 2016 (progression systems)—Tis run-and-gun frst-person
shooter includes several character progression systems that involve
upgrading the character’s weapons, armor, and skills. Te systems
are competently implemented, but I list them as a faw because I felt
annoyance every time I was prompted to engage with those systems.
Tey felt external to the core gameplay loop of grabbing weapons
and armor, and killing monsters.
• Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield (cooking)—Tere are many
merits and faws of this game, but I’m considering the cooking sys-
tems, which I see as a faw because I was able to complete the game
without ever engaging in them beyond the required tutorial. Perhaps
they contribute to making the world feel more alive or complex, but
given the low difculty of the storyline game experience, they seem
an unnecessary use of developer resources. Maybe they become rel-
evant in the post-game play, but even if so, it doesn’t justify their
inclusion in the earlier parts of the game if they don’t contribute
meaningfully to the player’s experience.
• Mass Efect 1, 2, and 3 (planetary interaction systems)—Te Mass
Efect games are huge and complex, skillfully blending exploration,
combat, and narrative choice. But each game included a system for
gathering resources from and interacting with planets, meant to con-
nect you with the scale and scope of the galaxy, and make you feel
that the locations outside the main story matter. Te Mako ground
vehicle used in the frst game is difcult to control, and the procedur-
ally generated missions using it lack polish and interest. Te second
game includes a planet-scanning mini-game interface, which seems
like it might ft with the game’s fction. However, using it is unlike
other interactions in the game, and it’s mostly dull and interrupts the
game’s fow. Te fnal game lets you fy your ship around planetary
systems from an isometric third-person perspective and search for
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 261

resources. But the control system doesn’t refect the ship’s movement
in the rest of the game, which can take you out of the feeling that
you’re playing the role of Shepard.

Step 5: Describe the patterns you see in how the listed elements produce
the design faw you described in step 2.

• Gameplay systems that aren’t well implemented, or where the level

of polish is below that of the rest of the game, stand out, and their
shortcomings are evident.
• Gameplay systems that don’t enhance or complement the core game-
play loop distract from that loop, and can reduce a game’s overall
efectiveness.

Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Gameplay systems that aren’t well implemented, or where the level of pol-
ish is below that of the rest of the game, stand out, and their shortcomings
are evident.

Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.
Step 8: Consider a game that does not have the design faw from step 2.
Would applying your pattern in that game cause the faw?
Yes, this seems very evident. It’s tempting to say that this pattern is so
apparent that it isn’t worth articulating; however, the repeated occur-
rence of poorly implemented systems in games seems to justify the pat-
tern. Additionally, the occasional use of poorly implemented systems
to positive efect makes it worth noting. A good example of a game
with many well-designed systems that all contribute to the core game-
play experience is Stardew Valley. Tis game, which at frst seems like a
farming simulator, includes seemingly tangential systems such as min-
ing, fshing, and socializing in town. All of the systems, while simple,
are implemented with the same level of depth and polish as the farm-
ing mechanics. Collectively, these systems create a complicated gameplay
rhythm that changes the game from a farming simulation to an explora-
tion of the rhythms of rural life. Each system, while diferent, was added
and integrated into the others to create a game that possesses Alexander’s
quality without a name.
262 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern

Name: Game, Know Thyself

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 14.3 Just because you have built a cooking system doesn’t mean it
belongs in your action game. I know you worked hard on it, and it looked
good on paper, but it just didn’t turn out very well and it is getting in the
way of the parts of the game that are good.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem:* Several design problems may lead to the attempt to add
additional systems to a game, including but not limited to:

• Broad game scope—The game world you are trying to create is com-
plex, and you want the player’s experience of it to be as complex as the
character’s.
• Need for pacing—Core gameplay moves along at a rapid pace and will
create a game experience that’s either too short or too homogeneous.

* In the context of this pattern, the design problem is very interesting. What problem was the poorly
implemented system supposed to solve? Could the system have solved that problem if it had been
well implemented? Would solving that problem have made the game better? Were there other ways
to solve the problem that should have been considered instead?
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 263

• Genre expectations—The game fts into a well-known genre, whether

it be frst-person shooter (FPS), role-playing game (RPG), multiplayer
online battle arena (MOBA), etc., and other games in this genre have a
particular mechanic.
• Sunk cost fallacy—Sometimes, developers spend a lot of time on a sys-
tem, and it either doesn't turn out as expected or doesn't refect the
way the rest of the game turned out. But at that point, it represents too
signifcant a time investment to discard.

Description: To solve any of the preceding problems, a developer

may decide to include additional mechanics in a game that aren’t well
implemented or that don’t match the tone or quality of the rest of the
game.
Even if these systems are designed to serve a constructive purpose in
the game, they won’t perform as intended under these circumstances. It’s
easy for logistical, fnancial, or design conditions to favor the inclusion of
suboptimal systems in a game, but the negative consequences can be seen
in the following example games.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Mass Effect—The Mass Effect games are huge and complex, skillfully
blending exploration, combat, and narrative choice. But each game
included a system for gathering resources from and interacting with
planets, meant to connect you with the scale and scope of the galaxy,
and to make you feel that the locations outside the main story matter.
The Mako ground vehicle used in the frst game is diffcult to control,
and the procedurally generated missions using it lack polish and interest.
Despite the size and experience of the teams at BioWare, they lacked
either the time or resources to build both a carefully designed story-
driven action RPG and procedurally generated mission-driven one.
Because the missions on the procedural planets are optional and don’t
contribute to the core story-driven gameplay, and the resources gath-
ered are not necessary for advancement, they created only a weak link
between the core and supporting systems.
• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey—This is the second in a series of story-
driven adventure games. The frst game was a classic 2D point-and-
click adventure. This game moved to a third-person 3D presentation.
The expectation for 3D adventure games to be in the action-adventure
genre seems to have guided the developers to incorporate systems for
combat and stealth into the game. Unfortunately, neither set of systems
was well implemented, and while the game’s story is remarkable, it is
almost painful to play through the forced combat and stealth portions of
the game. It would be the best part of a decade after this game's release
264 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

before walking simulator games like Gone Home or choice-driven

games like The Walking Dead would show that story and exploration
alone are enough to sustain a satisfying game experience.

Seed: Exercise 18: Finding Negative Patterns—Games with poorly imple-

mented combat
Related patterns:*
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on
Christopher Alexander’s conception of positive space as described in
Chapter 13 about the ffteen fundamental properties of wholeness.

Child patterns:
Familiarity Breeds Contempt, or at Least High Expectations† (Confdence: 3)—
In games that poorly implement this pattern, the root cause is often
described by Game, Know Thyself.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Complete the documentation of the second pattern suggested in step
5 of the example for Exercise 18: “Gameplay systems that do not
enhance or complement the core gameplay loop of a game distract
from that loop and can reduce the overall effectiveness of a game.”

Keywords: Combat, Stealth, Game Systems, Development Resources,

Game Genre, Positive Space, Deep Interlock, Inner Calm‡

FINDING POSITIVE PATTERNS FROM NEGATIVE ONES

Some negative patterns can be easily turned into positive ones. However,
you can’t just reverse the wording and assume you’ll be able to create an
opposite efect. It’s essential to walk through the steps of pattern creation

* Related patterns are a little diferent for negative patterns are a little diferent. Parent patterns are
higher-level patterns that can contribute to this negative pattern existing. Tose parents might
be negative patterns themselves or positive patterns that can have negative side efects. Likewise
child patterns may be other negative patterns that can be caused by this pattern, or they might be
positive patterns that are ofen introduced to deal with the negative efects of this pattern.
† Example pattern from Exercise 19: Finding Positive Patterns from Negative Patterns.

‡ Because this is a negative pattern it inhibits these three fundamental properties in games that

exhibit it.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 265

to assess whether the changes you want to make to the negative pattern
can be observed to have the efect you’d like them to.

Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise is intended to help you observe any possible patterns that are
the obverse of negative patterns found using the previous exercise. In plain
English, this exercise will help you check to see if reversing a negative pat-
tern is likely to reverse the efect of that pattern.

EXERCISE 19: FINDING POSITIVE PATTERNS

FROM NEGATIVE PATTERNS
Step 1: Pick a negative pattern.
Step 2: For each game listed as an example, think of a similar game that
doesn’t have the problem that the negative pattern produces.
Step 3: For each game, list and describe the elements in that better game
that differ from its fawed counterpart.
Step 4: Describe the patterns you see in how the listed elements address
the design faw you described in the seed negative pattern.
Step 5: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 6: You may repeat step 5 for each pattern observed in step 4.

Example Positive Pattern

Exercise

Step 1: Pick a negative pattern.

Game Know Tyself (Exercise 18)

Step 2: For each game listed as an example, think of a similar game that
doesn’t have the problem that the negative pattern produces.
Tis step can go two ways:

• Games that do implement additional systems, but in a way that’s suc-

cessful at achieving the intended efect. As seen in Mass Efect com-
pared to Dragon Age: Inquisition.
• Games that avoid adding unneeded mechanics in similar situations
to the initial example games. As seen in Dreamfall: Te Longest
Journey compared to Life is Strange.
266 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 3: For each game, list and describe the elements in that better game
that difer from its fawed counterpart.

• Mass Efect—Tese games demonstrate a mechanic with strong posi-

tive intent that was not well-integrated into core gameplay. As stated
earlier in the negative pattern, these games added planet explora-
tion mechanics, intended to both generate resources in the game and
to create a sense of galactic scale. Each iteration of the game imple-
mented a diferent mechanic to solve this design problem, and each
failed for the same reasons.
Interestingly Dragon Age: Inquisition, another game by BioWare,
solves a similar design problem with similar mechanics, but in its
case, they’re successful. In the case of Dragon Age, the develop-
ers succeeded in showing the size of the world outside of playable
areas and creating a sense of the political and strategic complexity
of a kingdom-spanning war. Te mechanic is a “War Table,” which
allows you to fast-travel around the game world, and, in your role as
a general, to assign agents to various missions. Unlike the frst Mass
Efect, these missions don’t involve any gameplay, and they progress
the primary narrative of the game. Additionally, completing some
of these War Table missions unlocks new areas to explore in the pri-
mary action-adventure gameplay mode. It seems that the systems in
this game work well because they are tightly coupled with the core
elements of the game.
• Dreamfall: Te Longest Journey—Tis game includes stealth and
combat mechanics that were thought of as necessary to the genre,
but were not important to the core exploration and puzzle gameplay
of the particular game.
Life is Strange has a very similar core gameplay loop to Dreamfall,
though its secondary mechanics are very diferent. Te game con-
tains no combat or stealth, and instead introduces choice-based
narrative branching and a time-rewind mechanic that allows you to
explore the consequences of diferent choices.
So how are these two mechanics diferent than those implemented
in Dreamfall? Both combat and stealth are mechanics that were genre
expectations, but they are also mechanics that have been iterated on
and perfected in thousands of other games. Te presumption was
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 267

that players would expect to see them in a game billed as an action-

adventure or that the game would be action-adventure by virtue of
their inclusion. Te game’s reception suggests that players had specifc
expectations for the quality of the implementation. Everyone under-
stood what good combat or stealth felt like, and that those elements in
Dreamfall were lacking. At the time of Life is Strange’s release, its time-
rewinding mechanic was uncommon and unique in narrative games.
Te focus on choice-based narrative in games like Life is Strange was
somewhat more common given the popularity of games by Telltale
Games, but its implementation met those heightened expectations.

Step 4: Describe the patterns you see in how the listed elements address
the design faw you described in the seed negative pattern.

• Deep interlock: Tis is one of the ffeen fundamental properties

of wholeness that Christopher Alexander wrote about later in his
career, and I have discussed it in detail in Chapter 13 of this book.
But briefy, elements of a thing that is “good” or works well are
deeply interconnected and support each other. A game design pat-
tern based on this property might look like this: “To make sure that
the mechanics you add to a game perform as intended, and feel to
players like they belong there, you as a designer should make sure
that those mechanics support the primary gameplay loop as much
as possible.”
• Familiarity breeds contempt, or at least high expectations: Te
more common a mechanic is and the more excellent implementa-
tions of that mechanic there are, the higher players’ standards will
be for that mechanic. Te pattern might look like this: “When allo-
cating resources in development, the resources allocated to perfect-
ing a particular mechanic should be proportional not only to the
prominence of that mechanic in the game, but the prominence of
that mechanic in the industry in general. Tis practice will help meet
players’ expectations for the quality of that implementation.”

Step 5: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Familiarity breeds contempt, or at least high expectations.

Step 6: You may repeat step 5 for each pattern observed in step 4.
268 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern

Name: Familiarity Breeds Contempt, or at Least High Expectations

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 14.4 When your players know what a dragon (or any formal or
functional element) looks like it will be very obvious to them when yours
isn’t what it should be.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Resources are often limited in game development, and
there may not be enough resources to implement all aspects of the game
with equal polish.
Description: When allocating resources in development, the resources
allocated to perfecting a particular mechanic should be proportional not
only to the prominence of that mechanic in the game, but the prominence
of that mechanic in the industry in general. Players’ expectations for the
quality of a mechanic grow as they become more familiar with it and
have seen it implemented well in many games. Player’s will compare the
mechanic in your game to the same mechanic in other games and compare
it to the other mechanics in your game.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Dragon Age: Inquisition—The War Table mechanic, in which the

player’s character deploys agents to pursue their goals and engages in
travel over the continent, stands in contrast to the previous BioWare
games in the Mass Effect franchise. In both cases, the mechanic is
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 269

meant to create a sense of scale and solve fast travel and resource-
gathering design problems. In the case of Dragon Age, this mechanic
succeeds and adds to the game experience, while in the Mass Effect
franchise, it feels underdeveloped and distracts from the core game-
play loop. The difference is in the level of polish and the degree to
which all aspects of the mechanic contribute to the core design of the
overall game.
• Stardew Valley—This game is chock-full of mechanics that simulate
different parts of rural life (admittedly rural life full of mine monsters),
from farming, to mining, to fshing, to going to town to socialize. These
could easily make the game feel unfocused or distract from the core
gameplay in a different game. In this case, every mechanic fts into
the fctional frame of the game, each is equally well implemented and
necessary for success, and each intrinsically supports the core game-
play. That core gameplay, in this case, is time management, so having
a variety of possible actions at all points is critical. The way that each
is implemented creates a rhythm for the gameplay that mirrors the
rhythm of rural life.
• Pokémon Go—The initial design of this game was done on a minimal
timeframe and with limited resources. It wasn’t possible to implement
all the mechanics that players would expect. Instead of cramming in as
many mechanics as possible at the cost of quality, only a few mechan-
ics were implemented at launch. They were very polished, though they
made up a barely minimally viable product. The game received some
criticism for not having richer gameplay. But soon after launch, Niantic
began adding new mechanics, which has continued throughout the
ongoing lifespan of the game. Each mechanic contributes to the exist-
ing game and moves toward a long-term goal of deeper gameplay; it is
released only when its quality meets player expectations. In the cases
where expectations are not met, player response is actively addressed
before more mechanics are introduced.

Seed: Finding Positive Patterns from Negative Patterns: Negative Pattern—

Game, Know Thyself
Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
I See Where You Are Going with This* (Confdence: 1)—As you use the
pattern Familiarity Breeds Contempt, or at Least High Expectations to allo-
cate your development resources, you must make sure that the mechanics
you prioritize are legible to your players by giving suffcient resources to
their supporting mechanics.

* Example pattern for Exercise 24: Teoretical Patterns.

270 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 1: Basic Pattern Exercise to generate a pattern looking
at developer resource allocation. This is intended to produce a pat-
tern to guide business-related resource allocation for developers. The
basic pattern exercise will work for this, but it would be a good place
to develop a more targeted exercise. Look at a broad selection of
games that prioritize different aspects of their designs when search-
ing for this pattern.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate patterns about how
different functional elements should be implemented in order to
meet player expectations.

Keywords: Development Resources, Core Mechanics, Secondary

Mechanics, Player Expectations, Strong Centers, Good Shape, Not
Separateness

USING PATTERNS FOR UNDERSTANDING

All the exercises up to this point have focused on creating patterns
meant to be used in design and as part of a growing Pattern Language.
The next two exercises are different. They may produce patterns
that will become part of your language, but that is not their primary
purpose.
One way you can use the exercises in this book is to help you under-
stand how and why game design techniques work the way they do, and
how those techniques ft into the larger design process. Te patterns
you produce are an expression of that understanding, but even in cases
where an exercise fails to produce a usable pattern, it may generate valu-
able understanding of the design process, the nature of a technique, or an
aspect of design.
Tese exercises focus on that property. Tey explore how and why
aspects of design function in the way they do. Tey may or may not pro-
duce useful patterns; the most valuable output of the exercise may be the
response to the exercise itself.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 271

UNDERSTANDING TECHNIQUES
Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise looks at the efects of a technique. It might be formal or func-
tional; it might be from any game design discipline. When looking at a
technique in previous exercises, you may have noted that a technique has
several diferent efects under diferent conditions. In those exercises, you
were asked to choose an efect and focus your pattern on how it’s created.
Tis developed your understanding of how to control the efects of a tech-
nique in various specifc ways.
Now you’ll look at all of those efects, focusing on the diferences and
on the conditions that cause the efects to vary. It’s challenging to distill a
pattern from this process; you may end up instead with a list of variables
and how they afect your technique. Tese variables will be other tech-
niques, not patterns. And while you can pursue this process recursively,
it’s easy for that process to lose value and become circular.
Why pursue it then? Because the frst level of understanding is advan-
tageous to a designer. It’s valuable to understand, for instance, how other
aspects of a design can make the functional element of jumping create a
sense of empowerment and agency in Super Mario Bros. or Devil May Cry,
but a sense of vulnerability in Te Last of Us. And of course, it’s some-
times possible to distill a useful meta-level pattern from this exercise. Tis
kind of pattern, describing ways that the efects of a technique change, is
incredibly valuable. It can allow you to use the technique in an entirely new
way, while understanding how your design choices are likely to impact the
player experience.

EXERCISE 20: USING PATTERNS TO UNDERSTAND TECHNIQUES

Step 1: Pick a design technique that has different effects in different games.
Step 2: Pick and describe ten games that use that technique to create differ-
ent effects. (You may not fnd ten different effects, but you still need ten
games.) List the games and the effects.
Step 3: How does the technique create each effect? Here you may have
fewer than ten examples—one for each effect, not one for each game.
Step 4: Are there patterns in the way the techniques create the different
effects? What you’re looking for here is why the effects are different in
each game.
Step 5: Take one pattern and expand it using the Pattern Template.
Step 6: You may repeat step 5 for each pattern you noted in step 4.
272 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Example Pattern
Exercise

Step 1: Pick a design technique that has diferent efects in diferent

games.
Running

Step 2: Pick and describe ten games that use that technique to create
diferent efects. (You may not fnd ten diferent efects, but you still
need ten games.) List the games and the efects.

• Silent Hill 2—Vulnerability and character limitation.

• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories—Vulnerability.
• Te Secret World—Growth and increasing character power.
• Canabalt—Character power and agency, vulnerability, player
limitation.
• Te Sinking City—Character vulnerability.
• Anthem— Convenience of mobility, character limitation.
• Mirror's Edge—Character power, player agency.
• Summer Games — Player limitation.
• Tag—Player limitation.
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild—Character limitation, character
growth, player agency.

Step 3: How does the technique create each efect? Here you may have
fewer than ten examples—one for each efect, not one for each game.

• Vulnerability—Characters are ofen made vulnerable when they can

run, but not enough to escape monsters, or when they can’t attack
and have to deal with threats by running. Not being able to stop and
running into danger creates a similar efect in Canabalt.
• Character power—Running can let you avoid combat, particularly
when the character can move quickly through areas that they’ve
completed or that contain enemies that have become trivial to defeat,
as in Secret World. Running can also let the character traverse the
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 273

world in ways that the other entities in the game can’t, as in Mirror’s
Edge. In these cases, the character’s ability to run is generally far
greater than yours or than a normal human’s.
• Player limitation—Te physical action required to run can focus you
on your limitations, whether you have to strike alternating keys at
top speed to represent your lef and right feet as in Summer Games,
or literally run as in tag. Success or failure in the game mean more,
as they relate more directly to you as the player than to a character.
• Character growth—Te character’s ability to run grows throughout
the game. Tis is an obvious and powerful way to show the charac-
ter’s increasing power in the game world, as in most games where
you can run, you spend a lot of your time running.
• Character limitation—Tis is related to vulnerability but also to char-
acter growth. Games that use this technique either limit the ability
to run or take it away. In the case of Anthem, although the character
can run, and quickly, running is far more limited than the ability to
fy, which is core to the gameplay. When you lose your fying ability,
even the ability to run very well is limiting. In these cases, the char-
acter’s ability to run is usually similar to or worse than yours.
• Convenience—Tis is the efect created by using running to allow
you to compress the less exciting parts of gameplay—like moving
from place to place—by increasing the character’s speed.

Step 4: Are there patterns in the way the techniques create the diferent
efects? What you're looking for here is why the efects are diferent in
each game.

• If the character’s ability to run increases throughout the game and

allows them to avoid or overcome the threats they face, it gives the
player a sense of agency and the character a sense of power.
• If the character’s ability to run is lowered or is insufcient to bypass
or overcome the threats they face, it makes the character more vul-
nerable. It may also make the player feel a loss of agency, which may
cause frustration.
• If the ability to move in the game is tied to the player’s ability, it may
create a feeling of close parity with the character, if the character is
not in fact the player (as is the case in physical games like tag).
274 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 5: Choose one pattern to document using the Pattern Template.

Pattern

Name: More or Less Running Away

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 14.5 Te efect of running in a game changes dramatically

depending on whether it is slower or faster than enemies.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: Introducing running into a game to solve the practical
problem of getting a character quickly from one place to another can have
a variety of different impacts on the player experience, depending on the
details of the implementation.
Description: To control the effect of adding the functional element
of running to a game, the developer must decide how they want run-
ning to affect the character and the player. The ability to outrun oppo-
nents will give the character a sense of power and give the player more
agency, while running slower than opponents will make the character
seem vulnerable. Increasing a character’s speed over the course of the
game will emphasize the growth of the character’s power, whereas
lowering or removing their ability to run will focus the player on the
character’s limitations. And tying the character’s ability to run to the
player’s abilities can cause the player to relate closely to the character,
but it is difficult to implement if there is any significant amount of run-
ning in the game.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 275

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Silent Hill 2—In this survival horror game, you move at a walk by
default. You have the ability to run, but doing so depletes the character’s
stamina. There’s no display for stamina, but there are visual and audio
cues, and when the character becomes tired, they double over when
they stop running. It’s possible for the character to escape enemies by
running, but it’s not certain. The limits to running create feelings of vul-
nerability while still allowing you to traverse the larger open spaces in
the game more quickly.
• Mirror’s Edge—This frst-person action game focuses on running. As
such, the character’s ability to run is one of the primary ways that the
character expresses their nature and personality. It’s also the primary
way for both the player and the character to express their autonomy. The
tone of this game is tense action rather than horror, so running gives the
character greater ability to avoid and deal with danger than the previous
game.
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild—The use of running in this
game is very complex. It uses a similar stamina mechanic to Silent
Hill 2, but as a heroic RPG, it reinforces the nature of the character
by allowing you to use running to escape most combat as you tra-
verse the open world. As the game progresses and enemies become
more dangerous, your ability to run scales up as well, providing a
sense of character growth. The complex interplay of these and other
systems, such as crafting, complement the game’s focus on character
development.

Seed: Exercise 20: Using Patterns to Understand Techniques—Running

Related patterns:
Parent patterns: [This pattern probably generalizes to movement within a
game.]

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 20: Using Patterns to Understand Techniques to dupli-
cate the work for this pattern, but use movement as the seed instead
of running. Do you fnd that movement is used in the same way as
running? If so, then consider eliminating this pattern and replacing it
with yours. If you fnd differences in the effects and uses of general
movement compared to the specifc movement of running, then con-
sider whether your pattern is a parent to this one.
276 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
vulnerability.
Use Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns to generate a pattern
based on character power, control, or autonomy.

Keywords: Movement, Running, Mechanics, Empathy, Deep Interlock,

Graded Variation, Roughness

UNDERSTANDING TROPES
Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise can help a developer assess the efects of a trope on their
game. It’s not an exercise intended to convert a trope into a pattern.
Although it may be possible to make that kind of conversion or to break
a trope down into its formal and functional elements and create patterns
around them, this exercise is focused on understanding the efects of the
trope as it exists.*
To complete this exercise, you must understand the cultural meanings
the trope carries. Understanding the mechanical defnition of the trope is
not enough, and attempting to complete this exercise without understand-
ing the trope’s context can result in a pattern that will cause you to imply
meanings in your game that you may not be aware of. Terefore, you’ll
need to research the trope that you choose as part of step 1 of the exercise.
Take care in this research, pursue multiple sources, and discuss the things
you fnd with your development colleagues and classmates.
Do not shy away from the negative aspects or implications of the trope,
because they are as crucial to this exercise as the useful narrative or
mechanical efects. I recommend looking at the video series “Tropes vs.
Women in Video Games” by Anita Sarkeesian for an example of the kind
of analysis that you need to be performing for this exercise. If you’re not
comfortable or able to do this kind of research and analysis on your own,
I would even recommend picking a trope covered in that series and using
it for your frst attempt at this exercise.

* See the section “Forming Patterns vs. Accepting Tropes and Stereotypes” in Chapter 1 for more
details on how the term “trope” is being used in the context of this book.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 277

You may fnd it difcult or impossible to determine whether the use of

the trope is intentional on the part of the developers or if it’s just present
because of the cultural rhetoric the developers were working within. But
that isn’t as much of a problem as it might seem. Te developers don’t need
to have intended a meaning for that meaning to be present in a game. Ofen
in seeking examples, you’ll see a trope interfering with other aspects of the
game. Tese are likely cases where the use of the trope was not intentional.
Other times, the mechanical efects of the trope will be in line with the
other mechanics of the game, but the connotations of the trope’s meaning
will be at odds with the other meanings in the game. Tese may be cases
where the trope was used intentionally, but without a deep understanding
of its cultural baggage. And, of course, you’ll fnd cases where the mean-
ings of a trope are clearly in line with the mechanics and broader mean-
ings of the game, indicating use that’s intentional and well-considered.

EXERCISE 21: USING PATTERNS TO UNDERSTAND TROPES

Step 1: Describe the meaning and context of the trope. This step may
require research.
Step 2: Pick and describe ten games that use that trope. If you can’t think
of ten games, pick a different trope.
Step 3: For each game, describe how that trope shapes the meaning of the
game.
Step 4: For each game, describe how the game would change if it didn’t
use that trope.
Step 5: For each game, state whether you think the designer intended the
meanings of the trope to shape the meaning of their game.
Step 6: Pick one effect of the trope and articulate it as a pattern using the
template. The pattern you generate in this way may be a positive or
negative pattern, depending on the trope and the effect you chose.

Example Pattern
Exercise

Step 1: Describe the meaning and context of the trope. Tis step may
require research.
Te lone warrior. Tis trope portrays a single hero taking on the forces of
evil. It goes so deep that it’s implicit in the Western mainstream under-
standing of what it means to be a hero. In Western media, the lone warrior
is almost always male, white, and heteronormative. Tese things are not
important to the basic function of the trope, but they’re ofen defaulted to
278 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

when the trope is present. Tis trope serves a variety of purposes, which
can be summarized by the following three points:

• It’s easier to tell a story with a single protagonist.

• It’s easier to make a game with a single-player character.
• A whole scafolding of other tropes falls into place when this one is
adopted.

Step 2: Pick and describe ten games that use that trope. If you can’t
think of ten games, pick a diferent trope.

• Doom—Soldier takes on the forces of hell alone.

• Ninja Gaiden—Ninja seeks revenge for his father’s murder and saves
the world.
• God of War—Spartan warrior seeks revenge for his family’s death
and kills the gods.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—Rejected girl seeks to fnd her place in the
world and save her tribe.
• Zelda—Chosen warrior must defeat evil to save the princess and
save the world.
• Super Mario Bros.—Plumber must rescue the princess.
• Te Elder Scrolls—Prisoner must gain enough power to face the
forces that threaten the world.
• Dark Souls—Undead warrior must survive the horrors of the world
they are trapped in.
• Myst—Te player must explore the world alone and solve puzzles to
decide the fate of the other characters in the game.

Step 3: For each game, describe how that trope shapes the meaning of
the game.

• Doom—Te almost complete lack of context for the playable charac-

ter creates a sense of isolation. Te core gameplay loop is simple, as
is the overall game design, and doesn’t require the kind of narrative
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 279

scafolding that a more complex premise would provide. Te level

of hyperviolence in the game, which is used to some comedic efect,
matches the more negative connotations of the trope’s typically male
hero. While there are simple key-based puzzles in the game, you
mostly make progress by moving through the levels, which require a
high level of carnage and refect the behavior of a lone warrior using
force or violence to solve every problem. In this case, the choice of
trope refects the design intent.
• Ninja Gaiden—In this classic side-scrolling beat-’em-up game, which
has been remade as many times as Doom, the straightforward nar-
rative that this trope generates fts well with its simple gameplay.*
In this case, however, there’s more characterization and motivation,
and in turn, additional tropes. In a revenge-based narrative, the lone
warrior trope’s efectiveness is weakened by the fact that lone war-
riors ofen refuse to express their emotional distress, or have no one
to express it to, making it hard for the player to be aware of their deep
and compelling inner life, or lack of one. It’s also harder to show
the impact of the character’s loss, due to his loner tendencies. Tis
trope also models a strong sense of masculine self-reliance and fear
of showing weakness or seeking help.
• God of War—Tis game is another revenge narrative. Te aforemen-
tioned efects of the lone warrior trope are on display here, but here
the game leans into these negative character traits and creates a story
about an unlikable antihero. Te game produced by these design
choices appealed to a signifcant audience, but also alienated other
players.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—Te use of the lone warrior trope in this game
is interesting. In this case, the protagonist is female. She begins the
game not alone, but with her father fgure. Although his loss is one
of her motivators, she is primarily driven by trying to save her adop-
tive tribe, who have rejected her. Her goal is both understanding and
gaining acceptance within her tribe. In this way, her status as a lone
warrior is externally imposed, which gives the trope negative conse-
quences. Tis subversion of the trope reinforces the game’s themes of
community and interdependence, even while allowing mechanical

* Simple, not easy. Ninja Gaiden has a well-deserved reputation for signifcant levels of difculty.
280 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

game design that takes advantage of the simplicity of single-charac-

ter gameplay.
• Zelda—Although this game’s tone is lighter, the lone warrior trope is
still in evidence. Link’s status as a loner is also externally imposed:
he’s given the status of the chosen hero and sent out on that path. He
gets some support from the world he’s been sent out to save, as seen
in the iconic dialogue, “It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this!” Tere
are still sexist overtones here, as Link has the personal motivation
of saving the princess, who’s presented as a potential love interest.
Te main character’s quest in the original iteration of this franchise
works well with the lone warrior trope. Some of the later games,
which rely more on side quests, sufer from the issue of the world-
saving hero being asked to solve every trivial problem anyone faces.
• Super Mario Bros.—Te narrative of the frst iteration of this game
was very light, providing a premise and motivation for the mostly
nonsensical plot. However, the basic lone warrior trope is present,
again reinforced by the damsel in distress trope. In later games in
this series, the narrative becomes somewhat more complicated, if not
more sensical. Regardless of the tone or complexity, the structure of
this game series became an iconic model for what was expected and
acceptable in games.
• Te Elder Scrolls—In each of this series of role-playing games, the
player creates a character, which elides some of the gender-related
aspects of this trope. Te mechanical benefts of simpler single-player
combat are present, though there are sometimes companions present
in later iterations of the franchise. Te close-mouthed, mysterious
nature of the lone warrior is leveraged here to allow NPCs to give
generic responses that are appropriate to any character the player
creates. Later iterations of the game customize responses somewhat
based on the race and gender of the player character.
• Dark Souls—Te grimdark and obscure esthetic of this game works
very well with the lone warrior trope. Te isolation of the character
is in keeping with the esthetic and narrative of the game. Because of
the strangeness of the world and the lack of additional motivating
tropes, the game mostly avoids the trope’s negative connotations.
It’s possible for other players to aid or hinder the player in these
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 281

games, but their presence is ghostly and not core to the primary
gameplay.
• Myst—In this puzzle-based game, the player character is trapped
inside a book written by another character in the world. Tere are
no other characters in the game, and you're lef to unravel the mys-
tery in isolation. Te identity of the character is unknown, and their
behavior is not governed by other tropes, which avoids negative con-
notations. Te character’s solitude reinforces the themes of the game.

Step 4: For each game, describe how the game would change if it didn’t
use that trope.

• Doom—Interestingly, both movie versions of Doom have featured

a squad-based narrative. Tis choice refects the diferent require-
ments of games versus flm. However, if you replace the single-player
components of Doom with a squad-based narrative frame, the game
might look something like Destiny or Anthem or Lef 4 Dead. If you
replace the deathmatch or competitive multiplayer elements with
a squad-based premise, you would end up with a game like Team
Fortress. In both cases, the games become about the group of players
and about the fction that binds them together.
• Ninja Gaiden—A variety of four-player arcade games, such as
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, could be argued to be similar to this
game without the lone warrior trope. However, those games sim-
ply add additional players without altering the gameplay or story
in any meaningful way. Games like Child of Light or even Little Big
Planet give some insight into what this game might become in the
absence of this trope. Allowing for interaction between players, or
between a single player and meaningful NPCs, could distract from
the tightly focused action of the game. But it could also add the
possibility of combat mechanics that require player cooperation. As
discussed earlier, letting the main character have meaningful inter-
action would allow more narrative exploration of the revenge nar-
rative premise.
• God of War—Te clear example of what this game becomes without
the lone warrior trope is the 2018 God of War release, in which the
282 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

main character has aged and has a son. As suggested with regard
to Ninja Gaiden, this allowed both more complex combat and an
exploration of the main characters through their interactions during
gameplay.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—Te complex combat, battles against huge ene-
mies, and tribe-focused narrative of this game seem like they would
beneft from abandoning this trope. I do think that the lone war-
rior trope fts well with the narrative themes of rejection and seek-
ing group membership. However, shifing to a more group-focused
theme might better ft the game’s narrative progression.
• Zelda—Removing this trope from an action RPG like Zelda might
allow for the character to complete quests with various NPCs, allow-
ing for both satisfying cooperative combat and time to fesh out the
character’s relationships with others in the world. Narratively, there
is not a strong reason for this trope. To some degree, massively mul-
tiplayer online games (MMOs) are examples of what Zelda might be
without a focus on a lone warrior protagonist. However, even most
MMOs regularly fall back to this trope, primarily sending players’
characters out alone.
• Super Mario Bros.—I don’t think the answer here difers much from
that for Ninja Gaiden, though the example of Little Big Planet fts
better in this case.
• Te Elder Scrolls—All social interaction in the Elder Scrolls games is
a little stif and stilted. Later games do introduce companion charac-
ters, but those companions don’t alter the gameplay much. But even
this slight deviation from the lone warrior trope allowed some play-
ers to bond with these companions and to become more emotion-
ally invested in their characters. A game like Dragon Age shows the
potential of this type of game without this trope.
• Dark Souls—Te grim solitude of this trope strengthens the inten-
tional isolation of the player and character in this game. Te game
Ashen is a good example of the changes that removing this trope would
cause. In Ashen, the player is almost always accompanied by a compan-
ion character when they leave their settlement to complete a quest. Te
constant interaction with these NPCs allows players to form stronger
bonds with them and with the settlement they’re building together.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 283

Ashen also incorporates a multiplayer component, which replaces the

optional and elusive ghosts of Dark Souls with players being placed
into each other’s companion NPCs. Tis is mostly transparent to the
players involved, each seeing themselves as the main character and the
other player as the companion NPC. At its best, this allows for realis-
tic NPC behavior and dynamic combat. At its worst, it enables player
trolling that can prevent progress in the game.
• Myst—Although it was a niche game that never found its full expres-
sion, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst was an exploration of how the world
and gameplay of Myst would change with the introduction of mul-
tiplayer gameplay and a focus on community. At its best, forming a
community and exploring this world was thrilling, but the nature
of puzzles that need only be solved once did not ft well with the
amount of time players needed to form social bonds, and the game
soon ran out of content.

Step 5: For each game, state whether you think the designer intended
the meanings of the trope to shape the meaning of their game.

• Doom—Yes
• Ninja Gaiden—No
• God of War—Yes
• Horizon Zero Dawn—Yes
• Zelda—No
• Super Mario Bros.—No
• Te Elder Scrolls—Yes
• Dark Souls—Yes
• Myst-—No

Step 6: Pick one efect of the trope and articulate it as a pattern using
the template. Te pattern you generate in this way may be a positive or
negative pattern, depending on the trope and the efect you chose.
Using the lone warrior trope creates a sense of isolation for the player and
character.
284 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Pattern

Name: Can I Do This Alone?

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 14.6 When you use a trope you inherit a whole host of meanings
and follow-on problems that you must consider very carefully.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problems: The following design problems may result in the inclu-
sion of the lone warrior trope. The trope does address these problems, but
when used carelessly without consideration of this or other related pat-
terns, it may have unintended side effects.

• Multiplayer gameplay is complex to produce.

• Cooperative NPCs are complicated to implement.
• Many common video game character motivational tropes are closely
coupled with the lone warrior trope.
• The intended gameplay requires a single character and is combat-focused.
• The designer wants to create a sense of isolation in the character and/
or the player.
• The designer wants to affict the character with the negative social con-
notations of the lone warrior trope.
• The designer wants to confront the player with the negative social con-
notations of the lone warrior trope.

Description: When seeking a narrative premise that will create a sense of

isolation in the player and character, a designer may wish to make use of
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 285

the lone warrior trope. This trope can have signifcant cultural baggage,
however, and developers must carefully consider how it is implemented to
achieve the intended effects without unintended connotations.
In its most basic form, the trope is that a lone warrior must confront
the forces arrayed against them. The negative connotations of this trope
arise from the fact that traditionally this warrior is male and often exhibits
the behavioral patterns of toxic masculinity. These behaviors can range
from a refusal to accept help, to an inability to communicate their needs,
to actively hostile behavior towards anyone they encounter as no one can
understand their pain, and so on.
Other problematic tropes such as the damsel in distress (Sarkeesian
2016a), what these people need is a honky (TV Tropes 2020b), or stuffed
into the fridge (Sarkeesian 2016b) are often associated with the lone war-
rior. When employing the lone warrior trope, designers must be aware of
other tropes that they may include without explicit intent.
Of course, not all instances of this trope include all or any of these nega-
tive aspects. But due to the nature of tropes, even instances free from these
negative aspects may still be implied by players familiar with the trope. This
is of course projection on the part of the players, but no less real for that.
When using this trope, the designer must be aware of these connota-
tions and either actively subvert them or make use of them intentionally.
Otherwise, they run the risk of having their narrative intent colored.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Doom—As the player, you begin, play, and end the game alone. You
are told that only you stand between the forces of hell and earth. This
game does partake of some of the trope's negative aspects via the angry
expressions of the character portrait. The trope, however, fts very well
with the simple gameplay and the desired sense of desperation, isola-
tion, and eventual heroic victory that it intends.
• Dark Souls—The implementation of this trope in this game is much
more nuanced. The ability to choose your gender, along with the game’s
melancholy atmosphere, removes much of the hypermasculinity associ-
ated with this trope. The game also uses that expectation to emphasize
that in this world, there’s little glory in this lonely struggle. However, the
antagonistic nature of the multiplayer components brings back some of
the trope’s more negative connotations.
• Horizon Zero Dawn—The lone warrior trope is used skillfully in this
game, subverting its negative aspects with the use of an explicit female
character, and by making one of the character’s main goals to escape
her isolation and gain acceptance in her tribe.

Seed: Using Patterns to Understand Tropes—The Lone Warrior

286 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on
the idea that cultural rhetoric infuences a developer’s design choices.
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on
the idea that cultural rhetoric infuences the player’s interpretation of
the elements in the game.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 21: Using Patterns to Understand Tropes to generate a
pattern based on the trope damsel in distress.
Use Exercise 21: Using Patterns to Understand Tropes to generate
a pattern based on the trope what these people need is a honkey.
Use Exercise 21: Using Patterns to Understand Tropes to generate a
pattern based on the trope stuffed into the fridge.

Keywords: Tropes, Isolation, Single Player, Motivation, Strong Centers,

Deep Interlock, Echoes*

THE FIRST CHOICE

Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise is meant to produce very high-level patterns. It asks the
designer to pick the frst question they ask themselves when they’re asked
to make a game. Tese questions can be all over the map: How much
money do I have to invest? What is the story? What is the camera perspec-
tive? What is the game genre? Or any of a thousand considerations. Te
point is to ask a big question, one that will defne the shape of the game at
the highest level.
Tis is a strange exercise, and it may say as much about the designer
completing it as it does about the importance or validity of any initial
game design question. But it does tend to produce interesting patterns.
While your choice of starting question may be idiosyncratic, it will provide

* Tese three fundamental properties are enhanced by the use of tropes. However, the centers they
create, interlock with, and echo may not be ones you intend!
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 287

a top-level pattern. It will not be the top-level pattern, but when combined
with the results of this exercise from other developers it will help to pro-
vide a healthy variety of these top-level patterns for your language.

EXERCISE 22: THE FIRST CHOICE

Step 1: Pretend you have been asked to make a game.*
Step 2: What is the frst question you ask yourself?
Step 3: Name ten games that you think asked this question frst.†
Step 4: Describe them. What kind of games are they?
Step 5: List and describe any patterns you see.
Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: Repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed in step 5.

Example Pattern
Exercise

Step 1: Pretend you have been asked to make a game.

Okay, I’m pretending. For this exercise, I imagine needing to decide what
game to make and think about the diferent things that factor into that
decision. I need to be able to determine things like how to pick a story,
select a team size, or design my core mechanics. I select a frst question
that will help me work through these problems.

Step 2: What is the frst question you ask yourself?

I’m cheating a little bit here as I’ve done this exercise several times,
and I’m going to pick the question that yielded my favorite pattern. But
each time I’ve completed the exercise, it’s generated a useful high-level
pattern.
In this case, my question is, What perspective am I going to use for this
game?

* In my classes I usually give students a little context here. I might say, “Imagine that you have been
put in charge of your frst game at the company you work at. Your boss gives you the assignment.
What is the frst question that pops into your head?” It would be just as valid to imagine that you
were setting out on your dream indie project and trying to think of the most important decision
you would have to make, or if you are a student, to imagine that you’re starting the design of your
fnal senior project or thesis project.
† Not games that answered the question the same way that you would, just games for which the

answer to the question is the defning aspect of the game. If the question was about budget, then
games for which budget defned the rest of the design choices, or for which story defned the
design, or perspective, etc.
288 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Step 3: Name ten games that you think asked this question frst.
It is, of course, efectively impossible to know whether most games asked
your question “frst.” For the purposes of this exercise, it's sufcient to
select games that are defned by your question.
Tomb Raider, Gears of War, Monument Valley, Beat Saber, Te Room,
Silent Hill, Nier: Automata, Echochrome, Among the Sleep, Black & White

Step 4: Describe them. What kind of games are they?

• Tomb Raider (1996)—Te choice of camera in this game is perhaps

the strongest element in establishing its identity. Te close third-
person perspective allows the traversal and platforming puzzles that
make the game distinct from the frst-person 3D games that came
before it. Tis camera allows the character to be your primary focus
as the player. Tis had both positive and negative efects, in that it
allows more opportunity to defne the character by her appearance
and to connect you emotionally with the character by showing her
reactions to events. But it also allows for the sexual objectifcation of
the character and the fetishization of the character’s death sequences.
Both of these efects were intentional, and were possible and efective
because of the camera choice.
• Gears of War—Te choice of an over-the-shoulder third-person
camera for this game helped it defne the cover-based shooter genre.
Te perspective also helped with the game’s greater focus on charac-
ter and story.
• Monument Valley—Te fxed isometric camera allows the optical
illusions and visual surprise that defne the game.
• Beat Saber—Giving this game a frst-person fxed-location virtual
reality (VR) camera creates the feeling of being present in the game
like no other. Additionally, it allows the one-to-one control scheme
that makes the experience of the game possible.
• Te Room—Te frst-person camera is set a little unusually, as the
player cannot move freely.* Te game focuses on the manipula-
tion of puzzle items in the world, and in many ways the camera

* Tis “fxed” frst-person perspective was used in the early puzzle game Myst, though the later ver-
sion of that game, Real Myst, allowed free character movement. In Myst the perspective was used
largely due to technical limitations; in this game it is used intentionally to facilitate perspective-
dependent puzzles.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 289

functions more like a third-person camera. However, it enables an

almost one-to-one interaction mapping that allows you to feel like
you’re moving things around in the game world with the touch con-
trols as you play.
• Silent Hill—Te third-person camera, which is sometimes trailing
and sometimes fxed, facilitates the character’s limited perspective.
Te game uses other afordances, such as fog and darkness, to cre-
ate the same efect when the camera is trailing. Te limitations of
this camera view make the controls less intuitive to use, which fur-
thers the character’s (and the player’s!) awkward panic and fear of
the unknown.
• Nier: Automata—Tis game uses a wider variety of perspectives
than is typical. It includes a side-scrolling 2D camera, an over-the-
shoulder third-person camera, and a top-down isometric scrolling
camera. Te switches between these are all done in the same engine,
which adjusts the camera to whatever style of gameplay the designer
desires at a given point. Te constant shifing may unsettle you as a
player, but it also intrigues, keeping you guessing as to what kind of
game you’re playing.
• Echochrome—Tis game is similar to Monument Valley, if much sim-
pler in presentation. Te fxed third-person camera allows gameplay
that’s heavily based on the optical illusions and impossible spaces of
M.C. Escher. Tere’s more freedom in this game to rotate the game
world, allowing for somewhat diferent puzzles but resulting in less
intuitive gameplay.
• Among the Sleep—Tis game has a frst-person perspective, but
adjusts the camera height to match that of its two-year-old protago-
nist. Te result is startlingly efective in creating a sense of vulner-
ability in this horror-themed game.
• Black & White—Te free-fying distant third-person perspective
refects the disembodied omnipotence of the “god game” genre, of
which this game is probably the best example.

Step 5: List and describe any patterns you see.

1. Games that are defned by their choice of perspective use that per-
spective to enable or emphasize a core mechanic.
290 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

2. Te closer the perspective of the camera to the character, the more

the player identifes as that character. Tat’s true enough in a literary
sense, but adding both the ability to control the character’s actions,
and a visual sense of being either distant from, close to, or inside of
the character makes it even more powerful in games.
3. Diferent perspectives are useful for diferent kinds of gameplay,
specifcally:
• Isometric perspectives support exploration and high levels of
player information.
• A 2D side and fxed perspective make spatial awareness easier by
limiting it to two axes, which can facilitate puzzles (Tetris) and
platforming (Super Mario Bros.).
• Tird-person perspective can be easier to control (console games)
and can provide visibility for a character when character identity
is an important narrative element.
• First-person perspective can make aiming and shooting easier, it
can increase a player’s ability to project themselves into the char-
acter, and it can provide a more immersive window into the game
world.
• VR perspective can allow intuitive one-to-one physical/game
controls and an unparalleled sense of presence in the game
world.

Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Because I’m looking for a good high-level pattern, I’m going to docu-
ment my first answer to step 5: “Games that are defined by their choice
of perspective use that perspective to enable or emphasize a core
mechanic.”
I think that the pattern I noted in answer 2 is interesting, but it may
be more of an emotional pattern. It does seem worth documenting later,
though.
Te set-of patterns would clearly be children of the frst, so I will leave
them for another time.

Step 7: Repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed in step 5.

 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 291

Pattern

Name: It All Depends on How You Look at It

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 14.7 When the camera perspective doesn’t match the core
mechanic it can become hard for the player to engage with the experience
you are trying to create.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: When beginning to make a game, the camera perspec-
tive is often one of the frst choices a designer has to make. Many factors
go into this choice, and the best option is often unclear.
Description: To design a game that creates a particular experience as effec-
tively as possible, the designer should frst understand the experience they
want to create, and then the techniques, both mechanical and esthetic, that
they’ll use to create that experience. Only then should they consider which
camera perspective to choose.
Different camera perspectives are better at supporting some mechani-
cal and esthetic choices than others. The child patterns listed here go into
detail about which camera perspectives support which techniques, but the
following observations can serve as basic guidelines:

• Isometric perspectives support exploration and high levels of player

information, as in The Legend of Zelda or League of Legends.
• A 2D side and fxed perspective make spatial awareness easier by
limiting it to two axes, which can facilitate puzzles, as in Tetris or
Bejeweled, and platforming, as in Super Mario Bros. or Ori and the
Blind Forest.
• Third-person perspective can be easier to control, particularly on game
controllers used by console games. It can also provide visibility for a
character when character identity is an important narrative element.
292 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• First-person perspective can make aiming and shooting easier, it can

increase a player’s ability to project themselves into the character, and it
can provide a more immersive window into the game world as seen in
games like Doom or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
• VR perspective can allow intuitive one-to-one physical/game controls
and an unparalleled sense of presence in the game world, as seen in
games like Beat Saber or Resident Evil 7.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Tomb Raider—The choice of camera in this game is perhaps the stron-

gest element in establishing its identity. The close third-person perspec-
tive allows the traversal and platforming puzzles that make the game
distinct from the frst-person 3D games that came before it. This camera
allows the character to be your primary focus as the player. This has
both positive and negative effects, in that it allows more opportunity to
defne the character by her appearance and to connect you emotionally
with the character by showing her reactions to events. But it also allows
for the sexual objectifcation of the character and the fetishization of the
character’s death sequences. Both of these effects were intentional, and
were possible and effective because of the camera choice.
• Among the Sleep—This game has a frst-person perspective, but adjusts
the camera height to match that of its two-year-old protagonist. The
result is startlingly effective in creating a sense of vulnerability in this
horror-themed game.
• Beat Saber—Giving this game a frst-person fxed-location VR cam-
era creates the feeling of being present in the game like no other.
Additionally, it allows the one-to-one control scheme that makes the
experience of the game possible.

Seed: Exercise 22: The First Choice—Camera Perspective

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 22: The First Choice to generate a pattern based on the
choice of core mechanic.
Use Exercise 22: The First Choice to generate a pattern based on the
choice of narrative.
Use Exercise 22: The First Choice to generate a pattern based on the
choice of hardware platform.
How are these patterns related? Do they drive the choice of camera
perspective or are they driven by it? Are they parents or children of
this pattern?
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 293

Child patterns:
Temporally Unavailable Space* (Confdence: 2)—The implementation of
this pattern depends on the choice made in applying It All Depends on
How You Look at It. Once you have made that choice, use this pattern if
you want to make your levels more dynamic.
Fight Like You Live† (Confdence: 2)—Once you have decided on player
experience and chosen camera perspective, you may use this pattern to
guide your combat design if your game includes combat.
I Could Be Bounded in a Nutshell and Still Count Myself a King of
Infnite Space‡ (Confdence: 3)—The way that you implement this pattern
is determined by the choice you make when applying It All Depends on
How You Look at It. Use this pattern if your camera perspective and player
experience demand that you confne combat to limited space.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES§
Use Exercise 4: Formal Patterns to generate patterns based on iso-
metric perspective, 2D side-scrolling perspective, third-person per-
spective, frst-person perspective, or VR frst-person perspective.
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate patterns based on
isometric perspective, 2D side-scrolling perspective, third-person
perspective, frst-person perspective, or VR frst-person perspective .
How do the patterns generated by Exercise 4 differ from those gener-
ated by Exercise 5?

Keywords: Perspective, Camera, Mechanics, Boundaries, The Void, Not

Separateness

AUDIENCE PATTERNS
Pattern Purpose
As we’ve discussed in a previous exercise, games have diferent efects on
diferent players. On one level, no game will have the same impact on any
two people. Tat observation, while technically true, is not all that helpful
to us as designers. It’s more useful to examine the efects of games on dif-
ferent people and observe patterns.

* Example pattern for Exercise 4: Formal Patterns.

† Example pattern for Exercise 5: Functional Patterns.

‡ Example pattern for Exercise 9: Circulation Patterns.

§ You may have noticed that Exercises 4 and 5 are essentially the same. Te only real diference is

in whether you are looking at a formal or functional element. As you can see here, something like
perspective could be looked at either way. Te perspective could be part of the shape of the game
or part of how you interact with it. When you can’t decide whether you should use Exercise 4 or 5
to generate a pattern for a particular design element, try using both and look at how the patterns
you fnd difer.
294 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Tis, however, is extremely difcult for several reasons. First, looking at

the efects of games on diverse audiences requires a degree of research and
social sciences training that’s not feasible for most designers. And second,
most games are still made for very limited audiences.
We still consider ourselves lucky to fnd a single game that masterfully
creates a strong experience, whether it’s an emotion like joy or grief, or an
abstract concept like the futility of war or the catharsis of violence. Few
designers could call to mind ten games that created that kind of experi-
ence across ten diferent audiences! So in this section, I will propose a
more modest exercise and then present two more robust versions for those
with the resources to pursue them.
It’s vital when making observations to be aware of your own implicit
and explicit biases. Try to observe the efect of a game or technique, and
not assume based on your own internal stereotypes of diferent kinds of
gamers based on race, gender, age, or economic factors. You may or may
not have the ability to observe or discuss games with diverse audiences,
but at a minimum, read the frsthand accounts of marginalized gamers
when completing this exercise.
Additionally, be aware that the stereotypes, tropes, and assumptions
you’re trying to avoid have been embraced by the marketing apparatus of
companies around the world over the last 40 years of game design. Tose
marketing messages, reinforced by ambient cultural racism, sexism, and
other systemic prejudices, have shaped the expectations of many of the
more privileged audiences that you may be designing games for. Take that
into account when researching your audience and their reactions to games
that may have been subject to those forces.

EXERCISE 23: AUDIENCE PATTERNS

Step 1: Think of a particular effect that a game has had on you personally,
that you know it had because of who you are.
Step 2: Identify the aspect of yourself that allowed the game to have the
effect on you that it did. (This might be your gender, race, sexuality,
nationality, economic background, age, level of education, or some
other quality.)
Step 3: Look at the effect the same game had on someone who’s different
from you in that particular way.*

* In the later versions of this exercise you will look primarily at other players’ responses to games.
Here you’re just using another player’s response to the game to help you defne your own and to see
what parts of your response may be tied to the audience that you are part of.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 295

Step 4: List as many games as you can that are targeted toward an audience
that has the quality you identifed in step 2.
Step 5: List the things those games have in common.
Step 6: List the patterns you see in the items you listed in step 5.
Step 7: Select a pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 8: Share your pattern with a designer who doesn’t share the quality
you identifed in step 2.
Step 9: Seek out a pattern from another designer who doesn’t share the
quality you identifed in step 2.

Exercise 23 will allow you to produce a pattern based on an audience

that you are part of. Tis will help you understand your own audience seg-
ment, and the biases and narrow perspective that may come along with it.
It will also produce a pattern that helps describe efective design for your
audience. Te last two steps of this pattern are unusual, because the util-
ity of this pattern comes from sharing it with developers who are part of
a diferent audience than you, and reviewing patterns that describe their
own audience segments, which will be diferent than yours. Trough this
process, we can all develop a more robust understanding of the patterns
around audiences, even if we don’t each have the broad perspective and
deep insight to create those patterns on our own.

Example Audience Patterns

Exercise

Step 1: Tink of a particular efect that a game has had on you person-
ally, that you know it had because of who you are. Describe the game
and its efect.
Virginia. Playing this game put me frmly into the role of the main char-
acter: a woman of color in the 1990s in the male-dominated feld of an
FBI feld agent. I’m not saying that this was an accurate representation of
the profession or that the depiction of the experience of being a woman of
color was accurate. But the mechanics and narrative content of the game
made me feel the role I was being asked to play in a way that felt distinct
from my own experience of life. It also felt diferent from games where I’m
expected to project myself onto the character I’m playing.

Step 2: Identify the aspect of yourself that allowed the game to have the
efect on you that it did. (Tis might be your gender, race, sexuality, nation-
ality, economic background, age, level of education, or some other quality.)
296 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

I think my role as a game developer is partially responsible for the game’s

efectiveness. I was seeking out and trying to embrace the efect of the
game. I also think my desire to be an ally to the represented group con-
tributed. Te game provided an environment where I could explore my
understanding and empathy without inserting myself into a conversation
that was outside of my lived experience.
I don’t know if I’m the primary intended audience for this game. I can
imagine that playing this game might make players that more closely
match the demographic profle of the main character feel seen and repre-
sented. However, I do feel that the experience of playing the game is meant
to be more educational than representational.

Step 3: Look at the efect the same game had on at least one person who
is diferent from you in that particular way.
M.O., female, age 43, gamer, gaming style: action/FPS. She found some
character moments efective, but not enough to connect emotionally with
the character or experience empathy. Some moments that I found com-
pelling because they difered from my lived experience just seemed unre-
markable to her. Tings like seeing how small my character’s hand was
when being shaken by a man or being harassed by teens at a gas station.
She found the mechanical restrictions frustrating and “claustrophobic,”
but mostly didn’t connect that feeling to the experience of the character.
She thought the minimalist art style made the world feel less meaningful
overall. She remarked on the jump cuts and sometimes found them disori-
enting, but also felt that they took away what might have been meaningful
choices, rather than removing meaningless fller choices.

Step 4: List and briefy describe as many games as you can that are tar-
geted toward an audience that has the quality you identifed in step 2.

• Virginia—You could describe this game as an adventure game where

you play an FBI agent investigating a possibly supernatural disap-
pearance in a small town. But this hides the fact that this is a game
with no dialogue, extremely minimalist visual style, very intention-
ally limited player choice, and scenes/levels that jump forward in
time unexpectedly and only allow you to see or participate in scenes
that matter to the narrative.
• Spec Ops: Te Line—Tis game is an indictment of gamer culture
around military FPS games like Call of Duty or Battlefeld. Ostensibly
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 297

the audience for this game would be the players of that genre who
unselfconsciously enjoy the violence and virtue fantasy. I am not
sure that the game is efective for that audience, but it was efective
for me as a developer and a gamer critical of that genre. It showed
me why such games are enjoyable, and then made me uncomfortable
with having enjoyed those aspects of the game.
• Loneliness—Tis simple game is intended to show the emotional
landscape of loneliness. It uses a simple black and white palette and
the behavior or small black squares toward the player’s small black
square, set against melancholy music to achieve its efect. I think that
this game would be universally efective, but I also imagine that my
designer’s mindset and openness to art games made it more so.
• Gone Home—Tis game is set in the early 1990s and evokes a sense
of nostalgia, while also conveying the experience of discovering that
someone you know very well is gay. Te strong sense of nostalgia
the game evoked in me, as someone who grew up in the period it
depicts, made me connect with the character and personally relate to
her experience of discovering her sister’s sexual orientation.
• Tis War of Mine—Tis game uses survival mechanics to present the
impossible choices people are forced to make as civilians in times
of war. By ofering clear strategic choices that violate clear moral
norms, the game drives its point home. Te game was created by
survivors of the siege of Sarajevo.
• Night in the Woods—Similarly to Gone Home, this game creates a
sense of nostalgia and explores the story of a college-age girl trying
to come to terms with life in her home town afer an abortive stint
in college. I completed my course of study, but the game successfully
connected with my fears of failure in life to create empathy in me for
the character.
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifce—Tis game uses a variety of esthetic
and mechanical techniques to try to create the experience of mental
illness. Tat’s not the plot of the game, but it is the emotional pay-
load. I found it somewhat uncomfortable, as I wasn't sure whether
the developers were sufciently respectful in their design choices.
Still, I did fnd that the mechanics made me behave in ways that
are typically associated with the psychological challenges it was
depicting.
298 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Dear Esther—The minimal mechanics and limited choice in

this game are overlaid with a narrative of sadness at the end of a
lonely man’s life and his eventual suicide. It’s debatable whether
the game is about literally choosing to kill yourself or rather
about letting go at the end of life. I was conflicted at the end of
the game, but found the freeing of the man’s spirit touching and
beautiful. I would say that it went so far as to help me understand
and respect his choice.

Step 5: List the things that those games have in common.

• Tey depict emotional landscapes that are painful or difcult.

• Tey are efective for players who have not experienced or don’t
deeply identify with the characters or situations they depict.
• Many of these games were made by developers with lived or frst-
hand experience of the situations they depict.
• Tese games rely on mechanics to reinforce their emotional state-
ments in ways that could be seen as coercive to the player.
• Most of the time, the critical success of these games directly relates
to the degree to which they are explicit in their intent.

Step 6: List the patterns you see in the items you listed in step 5.

1. To make your emotional reactions to a game make sense, you need

to understand the game’s intent. Tat is to say, if the mechanics of a
game are making you the player feel things, then it’ll be more efec-
tive if you can also see that the character is feeling those same things.
If the player has a strong emotional reaction, but doesn’t empathize
with the character, then the player is likely to feel that emotion
toward the game itself. In games where that emotion is negative, it
leaves the player with a negative experience of the game.
2. Games that are about a particular lived experience may read more
clearly or have more impact on players outside of that lived experi-
ence. Virginia might be an example of this kind of game, as I feel like
it was trying to show the experience of the character to a player that
had not had that experience.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 299

Te efect I’m describing is diferent from other games that pro-

vide representation for particular groups, but treat a subject that’s
more accessible and universal. Papo Y Yo might be a good exam-
ple of this type of game, as the setting is steeped in the esthetics of
Brazilian culture, but the subject matter involves coming to terms
with alcoholism. Te fact that I’m not like the character in this game
but found its message very efective suggests that this may be true.
3. Te aforementioned pattern may also be diferent from games that
are about subject matter specifc to an audience but assume the lived
experience of the audience. Gone Home would be an example of that
last statement for me, as it assumes the lived experience of growing
up in a suburban nuclear family in the 1980s and ’90s.

Step 7: Select a pattern and document it using the pattern template.

Te frst pattern in step 6 is interesting and I think very valuable, but I
believe it will end up being a pattern about player manipulation. Tere is
nothing wrong with deriving that kind of pattern from this exercise, but
for the sake of clarity in this example, I am going to document the second
pattern as it more closely relates to audiences.

Step 8: Share your pattern with a designer who does not share the qual-
ity you identifed in step 2.

Step 9: Seek out a pattern from another designer who does not share the
quality you identifed in step 2.

AUDIENCE AND INTERSECTIONAL IDENTITY

Audience may be a relatively neutral choice for your game, such as “kids
from 8 to 12 years old” or “North America.” Or it may be related to ques-
tions of gender, race, sexuality, and other cultural factors that our industry
has struggled with since its inception.
I strongly believe that we need more diverse characters in our games,
we need more diverse game designers, and we need games that deal with
the issues that we face in our real lives related to the diverse, problematic,
and complex world we live in.
Being part of making that happen is challenging, whether you’re one of
the growing number of diverse developers entering the industry every day,
or an old cis white guy like me trying to help our industry change and live
up to its potential.
300 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Asking what diversity in a game looks like is a legitimate question. I

think there are, unsurprisingly, a diverse set of answers. As I discuss in step
6 of this pattern, there are at least three ways that a game might be diverse.
A game may be about a group and have that group as its audience. A game
may be about a group and have a different group as its audience. Or a
game may not present characters that are like its audience but may still be
targeted toward that group.
Regardless of whether you’re making a game about one audience for
another or making a game about an audience for that audience, you must
have deep, preferably lived experience of the groups you’re representing.
Ideally, if you’re making a game about a group, then your design team
should be led by, or at the very least contain, members of that group. If not,
ask yourself why. Making a game about a group that you and your team
are not part of is an uphill battle. Doing research and hiring consultants to
review your work can help. But before you take on that kind of task, be
very sure that you are the right team to make the game you’re considering.

Pattern

Name: This Game Isn’t about You … But It Is for You

Confdence: 1
Image:

FIGURE 14.8 Elements that are noticed or understood by one audience

may not be noticed or understood by another.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 301

Author: Chris Barney

Design problem: When beginning the design of a game, the developer
must decide on the audience for the game. Determining the audience for
a game can be diffcult, but it’s usually vital for the success of the game—
from the start of design, to marketing, and through to critical reception and
sales.
Description: Sometimes a game’s purpose is to create the experience of
a group and make it accessible to an audience made up of members of a
different group. In this case, it’s important to recognize that your audience
may notice, and attribute to the depicted group’s experience, things that
you as a member of that group aren’t even aware of. To represent these
aspects of the group’s experience, you must break down and articulate
that experience. Only when you have a concrete list of distinct experiential
aspects can you begin to construct the mechanics and narrative that will
read as intended to the non-group members.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Virginia—This game uses a variety of techniques to suggest the expe-

rience of being a marginalized woman in a male bureaucracy. Player
choice is very limited, sometimes to a single axis of visual movement
and a single choice, to show you how limited the character feels her
options are. The game also uses cinematic jump cuts to move from
one signifcant character moment to the next, without allowing you
to explore the environment and experience it on your own terms. The
design subtly uses elements of scale to make you feel small in compari-
son to the men in the game.
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifce—This game tries to convey the experience
of mental illness through both mechanical and esthetic techniques.
For example, as you play, you must create symbols and meaning out
of things that only exist in the character’s mind. By lining up various
objects in the environment, you can form runes that unlock the next
area in the game. Instead of a helpful tutorial voice-over, you get a mul-
titude of voices whispering suggestions to the character—voices that are
often lying.
• Loneliness—This simple game is intended to show the emotional land-
scape of loneliness. It uses a simple black and white palette, melancholy
music, and the behavior of small black squares toward your small black
square to achieve its effect. While this game is mainly communicating
through metaphor, it’s also clearly using mechanical and esthetic tech-
niques to show you what the experience of loneliness can feel like.

Seed: Exercise 23: Audience Patterns—Virginia

302 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 2: Higher-Order Patterns to look for a pattern based
on audience. Pick games that you feel were designed for a specifc
audience. The audience should be different for each game. This will
help you fnd a higher-order pattern that guides games that focus on
a specifc audience.

Child patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns to generate a pattern
about a specifc player experience you are trying to create. Be spe-
cifc. Don’t use the experience of “being a soldier”; instead look for
patterns about specifc experiences a soldier might have such as
being told to kill, or facing separation from loved ones, or knowing
your choices are protecting something you believe in. Use the pat-
tern to guide your implementation of the details you are trying to
convey to your audience.

Keywords: Audience, Player Experience, Mechanics, Esthetics, Strong

Centers, Good Shape, Roughness, Echoes

Te following two proposed exercises are intended for developers with

the resources to engage in research. Te frst looks at how a particular
efect is created across diferent games and audiences. Te second shows
how a specifc game can afect diferent audiences. Tese exercises would
be appropriate as a research project for an entire class for a semester
or as thesis projects. In a professional setting, they might be relevant
at the beginning of a large-scale project where audience is a signifcant
concern.

EXERCISE 23A: AUDIENCE PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a game that you have observed having some specifc effect on
its audience.
Step 2: Name and describe that effect.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 303

Step 3: Research what games have had a similar effect on a different

audience.*
Step 4: Describe the techniques in your original game and in the games you
found through research that created the effect from your initial game.
Step 5: List and describe any patterns that you observe in your response
to step 4.
Step 6: Pick one pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.

EXERCISE 23B: AUDIENCE PATTERNS

Step 1: Pick a game that you have observed having some specifc effect on
its audience.
Step 2: Name and describe that effect.
Step 3: Research how ten different audiences experience that game.†
Step 4: Describe the experiences of those audiences.
Step 5: Describe each pattern you observed.
Step 6: Select a pattern and document it using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: You may repeat step 6 for each pattern you observed.

THEORETICAL PATTERNS
I’ve lef this exercise to last for a reason: because it’s the path to the dark
side. We’re all very good at coming up with theories about game design.
Sometimes these ideas are insightful and represent cognitive leaps based
on the patterns we don’t even realize we’ve been observing. It’s very tempt-
ing to believe that every theory of yours is like this, that you are the bril-
liant innovator that will change game design forever with your blinding
creativity and insight. Te thing is, you’re probably not—and you don't
need to be. You have the privilege of being part of a feld of brilliant,
skilled colleagues who are all, like you, working to make games better. It is
implicit in every exercise in this book that the ideas of the game designers
of today are the best platform, grounding the ideas you’ll use to build the
games of tomorrow.

* Ideally you would look for ten diferent audience groups that have had a game targeted for them to
achieve a particular efect.
† Again, this is difcult, sensitive work. Be respectful in your research and interactions with difer-

ent communities of gamers.

304 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Understanding the patterns that exist in the games that have been made
and proven is far more valuable to you as a tool than any theory you may
have about how you can build a better game.
All of that said, sometimes we have ideas. And it’s useful to state those
ideas as patterns. When we do that, we must give those patterns a low con-
fdence rating, no matter how good we think they are. By taking that low
confdence into account, you can responsibly implement those patterns
in your games. Over time, they can earn a higher confdence rating, and
other developers may adopt them. Eventually, they might even be derived
by future readers of this book!

Pattern Purpose
Tis exercise will allow you to propose a pattern without examples, a
pattern that you think should exist based on a theory in game design.
Patterns produced in this way will have a very low level of confdence
since they will have no examples of successful use. Tese patterns can
only be validated by building games with them and observing how suc-
cessful they are.

EXERCISE 24: THEORETICAL PATTERNS

Step 1: Articulate the game design theory that you want to express as a pat-
tern. You are not stating it as a pattern here, just describing the theory.
Step 2: Identify and describe the game design elements that are part of the
theory.
Step 3: Identify the purpose of the theory. Describe what the application of
the theory accomplishes.
Step 4: Restate your answer to step 3 as a game design problem.
Step 5: Use the elements that you identifed in step 2 to form the descrip-
tion of a pattern that solves the problem you stated in step 4.
Step 6: If possible, name ten games that implement the pattern you’ve cre-
ated to solve the problem you stated.
Step 7: Document your work using the Pattern Template.
Step 8: Set your confdence level to 0 if you can’t cite examples of games
using the pattern, to 1 if you can fnd one instance, and to 2 if you fnd
many instances.
Step 9: Try to think of games that follow your theoretical pattern, but do
not solve the problem it addresses. If you fnd examples, ask yourself
why the pattern is not effective in these cases. Adjust the pattern to
take these factors into account. If you cannot adjust the pattern, then
discard it.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 305

Example Theoretical Patterns

Exercise

Step 1: Articulate the game design theory that you want to express as a
pattern. You are not stating it as a pattern here, just describing the theory.
Teory: A game’s ability to create its intended efect in a player is directly
related to how prepared the player is to have the experience the game pro-
vides. Games that aren’t innovative but that are well-executed are successful
because they deliver a polished experience that players are already primed
to understand. Games that are very innovative without regard to player
expectations have difculty fnding a large audience. Games that innovate
successfully introduce the player to familiar concepts and only gradually
introduce their innovative gameplay, allowing the user to acclimate.

Step 2: Identify and describe the game design elements that are part of
the theory.

• Player expectations—A player’s understanding of existing game

design techniques. Tis understanding may be at an unconscious
level, just experiential familiarity rather than explicit recognition of
specifc techniques.
• Innovative techniques—Mechanics, modes of play, themes, etc. that
the player has not experienced before, or that the player has not seen
used in the ways the developer is employing them.

Step 3: Identify the purpose of the theory. Describe what the applica-
tion of the theory accomplishes.
Developers should understand what techniques are innovative in their
designs and how they relate to aspects of the game that will be familiar to
players. Developers need to balance the level of innovation in their games
if they’re going to maintain fnancial and critical viability. Te application
of this theory would allow developers to introduce innovation more care-
fully, in ways that players will accept.

Step 4: Restate your answer to step 3 as a game design problem.

As designers seek to advance the art of game design and create ever more
efective and diverse games, they ofen alienate players who don’t have the
context to understand a rapidly expanding design vocabulary.
306 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

It can be very frustrating for a clever designer, who has devised a com-
plex system of innovative mechanics that work in support of each other.
Te temptation is to unveil a new game that fully utilizes all of the new
techniques at once, showing how well they function as a whole. However,
if players can’t understand what the game is supposed to be, what it’s
about, what it’s doing, or why, then it’s unlikely they’ll engage with it for
long enough to understand its value.

Step 5: Use the elements that you identifed in step 2 to form the descrip-
tion of a pattern that solves the problem you stated in step 4.
To allow players to understand new design techniques, designers may wish
to introduce those new techniques gradually and in situations that provide
enough familiar gameplay to give a context for understanding.
To give a language analogy: It’s not that difcult to read a sentence
with one strange word in it, especially if that word appears several times
so that its context provides clarity. But a sentence made up of mostly
unfamiliar words is hard to understand, and you’re likely to lose your
reader.

Step 6: If possible, name ten games that implement the pattern you've
created to solve the problem you stated.
Popular non-innovative games—Call of Duty, Battlefeld, Assassin’s
Creed, Elder Scrolls, Madden, FIFA, annualized AAA titles and pervasive
sequels
Innovative games that had poor critical reception—Dear Esther,
Virginia, Ingress, Echochrome
Innovative games with positive reception—Portal, Pokémon Go, Dead
Space, Monument Valley, Gone Home

Step 7: Document your work using the Pattern Template.

See following pattern.

Step 8: Set your confdence level to 0 if you cannot cite examples of

games using the pattern, to 1 if you can fnd one instance, and to 2 if
you fnd many instances.
Confdence: 1. I see examples of games without this pattern failing, and
games that don't require this pattern due to lack of innovation succeeding.
I can name a few successful innovative games with this pattern, but fewer
than ten, so I’m giving it a low confdence number.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 307

Pattern

Name: I See Where You Are Going with This

Confdence: 1
Image:

FIGURE 14.9 To much change all at once can make even good things
unpleasant.
Author: Chris Barney
Design problem: As designers seek to advance the art of game design and
create ever more effective and diverse games, they often alienate players who
don't have the context to understand a rapidly expanding design vocabulary.
Trying to connect with players can be very frustrating for a clever
designer, who has devised a complex system of innovative mechanics that
work in support of each other. The temptation is to unveil a new game
that fully utilizes all of the new techniques at once, showing how well they
function as a whole. However, if players can’t understand what the game
is supposed to be, what it’s about, what it’s doing, or why, then it’s unlikely
they’ll engage with it for long enough to understand its value.
Description: To allow players to understand new design techniques, design-
ers may wish to introduce those new techniques gradually and in situations
that provide enough familiar gameplay to give a context for understanding.
To give a language analogy: It’s not that diffcult to read a sentence with
one strange word in it, especially if that word appears several times so that
its context provides clarity. But a sentence made up of mostly unfamiliar
words is hard to understand, and you’re likely to lose your reader.
308 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Portal—This is a perfect example of the use of this pattern. The game’s

movement mechanics are very innovative. The main focus of the game
as a kinesthetic puzzle-solving game is innovative. However, the game
begins in a standard frst-person mode, familiar to anyone who has
played FPS games. It introduces new mechanics one at a time, and the
fact that it’s a puzzle game is hidden behind the familiar tutorial style
of the levels. By the end of the game, when gameplay shifts to a more
freeform use of the mechanics, players are prepared for the experience.
• Pokémon Go—It’s helpful to consider this game in the context of the
previous game by the developer, Ingress. Ingress was a very innovative
game that introduced the concept of mapping a game world to real-
world locations, using a digital map and geospatial coordinates pro-
vided by cellphones. The game was compelling to a niche group of
players, but it lacked gameplay elements familiar to most players and
found a relatively small audience. Pokémon Go, as the second game by
this developer, included catching and collecting mechanics familiar to
the large audience of players of that intellectual property (IP), and even
to a large segment of new players due to the IP’s cultural pervasiveness.
This second game was vastly more accessible and successful.
• Dead Space—This game introduces the single innovative mechanic of
needing to dismember enemies to defeat them. The rest of the game
has standard third-person gameplay with a polished horror theme. The
game was very successful as an AAA title and established a franchise.
• Monument Valley—This game is interesting when compared to a similar,
much more obscure game called Echochrome. Both games use perspec-
tive in a similarly innovative way to create puzzles. Monument Valley has
been far more successful. It uses the familiar idea of characters navigating
a space, rather than abstract shapes. It also uses comfortable control affor-
dances that cause discrete changes in the game world. These affordances
are both more like controls in other puzzle games like sliding block puz-
zles and provide a clearer understanding of the puzzles themselves.
• Gone Home—This walking-simulator-style game is interesting when
compared to the game that founded the genre, Dear Esther. The earlier
game introduced the idea of simply moving through a space and discov-
ering the story that’s happened there. The gameplay is almost all in the
mind of the player as they piece together the narrative. The game was
critically well-received but only found a small audience. It was actively
rejected by many mainstream gamers, who questioned whether it was
even a game. Gone Home had a more familiar setting and a more relat-
able narrative. It also included an interactive environment and light
puzzle structure that felt more like nostalgic point-and-click adventure
games. Gone Home was far more fnancially successful and generated
little negative feedback from mainstream gamers.
 Advanced Pattern-Generation ◾ 309

Seed: Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns—Personal game design theory

Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
There Had Better Be a Very Good Explanation for This* (Confdence: 2)—
To provide context and supporting mechanics using I See Where You Are
Going with This, you must frst have an innovative mechanic. Use this pat-
tern to help you choose one.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 23: Audience Patterns to generate a pattern about how
you, as a player, learn a new skill in a game. I mean “learn a new
skill” in general, not how you learn some specifc skill.
Use Exercise 23A: Audience Patterns to generate a pattern about
how different audiences learn a new gaming skill.
Use Exercise 23B: Audience Patterns to generate a pattern about
how the techniques used to teach new skills in one particular game
affect different audiences.
Do these three exercises generate the same pattern? If they gener-
ate three distinct patterns, is there an even higher level pattern that
governs all three?

Child patterns:
Familiarity Breeds Contempt, or at Least High Expectations† (Confdence: 3)—
When picking supporting mechanics using I See Where You Are Going
with This, you must be sure that you implement those mechanics well and
meet player expectations.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES
Use Exercise 4: Formal Patterns to generate a pattern based on learn-
ing affordances, or elements of the game that help you to understand
the functional elements of the game. For example, non-diegetic on-
screen prompts such as “Press Space to Jump” or diegetic instruc-
tions from NPCs.
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
tutorials.

Keywords: Mechanics, Innovation, Business, Player Experience, Deep

Interlock, Positive Space, Local Symmetries, Echoes

* Example pattern for Exercise 15: Patterns in Innovation.

† Example pattern for Exercise 19: Finding Positive Patterns from Negative Patterns.
 VII
Building a Language

311
 CHAPTER 15

Connecting Patterns
into a Language

INTRODUCTION TO PATTERN LANGUAGE CONSTRUCTION

Hopefully, I’ve convinced you that patterns are useful in and of them-
selves, and also that the process of deriving patterns is an excellent way
to develop a deeper understanding of game design. However, patterns
in isolation aren’t all that Christopher Alexander has to ofer to game
design. In terms of learning game design, we still need a larger con-
ceptual framework to structure the specifc insights created by deriving
individual patterns. Only with that can we use them as a primary tool
for game design. We must make the jump from patterns to a Pattern
Language.
In Section II, I discussed the previous attempts to use patterns for game
design. Linking patterns together into a language is not something game
designers have accomplished before. Tat’s not surprising given how dif-
fcult that process is, relative to the difculty of creating a single pattern or
even a large group of patterns.
Here are the basic steps you will follow to turn your collection of pat-
terns into a functional Pattern Language.

313
314 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

BUILDING A PATTERN LANGUAGE

Building a Pattern Language

1. Make sure that you have enough patterns.

2. Add keywords to all of your existing patterns.
3. Understand the scope of your language.
4. Fill in the parent patterns feld for as many of your existing patterns as
possible.
5. Fill in the child patterns feld for as many of your existing patterns as
possible.
6. Add other related patterns as needed.
7. Suggest possible parent and child patterns where you see them.
8. Complete Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to create these possible
patterns.
9. Add link confdence and descriptions to your linked patterns.

1. Make Sure You Have Enough Patterns

To create a language, you frst need to have a reasonably large number
of patterns. You don’t need to have identifed “all” patterns; I don’t even
think that’s possible given the mutability of our feld. Still, a large group,
maybe 50 or a 100 patterns, would be needed to shape the beginnings of
a language.
Te patterns that you’ve derived from the exercises in this book are
where you’ll start; when you have completed them all you will have at least
25 patterns. To reach the 50 or more patterns required, you may need to
complete the exercises again. Or you may combine the patterns that you’ve
found with those derived by your colleagues or fellow students.
Additionally, in many of the exercises, you may have seen several pos-
sible patterns in the games you were looking at and have chosen one to
write up for the exercise. I encourage you to go back and write up the oth-
ers, but more important, whenever you see many possible patterns that are
related but distinct, they may share a higher-order parent pattern.
Te lower-level specifc patterns are still important; don’t discard them
in pursuit of a unifying higher-order pattern. Passing over specifc low-
level patterns in favor of documenting higher-order unifying patterns too
aggressively results in the same overly abstract Pattern Language as apply-
ing the higher-order patterns exercise recursively.
In these cases, you should look at each of the possible patterns the exer-
cise generated, and write up the ones that are just notes from your exercises
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 315

if you can. What do these patterns that all solve the same problem (or
result from the same design element, or create the same theme, etc.) have
in common? Use the Finding Missing Patterns exercise (Exercise 17) to
document this new pattern.
Te resulting collection of patterns should be somewhat related to each
other. It is likely that as you worked through the exercises, you noticed
these connections and began to tentatively fll in their parent and child
pattern felds as instructed, which is excellent. If you have not noticed any
connections, you may want to go back and do the higher-level and lower-
level exercises starting with some of your existing patterns.
If you iteratively apply the higher-order pattern exercise, you will even-
tually be unable to derive a higher-order pattern that is meaningful or
useful. Te highest level patterns ofen begin to resemble the basic descrip-
tions of what constitutes a game. If you iterate on the lower level exercise,
you will eventually reach a minimum level of useful granularity. If you
fnd yourself in either of those places, stop.

For each pattern in your language:

1. Complete any Suggested Exercises you may have added when writing
the pattern.
2. Look back at your answers to the exercise questions for the pattern. If
you found other patterns with the exercise, fnish documenting them as
instructed by that exercise.

WORKING ON A PATTERN LANGUAGE WITH A TEAM

If you are building a Pattern Language with a team of other developers or
students, then it is important to work collaboratively. Complete each of the
steps in the process for the patterns that you authored. Where those steps
involve another pattern, be sure to consult with the author of that pattern.
Ask whether they think that your pattern fts as a parent or child of theirs
before adding it.
If you aren't sure you understand someone else's pattern, ask. Your
questions will help them improve their pattern. When other developers ask
you about your pattern, take the time to explain, but make sure you update
your pattern to make it clearer so next time they won’t have to bother you!
This period of reading other’s patterns and discussing how they connect
to yours is where the patterns start to become a language that your team
shares.
316 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

2. Add Keywords
To efectively use the patterns in your language, you need to be able to pick
a useful subset of patterns to apply to the design problems that defne your
game. Choosing your patterns may not be difcult when you have a dozen
or so. However, it becomes more challenging as your language grows or as
your design team develops a signifcant library of patterns. In a language
with hundreds of patterns, it becomes impossible, or at least prohibitively
time-consuming, to read through every problem entry in search of prob-
lems that are similar to your own. If you don’t address this difculty and
create afordances to increase the usability of your language, then you and
the teams you work on will not make use of it.
One useful approach to solving this problem is to make your language
more easily searchable. It is, of course, possible to simply search the full
text of your patterns for words or phrases from the problem you are facing.
Tat is a reasonable technique and one that you will likely use. However,
you will fnd it more useful if you include a section of explicit keywords.
Tis section will allow you to concisely call out all of the aspects of game
design that your pattern impacts. It is also useful to think of your keywords
as part of an enumerated value rather than an ad hoc collection of words.
You should maintain a list of all of the keywords you have used and make
sure that you consistently use the same words to mean the same thing.
For example, if you have a pattern that relates to a third-person isometric
camera perspective and you tag it with the keyword “third-person,” do
not later tag a pattern as “3rd Person” and another as simply “Isometric.”*
Te following table contains all of the keywords that I’ve used to tag
patterns in this book. I do not intend it to be an exhaustive list. Perhaps
it’s useful to readers of the book to use these keywords to increase the
interoperability of the patterns you produce. However, it’s more important
to use words that match the vocabulary you use and that of your design
colleagues.
As you adopt keywords from this list or decide on words of your own,
add them to a keywords list. Refer to that list every time you add keywords
to a pattern. Your list will grow, but make sure that you reuse keywords
consistently so that you can search your library for those words later.

* Isometric would be a good tag, but since all isometric cameras are also third person but all third-
person cameras are not isometric, you would want to add both tags.
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 317

Sample Keywords List

Keywords

Abilities Evolution Player Expectations

Action Exploration Player Experience
Adaptation Exposition Player Feedback
Adventure Failure Player Manipulation
Aesthetic Fear Player Motivation
AI Feedback Player Skill
Aiming Fire Player
Anticipation Flaw Playtime
Architecture Flow Portals/Tresholds
Audience Freedom Practice
Audio Game Systems Predictability
Autonomy Gameplay Problem Solving
Balance Genre Progression
Board Game Goals Puzzle
Boredom Gravity PvE
Boss Guidance PvP
Budget Health Quest
Building Hidden Objects Randomness
Business Hiding Realistic
Camera Horror Replayability
Challenge Humor Resource Priority
Character Immersion Rest
Character Progression Incentive Rewards
Choice Information Rhythm
Circulation Patterns Interaction Risk
Combat Interest Randomness
Communication Intrigue Roleplay
Companion Isolation Running
Complexity Items Scale
Consequences Knowledge Secondary Mechanics
Contrast Learning Setup
Control Level Design Shadows
Core Mechanics Lighting Shooting
Costs Locks and Keys Short Term
Crafing Long Term Single Player
Cues Management Skills

Customization Mastery Social/Fellowship

Damage Meaning Spawn
Danger Mechanics Speed
Decisions Meta Stealth
Delayed Gratifcation Motivation Strategy
(Continued)
318 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Keywords

Detail Movement Supply

Development Resources Mystery Tablet
Dialogue Narrative Tactics
Difculty Narrow Space Tension
Economy Navigation Teme
Efects NPCs Trowing
Elevation Objective Tradeof
Embedded Narrative Obscuring Tropes
Emergent Gameplay Obstacles Tutorial
Emergent Narrative Online Unifed Design
Emotion Open-World User Interface
Emotions Options Variation
Empathy Pacing Venue
Empowering Partner Verb
Enemies Personalization Visuals
Enemy Progression Perspective Weapons
Environmental Narrative Physics
Environments Platform (Hardware)
Esthetics Platforms (Formal Element)

Note: Keywords used in this book are listed in bold.

Create a master Keywords List for your language.

For each pattern in your language:

1. If you have listed keywords, add them to your master Keywords List.
2. If a similar word is already in the master list, choose the best word and
update all other patterns that list the older word.
3. For patterns that do not have keywords, add them, making sure to use
words from the master list and add any new words to that list as well.

3. Understand the Scope of Your Language

Te scope of a Pattern Language exists on at least three axes. I will refer to
them as breadth, depth, and density. Te breadth of your language deals with
how many aspects of game design it covers. In this book, I am helping you to
build a broad language. However, there is nothing wrong with a language that
is more focused as long as you understand its limits. Te depth of a language
is bounded by how abstract and specifc its patterns are. If your language has
only abstract (high-level) or only specifc (low-level) patterns, then it does not
have much depth. Again, the process we are working through is helping you
to develop a language with signifcant depth. But a very abstract language,
like the mechanics-focused language in Game Mechanics: Advanced Game
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 319

Design (Adams and Dormans 2012), or a very focused language, like Alves
and Roque’s (2013) sound design language, can be valid and useful as well.
Te last axis, density, measures the number of patterns in your language and
how interconnected they are. A deeply interconnected language is always
richer and more potent than a sparse language. Te variety of pattern rela-
tionships and the use of keywords and diverse pattern creation exercises in
this book will help you make sure that you produce a dense language.

Pattern Categories
You must have patterns from across disciplines to generate a well-rounded
language that covers all of the diferent aspects of game design. On your
own, you will naturally focus on your strengths as a designer because it is
easiest for you to fnd patterns in that design space. If you are a student or
new designer, you will be even more limited in the breadth of patterns that
you have the perspective to see. Te exercises in this book try to address
this problem by helping you focus on diferent aspects of design, but I
chose them, and my areas of expertise are limited.
It's useful to look at which categories of design your patterns fall under
to help you see your blind spots as a designer. Tis next section suggests
several sets of categories that you can apply to game design.
When building your language, consider adding the relevant categories
from the following lists to the Keywords section of each pattern. When you
have fnished, look to see what areas of design are missing and which are
pervasive. Tese will likely mirror your areas of understanding. Seek other
designers who have diferent areas of focus and expertise, and work to com-
bine your language with theirs. Tat process will strengthen and add context
to both your combined language and your understanding of the larger feld.
Te frst list is my own, but I’ve also included the categories that other
pattern language projects have used. While I have found fault with many
previous eforts, the thought that they have given to the ways that a pat-
tern language should be structured is useful in understanding how the
patterns that you create ft into the larger structure of the feld.

Categories from Disciplines

When creating the example patterns, I based the primary categorization
that I considered on the disciplines that become departments in larger
game companies. I believe that patterns from all of these categories are
necessary to create efective games. Tus, I think it’s vital that patterns
from all of them should exist in a language, and further, that the best
320 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

patterns will bring together elements from several disciplines or solve the
same problem as it applies to multiple disciplines.

Categories from Disciplines

• Art • Mechanics/Gameplay
• Architecture (Spatial Design) • Sound
• Writing/Narrative • Business

Categories from Game Mechanics

Tese categories taken from Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design
(Adams and Dormans 2012) are all, like the book, focused on game
mechanics. It is reasonable to include one or more of these categories if
you are tagging a pattern with the Game Mechanics keyword.

Categories from Game Mechanics

• Physics • Social Interaction

• Tactical Maneuvering • Progression Mechanisms
• Internal Economy

Categories from Genre

Gameplay genre, as found in Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design
(Adams and Dormans 2012), is also a useful categorization to apply to
your patterns. Te nine high-level genres from that book are a reasonable
way to begin, although you may want to apply more specifc genre catego-
rizations as they apply to your patterns.

Categories from Genre

• Action • Management Simulation

• Puzzle • Sports
• Strategy • Social Games
• Vehicle Simulation • Adventure
• Role-Playing

Categories from Patterns in Game Design

Te following categories are drawn directly from Patterns in Game Design
(Björk and Holopainen 2006). Tey break up their patterns into 14 or so
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 321

categories. Within each, they defne 10 or more patterns. All of these cat-
egories are well suited for use as keywords. Going even deeper and looking
at the actual patterns defned in their book yields more useful keywords,
because the “patterns” described in that book are techniques in this book’s
terms, and each of them would yield any number of patterns. Tus, if your
pattern is using one of their patterns as a technique, then tagging it with
that keyword will be useful.

Categories from Patterns in Game Design

• Game Elements • Game Sessions (Time)

• Immersion • Narrative
• Resources • Mastery and Balance
• Social Interaction • Predictability
• Information • Replayability
• Goals • Learning
• Events • Metagames

Categories from Pedagogy

Te categories used in this application of pattern languages can at frst
seem very esoteric and only relevant to serious or educational games (Ott
et al. 2011). However, afer some consideration, I think that they are more
broadly applicable. It’s useful to restate them without using the domain-
specifc language of that area of academia. I will take a little more time to
explain each and propose an alternative keyword.

• Integration patterns—Tese are patterns dealing with the techniques

used to embed things to learn into the game. In a broader sense, they
are about explicitly embedding meaning in a game. I would use the
term Embedded Meaning to tag related patterns.
• Cognition patterns—Tese are patterns that relate to causing the
player to think about the game content and use it in the process of
playing the game. I would use the term Problem Solving to tag related
patterns.
• Presentation patterns—Tese are patterns concerning the need to
communicate the state of the game as it relates to their learning and
gameplay goals. Outside of the educational context, I think it would
322 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

be useful to tag games with the Feedback keyword when they relate
to this kind of technique.
• Social interaction and teaching patterns—Tese patterns are rela-
tively specifc to educational games in that they describe techniques
used to give the player feedback showing their success in the learning
task. Tis category could be referred to as Player Feedback and used
to tag games that use patterns like providing scores or ranks for given
tasks.
• Engagement patterns—Tese patterns relate to getting players to
engage with the game and its learning material. Engagement has
historically been a struggle for educational and serious games.
However, the problem of generating player engagement is in no way
limited to these kinds of games. I think that in this case, using the
keyword Engagement or Player Motivation to tag related patterns is
useful.

Categories from Live-Action Role-Playing Game (LARP) Design

Te categories proposed in this partial language (Li and Morningstar
2020) are specifc to the domain of live-action games, but they map to
broader categories.

• Setup—Tis maps to patterns relating to spatial design.

• Plot—Te mapping to narrative design is direct.
• Interaction—Tis maps to social design.

Categories Master List

Action Goals Physics Social Games

Adventure Immersion Player Feedback Social Interaction
Architecture Information Plot Social Interaction
Art Interaction Predictability Sound
Business Internal Economy Problem Solving Sports
Embedded Meaning Learning Progression Strategy
Engagement Management Simulation Puzzle Tactical Maneuvering
Events Mastery and Balance Replayability Vehicle Simulation
Feedback Mechanics/Gameplay Resources Writing/Narrative
Game Elements Metagames Role-Playing
Game Sessions Narrative Setup
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 323

For each pattern in your language:

1. Look at the preceding Categories Master List and add any applicable
categories to the pattern.
2. Remember to include any categories you adopt in your master Keywords
List.

Meta-, Macro-, and Micro-Level Patterns

Part of understanding the scope of your language is knowing how specifc,
or abstract, your patterns are. Tere’s nothing wrong with a very abstract
language or one that is very specifc. However, what problems your lan-
guage can solve is bounded by where your patterns fall in this range. If
you would like to create a language that’s capable of solving a broad range
of design problems, then you need to have patterns from the full range of
the axis. To reach this understanding, you must divide your language into
sections that contain patterns dealing with diferent levels of abstraction
or scope. I built the idea of this type of hierarchy into the process you used
to create patterns with the higher-order and lower-order pattern exercises,
as well as by including explicit parent and child sections in the pattern
template.
In this section, I describe three general levels of design in games. I don’t
think they actually exist; the level of abstractness or specifcity of a pattern
is analog and likely exists on a spectrum. Still, this distinction is useful to
create order in your collection of patterns.
Meta-level patterns deal with decisions at the whole-game level, like
what is the camera perspective, what genre is the game trying to ft into, or
what is the target audience.
Macro-level patterns deal with more specifc design decisions, choices
that relate to one particular level, or an individual system in the game.
Elements like the theme of a level, or the mechanics and interface that cre-
ate the game’s stealth system, are addressed by macro-level patterns.
Micro-level patterns deal with the lowest-level design decisions, such
as the kind of feedback to give the player for melee hits in an role-playing
game (RPG) or how armor should afect the jumping mechanics.
As you go through the process of assigning your patterns to these cat-
egories, you may notice that a micro-level pattern you have identifed, say
the one relating to armor and jumping mechanics, only applies in certain
324 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

circumstances. For instance, if the pattern was “a character’s abilities

should have drawbacks that refect the real-world systems they represent
to create a sense of realism, provide meaningful strategic choice, and main-
tain gameplay balance,” then it might only apply in a game where you
were trying to create a sense of realism and also create strategic choices
based on character power-ups. So the use of this pattern should depend on
higher-order patterns about those things.
Look at your existing patterns. If you have created a pattern that
addresses that need, then add the parent–child relationship. If you have
not, then use the Higher-Order Patterns exercise (Exercise 2) to generate
the missing pattern. Ten fll in the parent/child relationship.
Tis categorized list of your patterns will be useful in the next sections,
when you have to decide the relationship between two related patterns.
Sometimes that relationship will be clear: pattern A is the parent of pat-
tern B. But ofen you could make a logical argument for either relation-
ship. When you are unclear, you should refer to the list you are creating
now. If pattern A is a higher level then pattern B, then it’s likely to be the
parent rather than the child.

META, MACRO, MICRO PATTERNS LIST

1. Create a document with the sections Meta, Macro, Micro.

2. Add each pattern in your language to the most appropriate section.

4. Adding Existing Parent Patterns

A NOTE ON ADDING PARENTS AND CHILDREN

I have found it useful to create an index document that has only the names
of all patterns in my collection, and then list the parents and children under
each. It can be easier to see which patterns are missing a parent or child in
the condensed list.

In the Pattern Template, I describe a parent pattern as “a pattern or sev-

eral patterns that are needed by this pattern for it to function well.” If
you have completed all the exercises in this book more than once, or you
are working with colleagues or classmates, you may have a large enough
collection of patterns that you can fnd parent patterns in your existing
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 325

collection. Unfortunately, if your collection is large enough to contain

the parents you’re looking for, then it is large enough to make them hard
to fnd. While you should read through your library and add parents as
you discover them, there is another technique you should employ. Search
your library using the keywords of a pattern. Other patterns that share the
same keyword may be related. Do not just add any keyword match as a
parent! Each time you fnd a match, read the pattern carefully, and decide
if it is necessary for your pattern to function.
If one pattern assumes that the problem of a second pattern is solved,
then that second pattern is a parent of the frst. For example, say you were
looking at a pattern that described how to increase player movement abili-
ties to create a sense of autonomy for the player. If you saw another pattern
that explained how to increase player autonomy through progression sys-
tems, then that second pattern would be a parent to the frst. Te progres-
sion systems pattern is more general, and for the second pattern to make
sense, progression systems must already be present in a game for player
movement to be increased by them.
If you are working to build a pattern library as a group, you must consult
with the authors of each pattern before using it as a parent. When you fnd a
prospective parent, contact the author of that pattern and fnd out whether
they agree with your idea. You may discover that you did not understand
their pattern correctly. Additionally, you may discover that their pattern
almost fts as a parent of yours, but not quite. At that point, either you or the
other author may want to update one of the patterns so that the relationship
is valid. Tis revision should be carefully considered, and only done if it
makes the pattern that you’re changing clearer and more fexible.

1. For each pattern you contributed to, fnd all of the patterns in your col-
lection that you think are parents. If your language is large, remember to
use keywords to help you search for parents.
2. If you did not write both patterns, then consult with the other author.
3. Add each pattern you fnd to the parent patterns feld of your pattern.
4. Look at the parent pattern and confrm that your pattern fts as a child.
If it does, then go ahead and add your pattern to the child patterns feld
there. Remember to look at your Meta, Macro, Micro list if you are
unsure of the hierarchy.
5. If your pattern does not ft as a child, consider whether that pattern is
actually a parent, or whether it is perhaps an additive or subtractive pat-
tern as discussed in the next section.
326 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

5. Adding Existing Child Patterns

In the Pattern Template, I describe child patterns as “patterns that are sug-
gested by this pattern or require it to function well.” Child patterns are
reciprocal with parent patterns. So you can look at patterns that have par-
ents, then add those patterns to the child patterns feld of their parents.
You shouldn't stop there, though. Sometimes it is easier to see child rela-
tionships than parent ones, so you should again use keywords to search
through your patterns looking for existing children.
Remember that a child pattern requires its parent to function well. So if
you see a low-level pattern that works well with another pattern but under-
stand that the pattern can perform well on its own in other circumstances,
then the higher-order pattern is not a parent, just a related pattern that is
additive. You should still record the relationship, just not as a child. Tere
may be cases where a child pattern has several parents. In that case, it
might not need a particular higher-order pattern to function, but it does
need one of its parents to be present to succeed.

You might think this step wouldn’t be necessary, given that you’ve been
adding the child side of connections while looking for parent patterns.
However, it’s my experience that you often see a different set of connec-
tions when you’re looking from this perspective.

1. For each pattern you contributed to, fnd all of the patterns in your col-
lection that you think are children. If your language is large, remember
to use keywords to help you search for children.
2. If you did not write both patterns, then consult with the other author.
3. Add each pattern you fnd to the child patterns feld of your pattern.
4. Look at the child pattern and confrm that your pattern fts as a parent.
If it does, then go ahead and add your pattern to the parent patterns
feld there. Remember to look at your Meta, Macro, Micro list if you’re
unsure of the hierarchy.
5. If your pattern does not ft as a parent, consider whether that pattern
is actually a child or whether it is perhaps an additive or subtractive
pattern.

6. Linking Other Related Patterns

In the Pattern Template, I list parent and child patterns; these are the most
necessary to identify to construct a functional Pattern Language. However,
patterns may have a variety of other relationships with each other. As you
complete more patterns, you should try to see these other relationships. You
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 327

can add any of the following relationships to your patterns. Te more of these
you identify, the more robust and useful your Pattern Language will be.

• Additive patterns—Patterns that work well together and improve

each other, but where one does not require the other to function.
• Alternative patterns—Patterns that solve the same problem, but
where one should probably replace the other rather than combine
with it.
• Subtractive or “anti-patterns”—Patterns where one reduces the
efectiveness of another.

Making a note of subtractive patterns is very important in creating a use-

ful Pattern Language. It can be tempting to avoid calling attention to
“faws” in your patterns by pointing out that other patterns “undermine”
their efectiveness. But that is the wrong way to think about subtractive
patterns! Many patterns have a limited scope, whether they just apply to
action games, or horror games, or games with a frst-person perspective.
Identifying the limitations of a pattern makes it more, not less, valuable.
As an example of additive and subtractive pattern relationships, consider
these three patterns. Te frst is a jumping pattern describing limited jump-
ing used to create a sense of vulnerability in horror games. Te second is
a pattern about using jumping to create a sense of mobility and autonomy
in the player. Te third pattern relates to falling damage creating a sense of
realism, immersion, and believability. Te falling damage pattern is likely
additive to the limited jumping pattern, but subtractive to the jumping
for autonomy and empowerment pattern. You might intentionally incor-
porate the falling damage pattern into a game with the extreme jumping
pattern to limit or balance the power you were giving the player. Still, it
would be important to be aware of that subtractive efect.
Likewise, it’s important to identify alternate patterns because ofen, a
developer will need to choose between several alternate patterns when
having more than one will cause the patterns to interfere with each other
and reduce the efectiveness of both. For instance, consider the aforemen-
tioned two patterns relating to jumping. Te frst described the ways that
limited and realistic jumping can create a sense of vulnerability and ten-
sion for a player, and the second described how increasing a character’s
ability to jump great distances can increase the player’s sense of autonomy
and empowerment. Tese two are alternate patterns.
328 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

For each pattern you have contributed to:

1. Consider whether any of the other patterns in your collection, that aren’t
parents or children, make it stronger or weaker. Record those patterns as
additive or subtractive in the related patterns section of your pattern.
2. Consider whether any of the other patterns in your group solve the same prob-
lem as your pattern, but in a different and mutually exclusive way. Record
those as alternate patterns in the related patterns section of your pattern.

7. Suggest New Parents and Children

Suggesting new parents and children is a dangerous step. You need to look
at an existing pattern and speculate about what patterns might be neces-
sary for it to function or might need it to function. Ofen, there are sev-
eral very obvious-seeming patterns just sitting there waiting for you to
document them. Do not jump directly to the Pattern Template and write
down your blind guesses. If you do, the result will, at best, be a theoretical
pattern with very low confdence; at worst, it will be your unsupported
opinion disguised as a validated pattern.
How do you create reasonable patterns out of the possible parent and
child patterns you can see? First, ask yourself what problem your imag-
ined pattern would exist to solve. Ten if you think that it’s a parent pat-
tern, begin the Higher-Order Patterns exercise (Exercise 2) starting on the
third step. If you’re trying to create a child pattern, go to the Lower-Order
Patterns exercise (Exercise 3). Do your best to set aside the pattern that
you think exists and complete the exercise with an open mind. By exam-
ining games as part of the exercise, you will generate a pattern supported
by evidence rather than one based on your intuition.
You may also consider using a diferent exercise from the book if you
think it’s more appropriate than the higher/lower pattern exercises. Tis
is a more subjective approach, but if you have worked through all of the
exercises by this point, you may be comfortable investigating new parents
and children in this way. Te suggested exercises that I’ve included with
each pattern ofen use this method.

For each pattern you have contributed to:

1. Consider whether the listed parents and children are suffcient for you to
use the pattern in design.
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 329

2. If they aren’t, then use one of the preceding methods to create a new
pattern.
3. When that pattern is complete, evaluate whether it meets your needs. If
it does, add it to the appropriate related patterns section.
4. Return to step 1 and repeat this process until your pattern has the con-
nections that it needs to be used in practical design.

8. Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to Find Related Patterns

If the pattern produced by step 7 doesn’t turn out to be the one you
were imagining when you started the exercise, and you still think that
the pattern you imagined would be valuable, then you may take that
pattern idea and complete the Teoretical Patterns exercise (Exercise
24) to document it. Teoretical patterns are more prone to bias than
patterns produced by the other exercises in this book, so be very clear
in your pattern description that you’re basing a pattern on your guess-
work. Tat doesn’t mean that it’s not valid, but as stated in that exercise,
only successfully implementing the pattern in games can demonstrate
its efcacy.

THERE IS NO SPOON
All patterns that we create are on some level based on our opinion and on
our theoretical understanding of game design. Don’t delude yourself into
thinking that the process of building a Pattern Language is an exact science
or that the patterns you derive are “truth.” Always question your patterns,
and be ready to discard or revise them when you see evidence that they
don’t function in the way you thought they did.

1. Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on an

idea sparked by any previous pattern exercise.
2. Look at the completed pattern and consider whether it’s related to the
pattern that sparked the idea, whether as a parent, child, or other related
pattern.
3. Add the needed keywords, categories, and related patterns to your new
theoretical pattern.

9. Link Confdence
In addition to providing a confdence rating for your patterns them-
selves, you should rate your confdence in the links you propose between
330 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

patterns. Expressing your confdence in the links between your patterns

will become critical when you want to apply a pattern to solve a design
problem you’re facing. If you see a link to a parent pattern with a high con-
fdence rating, it’s a strong recommendation that you also apply the parent
pattern. If the confdence is low, then you should be more cautious about
complicating your solution by applying the additional pattern.
As with patterns, your confdence in links is afected by observation,
understanding, and demonstration. Begin by looking at all of the example
games in both the parent and child patterns. Your confdence may rise
because you’ve observed that many of the example games exhibit both
patterns. However, even if you don’t see the patterns used together in the
example games, you may still see logical connections between your pat-
terns. Tat inconsistency might be due to faws in the design of the games
you’re observing. In other words, they would be better games if they had
adopted the related patterns as your links suggest. Tose logical connec-
tions cause your confdence to rise as well. You may even be suggesting
links with theoretical patterns that do not yet exist in any game. It’s useful
to suggest these kinds of links, but when you do, it’s important to be clear
about your confdence in those links so that you don’t mislead yourself or
other developers. Following is the proposed rubric. Links can only reach
the highest levels of confdence when designers use the linked patterns
together as part of a new design, and then only when you observe the suc-
cess of the pairing.

LINK CONFIDENCE RUBRIC

OBSERVATION
Observed Link (+1): You see this link in at least one example game.
Common Link (+1): You see this link in many instances of these patterns.
Ubiquitous Link (+1): This link is always or almost always present when
these patterns are present.

UNDERSTANDING
Theoretical Link (+1): A link that you think should logically exist, but which
you have not observed.
Functional Link (+1): This link may not always be present in example games,
but when it’s not, its absence negatively impacts the game in an observ-
able way.
 Connecting Patterns ◾ 331

DEMONSTRATION
Demonstrated Link (+1): You have successfully used the linked patterns to
create their intended effects.
“Proven” Link (+1): The linked patterns are in common use in the manner
suggested by their link.

1. For each pattern you have contributed to, look at each related pattern
you have listed.
2. Write a short, one-sentence description of that link.
3. List up to ten example games that use your pattern and the linked
pattern.
4. List up to ten example games that use your pattern but not the linked
pattern.
5. List up to ten example games that use the linked pattern but not your
pattern.
6. Use the Link Confdence Rubric to assign the link a confdence rating.
7. Apply that rating to the link in both patterns.
 CHAPTER 16

Organizing and
Maintaining a
Pattern Language

INTEGRATING PATTERNS FROM OTHER SOURCES

Given the large number of pattern-related projects that exist, it seems use-
ful to look at the possibility of integrating patterns from other projects
into the pattern languages that you’re developing based on the exercises in
this book. But don’t just adopt a pattern from another language uncriti-
cally. First, you must look at the existing pattern to see if there are parts
of the Pattern Template that it is missing. Ten decide whether you can
produce those parts of the pattern yourself. As an example, I’ll complete
this process for a pattern from three major pattern-related projects.
Each of these projects is a signifcant achievement. Tis book would not
be possible without the work of the game designers and scholars who built
them. Adapting the patterns from these projects is in no way intended to
reduce the work done to create them, or suggest that they’re not useful or
complete within their context. However, these patterns need adaptation
to work in the context of this book and of your language. I believe that
applying the techniques that you’ve learned here will add utility to these
existing patterns.

333
334 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design

Patterns from the book Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design (Adams
and Dormans 2012) are quite close to following the Alexandrian form that
this book has been using. I will look at each of the sections of the pattern
provided by Adams and note how they correspond to the pattern template
from this book. Ten I’ll rewrite the pattern using our template. I will list
the felds used by Game Mechanics, followed by a description of how they
relate to the Pattern Template used in this book.

• Name: Tis is identical to the pattern name.

• Type: Tis is a keyword that describes the fundamental mechanic
that the pattern implements.
• Intent: Tis is a short description of the intended efect of the pat-
tern. It seems like it might be part of the “pattern description” in
this book's pattern template, but it tends to be more abstract and not
relate to why that efect would be wanted.
• Motivation: Tis is a more elaborate statement of the intent above.
Again it doesn’t address the why of the pattern. It may give abstract
examples of the efect, but doesn’t provide concrete examples.
• Applicability: Tis section comes close to being the problem feld
found in the Pattern Template in this book. However, it doesn’t frame
the efects of a pattern as the solution to a problem or consistently
articulate why a developer would want to create the described efect.
Tis section does describe the mechanical context that the pattern is
applicable in, ofen more clearly than in the example patterns in this
book. You should strive for this level of clarity when writing your
patterns.
• Participants: Tis describes the game design elements that are part
of the pattern. Tis section is not formally present in the Pattern
Template in this book. I am of two minds about it; I think it can help
improve the clarity of a pattern, but it also encourages the creation of
proprietary and idiosyncratic language around games. Tat kind of
language could be useful if everyone agreed on it, but that’s not a hill
I want to die on, so I try to avoid creating this kind of jargon.
• Collaborations: Tis section emphasizes the diference between pat-
terns in Game Mechanics and those in this book. It describes the
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 335

pattern in terms of the relationships of the elements described in

the participants section. Tis structure limits the nature of the pat-
terns it describes, though it makes sense for the kind of mechanics-
focused patterns found in Game Mechanics.
• Consequences: Tis section describes the mechanical results of the
pattern. It also discusses some of the player-focused consequences,
as they directly relate to interacting with these mechanics in terms
of strategy and the player’s mechanical goals.
• Implementation: Tis section discusses diferent implementations
for the pattern; where there are choices, it describes the require-
ments and consequences of those options. Again, this section is very
focused on the mechanical execution of the pattern in terms of the
elements, or participants, that make it up.
• Examples: Tis section provides specifc examples of the pattern
in games. It sometimes uses the Machinations visual language to
diagram these implementations. Machinations is very useful and
powerful for this kind of mechanics-focused pattern. I recommend
reading Game Mechanics to learn more about Machinations.
• Related Patterns: Tis section has four subsections: elaborates, is
elaborated by, combined with, and balanced by. Tese sections very
clearly describe the relationships between the pattern and the others
defned in the book. Tis level of interconnection is to be desired, but
becomes increasingly difcult to produce as the number of patterns
in a language increases.

Next is the original pattern from Game Mechanics in italics, with my com-
ments on each feld in normal text.

• Name: Escalating Challenge Tis name is descriptive but not par-

ticularly evocative. Te abstract, high-level name may be a symptom
that the pattern of Escalating Challenge is closer to a complex func-
tional element than an Alexandrian pattern.

• Type: Escalation Te language defned in Game Mechanics has 12

patterns, 3 of which have the type of escalation. Creating categories
is useful; however, in a larger language, this would probably be a
keyword.
336 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Intent: Progress toward a goal increases the difculty of further

progression.
Tis intent description seems a bit circular, and I am not sure that
it adds anything that is not conveyed by the name escalating chal-
lenge. It does clearly state the mechanical identity of the pattern.
• Motivation: A positive feedback loop between player progress and
the game’s difculty makes the game increasingly harder for players
as they get closer to achieving their goals. Tis way, the game quickly
adapts to the player’s skill level, especially when the good performance
allows a player to progress more quickly.
Tis more elaborate restating of the intent does add a description
of the consequence applying the pattern to the player experience.
It causes the game to quickly adapt to the player’s skill level. Te
description in “Motivation” is close to what is needed for the pattern
to ft into our Pattern Template.
• Applicability: Use escalating challenge when:
• You want to create a fast-paced game focused on player skill (usu-
ally physical skill) in which the game gets harder as the player
advances; his ability to complete tasks is inhibited as he goes.
• You want to create emergent mechanics that (partially) replace
predesigned level progression.
Te applicability section seems close to the Problem feld in the
Pattern Template. In this case, Adams and Dormans cite two appli-
cations, which may indicate that the set of functional elements that
make up the Escalating Difculty pattern in the Game Mechanics
book would produce two patterns when converted to our Pattern
Template, one for each problem. However, the second application, to
“create emergent game mechanics,” while interesting is not explained
in the following sections of the pattern. I will focus on the frst appli-
cation, “creating a fast-paced game focused on player skill,: when I
adapt it to the Pattern Template.
Structure: <Structural Diagram>
Te diagram in the Machinations format shown for the original
pattern is a precise representation of the mechanics of the pattern.
However, it’s very abstract, and for a pattern as intuitive as this, I’m
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 337

not sure it adds a great deal of value. Tis structure diagram isn’t the
same as the illustration feld in the Pattern Template. For patterns
that you can diagram with Machinations, I would recommend add-
ing a diagram in addition to an illustration.
• Participants:
• Targets represent unresolved tasks.
• Progress represents the player’s progress toward a goal.
• A task either reduces the number of targets or produces progress.
• A feedback mechanism makes the game more difcult as the player
progresses toward the goal or reduces the number of targets.
Breaking down a pattern into the elements that compose it is use-
ful. Where those elements are unclear, defning them is worthwhile.
However, in this case, the defnitions largely make a simple concept
more complex. To be specifc, defning a participant as “targets rep-
resent unresolved tasks” rather than naming “goals” or “player goals”
as a participant seems like an instance of introducing the jargon of
“targets” from Machinations, when commonly understood words
would be more transparent. Defning “progress” as “the player’s
progress toward a goal” seems redundant, when the term “targets”
was just defned instead of using the word “goals.” Saying that tasks
reduce the number of targets afer defning targets as the number of
unresolved tasks seems circular. Te defnition of a feedback mecha-
nism as a mechanic that makes it more difcult for a player to com-
plete tasks is useful. Still, it adds confusion, as a feedback mechanism
might represent diferent mechanics in other patterns.
While defning the “participants” in a pattern seems like a valu-
able part of a pattern, in this case, the simple description of escalat-
ing difculty as “functional elements that progressively make it more
difcult for a player to achieve their goals” would have been clearer.
• Collaborations: Te task reduces targets, produces progress, or does
both. Te feedback mechanic increases the difculty of the task as the
player gets closer to achieving the goal.
Given the earlier defnition of the participants, this is an accu-
rate description of escalating difculty. I can see that the process of
clearly defning a set of participating elements and then describing
338 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

them in terms of their interactions could be the best way to describe

a pattern. I endorse following this process if a simple description of
the pattern produces ambiguity. For low-level patterns, however, it
seems that this format reduces clarity.
• Consequences: Escalating challenge is based on a simple positive
feedback loop afecting the difculty of the game. Its mechanism
quickly adjusts the difculty of the game to the skill level of the player.
If failure at the task ends the game, escalating challenge ensures a very
quick game.
Tis consequences section is accurate as far as it goes, but states
the most apparent literal results of the pattern. Escalating Challenge
that is triggered by player skill will indeed adjust the difculty of
the game to the skill level of the player. However, this section does
not discuss the consequences of diferent ways that a game could
increase difculty. Deeper analysis and description should be present
in patterns, as described in this book. For instance, if a game gradu-
ally increases difculty throughout, it forces a matching increase in
player skill to complete the game. Depending on this difculty curve,
the audience of the game may be limited. Still, the developer may be
able to shif the experience of playing the game toward a focus on
achieving a sense of mastery. On the other hand, quick spikes in dif-
fculty can cause frustration in the player. A developer could create
this efect intentionally, to help the player empathize with the anger
felt by their character.
• Implementation: Te task in a game that implements the escalating
challenge pattern is typically afected by player skill, especially when
the escalating challenge pattern makes up most of the game’s core
mechanics. When the task is a random or deterministic mechanic,
players will have no control over the game’s progress. Only when the
escalating challenge pattern is part of a more complex game system
and players have some sort of indirect control over the chance of suc-
cess does a random or deterministic mechanic become viable. Using
multiplayer dynamic mechanisms is an option but probably works
better in a more complex game system as well.
Te implementation section is interesting. It points out several
valid issues you should consider when implementing escalating dif-
culty. Te consequences section pointed out that escalating difculty
“quickly adjusts the difculty of the game to the skill level of the
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 339

player.” And, that escalating difculty reduces the length of the game
if failure ends the game. Given those two observations, this section
correctly points out that the systems that have Escalating Difculty
need to have direct skill-based player interaction. For instance, tar-
gets in a shooter that move more and more quickly would be an
example of escalating difculty applied to a skill-based mechanic.
Adding a chance that a weapon would fail in that same shooter
and then increasing that chance throughout the game would be a
bad example. Because while the increasing weapon failures would
increase the difculty of the game, the player does not have any skill-
based interaction with that system.
However, the implementation section does not describe other
factors that you need to consider when implementing escalating
difficulty, such as how quickly the difficulty should increase or
whether the increase should continue past the point of player
skill. The implication is that the difficulty increase should be
static and continue throughout the game. It seems that other pos-
sibilities might yield a richer pattern. When incorporating pat-
terns from external sources like this, it’s important to look for
this kind of omission and try to improve upon the pattern as you
incorporate it.
• Examples: Space Invaders is a classic example of the escalating chal-
lenge pattern. In Space Invaders, the player needs to destroy all the
invading aliens before they can reach the bottom of the screen. Every
time the player destroys an alien, all other aliens speed up a little,
making it more difcult for the player to shoot them.
Pac-Man is another example. In Pac-Man, the task is to eat all the
dots in a level, while the chasing ghosts make it more and more dif-
fcult to get to the last remaining dots.
Tese examples are clear and show two diferent implementations
of increasing difculty. Space Invaders is the simplest, in that the
increase in difculty is linear, and the feedback loop governs player
progress. It’s the same for players of any skill level at a given point in
the game. Te example of Pac-Man is a bit more complicated, but this
section does not describe that complexity. Te element that has the
escalating difculty is the speed of the ghosts, which is analogous to
Space Invaders. However, the feedback loop is more complicated, in
that it’s driven forward by the player completing levels. But it’s also
340 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

mitigated by the player’s skill in deciding the pattern of movement

that they will use to consume the dots in the level. Te player’s skill
in constructing these patterns increases as they progress through the
levels, allowing them to compensate for the escalating ghost speed
on both strategic and refex-based axes.
In adapting this pattern, it’s important to include additional
examples that have more diverse implementations of escalating dif-
culty to help designers apply the pattern in creative ways that ft their
games, rather than duplicating existing implementations.
• Related Patterns: By combining escalating challenge with static fric-
tion or dynamic friction, a game can be created that quickly matches
its difculty to the ability of the player.
Tis section introduces the essential information that matching
difculty to a player's skill is not achieved solely through the applica-
tion of this pattern, but by combining it with a pattern of the “fric-
tion” type, which Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design describes
as patterns that consume resources.
• Additional analysis: Tis pattern, and most of the patterns from
this source, sufer from an interesting problem. In some ways, they
resemble what I would refer to as “shallow patterns” in my students’
work. In this case, though, I don’t think this quality comes from a
lack of deep analysis or understanding. I think that the opposite is
the case. Te authors have distilled such deep fundamental patterns
that they approach being functional elements. Tey are not simply
basic functional elements, though; they are compound elements.
Calling more complex sets of elements patterns makes sense, and I
think that this is common in pattern collections in general. However,
the patterns and Pattern Language this book generates focus on
how the pattern relates to a design problem, and how implement-
ing a pattern through a set of game elements creates diferent efects
in the game to solve the problem. Te patterns described in Game
Mechanics: Advanced Game Design are not wrong or lacking; they
are just not the same thing as the patterns generated by the exercises
in this book.

Here is the revised pattern documented using the Pattern Template.

 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 341

Pattern

Name: I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can

Confdence: 3
Image:

FIGURE 16.1 Escalating difculty can create engagement as a player’s skill

increases, and allow players of diferent skill levels to enjoy your game.
Author: Chris Barney, derived from “Escalating Diffculty” by Ernest Adams
and Joris Dormans
Design problem: Skill level varies between players, and an individual play-
er’s skill level changes throughout play. Additionally, narrative and mechan-
ical progression both beneft from an increase in the challenge for a player.
Description: To create a feeling of challenge and escalating tension in the
player, a developer may want to gradually increase the diffculty of one or
more mechanics throughout the game.
This increase in diffculty may be static and tied to the player only
through their linear progression through the game, thus requiring that the
player’s skill increase by a fxed amount in order to progress. When this
is the case, this pattern may be combined with a pattern based on the
functional element of Levels of Diffculty* to account for varying skill levels
between players.

* To pursue this pattern, complete Exercise 5: Functional Patterns using levels of difculty as your
response to step 1.
 342   ◾    Pattern Language for Game Design

The rate of change in the difficulty may be tied adaptively to the play-
er’s performance, increasing more rapidly for skilled players and levelling
off as player skill plateaus. This effect creates a more consistent player
experience, but may allow players to avoid increasing difficulty by not
overperforming. That effect may be desirable if a more relaxed experience
is desired or in the case where the developer is trying to create a flow state
in the player.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Space Invaders—This game uses a simple linear difficulty adjustment

that is independent of player performance, increasing difficulty as the
player progresses through the game on a per-enemy-killed basis.
• Gradius—This is an early use of dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) from
1985. The game defines several difficulty settings, and shifts the player
between them based on the formula ( Time since last death + Level number + Power -
ince last death + Level number + Power - ups collected + Lives remaining + Difficulty level ) / 2
• This formula is applied in addition to the game’s gradual increase in
difficulty.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game—This is an interesting
case, as the developers may not have included dynamic difficulty and
challenge increase to improve the player’s experience. The difficulty is
adjusted based on several factors, such as the number of players and the
number of player deaths per level. As an arcade game, the implication is
that the developers may have tuned the game to maximize the number
of quarters per play rather than for the optimal player experience.
• Candy Crush—This is a more modern implementation driven by the
same optimization target as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While the
specific DDA algorithms are not public, developers have discussed the
fact that they introduce “pinch” levels that are very difficult to complete.
These levels encourage microtransactions and are placed based on
player investment, as determined by length of play and levels completed.
• Snatcher—In this early game by Hideo Kojima, the player is given a
shooting tutorial and practice in a shooting gallery. The game measures
the player’s skill in this section, and the difficulty of shooting sequences
later in the game is adjusted to provide the intended level of challenge.
• Mario Kart—In this well-known example, the multiplayer difficulty is
adjusted using various rubber banding techniques that help losing play-
ers and make the game harder for winning players.
• Crash Bandicoot (series)—Dynamic difficulty was refined through-
out these games to create the difficulty curve the developer intended.
This example is significant because difficulty adjustments include level
design elements like obstacle placement that are more complex than
simply increasing enemy health or character attack damage.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 343

• Left 4 Dead—One of the advertised features of this game is an “AI

Director” that dynamically adjusts elements in the level to create a cin-
ematic experience for the players. This open announcement is inter-
esting because developers often hide dynamic diffculty from players.
Acknowledging and advertising its presence allows some of the adjust-
ments to be more overt without alienating the player.
• Final Fantasy VIII—Games in the RPG and, in particular, the JRPG genre
often use the functional mechanic of “grinding” or repeating content
to advance character progression. This game tried to remove the value
of this behavior by introducing dynamic diffculty escalation based on
player level.
• Elder Scrolls (Oblivion and Skyrim)—Challenge escalation has been
present in the Elder Scrolls games for most of the title’s iterations. In
Oblivion, the diffculty increase existed across most of the game’s sys-
tems and generally matched the character’s increase in power. This par-
allel scaling created a static level of perceived diffculty throughout the
game. In Skyrim, a more complex system created areas of the game with
enemies that were consistently stronger or weaker than the character,
allowing the player to feel both challenge and mastery depending on
where they were in the game world, while maintaining a general sense
of balance in the game world.

Seed: Escalating Diffculty from the book Game Mechanics: Advanced

Game Design
Related patterns:
Parent patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 2: Higher-Order Patterns to generate a pattern based
on diffculty.

Child patterns:
The Risk of Knowing You* (Confdence: 2)—When you use I’m Doing It As
Hard As I Can to create challenge and tension for the player, you are also
putting the character (if your game has one) in danger. Use this pattern to
take advantage of the emotional leverage you have created.
Just Look At What You’ve Become† (Confdence: 3)—When you use I’m
Doing It As Hard As I Can to escalate the diffculty throughout a game, you
may also add character progression to help the player deal with the chal-
lenge. Use this pattern to turn progression into transformation and add a
more profound sense of meaning to your game.

* Example pattern from Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns.

† Example pattern from Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses.
344 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Old Me Was Afraid of Old You, But New Me Is Stronger! … And Now
I’m Afraid of New You* (Confdence: 3)—There is an arms race between
escalating challenge and character progression. Use this pattern to take
advantage of this dynamic, create pacing and rhythm in your game, and
avoid having one system cancel out the other.
One of These Days That's Going To Get You Killed† (Confdence: 2)—
Use this pattern to help you add progression systems for the character with-
out undermining I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 5: Functional Patterns to generate a pattern based on
handicapping. This practice is common in competitive sports like
golf or bowling, but is relatively uncommon in competitive multi-
player games. Use this pattern to understand why, and whether there
are ways to incorporate this technique into your games using escalat-
ing diffculty.

Additive patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise7: Player Experience Patterns to generate a pattern
based on immersion. When picking the ten games in step 2, pick
games that have a well implemented diffculty curve as well as main-
tain player immersion.

Keywords: Mechanics, Diffculty, Skill, Progression, Levels of Scale, Graded

Variation, Not Separateness

CHALLENGE

Pick a pattern from Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design and use it to
generate an Alexandrian pattern using the example of converting Escalating
Diffculty to I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can.

Patterns in Game Design

Stafan Björk and others have expanded the pattern library established
in the book Patterns in Game Design (Björk and Holopainen 2006) in an
online repository, which contains 607 entries at the time of this writing

* Example pattern from Exercise 3: Lower-Order Patterns.

† Example pattern from Exercise 1: Basic Pattern Exercise.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 345

(Björk 2019). As noted in Chapter 4, the patterns from this source are not
the same as patterns in this book. Yet the value of the patterns listed in
this repository is immense, because each is a well-defned formal or func-
tional design element as described in Chapter 9. For clarity, I will refer to
the “patterns” from Patterns in Game Design as “elements” for the rest of
this chapter. You can use any item from this source as a seed for Exercise
4: Formal Patterns or Exercise 5: Functional Patterns.
When using the repository in this way, it’s useful to read the full
entry for the element there. In the complete online collection, each
entry links to all related entries and contains an in-depth analysis of
how those game design elements interact on a basic level. Tese entries
are structured similarly to the Pattern Template that you’re familiar
with from this book. I will outline the best way to make use of these
sections next.
Each entry begins with the element name, followed by a brief literal
description of the element, then a longer description of the way that games
use the element.
Next, this format provides as many as ten examples, but discussion
of each is minimal, ofen a sentence or less. Tese examples are a use-
ful place to start in selecting the ten games required by Exercises 4 or 5.
Tough you would, of course, need to describe each game and its use of
the element in more detail. You should not blindly use these games for
examples in the Pattern Template, as they may not be good examples
of the pattern that you derive from looking at the elements from this
repository.
A section titled “Using the pattern” follows the examples. Tis section
is usually much more extensive, and discusses how the element relates to
other elements to create diferent efects. Ofen this analysis considers the
interplay of dozens of diferent elements. Each of these interactions may
suggest a possible pattern or patterns. To take these abstract interactions
or elements and turn them into patterns as defned in Patterns in Game
Design, you can consider each interaction of a set of formal elements as
a functional element, and complete Exercise 5 by looking at games that
contain an example of that kind of interaction. For example, the entry for
the element “Penalties” states that failing to achieve “Committed Goals”
is a reason that penalties are applied. Committed Goals is another ele-
ment that you can click through to, to make sure you understand what it
means. So, in Exercise 5, you would look for ten games that use the func-
tional element of applying penalties for goal failure. Perhaps looking at a
346 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

player versus player (PvP) frst-person shooter that has a delay on player
respawn on death, or a dating sim where choosing the wrong dialogue
option causes a potential match to reject you, and so on. You would con-
tinue the exercise and look for patterns in the way that those games apply
the technique.
Next, this format presents the “Consequences” section. Tis section
may contain statements that come close to being patterns, as defned
in this book. For example, again looking at the Penalties element, it
states both that penalties can create tension and that they can promote
role-playing. To begin validating these assertions and converting them
to patterns, you must look at games that have penalties and see if some,
many, or all of them exhibit these efects. You then need to assess the
degree to which the efects exist, and see if there are patterns that gov-
ern penalties producing the efects of either tension, role-playing, or
both.
Tere is then an extensive section detailing the “Relations” of each
entry with many other entries. Just considering these relations can be use-
ful. It would be possible to devise exercises aimed at generating patterns by
looking at how those relations functioned. Tis section breaks down the
Relations into the following categories:

• Can Instantiate—Tese are other elements that may be created

by the current element. For instance, a developer may “instantiate
destructible objects” to use the loss of an object as a penalty.
• Can Modulate—Te presence of the current element can change the
efectiveness of other elements. For instance, penalties can increase
“attention demanding gameplay” by punishing inattention. Or it can
decrease “player killing” if the designer applies a penalty for such
behavior.
• Can Be Instantiated By—Tese elements may cause the current ele-
ment to exist by their presence. For example, adding “ability loss” to
a game is likely to apply as a penalty.
• Can Be Modulated By—Tese are elements that are additive or
subtractive to the current element. For example, penalties could be
made more manageable by having “predictable consequences” or
made more detrimental by having “geometric progression.”
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 347

• Potentially Conficting With—Te elements listed here are just

ones that have strong negative modulation, or to use our terminol-
ogy, strongly subtractive patterns.

As you can see, the amount of information contained in this repository is

a tremendous resource for creating patterns. While the entries, as listed,
may not be fully functional patterns on their own, applying the appropri-
ate exercises to any of them will generate multiple patterns.

1. Select an entry from the Patterns in Game Design repository website,

listed in the bibliography (Björk 2019).
2. Decide whether the entry is a functional or formal element.
3. Use the entry with Exercise 4 or 5 to generate a pattern.
4. Integrate the pattern with your language adding keywords and related
patterns as needed.

The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

Te widely known book Te Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, by
Jesse Schell (2020), presents a series of essays that cover the breadth of the
game design discipline. Schell follows each topical section with an insight-
ful but commonsense assertion and a set of questions. Tese questions
help designers apply the assertions to their games. Te third edition of
the book contains an awe-inspiring 116 of these sections, which he refers
to as “lenses,” named for the diferent ways they let you look at your game
design.
Tis collection of lenses is not a collection of patterns, though in some
ways the lenses it presents have a similar feel and utility to a Pattern
Language. Most game design students or working developers will have
already read this book. If you have not, then I cannot recommend it
strongly enough. Reading the book will help you understand game design
better, no matter your current level of skill. Te Art of Game Design is
as useful to master designers as to students. Trough the questions that
allow the designer to apply each concept, it refects their varied skill and
experience.
For example, in Lens #74: Te Lens of the Obstacle, Schell provides
some supporting context in the form of a rule of thumb from cinema: that
a good story requires a character with goals and obstacles to stand in their
way. Some precise commonsense analysis follows, suggesting that this
concept also applies to games. Ten he states that “a goal with no obstacles
348 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

is not worth pursuing,” and that you should “use this lens to make sure
your obstacles are ones that your players will want to overcome.” Tese
statements seem to be good advice. Schell then poses these questions for
the reader to answer about the obstacles in their game:

• What is the relationship between the main character and the goal?
Why does the character care about it?
• What are the obstacles between the character and the goal?
• Is there an antagonist who is behind the obstacles? What is the rela-
tionship between the protagonist and the antagonist?
• Do the obstacles gradually increase in difculty?
• Some say “the bigger the obstacle, the better the story.” Are your
obstacles big enough? Can they be bigger?
• Great stories ofen involve the protagonist transforming in order to
overcome the obstacle. How does your protagonist transform?

Answering these questions is useful and prompts you to consider your

game from the perspective of the lens. Te carefully constructed questions
help the reader to consider both the problems that using the lens will solve
and the problems with using the lens.
Ofen, it’s clear how you can change your answers to the questions and
thus change your game for the better. However, the lenses don’t always
provide the guidance you might need to understand what specifc changes
you would need to make to beneft from their perspective or even if your
particular game will beneft from addressing the view of a particular lens.
Tat is where I think that pattern analysis can provide some value.
How can pattern theory be applied to the framework of lenses? Looking
carefully at the structure of the lenses provides some clues:

Evidence ® Declaration ® Questions

Tis format is similar to parts of the process we go through to create a

pattern:

List 10 games (evidence) ® Pattern problem (declaration) ®

Exercise questions (questions)

 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 349

Te typical pattern exercise step of listing ten games maps to Schell’s

essays that provide evidence for the lenses. His declaration within each
lens seems like it might map to the pattern problem section within the
Pattern Template. And it seems evident that the questions from the lens
would map to the questions of a pattern exercise.
But that's not quite right: the declaration that Schell makes is closer to
the actual pattern that we derive, and each of the questions is more like
the problem section of a pattern than the exercise questions. So the lens
format would map this way:

Evidence = List ten games step

Declaration = Pattern description
Questions = Pattern problem statement

Given that mapping, it becomes possible to construct an exercise that will

generate a large number of patterns from each lens. Te exercise will also
help us understand how to apply the pattern in more specifc circum-
stances to solve the problems that exist in our games or avoid using the
lens if our game does not address those problems.

Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses

When you are looking at a game through one of Schell’s lenses and either
you do not know how you should adapt it to address the perspective of
the lens or are not sure how making those changes will afect your game,
consider the following exercise:

Step 1: Consider the assertion of the lens.

Step 2: Look for at least ten games that exemplify that assertion.
Step 3: Answer each of the questions listed in the lens as it applies to each
of those games.
Step 4: For each question, consider your ten responses and look for patterns.
Step 5: Look across all of your responses for all ten games for high-level
patterns.
Step 6: Document each pattern using the Pattern Template.
Step 7: Consider whether your game needs to solve any of the problems
that those patterns address.

I will work through this process to demonstrate using Lens #74 that I
discussed earlier.
350 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Example Pattern from Lenses

Exercise

Step 1: Consider the assertion of the lens.

“A goal with no obstacles is not worth pursuing” and "use this lens to make
sure your obstacles are ones that your players will want to overcome.”
Again, this statement part of the lens maps to a pattern description in
the Pattern Template. You can convert this statement to a pattern descrip-
tion by rephrasing it in this way: “To make sure that players fnd the goals
of your game satisfying, you need to place obstacles that make achieving
the goal a challenge for the player.”

Step 2: Look for ten games that exemplify that assertion.

In looking for example games for a lens, which tends to be a very high-
level pattern, it is more important than usual to try to think of a wide
variety of games that seem to apply the lens. It also may be useful to
consider “good” and “bad” games that do not seem to apply the lens at
all, and understand why they do or do not need it. For example, the fol-
lowing games seem to apply the lens strongly, as we’ll see when we look at
their answers to the questions in the next step: Dark Souls, Borderlands 3,
Pokémon Go, Te Witness/Myst, Warcraf/World of Warcraf, Kingdom
Death: Monster.
Te following games make sense to view through the lens, but their
answers are more mixed: Tetris, Vikings: War of Clans, Journey, Virginia.
And this last set of games don’t seem to apply the lens at all, but still
have a strong goal and experience of trying to reach that goal: Dear Esther,
Loneliness.

Step 3: Answer each of the questions listed in the lens as it applies to

each of those games.
As you will see, the process of addressing a set of questions from a lens
for ten games is no small task. However, answering these questions for
your set of games is likely to create many patterns. Te actual work-to-
pattern ratio for this exercise is probably higher than any other in this
book because of the rich nature of Schell’s lenses.
Here are the questions posed in Lens #74:

1. What is the relationship between the main character and the goal?
Why does the character care about it?
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 351

• Dark Souls—Te goal is survival and escape, at least initially.

Te character wants to survive, but the motivation provided
isn’t especially strong. For the player, curiosity and the drive to
achieve mastery over challenging gameplay are the reasons they
care or their motivation.
• Borderlands 3—Te goal is to open a treasure vault. Te charac-
ter is motivated by helping a legendary hero and seeking personal
wealth and fame.
• Tetris—Te goal is to clear rows of blocks. Tere is no character,
but the player’s motivation is seeking a high score. Tis kind of
goal might be referred to as “player achievement,” as it’s not a
goal for the character achieved through the player's control, but a
goal of the player achieved by the character’s actions.
• Vikings: War of Clans—Te goal is to dominate other players.
Player achievement and supporting members of your clan are the
primary motivations.
• Pokémon Go—Tere are multiple long-term goals: collecting
all the Pokémon, completing research quests, and compet-
ing in PvP competitions. Player achievement is the primary
motivation.
• Te Witness/Myst—Solving the mystery of the island is the goal
in both of these games. Tere is some narrative motivation, but
the player’s curiosity is probably the main reason for engaging
with the game.
• Warcraf/World of Warcraf—Both of these games have a strong
narrative motivation, but player achievement is at least equally
as strong.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Surviving the campaign is the pri-
mary goal; it is easy to assume that the character cares about
this out of a sense of self-preservation. Te player, on the other
hand, is motivated by player achievement and curiosity about the
game’s mysterious narrative.
• Journey—Te primary goal is to reach the mountain; for the
character, this is a culturally driven spiritual quest. Te motiva-
tion for the player is mostly narrative curiosity.
352 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Virginia—Te stated goal of the game is to help the character

“solve” the mysterious disappearance of a child. For the player,
the goal is to understand the narrative. Te character has the
motivation of proving themself; for the player, curiosity is the
motivation.
• Dear Esther—Te goal is to reach the radio tower. Te character
is motivated by the drive to reach the end of their life. Te player
is motivated by curiosity.
• Loneliness—Te goal is to fnd dots that will accept you. Te
motivation is “to not be alone.”
2. What are the obstacles between the character and the goal?
• Dark Souls—Enemies of varying difculty. Pathfnding, the
game world is a maze, and the game provides no map.
• Borderlands 3—Enemies and tasks/quests.
• Tetris—Increase in speed and blocks that do not ft well.
• Vikings: War of Clans—At a low level, time is the primary
obstacle as progression. Timers act as a gate for every action
the player can take. Early actions take as little as 30 seconds;
later game actions take months of real-time to complete. At a
high-level, opposition by other players becomes the primary
obstacle.
• Pokémon Go—Te difculty of catching Pokémon, opposition of
other players, limited player mobility.
• Te Witness/Myst—Environmental and abstract logic puzzles.
• Warcraf/World of Warcraf—Enemies, tasks/quests, and player
opposition.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Enemies and random events are
obstacles.
• Journey—Simple environmental efects and platforming puzzles.
• Virginia—Discovering event triggers; the obscurity of the narra-
tive is an obstacle to understanding the plot.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 353

• Dear Esther—Pathfnding could be considered an obstacle or the

time required to walk through the game, but practically there are
no obstacles.
• Loneliness—Tere are no “obstacles,” but it is not possible to
achieve your goals.
3. Is there an antagonist who is behind the obstacles? What is the rela-
tionship between the protagonist and the antagonist?
• Dark Souls—Te nature of the world is the primary cause of
obstacles to the character. Tat world does not care very much
for you personally. Many of the areas of the game have a boss
monster that is the antagonist of that area.
• Borderlands 3—Strong primary antagonists interact with the
character throughout the game.
• Tetris—No.
• Vikings: War of Clans—At the point that you come into confict
with other players, long-term antagonistic relationships may
form, but the game doesn’t provide a narrative or non-player
character (NPC) antagonists.
• Pokémon Go—Tere are other teams of players and NPC enemies
with a hierarchy, but those are not primary sources of opposi-
tion in the game. Because of the large player base, even the PvP
confict is relatively anonymous and doesn’t generate long-term
antagonistic relationships.
• Te Witness/Myst—Yes, there are antagonists responsible for the
structure of the world and the puzzles you face. Tey are not pri-
mary motivators for the player to overcome the obstacles.
• Warcraf/World of Warcraf—Yes, both NPC and player antago-
nists are a signifcant focus of the game.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Recurring monsters and an enemy
hierarchy create potent antagonists.
• Journey—No, or not in a way that the player confronts in game-
play. You realize that your society did this to themselves.
354 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Virginia—No, or not in a way that the player confronts in game-

play. “Te enemy is society.”
• Dear Esther—No, or as in Journey, you are narratively confront-
ing the history of your character. “Te enemy is yourself.”
• Loneliness—Tere is not an antagonist, but indiference and
social isolation are antagonistic forces. “Te enemy is society” is
the literary theme invoked here.
4. Do the obstacles gradually increase in difculty?
• Dark Souls—Yes.
• Borderlands 3—Yes.
• Tetris—Yes.
• Vikings: War of Clans—Yes.
• Pokémon Go—Yes. In the PvP competition, each season starts
easy and gets harder as you rise in rank.
• Te Witness/Myst—Yes, puzzle difculty increases. Te difculty
curve in Te Witness is more apparent and more intentional.
• Warcraf/World of Warcraf—Yes.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Yes.
• Journey—No.
• Virginia—No, though perhaps as the game progresses, you have
more narrative events to consider, so constructing a narrative out
of them becomes more difcult.
• Dear Esther—No.
• Loneliness—No.
5. Are the obstacles big enough? Can they be bigger?
• Dark Souls—Yes, the game achieves its desired level of difculty.
No, not if the desire is for the player to be able to complete the
game.
• Borderlands 3—Yes. Tough the developers didn’t intend the
game to be punishingly difcult, the challenges it presents create
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 355

the desired experience of character power and struggle. No. If

enemies were more dangerous and quests harder to complete, the
higher level of challenge would decrease the power fantasy that is
core to the gameplay experience.
• Tetris—Yes. No.
• Vikings: War of Clans—No, there is very little in the way of obsta-
cles outside of time. And although time is an efective enemy, it’s
not a very interesting one. Players as enemies may be challenging
enough, but the game does not reveal this difculty in a way that’s
understandable to most players. Having clearer goals, obstacles, and
difculty progression would improve the game for many players.
• Pokémon Go—No, progression through the game is quite easy,
and the obstacles are mostly symbolic. Te only real difculty
is in higher levels of PvP play, and that ramps up so quickly that
it feels like facing an insurmountable obstacle rather than fac-
ing an interesting challenge. Te NPC opponents the player faces
help with this, but the core of the gameplay progression, catch-
ing and powering up creatures, does not feel integrated with the
PvP-based obstacles at the end of the game. Tis issue is similar
to that in Vikings.
• Te Witness/Myst—Tese games are very obstacle-focused. Te
obstacles in Myst are very challenging and have little concern for
the player’s ability to overcome them. Tose in Te Witness may
be even more difcult, but they lead the player to the understand-
ing needed to solve them. So, Myst has obstacles that are too big,
and the obstacles in Te Witness are just right, even though they
are bigger than those in Myst.
• Warcraf/World of Warcraf—Te challenges in both games are
satisfying. Tose in World of Warcraf are perhaps too easy to
overcome until high-level play (progression raiding). Ten they
become punishingly difcult in order to present the players with
challenges that will keep them occupied until the developers
produce new content, rather than remaining at levels that pro-
duce optimal gameplay. I think that this is because the primary
purpose of those endgame obstacles is not to make the goal
meaningful.
356 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Kingdom Death: Monster—Te obstacles are very difcult. Te

game, similarly to Dark Souls, presents itself as a brutal chal-
lenge. In this case, that terrible difculty imparts more profound
meaning to the narrative events that the gameplay generates.
• Journey—Yes. Yes, the obstacles could easily be bigger. However,
the narrative impact of the game isn’t reduced by the game not
being difcult to complete. Te obstacles the player overcomes
are just not very important to the story.
• Virginia—No. I think the obstacles, or lack of them, is proba-
bly something that contributes to players not feeling invested in
the game. Also, the serious difculty of the obstacle to narrative
understanding makes the game less compelling. Tat is not to
say that parts of the game are not very efective, just that this lens
reveals some major faws in the game.
• Dear Esther—Yes. Te narrative of the game is not about over-
coming challenges. Te game chooses to be short and to have
a fow of gameplay not interrupted by a challenge. No, adding
more difcult obstacles would probably make the game less efec-
tive, even if it addressed the complaint that the game lacks suf-
fcient gameplay to qualify as a “game” for some players.
• Loneliness—Yes. No. Te only obstacle in the game is that the
other dots move away from the player. Te goal of the player is
to reach the dots, and that is not possible. Te game’s purpose
is to confront the player with the feeling of loneliness caused by
failing to connect with the other dots; this obstacle succeeds.
Because the player cannot overcome the obstacle, there is no way
to make it “bigger.”
6. Great stories ofen involve the protagonist transforming to overcome
the obstacle. How does your protagonist transform?
• Dark Souls—Te character gains mechanical abilities and equip-
ment. Tough they don’t have a narrative character progression,
the player transforms in terms of their skill level.
• Borderlands 3—Tere are relatively high levels of mechanical
character development and some level of narrative character pro-
gression, though it’s not a focus of the game.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 357

• Tetris—Tere is no character protagonist, but the player gains

skill.
• Vikings: War of Clans—Tere is mechanical progression, but no
character progression narratively at all. Tere may be a social
progression as the player interacts with other players and forms
a community.
• Pokémon Go—Tere is a progression of the player’s creature
collection and each creature’s power. Tere is no narrative
character progression, however. Tere may be a social pro-
gression as the player interacts with other players and forms
a community.
• Te Witness/Myst—Tere is a progression in player understand-
ing of the mechanics, though there is little narrative character
progression.
• Warcraf/World of Warcraf—Tere are high levels of mechanical
change, but low levels of narrative character transformation.
• Kingdom Death: Monster—Te characters in the game change
both mechanically, and their actions are constructed into
dynamic arcs by many players.
• Journey—Tere is some mechanical progression as the charac-
ter’s ability to fy increases, but there is a transformative charac-
ter narrative that builds through gameplay.
• Virginia—Tere is little mechanical progression, but there is a
substantial narrative character transformation.
• Dear Esther—Tere is no mechanical progression, but there is
character transformation as the character prepares for death.
• Loneliness—Tere is no mechanical progression, but the progres-
sion from hope to despair is the point of the game.

Step 4: For each question, consider your ten responses and look for
patterns.
1. What is the relationship between the main character and the goal?
Why does the character care about it?
358 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Te nature of the relationship between character and goal or player

and goal should match the nature of that goal.
If the goal and motivation are abstract such as “to survive” or “to gain
the most points,” then the motivation should also be abstract/mechani-
cal. You see this in games like Tetris or Dark Souls, where you achieve
your goal through an intrinsically rewarding core gameplay loop.
When the goal is narrative and less connected to the core game-
play, such as “to save the kingdom” or “to open the vault,” then the
motivation also needs to be narrative.
Te strongest games combine these techniques. In Ori and the
Will of the Wisps, the narrative goal of fnding your friend and saving
the forest is motivated by empathy created through NPC interaction
and cut scenes. Te mechanical goal, moving through the game, is
motivated by the joy of using your skills. And there are both nar-
rative and mechanical obstacles, but the progress and challenge in
both aspects of the game make the whole more meaningful.
So I would list the patterns as:
• Te type of obstacles in a game should match the kind of goal the
game has.
• Games with abstract goals beneft from mechanical obstacles
that directly progress the player toward the goal when overcome.
• Games with narrative goals work well with plot-based obstacles,
where overcoming the obstacles forms a narrative path to the goal.
• Games with multiple diferent types of goals and obstacles are
stronger if those types support each other.
2. What are the obstacles between the character and the goal?
• Anything that the player must do between the beginning of the game
and the end could be considered an obstacle. For obstacles to be
meaningful, the player must be able to recognize them and to under-
stand how overcoming them advances them toward their goals.
A positive example of this is Tetris, and a negative one is
Vikings. Tough mechanically simple, existing blocks that
have accumulated in Tetris are a clear obstacle. Completing
lines makes the blocks disappear dramatically, showing
the player’s progress. In Vikings, the impact of upgrading a
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 359

building or training a new skill by “overcoming” the obstacle

of the time it took to complete that task may advance you
incrementally toward being a dominant player. However,
that progress is so abstract and incremental that the impact
of overcoming any single obstacle is minimal.
Tis can also be seen in the diference between Myst and
Te Witness. In Myst, each puzzle you solve moves you toward
the end of the game, but how or even why that’s true is ofen
not clear, and the player’s experience of the game is some-
times doing things because they can be done until the world
changes and they can progress. Whereas in Te Witness,
puzzles are clearly defned, and mastering a set of puzzle
mechanics results in the ability to complete a larger puzzle
that moves the game forward.
• Te more concrete the goal, the more mechanical the obstacle
can be, as seen in Tetris or Dark Souls.
• Te more internal or abstract the goal, the more the obstacles need
to be narrative or symbolic, as is the case in Journey or Loneliness.
3. Is there an antagonist who is behind the obstacles? What is the rela-
tionship between the protagonist and the antagonist?
• Te efectiveness of having an antagonist responsible for the
obstacles to a player’s goals relates to whether the obstacles
need narrative justifcation and whether the player needs narra-
tive motivation. Tetris wouldn’t be made stronger by having an
antagonistic character responsible for the falling blocks, because
the obstacles are mechanical, and the motivation for overcoming
them is not narrative. But Vikings, which has weeks or months
of build-up before you reach the core gameplay, would probably
beneft from a strong antagonist and narrative framework, at
least early on when the player is learning the mechanics and not
yet confronting other players.
4. Do the obstacles gradually increase in difculty?
• Change in the difculty of obstacles creates a drive for charac-
ter or player advancement or “transformation.” If the goal of the
game is to show this transformation, the ways that the charac-
ter or player changes should be meaningful to the character or
360 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

player. If the character is transforming, then there should be

narrative or mechanical feedback acknowledging the shif. If the
player is advancing in skill or understanding, the game should
recognize that and point it out to the player.
Most of the preceding examples don’t show strong character
or player transformation. Te Witness does a pretty good job by
presenting a player with an obstacle they can’t overcome, a set of
smaller obstacles they do overcome, and then returning them to
the more difcult problem with the understanding needed. Tose
moments of epiphany are then obvious to the player. To increase
confdence in this pattern, I would need to consider other games,
like Silent Hill 2 or Planescape: Torment, that focus on character
transformation.
5. Are the obstacles big enough? Can they be bigger?
• Te intent of the game governs the scale of obstacles. If the mean-
ing of achieving the goal relates to the struggle to attain it, then
obstacles need to be large enough to challenge the player.
• Ofen that size is very dependent on the skill of the player, and
the game must either adjust obstacle size to match player skill,
or provide the space for the player to acquire the skill they need.
A power fantasy game like Doom Eternal may have obstacles
that seem massive, and in some modes are very difcult, but the
designer intends to empower the player to crush those obsta-
cles. A game like Dark Souls has tremendous obstacles, but they
remain tough to overcome because the designers aim to give the
player the experience of hard-won struggle. In both cases, the
size of the obstacles matches the needs of the game. Te epic
power of Te Doom Slayer would be undermined if cautious,
meticulous gameplay were required to defeat enemies. And the
grimdark hopelessness of the world of Dark Souls would be trivi-
alized if the character could run through the game exploding
every enemy with reckless abandon.
6. Great stories ofen involve the protagonist transforming in order to
overcome the obstacle. How does your protagonist transform?
• Progression of both player skill and character ability is very com-
mon in games. If the game intends to show how that progression
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 361

is transforming either the player or character, then the game

must work to show that transformation to the player.
• For change to be “transformation,” it must be meaningful. For
character advancement to be meaningful, it must allow the char-
acter to overcome obstacles that were once difcult or impass-
able. For an increase in player skill to be signifcant, the player
must achieve a sense of mastery.

Step 5: Look across all of your responses for all ten games for high-level
patterns.

1. Te Law of Ludonarrative Obstruction—Tis potential high-level pat-

tern would state that there are two kinds of goals and obstacles in
games: narrative and mechanical. Games need to present obstacles
that relate to the goals they’re blocking. To the degree that games have
a narrative, goals can be more meaningful if they are essential to the
narrative. Mechanical obstacles can support narrative goals, and narra-
tive obstacles can support mechanical goals, but only if overcoming the
obstacle is perceived to move the player or character toward the goal.

Step 6: Document each pattern using the pattern template.

I identifed 14 possible patterns in steps 4 and 5 of this exercise. Another
designer looking at this lens might identify an entirely diferent set of pat-
terns relating to the game or design problem they were applying Lens #74
to. Tis step is vital, because documenting the patterns using the template
will require that you articulate the design problem that the pattern solves
and provide example games. For this example, I will document one of
these 14 possible patterns and leave the others to interested readers.

Step 7: Consider whether your game needs to solve any of the problems
that those patterns address.
Te patterns, generated by applying this exercise to Lens #74, cover a lot of
design ground! Not all of them will be needed to solve problems found in
any one game, but at least some of them likely will. Applying those patterns
would help me as a designer understand how to use the perspective of Lens
#74 in my game. Beyond helping with that immediate problem, all of the
patterns can be added to my Pattern Language and used in future games.
I proposed 13 potential patterns by looking at this one lens. You could
document each using the pattern template, as I have done later with Just
362 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Look at What You’ve Become. Working through this exercise for all 116
lenses would likely yield hundreds of patterns, perhaps as many as a
1,000! Is it necessary to perform this exercise for every lens? Probably not.
Diferent developers will fnd diferent lenses more or less intuitive. Tis
exercise provides a tool for exploring the lenses that present you with the
most difculty.

Here is the pattern generated by the last question in the lens: For change to
be “transformation,” it must be meaningful. For character advancement to
be meaningful, it must allow the character to overcome obstacles that were
once difcult or impassable. For an increase in player skill to be meaning-
ful, the player must achieve a sense of mastery.

Pattern

Name: Just Look at What You’ve Become

Confdence: 2
Image:

FIGURE 16.2 Actions that change your character can also change the game
world. Seeing that can show a player how their character has transformed.
Author: Chris Barney
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 363

Design problem: Character progression systems and player skill growth

are part of many games. How can those systems be made meaningful and
not just the mechanical side effects of systems introduced to balance each
other?
Description: Consider the statement: “For change to be ‘transformation,’
it must be meaningful. For character advancement to be meaningful, it
must allow the character to overcome obstacles that were once diffcult
or impassable. For an increase in player skill to be meaningful, the player
must achieve a sense of mastery.” This assertion implies three levels of
design. First, a game may include systems of player advancement and/or
require players to increase their skill to progress. Second, those systems
may be made meaningful by allowing the player to overcome obstacles
and to achieve a sense of mastery. And third, when a game meets the pre-
vious two levels of conditions, a designer may give meaning to the change
in the character and player.
A player can derive meaning from those changes on their own, but
when the developer has given meaning to the systems, they then have the
opportunity to ascribe meaning to the changes those systems produced.
Because the player will have participated in those systems and be part
of producing that change, the meaning they ascribe to those changes can
be compelling. Whether the player adopts the meaning ascribed by the
developer depends on how visibly the designer communicates that mean-
ing through systems and game narrative.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Planescape: Torment—The character begins as a blank slate; the player

discovers the character’s history through play and decides whether to
make choices in keeping with the character’s pastor become a new
person based on their interactions with the events of the game. The
game guides the player toward making “good” choices. By the end of
the game, the character has become incredibly powerful and confronts
the embodiment of what they used to be. Defeating that avatar of their
past evil through choices made over 30 to 100 hours of hard gameplay
answers the game’s tagline question: “What does it take to change the
nature of a man?"
• Spec Ops: The Line—In this game, the player uses standard frst-person
shooter skills and abilities to wreak havoc across the levels of the game.
At the last minute, the game reframes the actions of the “heroic sol-
dier” character that the player controls as a descent into madness and
violence. The designers intentionally hide this transformation from the
player until the end of the game. The deceit increases the impact of the
transformation, without concern for whether the player will be comfort-
able with their role in guiding the character.
364 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Fable II—In the Fable games, the actions the character takes physically
transform them, making them look more angelic or more demonic. The
dichotomy is simplistic, but the effect of seeing the character change
throughout the game is dramatic. The reactions of NPCs to the character
reinforce this change.
• Infamous—Similar to the Fable games, the progression system for the
character features “good” or “bad” options, and the effects of the abili-
ties refect these designations: a good ability might heal, a bad abil-
ity might set everything on fre. By the end of the game, the character
becomes a savior or destroyer depending on the player’s choices. The
consequences of that transformation are obvious in the gameplay.
• Legacy of Kain—In this game, the character is turned into a vampire
early in the game. They gain vampiric powers throughout the game and
become a superhuman being by the end of play. After the fnal boss
fght, when the character has destroyed the “villain,” the player can
choose to “save the world” and be forgotten, or rule it from atop a literal
throne of skulls. Sequels to the game canonized the choice to become
the evil ruler in keeping with the character’s actions in the game.

Seed: Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses—Lens #74 The Lens of
the Obstacle
Related patterns:
Parent patterns:
Coercive Ludonarrative Resonance* (Confdence: 2)—Creating meaningful
character transformation using Just Look at What You've Become requires
the alignment of mechanics and meaning that this pattern provides.
I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can† (Confdence: 3)—If you want to drive
character transformation, you must create a game world that demands that
the character advance to overcome its challenges. Use this pattern to guide
your implementation of escalating diffculty.

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to generate a pattern based on
the following theory: The Law of Ludonarrative Obstruction. There
are two kinds of goals and obstacles in games: narrative and mechan-
ical. Games need to present obstacles that relate to the goals they are
blocking. To the degree that games have a narrative, goals can be
more meaningful if they are important to the narrative. Mechanical
obstacles can support narrative goals, and narrative obstacles can
support mechanical goals, but only if overcoming the obstacle is per-
ceived to move the player or character toward the goal.

* Example pattern for Exercise 14: Player Manipulation Patterns.

† Example pattern conversion from Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design described in

Chapter 16.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 365

Child patterns:
One of These Days That’s Going to Get You Killed* (Confdence: 2)—Use
this pattern to introduce natural consequences to the ways that the charac-
ter changes when you apply Just Look at What You've Become.

Other related patterns:

SUGGESTED EXERCISE
Use Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns to document any of the 12
remaining possible patterns. You could just document the patterns,
but because you are taking my theories based on the preceding exer-
cise, you’ll get more out of the process if you take the time to use
Exercise 24.
For each pattern, consider how it’s related to this one. Is it a parent
or child? Is it additive or subtractive? Or does it just share a parent?

Keywords: Narrative, Mechanics, Meaning, Player, Character, Goals,

Obstacles, Boundaries, Contrast, Echoes

PITFALLS OF PATTERN RELATIONSHIPS

When describing the relationship of two patterns, it’s important to be clear
about whether a higher-level pattern is always necessary for a lower-level
pattern to function and is thus a child pattern. Sometimes one pattern
makes another stronger, but is not always found in games that successfully
implement the other pattern and is therefore additive without being a par-
ent or child. Other times, a pattern is ofen co-present with the lower level
pattern but doesn’t afect the efectiveness of the lower-level pattern. In
those cases, the patterns have no formal relationship, other than possibly
sharing keywords.
Failing to be clear about the nature of the relationship can lead you or
another developer to try to include patterns in a game to solve a problem
when they’re not needed, or might even interfere with the solutions that
the patterns required suggest.
To help prevent this kind of confusion, you should describe the rela-
tionship between two patterns narratively in addition to assigning the
relationship a confdence rating.

* Example pattern for Exercise 1: Basic Pattern Exercise.

366 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

COMBINING PATTERNS
When working on a Pattern Language in a group or integrating your lan-
guage with other developers you’ll ofen fnd that similar patterns have
emerged from diferent members of the group. At times, these patterns
will be distinct enough that it’s valuable to consider them separately. But
most of the time, you should assess the possibility of combining them
aggressively. If you can look at both patterns and capture the nuance of
both in a single pattern that’s more broadly applicable than either was
alone, then you should remove the duplicate patterns and replace them
with a combined pattern.
You can ofen capture the subtle diferences in two patterns by includ-
ing examples of games that show the way the new pattern can create the
efects of the source patterns. Generalizing one pattern to have this fex-
ibility is preferable to including the two similar rigid patterns. Remember
Alexander’s original description of a pattern as a solution to a design prob-
lem with a thousand possible expressions.
When you encounter two patterns that are functional duplicates of each
other, it’s best to combine the two patterns by selecting the aspects of each
that are most usable. You should pick the pattern name that is most evoca-
tive and memorable, include the example games that make the purpose of
the pattern most clear, choose the most clearly worded pattern descrip-
tion, and so on.
Te example patterns in this book will be good candidates for combin-
ing with the patterns you, or your students or co-workers, produce. Don’t
assume that a pattern in this book is superior or “ofcial” in some way
just because I included it here. While the patterns in this book are well-
considered, I haven’t produced a sufcient number of patterns, compared
them to enough other patterns, or even designed games with enough of
them to have a high level of confdence in them. Tey will likely become
stronger over time by being combined with other patterns.
Te following example shows two patterns that were created by students
in diferent semesters of a level design course that I taught. Both sets of
students created similar patterns independently. Te third example here is
a combined pattern that includes strong points from both student patterns.

I have many international students who are working in English as their sec-
ond or third language. I have edited the text of the patterns for clarity, so
that their insight and expertise will be as evident to readers as it is to me.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 367

Name: Dead Friend/Good Until It’s Gone

Authors: Yiyi Liu and Ysabelle Coutu
Confdence: 2
Design problem: It is always a problem for designers to make players
understand the emotions they want to express. Sadness is one of the emo-
tions. How to make players feel sad as the character in the game or make
them feel sad about what happened to the characters is a challenge.
Pattern description: During the game, give players some helpers and
friends, which can be human beings or animals. As time goes by, show
players how great the friend is, how friendly and helpful they are. Then at
some point, ask players to give up the friend or let the other NPCs kill the
friend to pass the level. The more players like the friend before, the more
sadness and pain they will feel.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Brothers, a Tale of Two Sons—The sadness in this game is around

death; the death of the bird, the death of a person they met during
the journey, and the death of the elder brother. The younger brother
goes back home and needs to face some problems they solved before,
but now he needs to do it himself, and players need to use the elder
brother’s side of the controller to help the little brother to go over it,
it is really sad.
• The Walking Dead—The background of the game is a world with zom-
bies and human beings without the resources they need to live. The
enemies are not just zombies, but also other human beings, who are
just bad people who enjoy the bad world. The character tries his best
to survive and save his friends. But his plans always fail, and there are
always things that break the peace in his life. The game has you play
as a character (Lee) for the whole frst season, but ends up killing him.
The player must choose how this happens, heightening the impact of
this moment.
• Journey—The game takes you on a beautiful and emotional journey
across a sweeping landscape that is a joy to traverse, and can also con-
nect you in a deep and meaningful way with a stranger. Thus, seeing
your avatar (and potentially your companion) vanish into the light of the
mountain is a profoundly bittersweet moment.

Seed: Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns—Sadness

Related patterns: Sadness Trigger
Parent patterns: Give Up Something for Something Else
Child patterns: None listed.
Keywords: Emotion, Immersion, Narrative, NPC, Sadness
368 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Name: Empty Nest

Author: Nico Ulloa, Gilbert Cranton, Will Bridges, and Justin Brady
Confdence: 2
Design problem: How to make the player feel the loneliness or sadness.
Pattern description: Utilizing companion characters to create a constant in
the player’s experience and then removing it wholly, whether permanently
or temporarily, will make the player feel incredibly lonely and acknowledge
the character’s loneliness.

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Twilight Princess—Midna, the helper character and sidekick, is tem-

porarily incapacitated (and at risk of death). The uncommon silence,
accompanied by rainy and dreary visuals and a solemn piano
track, underscores the fundamental loneliness of the player and the
character.
• Death Stranding—In one chapter, you lose your constant companion
baby BB. This loss has mechanical consequences in that you are more
vulnerable and weak against the threats of the world.
• Emily is Away—The game establishes the player’s connection to Emily
early in the game, but as it progresses, you get further and further apart.
When Emily ultimately leaves for good, you feel that loss like you lost
a real friend.

Seed: Exercise 6: An Emotional Pattern—Loneliness.

Parent patterns: None listed.
Child patterns: None listed.
Keywords: Emotion, Loneliness

Te combined pattern:

Name: A Suddenly Empty Nest

Author: Chris Barney, revised from Dead Friend/Good Until It’s Gone
by Yiyi Liu and Ysabelle Coutu; and Empty Nest by Nico Ulloa, Gilbert
Cranton, Will Bridges, and Justin Brady
Confdence: 3
Design problem: Making the player feel the loneliness or sadness experi-
enced by a character.
Pattern description: To create empathy in the player for the loneliness or
sadness felt by a character, developers may wish to use companion charac-
ters to create a constant in the player’s experience and then remove them,
either permanently or temporarily.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 369

Games that use this pattern and how:

• Twilight Princess—Midna, the helper character and sidekick, is tem-

porarily incapacitated and at risk of death. The uncommon silence,
accompanied by rainy and dreary visuals and a solemn piano track,
underscores the fundamental loneliness of the player and the character.
• Death Stranding—In one chapter, you lose your constant companion
baby BB. This loss has mechanical consequences in that you are more
vulnerable and weak against the threats of the world.
• Emily is Away—Establishes the player’s connection to Emily early in the
game, but as it progresses, you get further and further apart. When Emily
ultimately leaves for good, you feel that loss like you lost a real friend.
• Brothers, a Tale of Two Sons—In this game, you play as two brothers.
Sadness comes from death; the death of a bird, the death of a compan-
ion met during their journey, and fnally, the death of the elder brother.
When the younger brother goes back home and needs to face the same
problems he solved with his brother, but now needs to face them alone,
you need to use the elder brothers’ side of the controller, emphasizing
the elder brother’s absence and evoking real sadness.
• The Walking Dead—The developers set this game in a world with zom-
bies where humans don’t have the resources they need to live. The
enemies aren’t just zombies, but also other humans who are bad people
enjoying the bad world. The character tries to survive and to save their
friends, but their plans always fail. Something always disrupts the peace-
ful moments in their life. The game has you play as one character (Lee)
for the whole frst season. But at the end of the season, he dies, and you
must decide how it happens. You continue as a different character in the
next season, but the sadness in the game is more meaningful because
of your loss as the player.
• Journey—The game takes you on a beautiful and emotional journey
across a sweeping landscape that is a joy to traverse, and can also con-
nect you in a deep and meaningful way with strangers during most of
the game. Thus, seeing your companion freeze on the slopes of the
mountain is a profoundly tragic and isolating moment.
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps—The designers introduce the companion
character of a baby owl in the game’s tutorial section. A year passes for
the characters as the player learns the basics of movement in the game.
During these scenes, the player moves the character through scenes of
daily life while the baby owl grows up. As the tutorial ends, the pair set
out on an adventure but are immediately separated. The frst act of the
game is your search for your young companion. At the end of the frst
act, she dies. The sadness of losing her creates a sense of isolation while
playing the rest of the game alone.
370 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Seed: Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns–Loneliness

Parent patterns: Give Up Something for Something Else*
Child patterns: Sadness Trigger†
Keywords: Emotion, Sadness, Loneliness, NPC, Companion

ELIMINATING PATTERNS
You can eliminate some patterns by combining them with other simi-
lar patterns. At other times you may discover that a pattern that you
observed does not function in the way that you intended. If you see that
a pattern, as you have described it, has unintended side efects or does
not solve the design problem as stated, you should remove it from your
language.
Note that you should not discard the pattern entirely, as the design
problem still exists, and your work in deriving the pattern is still valu-
able. You should instead return to the exercise that you used to create the
pattern in the frst place. Look for additional examples of games that solve
the design problem in ways that are diferent from those of the games you
frst listed. Consider how you need to change the pattern to account for
the additional data.
If the pattern was generating unintended side efects, then you should
look for games that implement the pattern but don’t sufer those efects.
Consider how they difer from the game where you observed the unin-
tended consequences. Update the pattern to refect these changes.
As you develop a more signifcant number of patterns, your mastery of
the process will increase, and you may fnd that the patterns you derived
early on are incomplete or less robust versions of patterns that you devel-
oped more recently. Always be ready to discard such patterns when you
become aware of their shortcomings. You may even fnd that patterns that
seemed reasonable earlier in your process are simply poorly formed or
unusable. Culling these early attempts at pattern generation from your
language is a normal part of the process of developing a robust and healthy
language.

* Pattern from the language generated by students in the course Spatial and Temporal Game Design
at Northeastern University, fall 2019.
† Pattern from the language generated by students in the course Spatial and Temporal Game Design

at Northeastern University, fall 2019.

 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 371

Te following is an example of a poorly formed student pattern that

should be eliminated from their language as they become aware of its
faws. Read through this pattern, and see how many problems you can
fnd. I will discuss the problems with the pattern, as well as point out the
reasons that it is still valuable.

Name: Game Perspective

Author: Anonymous (Spatial and Temporal Game Design at Northeastern
University, fall 2018)
Confdence: 2
Design problem: How do we choose the perspective of the game?
Pattern description: Games in a top-down perspective allow players to
view the entire space. Most of the information is displayed on the screen.
Players can see their obstacles and goals. They use their strategies and skills
to overcome obstacles and win the game.
Side-view games provide less information to players than top-down
games, especially in a side-scrolling view. Players should react more
quickly because they don’t know when the obstacles will appear.
Players should be more skillful than the top-down games. The side-view
game has a sense of gravity. Some games allow players to jump, climb,
and fall.
Games in isometric perspective are the same as top-down games.
Players can view the entire space. An isometric perspective allows the
world with depth.
Players who play a frst-person game are much more easily immersed in
the game. Players can see more details of the environment, but they can’t
see the whole space. First-person games provide less information to players
than top-down view games as well. Players have more diffculties in notic-
ing the threats around them and will have a sense of dizziness.
Third-person games provide more information. Strategic games use
third-person perspectives more often.

GAMES THAT USE THIS PATTERN AND HOW:

• Pac-Man—Top-down 2D. Players can see beyond walls to avoid ene-
mies. By seeing the whole screen, they can know where enemies and
goals are, and plan accordingly.
• fOw—Top-down 2D. The game displays all info on a plane, no gravity,
all visual information available (nothing hidden).
• Battleship—Top-down 2D. Easy for all players to see information, but
info to players is limited.
• Donkey Kong—Side view. Players can see the whole screen, but there’s
gravity, can see threats, sense of direction.
372 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• Prince of Persia/Super Mario Bros.—Side-scrolling. Jumping/up-down

movement is a core mechanic.
• Fez—Side-scrolling, 3rd person, 2D (kinda?). But can rotate the game
world. Why? To subvert the usual platformer paradigm?
• Cuphead—Side-scrolling, 2D platformer. To support the aesthetic of
hand-drawn animation. Also isometric map view takes you outside the
gameplay.
• Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past—2D isometric. Allows a world with
depth (cliffs), verticality.
• Q*bert—Isometric. Puzzle game depending on the perspective.
• Age of Empires—Isometric 3D. 3D for aesthetic, viewpoint because of
simulation, “god” view.
• Wolfenstein/Doom—1st person. Projection into character, immersion,
hiding info, unlike Pac-Man.
• Portal—1st person 3D. Why? 3D because it focuses on physical space
and moving through it, 1st person because of immersion? Aiming?
Makes danger more immediate? No character development.
• Total War: Warhammer 2—3D movable camera. Control because it’s
a strategy game, see details but also the big picture, again “god” view,
large map to view.
Pattern seed: Exercise 22: The First Choice—Game Perspective

First, many of the problems with this pattern are my fault as an instruc-
tor. Te student wrote this pattern early in the development of the tech-
niques I describe in this book. So the issues here are not due to any lack of
skill or understanding on their part. My understanding of and ability to
explain patterns has improved. I present exercises more clearly now and
have improved the format of the Pattern Template in the years since the
student wrote this pattern.
I’ll work through the problems in order. First, the title is descriptive of
the problem, but it doesn’t suggest the solution it presents. Te statement
of the design problem is broad; a pattern about the way to make that high-
level decision would be useful, though, so it’s not necessarily a problem.
However, it is an indicator of the problems that follow.
Te pattern description isn’t the description of a pattern. It’s a listing
of observations about how diferent perspectives can afect games. Tat is
valuable information, and some of it is insightful, but that doesn’t make it
a pattern. Looking at the sections, I see several observations that are worth
investigating further as possible patterns:

• Top-down perspectives allow high information density and low lev-

els of hidden information.
 Organizing and Maintaining ◾ 373

• Side-view games ofen have more restricted information.

• Side-view games emphasize gravity, likely because they show the
Y-axis on which gravity operates (at least in terms of most physics
implementations) and because movement mechanics in side-view
games are strongly afected by gravity.
• Isometric games, which are between top-down and side view, pro-
vide some of the benefts of both.
• First-person games are “more immersive.”
• Te restricted view in frst-person games can reduce situational
awareness.
• Tird-person games (by which I think the author means games
that have a third-person camera that is attached to the character, or
which can be manipulated by the player, so games like Gears of War
or StarCraf II) provide more information than frst-person games.
Tis observation fts with the fact that they are a step between iso-
metric views and a frst-person views.

For a pattern that was operating at the very high level of the stated design
problem, I would probably come up with something like: “Camera per-
spective has a huge impact on gameplay because diferent perspectives
enable diferent mechanics and design techniques for a wide variety of
reasons. To choose the most efective camera perspective for a specifc
game, the designer should consider the purpose of the game and the core
mechanics that they intend to use.” Tat description may seem so vague
as to be useless. However, providing good examples of diferent perspec-
tives and how they afect the games that use them will help the reader to
consider the efect of the camera perspective. Tis example-based under-
standing is better than a fxed list of efects that will inevitably be incom-
plete and rigid in a way that’s counter to the purpose of a pattern.
Te examples section doesn’t provide enough description. Because of
the poorly formed pattern description, any game will qualify as using the
pattern. If we adopt the revised pattern description, then each example
can be assessed by whether the perspective supports its core mechanics. In
this case, we could revise the examples to be ones more like these:

• Pac-Man—Te top-down 2D perspective in this game gives the

player complete information on the playspace; it allows the core
mechanics of pathfnding and threat avoidance.
374 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

• fOw—Tis game also uses a top-down 2D perspective, but allowing

scrolling of the screen as the player moves enables the mechanics of
exploration and increases tension, as unknown threats can enter the
screen.
• Donkey Kong—Tis game provides complete information through
its fxed side-view 2D camera. It supports its jumping and barrel-
rolling mechanics by using the side view, which emphasizes gravity.

Tis list could be extensive, but the general practice of introducing an

example that’s the simplest use of a perspective and then providing one
that uses a more complex perspective to support more complex mechan-
ics is a good one. For this kind of pattern, I would probably provide more
examples than in other patterns; two examples for each major camera
perspective would be reasonable. Games that use the camera perspective
poorly or for which you, as a designer, do not understand the reason for
the use of perspective should be omitted.
Another approach that would be even better would be to provide only
a few examples, perhaps three, and then to create a child pattern that
explores the efects of each perspective in depth.
As you can see, the pattern that would result from addressing all of the
faws in the original pattern would be so diferent that it should be consid-
ered a new pattern. You might give the new pattern a title like “What You
Need to See Depends on What You’re Going to Do.”
When considering the patterns that you’ve written, it is essential to
remember that it’s better to revise a pattern than to leave it in your lan-
guage if it’s unclear or misleading. You don’t have to throw it away, but you
should set it aside until you have the experience you need to revise it into
a well-formed pattern.
 CHAPTER 17

Creating New
Pattern Exercises

T he 25 exercises in this book will not cover every possible pattern

you might want to derive. Te general exercise at the beginning of the
book is fexible. Still, if you want to assign students an exercise that will
focus them in a particular area or have your team investigate an aspect of
design important to a project you are beginning, it may be too blunt an
instrument.
Tere is nothing special or sacred about the exercises in this book. Tey
have had a little playtesting and iteration, but they are just the frst steps on
the path to this method of learning design. You can create new exercises of
your own and tailor them to your needs.
Pattern exercises usually consist of fve to ten steps that guide the devel-
oper through the process of creating the pattern. Tese steps break down
into four sections:

1. Framing the intent of the exercise

2. Listing and describing examples
3. Analyzing the examples
4. Articulating the pattern

Ofen there are multiple steps within each of these areas. For example,
Exercise 2: High-Order Patterns asks the designer to pick a design ele-
ment, then describe the problems it solves, and then pick one of those

375
376 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

problems as the starting point for the pattern. Tose three steps are all
part of the frst area of the pattern exercise. To be able to construct new
pattern exercises, you will need to consider each of the aforementioned
four sections in detail.

FRAMING THE INTENT OF THE EXERCISE

You should only create a new exercise if you’re trying to derive patterns
that are in some way diferent from those produced by the existing exer-
cises. Perhaps you want to look at a new area of design, fnd patterns that
require multiple parents, or derive patterns that function independently
from any other pattern. Before you begin, you should be able to state why
you need the exercise and specifcally what kind of pattern you intend it
to produce.

LISTING AND DESCRIBING EXAMPLES

Tis step ofen takes the form of a simple list of games that are examples of
the starting point aspect or technique. It is necessary to ask for at least ten
example games. It can ofen be challenging to fnd a full ten examples, but
trying forces the designer to consider edge cases and fnd games that call
into question weak patterns that they might begin to pursue based on the
most prominent examples. More examples are better, but asking for more
than ten can make an exercise prohibitively difcult. One solution is to
create an exercise that you intend to be completed by a group, and ask that
each group member fnd ten independent examples. In the initial listing,
it’s important that the designer just list and describe the games. Te analy-
sis comes later, and the details that come out in the process of describing
the games are ofen critical.
Sometimes you may not be asking for a list of games in this area. For
example, Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns
starts with picking a single game, but in this section asks the user to
describe ten techniques used to incorporate narrative into the game. Ten
it asks the designer to repeat that process multiple times for other games
with a similar narrative.
In the end, the purpose of this part of the pattern exercise is to generate
a reasonably large set of data points and elicit enough detail about them
that the designer has the material they need to conduct their analysis in
the next section.
 Creating New Pattern Exercises ◾ 377

ANALYZING THE EXAMPLES

Tis section is usually the hardest to complete as part of the exercise. You
may simply ask the user to look at the example games they’ve listed and
their descriptions to see if there is a visible pattern relating to your starting
point. However, it’s ofen useful to ask for a more structured and specifc
analysis. Te particular question posed in the analysis section generally
relates to the starting point and the purpose of the exercise. For example,
Exercise 4: Formal Patterns is intended to create patterns about the use of
formal elements in a game. It asks the designer to identify the problems
that the formal element solves in each example game, and then to describe
the way that each example game uses the formal element to solve those
problems. Exercise 14: Player Manipulation Patterns asks the designer to
consider the diferences between games that create the expected efect and
games that create that same efect unexpectedly.

ARTICULATING THE PATTERN

Te fnal section of each exercise calls for the designer to consider the
results of their analysis, and then to describe all of the patterns they see.
Ten it asks them to pick one of those patterns and articulate it using
the Pattern Template. I have made a point of reminding the designer that
they may want to consider writing up the remaining patterns they have
noted using the Pattern Template. Not all of those observed patterns will
be signifcant or well-formed enough to convert into a formal pattern, but
considering each idea will help the designer understand the space around
the patterns they have formalized.
I strongly recommend that you take the time to complete any exercise
you create yourself. It’s very easy to assume that an exercise will work and
create the kind of patterns you intend. It’s also very easy to be wrong about
that! If you can complete the exercise and the result surprises you with
its insightfulness, or turns out to be a clear and fundamental principle of
game design in the area you intended, then it’s probably worth sharing
with your students or colleagues. If you struggle to complete the exercise
or fnd the result underwhelming, try revising the exercise and attempting
it again.
 CHAPTER 18

Designing with
a Pattern Language

A t this point, you should have created a body of patterns, alone or

with your colleagues or classmates. You should have linked them
together into a language. What now? Hopefully, the process of deriving the
patterns and linking them has been useful and helped you develop a better
sense of game design. Tat may be enough. Te conceptual framework of
understanding how to describe the purpose and efects of mechanics and
techniques as patterns, and how diferent groupings of the mechanics and
techniques in those patterns support each other will shape how you design
games for the rest of your career. But you may want a more direct and
concrete way to apply your Pattern Language. I will describe that process
in the next section.
Aside from the skills and techniques used in game design, there are
nearly as many ways to approach the process of designing a game as there
are developers. Sometimes the shape of that process is a personal choice;
sometimes it is dictated by external constraints of studio policy or a pro-
fessor’s whim. Tere are two primary ways that you can use your Pattern
Language: either integrating it into existing systems of design or using it
to drive the design process.

379
380 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

INTEGRATING PATTERN LANGUAGE USE

INTO EXISTING DESIGN PROCESSES
You can integrate your Pattern Language into existing design processes by
using patterns to assess potential design choices or to validate the choices
you’ve already made. In this case, you will look at the design decision
that you’re considering; perhaps you’re thinking of adding a double jump
mechanic to your platformer or a co-worker has asked you to take a look
at their prototype of that mechanic. First, you would consider whether
that mechanic is the implementation of a pattern you’ve created. If I were
considering implementing a double jump mechanic, I might look at the
example response I created at the beginning of this book for the Basic
Pattern exercise (Exercise 1). In my example, I only detailed a single pat-
tern from the seed of jumping, but I suggested several more.
Looking at those patterns, I would see that I should assess several things
when considering adding jumping. If I want to use jumping to give me
more options for creating platforming level designs, I should frst consider
how to maintain the player’s level of power as I give them more autonomy
in the game by increasing their abilities. But I should also note that I’m
increasing the level of complexity in character movement, and so I should
provide the player with the opportunity to develop mastery over the char-
acter’s new abilities. I might look for patterns that suggest ways to do that
or assess the ways that I intuitively solve those problems by looking for
the patterns that relate to my solutions. Moving down the list of jumping
patterns, I might consider how this new kind of jump will interact with
my combat system. I would need to decide whether I’m trying to create an
identifable or aspirational character. If I want the player to feel like they
could be the character, I might not want to use a mechanic like double
jump, given that it grants the character abilities the player can never have.
If I’m trying to create a power fantasy for the player, then my double jump
mechanic might be the right choice.
I would then look at the parents of the patterns that I think apply to my
double jump. If those parent patterns are already in the game, then my
new mechanic is more likely to work as intended in the game. If they’re
not, then I should consider why. If those patterns have efects that go
against the design intent of my game, then perhaps the double jump will
not ft in as well as I thought. But if the parent patterns aren’t present but
do align with the design intent of the game, I may consider how the game
could be implementing them.
 Designing ◾ 381

Last, I would look to see if any of the child patterns of the patterns that
relate to my double jump seem like they would ft in the game. Some might
already be present, others would not match the design intent; but if I see
any that look appealing, I would note them and consider using them in my
design moving forward.
If I were assessing another designer’s work, I would consider whether
they were familiar with patterns. If they were not, then I would need to
phrase my assessment without relying on the concepts of pattern theory—
basically avoid using jargon that the other developer won’t understand. I
would probably also look for opportunities to introduce them to pattern
theory, especially if they appreciated my assessment of their work. On the
other hand, if they were comfortable using patterns themselves, then I
would be able to refer them to the patterns that I used to analyze their
application of the double jump mechanic to the game. Even if they had
never seen those particular patterns, they would be able to read them and
understand the design behind my assessment.
I think that this use of Pattern Language in design is the most likely to
succeed soon. Until patterns are proven to be efective in shipped games, it
will be tough for you to convince a team of developers to base their whole
design process around a Pattern Language. And that’s setting aside the
need to have created a functionally complete language, which itself is a
process that will take us years to generate.
When you fnd that you don’t have the patterns you need to assess a
design element you’re considering, select the appropriate pattern exercise
and complete it to produce the patterns you need. Over time, your lan-
guage will grow. Your colleagues may adopt the use of patterns in their
work, and by sharing your language, you will strengthen each other’s
design abilities.

PATTERN LANGUAGE AS THE BASIS OF DESIGN

Te goal of using a Pattern Language as intended—to create a design from
the frst question to the most specifc detail—is attractive, but has a high
bar for entry. First, you need to have a functionally complete language,
then a team that understands pattern theory well enough to use it, then a
studio or publisher that will allow you to use a new process. To get to that
place, you need to take a few intermediate steps.
First, use the language that you’re developing, as described in the pre-
ceding section. Second, try using your language in small projects, such as
382 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

a prototype or a game jam. Limit the number of patterns you’re using at

frst to ft the scope of those smaller projects.
But eventually, you may have the opportunity to use patterns as the
basis for a larger project. It’s critical to get all the members of the project
team familiar with pattern theory. If only you, as the lead designer, are
using patterns and then handing of design specs to many developers to
implement, it will result in confusion and misunderstanding, and produce
a game that fails to implement the patterns as intended.
You need to understand that the Pattern Language you begin designing
with is most likely still incomplete. And to the degree that the patterns
you need are present, they should have low confdence ratings. Te links
between those patterns that you’re trying to follow also likely have low
confdence ratings. All of this may make it sound like a bad idea to even
attempt using your language. It’s not a bad idea, as long as you don’t insist
that your patterns are correct, infallible, and unquestionable. Te patterns
and your language are a tool to help you and your colleagues understand
the design. Te process of using your patterns and language in design is
the only way to increase your confdence in your language.
If you’re trying to apply a pattern to solve a design problem and it’s caus-
ing issues, stop and ask why. Be ready to revise your pattern or abandon
it if you fnd it fawed. Consider the use of the pattern as the fnal step in
any pattern-generation exercise. As you apply a pattern, consider whether
your implementation of it is solving the intended problem. If it’s not, then
fnd a diferent implementation. If you can’t think of an application of the
pattern that will solve the stated problem in your specifc game, note that
in the pattern, then return to the exercise that you used to create it. Tis
time, consider games that solve the problem and also share the aspects of
your game that interfered with the frst pattern. Derive a new pattern from
those games. Ten assess whether the new pattern should replace your old
pattern, or be a child or sibling of it.
Te process of using a Pattern Language as the primary driver of design
is iterative. Tat is to say, you don’t want to ask your frst question, select
a pattern to solve it, and then proceed to construct your entire design by
selecting child pattern afer child pattern. Tere are too many unknowns
and new questions that will arise as you fgure out how you will implement
each pattern.
Instead, you should select a pattern, consider your implementation, and
only look to additional patterns with each new design problem or decision
you need to make. Everyone on the design team should be empowered
 Designing ◾ 383

to use the language to address their specifc design concerns. As a lead

designer, you may select a small number of high-level patterns as you con-
ceptualize the game. Include those patterns in your design document. As
other developers implement aspects of your design, they will be able to
refer to those patterns to understand your intent in making the design
decisions you’ve made.
Ten, as they face lower-level decisions, they’ll be able to consider
whether the patterns they select reinforce the ones you’ve chosen. You’ll
be able to more easily and accurately understand and assess their work by
referring to the patterns that they’ve chosen. Because patterns encapsulate
not just the design solution but the problem that it solves—the how and
why of a design choice—they allow both upstream and downstream com-
munication for designers.
When your design is complete and your game is shipped, you must
return to its patterns during your postmortem. Look at the game as a
functioning whole, and consider its reception and efect on actual play-
ers. Look at the list of patterns that you used, and for each, determine
whether it served its purpose. If a pattern performed as expected, raise its
confdence level as indicated in the pattern confdence rubric. If a pattern
and its parent or child worked together as intended, increase their link
confdence levels as indicated in the link confdence rubric.
 CHAPTER 19

Teaching Yourself
or Students with
Pattern Languages

One of the most important features of every pattern language is

to not see it as a model, but as a platform that enables us to take
the frst steps in adapting specifc patterns to our own particular
circumstances.
(Helfrich, 2020)
I present this chapter to instructors attempting to use the ideas in this
book to inform their pedagogy. However, the techniques, activities, and
exercises that follow apply to individual designers or teams who are work-
ing on learning pattern theory.
One option is to have a class focus entirely on the use of Pattern
Languages. In that case, simply working through the exercises in the book
is a good option. It can also work well to combine the exercises with a
game design survey course that is looking at diferent game design tech-
niques and theories.
If you’re not basing a course around this text, it’s still relatively sim-
ple to include pattern exercises in your curriculum. Te frst requisite is
teaching the Pattern Language concept to the students or becoming com-
fortable with it yourself. I recommend having students read at least the
introduction to the book (Chapter 1) and Section III. I then recommend
385
386 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

completing at least one pattern generation exercise as practice, without

having other assignments rely on the outcome of that exercise. You should
give constructive feedback on the patterns generated in this frst attempt,
referring to the pattern samples in this book as well as to Chapter 6,
“Common Problems in the Proposed Patterns.” It’s common for patterns
created in this frst attempt to be poorly formed and unusable. Students
need to know that it’s normal to struggle here, and that this frst practice
exercise will not be graded for quality.
At this point, students should be ready for you to integrate pattern
exercises with course material. In any course that requires practical game
design or implementation, you can pick an exercise related to the assign-
ment and then require that students complete it and use the resulting pat-
tern in that design assignment. For example, in the course Spatial and
Temporal Design, I give an assignment where the students must imple-
ment a scene demonstrating formal game design elements. In class, each
student team completes Exercise 4: Formal Patterns from this book, and
then they must use the pattern they created in the scene they build demon-
strating formal elements. Adding the pattern-generation step to the design
process focuses students on the efect of the elements they’re using. Tis
focus creates deeper understanding than just including elements because
the textbook or lecture mentioned them. Tey are not, for instance, just
creating a scene with platforms; they are considering the problems that
platforms exist to solve, and the efect that their specifc use of platforms
creates in players.
You may fnd an exercise in this book that fts well with a particular
assignment. Still, you may wish to focus the exercises further by requiring
that the frst step in a given exercise relate to the topic you’re discussing in
the class. Te Basic Pattern Exercise (Exercise 1) is a good example. Te
frst step is “name a design element.” You can require that that element be
related to your topic, whether that’s jumping, non-player character (NPC)
pathing, or narrative. Most of the other exercises can be similarly modifed.
I ofen end courses that have made heavy use of patterns with a section
on combining the patterns the class has generated into a language. More
specifcally, that means combining the patterns generated by identifying
how they connect to all of the other patterns created in the class. Everyone
needs to understand that those patterns are unlikely to be sufcient to
constitute any kind of functionally complete language, but that despite
that they can be useful and form the basis for an expanding language that
can grow throughout the students’ careers.
 Teaching Yourself or Students ◾ 387

If you or your department are using patterns in multiple courses in

your curriculum, it will be useful for students to maintain a pattern jour-
nal that they take with them between courses. Students can then use their
journals to collect patterns, and use them to structure their understand-
ing of game design throughout their course of study.

AN INSTITUTIONAL PATTERN LANGUAGE

As an instructor, you may fnd it useful to maintain a pattern repository
created by all of your students across your courses and semesters. You
will very quickly accumulate a large collection of patterns. Te task of
maintaining this kind of pattern library or language is formidable, and
it’s likely beyond the time available for an individual instructor. However,
there is value in learning the techniques necessary to curate such a collec-
tion. It’s possible to assign some of the required tasks to students, so long
as they relate to your curriculum. Exposure to a larger body of patterns,
including both good and bad student examples, can help students develop
their understanding of patterns.
An example of such an assignment might be to search your institutional
pattern language for an existing pattern that addresses a particular design
problem before creating a pattern to solve that problem. Alternately, the
assignment could be to search for similar patterns afer completing a pattern
exercise. Te second option is more difcult, as it requires students to decide
whether a similar pattern is a duplicate that they can eliminate, a refnement
that should be incorporated, or a related pattern that should be connected.
Both tasks are useful for a student to perform, but I would not assign the lat-
ter to students until they are comfortable with the pattern-creation process.
If you have created a signifcant institutional Pattern Language, it can
be used as the basis for the design of student projects regardless of whether
those projects directly involve creating new patterns.

DEVELOPING WITH PATTERNS

In the classes where I use patterns, I give short weekly development exer-
cises where students have to create simple scenes using the patterns they
develop. Te projects should ft the kind of patterns that the students are
creating. In my architecture/level design courses, I give the assignment to
create a gray-boxed scene that utilizes the pattern. In my Experimental
Game Design course, I give the assignment to create a paper prototype of a
simple physical game. You could use similar exercises for courses focused
on writing or visual arts .
388 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Te exercises must be simple enough that the students can focus on

implementing the patterns they have derived, rather than being dis-
tracted by the complexities of full game development. For instance,
in the level design courses, I don’t allow the students to implement
mechanics. If mechanics are important to the patterns, they must simply
describe the mechanic and how it relates to the gray-boxed level they’ve
produced.
Forcing students or new developers to focus on implementing the pat-
tern is particularly important early in the process of learning to develop
with patterns. I ofen see students attempt a project that’s too large and lose
sight of which aspects of their design are related to the pattern. Instead,
they focus on an interesting challenge with the editor, or the imagined
core gameplay loop, or the lighting, or any of a thousand things that are
critically important, but unrelated to their assignment. Even as an indi-
vidual experienced developer, forcing yourself to test your patterns with
small, focused exercises will help you both understand the pattern and
build the skill of incorporating a pattern into a design.

PROVIDING FEEDBACK
If you’re an instructor or a developer driving the use of patterns at a stu-
dio, you will fnd yourself in the position of needing to give feedback on
patterns that others are developing. Tis kind of feedback broadly falls
into three phases.
During the initial ideation phase of pattern development, when the
author(s) are working through the steps of a pattern exercise, check in
with them as ofen as possible and ask about their answers to each ques-
tion. Early on, you might ask if they are comfortable with the process, but
in general, you should participate in the discussion they have, allowing
them to explain their ideas. You should also provide feedback and sug-
gestions if the authors are struggling, but you must learn to see the pat-
tern that the students are trying to articulate, even if they are phrasing
it poorly. Only then can you guide them toward creating a well-formed
pattern. Te students will learn far more from refning their pattern until
it is clear than from receiving a poor grade for failing to get it right the
frst time.
In the fnal stages of pattern development, when the authors are trans-
lating their exercise responses into the Pattern Template, you may need to
point out the places where they are having one of the common problems in
 Teaching Yourself or Students ◾ 389

proposed patterns.* Look at the students’ exercise responses and suggest

ways they can improve their fnal pattern.
Te last stage where providing guidance is essential is in the integration
of the pattern into a language that will be used by your group. You must
help the authors understand the parent–child relationship of their pat-
tern, and if others in your group of authors have derived similar patterns,
either help them defne the diferences or help them combine the duplicate
patterns.
Early in the process of learning to derive patterns, it’s more important
to become comfortable with the process than to generate useful patterns.
As authors master the process, it may be helpful to have them revisit their
old patterns and revise and improve them.

ASSESSING PATTERNS FROM OTHERS

Individual developers and students ofen feel justifably proud of their ini-
tial pattern attempts. I’ve found that students and developers alike can
have a hard time seeing the problems with their patterns. To develop a
better sense of the problems a pattern can have, and the things that pat-
tern authors need to change to make their patterns usable, I have students
review and provide feedback on each other’s patterns. Rather than pairs
trading patterns, I fnd that this works best if they circularly review the
patterns:

• Person A reviews the pattern from person B.

• Person B reviews the pattern from person C.
• Person C reviews the pattern from person A.

It is important to leave both positive and constructive feedback. Trading

work can result in either each person saying only nice things or one person
being critical and the other responding in kind. Te circular arrangement
decouples the feedback a student gets from the feedback they give.
It’s convenient if the students record their patterns using a word pro-
cessor where others can leave comments. Afer reviewing patterns, the
students or developers should address the comments to improve their
patterns.

* See Chapter 6.
390 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Simply knowing that their peers will be looking at a pattern and trying
to understand it has a signifcant positive efect on the quality of patterns.
Being required to read and incorporate peer feedback further improves
both the patterns and the students’ understanding of the process, and the
qualities of a good and usable pattern.

DEVELOPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S PATTERNS

As a follow-up to the aforementioned assessment and revision exercise, I
have students use a pattern written by another student. Again, I try not
to have students trade patterns, to avoid setting up rivalries or alliances.
I encourage students to ask the pattern’s author further questions. Tis
interrogation is useful to both the author and the implementing developer.
It helps the author understand what was missing from their pattern, and
it helps the reviewer understand what unstated information they take for
granted in the patterns they’ve written. Te goal is for students to be able
to write patterns that don’t require developers to ask additional questions
to use them.

GROUP PATTERN EXERCISES

In my classes, I predominantly assign group pattern development and
implementation exercises. I think that individual exercises are a good
place to start. But solo development is relatively rare, and patterns serve
both as a structure for ordering design knowledge and as a clear way to
communicate about design as a group.
As students develop more and more patterns over a semester or a
degree program, they begin to communicate about their designs in terms
of their Pattern Language. Tis immediate use of their language is pos-
sible because the projects they’re working on are small in scope and
designed around specifc patterns. However, it also serves as early evi-
dence that as developers generate larger pattern languages throughout
their careers, they will be able to use them to communicate more clearly
with their colleagues.

DIVIDING THE EXAMPLES

When working with groups, I have found it useful to assign each group
member the task of coming up with their share of the example games from
the pattern exercise. Most of the pattern exercises ask for a list of at least
ten games in one of the early steps of the exercise. You may divide those
among the group members.
 Teaching Yourself or Students ◾ 391

Te purpose of this is to prevent a common bad habit that can form when
deriving patterns. As a developer works their way through fnding and
writing about the ten requested games, they ofen recognize one or more
patterns afer only a few games. It then becomes very hard not to select
and analyze the subsequent games without bias toward that glimpsed pat-
tern. Prematurely latching on to a pattern is a problem, because it prevents
the developer from objectively selecting a variety of games and accurately
analyzing them. Tis selection bias results in patterns that only apply to
a more limited set of games than they claim to, and also in patterns that
are not as deep or robust as they would have been in an unbiased process.

REVIEWING OTHER’S PROJECTS

I also fnd it useful to have students review the completed projects of other
students or groups. Te reviewing student examines the pattern(s) that a
project claims to implement. Tey must discuss whether the project imple-
ments the pattern well, and whether it has the intended efect. Depending
on the level of the students, I may require them to identify other patterns
that are present in the design, and discuss whether those patterns support
the design, are neutral to it, or subtract from it. Additionally, I may ask
them to discuss whether the designers could (or should) remove unrelated
or subtractive patterns from the project.

CREATING KEYWORDS
As discussed in Chapter 15, keywords are an important aspect of any pat-
tern language. Before creating a design based on the full application of
a pattern language, I give students the task of looking through all of the
patterns that they’ve created over a semester and identifying keywords
to describe them. I fnd that this produces better and more consistent
results than asking students to create keywords as they initially develop
their patterns. Waiting until students have written a signifcant number of
patterns works better, because the purpose of the keywords is to connect
the individual patterns into a network they can use as a language. At the
point where students have a signifcant number of patterns that they’ve
created or used, they are better able to identify keywords that apply to
many patterns.
I have provided a sample set of keywords. Tese may be useful to devel-
opers creating patterns. However, students should use them with caution.
Tis set of keywords isn’t defnitive; it arises from patterns in this book
and those developed by students. Tere’s value in requiring that students
392 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

create keywords themselves. As part of the keyword generation exercise,

students add each keyword they choose to a shared list. When that process
is complete, the class looks at the list and eliminates duplicates, consid-
ers whether each keyword is the best descriptor, and revises the keywords
feld on their patterns accordingly.
It seems likely that in the long term, these lists would converge on a
shared set of descriptors. However, students should understand that the
particular words used are not important, so long as they’re consistent
across the patterns in the language and the contributing developers clearly
understand them.
Even if you’re working with an institutional Pattern Language, it’s use-
ful to have students select keywords independently. Afer they’ve settled
on a set of keywords, they should then integrate those into the institu-
tional collection, adjusting their own to match the words used in the insti-
tutional list or changing the master list to match their own if it increases
clarity. Tis gradual expansion and improvement will almost certainly be
preferable to simply using the list I provide.

CATEGORIZING PATTERNS
As part of the process of generating keywords for patterns, I ask students
to focus on what aspects of game design their patterns address. Tey need
to understand that the patterns they’re creating, even collectively, are
limited by their experience and interests. Looking at the provided lists of
game design categories in Chapter 15 will help students to both under-
stand the nature of the language they are constructing and see the gaps in
it. For example, they may be able to see that they have a language rich in
mechanical patterns, but that doesn’t address the narrative or learning or
sound-related aspects of design.
When the keyword generation for a set of patterns is complete, I ask
students to take the list of categories and mark each category they’ve used
as a keyword to describe at least one pattern in their language. Tis pro-
cess creates a clear visual display of the scope of their language and the
gaps in it.

ASSESSING A PATTERN LANGUAGE

Te process of evaluating a Pattern Language and the patterns in it is
vastly complicated and could easily be the subject of another book. Te
actual assessment of specifc patterns or whole languages could be the sub-
ject of the doctoral work of a generation of scholars. Nevertheless, while a
 Teaching Yourself or Students ◾ 393

comprehensive discussion of the topic is out of the scope of this book, I do

feel that these guidelines and thoughts are useful.
Te development of an individual pattern or whole language may pro-
duce “bad” patterns. Some common problems with patterns are discussed
in Chapter 6. Te exercises generate patterns based on observation. While
careful observation and analysis can suggest many useful patterns, it’s
essential to note that even patterns observed across many games have
low confdence. Tat fact is acknowledged in the confdence rubric in
Chapter 5. To raise confdence in these patterns, you must use them inten-
tionally in designs over and over again. Only when you observe their suc-
cess and revise them in response to their failures can you begin to validate
their efcacy.
In addition to raising confdence in patterns through use, it may be pos-
sible to study their efects directly. Tere has not yet been academic work
assessing the efectiveness of patterns in game design. Tere has not even
been work describing how to go about assessing pattern efectiveness.
However, an interesting early attempt has been made by one of my students,
Ysabelle J. Coutu, in her thesis “Patterns for Environmental Narrative.”
To explore the possibility of empirically validating the efcacy of a
pattern, Coutu used the following methodology. She created and tested
an initial build of a level without using pattern techniques in its design
or implementation. She then measured the efectiveness of the level in
achieving its design goals of conveying a story through the environmental
narrative by observing the playtesters and taking a follow-up survey.
Having established this baseline, she then developed a set of four pat-
terns using Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns.
She then implemented these patterns within the game, and then held a sec-
ond set of playtests. In each set of playtests, she used two groups of subjects.
Te frst set were members of a game development community that cre-
ated and supported the engine that she was using for development. Tis
group of subjects was highly familiar with the game type and highly moti-
vated to engage with the game. Te second group of testers consisted of
students within the university whom she recruited for testing. Tese sub-
jects were neutral toward the game and had lower levels of experience with
the game type. However, the second group of testers, for both playtests,
were physically present in a usability lab. Coutu recorded eye-tracking
data and other biometrics.
She coded the results by assessing whether users were able to articu-
late the intended narrative by the end of the playtest, and then by noting
394 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

whether they had observed particular details in the environment. For the
frst group, she determined this through a survey, in the second group, she
also used eye-tracking data.
As is common in master’s thesis level of work, where part of the purpose
is developing research skills, there were shortcomings in the results. Te
faults in research methodology and execution provided a valuable learn-
ing experience, as intended. Coutu noted that in future research it would
be necessary to analyze the initial design during the second phase of the
research. Tis analysis would allow researchers to see what patterns relat-
ing to the design intent the designer had instinctually incorporated. Tis
recommendation recognizes that all designers are using design techniques
according to internalized principles of design. Researchers will need to
articulate those techniques as patterns to factor them out of the assess-
ment of the patterns they’re evaluating.
She also determined that it would be valuable to code the details in the
environment that she intended to convey in the narrative before playtest-
ing, rather than compiling this list based on the data generated by the
testing.
Te general results of her research indicate that the iterative process of
incorporating patterns was efective at increasing the amount of narra-
tive content that players perceived. However, the limited number of play-
testers and limited scope of the work, as appropriate for a thesis, make
those conclusions tentative. Tat said, the research explores the process
for empirically validating the use of patterns and in that respect it is very
encouraging.
Tese types of techniques should be developed and standardized by
developers and academics interested in validating both the efectiveness
of individual patterns and the broader validity of the approach of using
patterns as the basis for game design.
Te study of the application of patterns and the development of ways
to empirically validate their efects is an exciting prospect, and suggests a
signifcant way that game scholars and game designers could beneft from
each other’s work.

DESIGN EXERCISE USING PATTERNS

In a course that will introduce the idea of a Pattern Language, I have found
it useful to have students complete the following exercise before introduc-
ing the pattern concept:
 Teaching Yourself or Students ◾ 395

• Each student should write down one element of game design on a

3 × 5 index card. Tese elements should be as low level and discrete
as possible. Examples might include jumping, platforms, fantasy
theme, strategy genre, health meter, enemies, and combat.
• Shufe all of the index cards and select ten randomly.
• Te class should look at the selected elements together and, in an
ad-hoc way, hash out a design that incorporates those elements. Tis
process should be as rapid as possible, taking half an hour at most.
• Record the design and the elements selected.
• Te class should then look at all of the design elements on the index
cards again and select ten elements by consensus, either by vote or by
arguing for each element to include.
• Te students should form a second design that incorporates all of
these elements.
• Record the elements used and the second design.

At the end of the class when a Pattern Language has been created, to the
degree that it can be during one course, have the class complete the fol-
lowing exercise:

• Assess the designs from the beginning of the class.

• Identify the patterns produced by the class which have any of the
design elements from the initial set of index cards.
• Look for patterns that are present or missing from the frst design
based on the element keywords that they selected for that design at
the beginning of the semester.
• Look for patterns that are present or missing from the second design
based on the element keywords that they selected for that design.
• Ask whether there are more patterns present in the frst or second
design and why.
• Write down the name of each pattern produced in the class and the
keywords associated with it on a 3 × 5 index card. (Tis can be given
396 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

as a homework assignment, asking each student to create the index

cards for the patterns they generated.)
• Have the students decide on a design problem to base a game on by
any method desired (e.g., submitting suggestions and arguing for or
randomly selecting one).
• Select from the index cards a set of patterns to use in the design that
will address that design problem.
• Take half an hour or an hour to propose a high-level design that
incorporates as many patterns as the class would like from the
selected index cards.
• Compare the three designs produced throughout the course and
how they difer.

More than any exercise in this book, this will show the ways that using
patterns can shape design for better or worse. Noting how many patterns
were present even before you introduced the concept of patterns is impor-
tant. Noting how using patterns that relate to and support each other
improves design is also essential. Noting how overly focusing on applying
patterns can limit the creativity of design is critical as well. Tis exercise
can be an excellent opportunity to remind students that patterns should
be general enough to allow creativity in their application.
Afterword

Y ou have covered a lot of ground in this book. You’ve come to

understand the basics of pattern theory. You’ve completed exercises
examining your experience of playing and designing games and turned
that understanding into patterns that guide your design. You’ve taken
those patterns and connected them into a Pattern Language that lets you
know what tool to reach for when you face a design challenge, to under-
stand why it’s the right tool, and to predict how it will afect your game.
You’ve learned how to share all that with your fellow designers, and use it
to design together.
In short, you’ve gotten of to a good start.
Wait, we’re in the Aferword, and I’m telling you we’ve made a good
start?!
Yes, all that work is just the bare beginning of learning to create and use
patterns in game design. Of course, you can now spend years creating pat-
terns as you need them and incorporating them into an ever-richer lan-
guage. But it turns out that beyond that, there’s still more work to be done.
As I’ve put this book together, taking the ideas of Christopher Alexander
and turning them into a practical pedagogy for learning game design,
I’ve begun to see what we need to do next. In the most recent work by
Alexander, he talks about the need to create or discover the “generative
codes” for using patterns. Tese are a new, more profound, and more com-
plicated concept, so I’m sorry, but I have to give you one more chunk of
theory.

ADVANCED PATTERN THEORY: GENERATIVE CODES

When Alexander looked at design projects that had gone wrong, even proj-
ects that used a pattern language, he discovered that the process of build-
ing, including the order that we do things in, matters very much. In his
paper “Generative Codes,” he proposes the idea of rules that govern not just

397
398 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

design, but the entire process of creating centers (Alexander et al. 2005).
He calls these meta-patterns generative codes and describes them as a “sys-
tem of unfolding steps.” He goes on to describe these steps:

Te steps are governed by rules of unfolding that are not rigid, but
depend on context, and on what came before. Te rules work in
a way that is similar to the rules that nature follows to unfold an
organism or a natural landscape, much as genetic codes unfold
embryos. But these rules unfold … from the whole, and lead to
a unique result for each particular place. Te rules tell you how
to take specifc steps, in a certain way that allows unfolding to
proceed.
Te specifcs of the rules that he details relate to the construc-
tion of architecture, but the principles behind them are broadly
applicable.
Like patterns (identifed in A Pattern Language, 1975), the rules
cover a great range of scales. …
Te rules are ordered—sequenced—to unfold each part of the
environment being created, smoothly and coherently.
Also, in the generative code, each rule is specifcally tied to a
certain group of individuals, whose job it is to undertake that part
of the unfolding together.
Finally, in order to make the process succeed, the overall
operation of the unfolding, which goes forward step by step, is
accompanied by a general set of practical specifcations for the
conditions … in which the process is being carried out.

Applying this to game design indicates that there are “rules” around the
process of creating games that go beyond the creation of a design. Te order
in which you develop aspects of your design matters, as does the order in
which you implement your designs. Tese rules apply not just to designers,
but to everyone in the creation process, from coders to artists to project
and community managers.
In his conclusion, Alexander fnds that it helps to have someone in
charge of the entire development process. Surprisingly, he does not sug-
gest that the person should be the designer. He describes a project manager
who is responsible to the purpose of the project. In the case of games that
means a project manager whose purpose is to make sure that the game
 Afterword ◾ 399

creates the intended experience for a player. Tat project manager should
not be in charge of design, but they must understand it. Tey should
not be responsible for the budget of the game or beneft from its profts,
though they should understand and manage those constraints. Of course,
Alexander recognizes the high bar that he’s setting, and he’s arguing for a
better system rather than describing a process that exists outside of proj-
ects that he has had direct control over. However, it’s interesting how well
his ideas align with those of Agile project management, as described in
Agile Sofware Development with Scrum (Ken and Beedle 2002). Having
stated that the order of development matters, Alexander goes on to cite
eight examples. Some of them seem specifc to architectural construction,
but I can apply seven of them to games.

1. “Diagnosis of the site is an essential early step.”

In games, we must consider many constraints before we begin to cre-
ate or implement any design. For instance, we must know the target
audience for a game’s experience. We must decide what platform we
will implement it on and in what venue players will experience it.
2. “Roads and driveways must be located and built afer the pedestrian
structure, not before.”
Te structure of the game should refect the way that players will
experience it. Tat statement should be self-evident, but I can think
of dozens of examples of games where designers did not consider the
user experience when implementing systems. As with roads in archi-
tecture, this happens most ofen in the connective tissue of games, in
the way players move between levels or use menus and user interface
elements to access features of the game.
3. “Roads must be located and built afer the houses, not before.”
Te structure of the game must serve its core gameplay. As a coun-
terexample, take an open-world game where designers scatter enjoy-
able encounters around a large map. Tis distribution ofen breaks
up the game’s pacing, because they chose the open-world design
before understanding what parts of the gameplay would create the
core experience for the player.
4. “When houses are designed, the garden must be placed (located)
before the house volume is located, not afer.”
400 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

I think this analogizes to rewards, structural gameplay elements,

and player motivation. Before you design the “necessary” structural
elements or core gameplay loops, you should understand what parts
of the game will be pleasurable or satisfying to the player, and what
their motivation in playing will be. If combat is the fun part of a
game, then don’t design gameplay elements that keep the player from
engaging in combat. If building a peaceful farm is the part the play-
ers will enjoy, don’t design elements that will force the player away
from that experience.
5. “Construction work must begin long before fnal drawings are ready,
and the drawings develop, in parallel with the construction process.”
Tis guideline has a clear refection in pater prototyping, the Agile
process, and iterative design.
6. “Windows must be placed, designed, and measured and built, afer
the walls or wall framing has begun, so that they refect the real situ-
ations in the room, its light, and view.”
You must consider the experience of the player and assure it through-
out the development process by player testing and iterative design.
7. “According to contract, changes of design which have no efect on
quantity of units built, must not be viewed as change orders, but as
part of the builders’ obligation, provided they stay within param-
eters of quantity and price.”
I think this relates to player testing as well, possibly to open design
practices and community feedback. You should consider the feed-
back of players and adjust designs to meet player needs where they
align with the design intent. I don’t mean that you should implement
players’ every whim, but you should understand player feedback, and
where its purpose aligns with your design intent, you should priori-
tize it rather than dismissing it.

All of the preceding guidelines and theories are useful. But how do we turn
them into a set of generative codes for applying our patterns to games? As I
said at the start of this aferword, this question leaves us at the beginning.
As designers, we must observe when our patterns succeed and fail in
games. If we see a pattern working in many games, but then watch it fail
 Afterword ◾ 401

when we implement it, we must consider whether the pattern is fawed,

and also whether our implementation of it caused the failure. If it was
our implementation, then how did we use it, and how can we change our
application next time?
When we implement a pattern successfully, we should note the specif-
ics of our implementation. Over time we can compare our many successes
and failures and look for higher-order patterns there. We can begin to
understand and record the generative codes of game design.
In Te Nature of Order, Alexander (2004) began to talk about “centers.”
You saw the term used in Chapter 13 when I described how his ffeen
properties of wholeness applied to game design. As he examined how
patterns helped to connect “things,” Alexander became dissatisfed with
calling buildings or roads or groups of people “things.” Saying “things”
made them sound like isolated entities that existed on their own. If you
talked about a house as a ‘thing,’ you could imagine it foating in a void,
you could imagine just how it should be to have the nameless quality. But
houses don’t exist in voids. If you took your perfect home and placed it in
the world, perhaps you could put it in just the right spot to ft and continue
to be “whole.” But I could almost certainly pick a place for it that would
be terrible. Te wrong climate or the wrong culture could strip the name-
less quality from the house. Putting a beautiful, functional, comfortable
farmhouse into an urban setting, for example, could prevent it from being
alive.
So he began to use the word “centers.” If you call a house a center, then
you are implying that it is the center of something else. Te farmhouse is
the center of a farm. Its shape and placement make the design of the farm
stronger. Te farm is a center in a neighborhood, one center among many
working to make the center that is the town stronger; towns become cen-
ters in a region, and so on. Moving inward as well, the house is composed
of centers that are its rooms. Doors, windows, tables, and beds are centers
supporting the rooms. And all of the centers, up and down in scale, con-
tain as many of the properties of wholeness as possible.
Only through cultivating this broader sense of awareness can we com-
mit acts of design that are not just whole themselves, but also strong cen-
ters in larger designs. I have said before that what we design are not games,
but the experiences that players have when they play games. Of course,
we want those games and those experiences to have the Lebendigkeit that
Alexander calls “the nameless quality.” But players don’t just play one
402 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

game; they don’t have only one experience. It’s not sufcient that we cre-
ate games that seem to be alive when we imagine them in a void. We must
design games as they will be played in the world, to make them centers
that make the larger centers of their players’ lives stronger. To help those
lives make the center of our world strong enough to hold.
Games Reference

T he following is a reference for all of the games that I mention in this

book. Te secondary purpose of this list is both to give attribution to
the developers of the games and to make it clear which games I’m refer-
ring to in cases where the games are unfamiliar or names are ambiguous.
However, the primary purpose is to allow you to learn more about these
games and to fnd and play them if you want to. Te games that you’ve
experienced drive the techniques that you explored in this book. Tis ref-
erence is not a declaration of a canon of games that you should consider
when looking for patterns; it is merely the list that grew organically from
the process of creating the example patterns in this book. To make this list
concise and useful, I use the following conventions and format:

• Game name: Te full game name is listed frst in every entry in bold
text.
• Developer: I always list the original developer for a game. Some
games may have had many additional developers for ports and
remastered versions.
• Publisher: I try to list the original publisher for a game. Multiple
publishers may have distributed some games over many years.
• Released: I list the earliest available commercial release date for a
game. Some games were available in “early access” or beta states
before that date or rereleased in enhanced or remastered versions
afer that date. If I am referring to a specifc edition of the game in
the text, I list the date for that version here.
• Platforms: Te purpose of this section is to tell you which platforms
you can play the game on now. In some cases, a game is available for a
large number of platforms. To make this reference concise, I abbrevi-
ate the platform PlayStation to PS. I list the most modern platform for
403
404 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

the game, so PS4 for a game available on the PS2, PS3, and PS4. For
games that are available across many platforms, I may generalize, for
instance, saying mobile rather than listing many current and legacy
mobile devices. I indicate the platform that the “Available through”
reference is for in bold where I am able to supply a source for the game.
• Game type: Tis refers to the medium the game was created for,
either digital or physical.
• More information: Tis is a link to the ofcial website for the game,
if available. If the game does not have an ofcial site, it is a link to a
wiki article or FAQ on the game.
• Available through: Tis lists the service that the game can be played
through if it is available digitally. For physical games, it contains the
distribution channel that you can purchase the game through.
• Description: Last, I provide a brief description of each game to help
you understand how the game fts into the patterns and exercises
that cite it.

GAME DESCRIPTIONS

Alice: Madness Returns

Developer: Spicy Horse Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Released: 2011

More information: www.ea.com/games/alice/alice-madness-returns

Available through: www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/alice/alice-madness-returns
Alice: Madness Returns is a third-person single-player platform horror game with both
combat and introspective character-driven mystery elements. Tis is a sequel to the game
American McGee’s Alice and has enhanced graphics and movement control. Te sequel
also has a more sophisticated narrative that tells of Alice’s emotional struggles.

American McGee’s Alice

Developer: Rogue Entertainment Platforms: PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Released: 2000
 Games Reference ◾ 405

More information: www.ea.com/games/alice/american-mcgees-alice

Available through: Free PC download, www.myabandonware.com/game/american-
mcgee-s-alice-452
American McGee’s Alice is a third-person single-player platform horror game with both
combat and introspective character-driven mystery elements. It utilizes the elements and
characters of the classic fantasy novels by Lewis Carroll.

Among the Sleep

Developer: Krillbite Platforms: Desktop (PC), PS4, Switch,
Publisher: Krillbite, Soedesco Xbox One

Released: 2015 Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Among_the_Sleep

Available through: www.gog.com/game/among_the_sleep
Among the Sleep is a single player frst-person horror game. Te game is unique in that it
is played from the perspective of a toddler, this is refected in a lower camera perspective
and limited player abilities.

Anthem
Developer: BioWare Released: 2019
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

More information: www.ea.com/games/anthem

Available through: www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/anthem/anthem
Anthem is a shared-world RPG action-adventure game in an open-world setting where
players are encouraged to band together in PvE situations. Players can play alone, but
there are systems in place that make groups advantageous in combat. Multiplayer chat
and NPC dialogue options enable communication.

Apocalypse World
Developer: D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Released: 2010
Baker Game type: Pen-and-paper RPG
Publisher: Lumpley Games

More information: www.kickstarter.com/projects/226674021/apocalypse-world-2nd-

edition
Available through: http://apocalypse-world.com/
Apocalypse World is a dice RPG where the players’ initial character creation and subsequent
play create the post-apocalyptic world. Te play focuses on relationship building and survival
skills. Each game has the possibility of a radically diferent world based on the player’s choices
but is still grounded in the archetype structure of the character classes and their abilities.
406 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Assassin’s Creed
Developer: Ubisof/Gamelof/Griptonite/ Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Blue Byte Released: 2007
Publisher: Ubisof Game type: Digital game

More information: www.ubisof.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/15100/Assassins_Creed_Dir
ectors_Cut_Edition/
Assassin’s Creed (the frst in a series and franchise) is an open-world stealth action-adven-
ture game with an emphasis on environmental obstacles/advantages. Over-the-shoulder
third-person perspective allows the player to explore historically accurate landscapes
while playing a fctional plotline.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Developer: Ubisof Released: 2013
Publisher: Ubisof Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC,
Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (2019)

More information: www.ubisof.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed-iv-black-fag/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/242050/Assassins_Creed_IV_
Black_Flag/
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a third-person open-world action-adventure. In this
fourth instalment of the Assassin’s Creed series, travel and battle via ships is available
through the pirate-themed story, based in the West Indies. Hunting of land and sea ani-
mals is also available, as is limited (on land) multiplayer options. Single and multiplayer.

Asteroids
Developer: Atari Released: 1979
Publisher: Atari Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, Atari 2600, iOS

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroids_(video_game)

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/atari-asteroids-arcade-skills/id144
9639275
Asteroids is an early arcade game created by Lyle Rains, Ed Logg, and Dominic Walsh for
Atari Inc. Te game was inspired by Spacewar! and Space Invaders. It is one of the frst
games that recorded an instance of a player exploit and which used playtesting to inform
development. Te game used vector graphics and had a joystick control.
 Games Reference ◾ 407

Bastion
Developer: Supergiant Games Released: 2011
Publisher: Warner Brothers/ Interactive Game type: Digital game
Entertainment
Platforms: PC, Mac, iOS, Nintendo
Switch, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One

More information: www.supergiantgames.com/games/bastion/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/Bastion/
Bastion is an action-adventure RPG in an isometric 2D point and click third-person.
It has a vibrant environment, dynamic voice-acted plot and scene specifc narration.
Between levels there are extra challenge sections. Only single-player mode is available.

Battle Chess
Developer: Interplay Productions/ Platform: PC, Mac, Atari
Silicon & Synapse Released: 1988
Publisher: Interplay Productions Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Chess

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/622830/Battle_Chess/
Battle Chess is an animated battle version of traditional chess. It follows the same rules as
a chess game with animated creatures fghting out the moves. Tere is voice narration in
some versions. Tere are both single-player and PvP options.

Beat Saber
Developer: Beat Games Released: 2018
Publisher: Beat Games Game type: Digital VR game
Platforms: PC (HTC Vive, Oculus Rif,
Oculus Quest), PS4 VR

More information: https://beatsaber.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/620980/Beat_Saber/
Beat Saber is a VR rhythm and music game that emphasizes physical coordination with
rhythmic visual and musical cues. It has edit mode that enables players to adjust the speed
of a song and also a custom song mode. It has both single-player mode and party mode,
which ranks players.
408 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Bejeweled
Developer: PopCap Games Platforms: PC, Mac, Mobile (iOS), Web
Publisher: PopCap Games Game type: Digital game
Released: 2001

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bejeweled

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bejeweled-classic/id479536744
Bejeweled is a match-three tile game where speed and puzzle-solving is paramount.
Bejeweled has a normal mode and time challenge. Only single-player mode is available.
Tis is the game that popularized the “match-three” mechanic.

Te Binding of Isaac
Developer: Edmund McMillen Released: 2011
Publisher: Florian Himsl, Edmund Game type: Digital game
McMillen
Platforms: Desktop (PC)

More information: https://bindingofsaac.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/Te_Binding_of_Isaac/
Te Binding of Isaac is a dungeon crawl in a top-down view. Tere are two-dimensional
sprites in a procedurally drawn environment. Te player plays a primary character or one
of eleven unlockable characters to defeat foes and survive. Te play is meant to express the
developer’s struggle with religion within his family. Only single-player mode is available.

BioShock
Developer: 2K Games Released: 2007
Publisher: 2K Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, iOS*, PS4, Xbox One

More information: https://2k.com/en-US/game/bioshock/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/7670/BioShock/
BioShock is a frst-person shooter game with elements of an RPG. Te stealth/survivor
horror motifs enable players to make morality-based choices in an artistic and emotion-
ally efective manner.

* No longer available through the iOS App Store.

 Games Reference ◾ 409

Black & White

Developer: Lionhead Studios Released: 2001
Publisher: Electronic Arts, Game type: Digital Game
Feral Interactive
Platforms: PC, Mac

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_%26_White_(video_game)

Available through: Not currently available.
Black & White is a game in the ‘God Game’ genera that used a distant third person
perspective and world efecting player abilities. Tis game was innovative in its use of
an AI controlled companion that adapted to player behavior creating a sense of moral
consequence.

Borderlands 3
Developer: Gearbox Sofware Released: 2020
Publisher: 2k Game type: Digital Game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderlands_3

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/397540/Borderlands_3/
Borderlands 3 is the fourth game in this FPS franchise. Te series stands out for its use
of procedural loot generation to create a near infnite number of weapons. It is one of
the games that defne the ‘looter shooter’ genre. Strong cooperative elements and a crass
sense of humor are also hallmarks of this game.

Braid
Developer: Number None Released: 2008
Publisher: Microsof Game Studios, Game type: Digital game
Number None
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS3, Xbox 360

More information: http://braid-game.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/Braid/
Braid is a side-scrolling platform puzzle game. It adds in elements of time manipulation
and mutable sequentially related levels. Tis game may be considered a critique of the
“do-over” in gaming experiences, but more closely contemplates morality and philosophy
in games. Music and artwork are meticulously intertwined.
410 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Brothers, a Tale of Two Sons

Developer: Starbreeze Studios Released: 2013
Publisher: 505 Games Game type: Digital games
Platforms: PC, Android, iOS, PS4,
Windows Phone, Xbox One, Switch

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers:_A_Tale_of_Two_Sons

Available through: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP4040-CUSA02297_
00-BROTHERSLICENSE4
Brothers, a Tale of Two Sons is a single player third person action game. It is unique in
that the player controls two characters at the same time, one with each joystick on their
controller.

Call of Duty
Developer: Infnity Ward, Treyarch, et al. Released: 2003
Publisher: Activision Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2620/Call_of_Duty/
Call of Duty (and its subsequent sequels, later releases and franchise) is a realistic frst-
person shooter. Gameplay consists of wartime infantry and combined arms strategy.
Tere are single-player and massive multiplayer options.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Developer: Sledgehammer Games Released: 2014
Publisher: Activision Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Advanced_Warfare

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/209650/Call_of_Duty_Advan
ced_Warfare__Gold_Edition/
In the Call of Duty family the 11th major game installment from the franchise, Call of
Duty: Advanced Warfare, introduced advanced movement options. Tis game was under
the umbrella of the Modern Warfare lineage of Call of Duty. Tis game includes a single-
player mode, where subsequent games from the franchise do not.
 Games Reference ◾ 411

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (also known as Call of Duty 6 prior to

its release)
Developer: Infnity Ward Released: 2009
Publisher: Activision Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360,
Nintendo DS

More information:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Modern_Warfare_2
Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/10180/Call_of_Duty_Modern_
Warfare_2/
Tis, the sixth installment of the Call of Duty family, was the direct sequel to Call of
Duty 4: Modern Warfare and continues the same storyline. It contains some controversial
levels of play, as well as continuing the tradition of improved movement and massive
multiplayer options.

Canabalt
Developer: Adam Saltsman Platforms: PC, Web, Mobile
Publisher: Semi-Secret Sofware, RGCD, Released: 2009
Beatshapers, Kittehface Sofware Game type: Digital game

More information: http://canabalt.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/358960/Canabalt/
Canabalt is credited as the frst endless-runner platform game. Te player has no options
for control other than jump. Te playtime continues until the player dies. Time and dis-
tance calculate “winning” and online leaderboards encourage competition for the highest
score.

Candy Crush (browser version)

Developer: King Released: 2011
Publisher: King Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Browser

More information: http://www.royalgames.com/games/puzzle-games/candy-crush/

Available through: http://www.royalgames.com/games/puzzle-games/candy-crush/
Candy Crush is a puzzle match-three game. Play consists of swapping candies to create
groups of three or more of a kind and attempting to clear the gamespace to make room
for new candies. Boost candies are available. Tere are many versions. Tis game’s sequel
Candy Crush Saga has been called the frst and most successful “freemium” game. King
has released three other spin-ofs as well. Only single-player mode is available.
412 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Carcassonne (board game)

Developer: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede Platforms: Tabletop board game
Publisher: MINDOK s.r.o., Devir, Hans Released: 2000
im Glück, and more Game type: Board game

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne

Available through: Retail
Carcassonne and its expansions are tile-placing turn-based games for 2–5 players. Te
game consists of the creation of a contiguous landscape via placing tiles on the table.
Players then choose to utilize the tile they place or not, and then play proceeds to the next
player.

Carcassonne (digital game)

Developer: Sierra Online Seattle, Released: 2007
Publisher: Vivendi Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox, Nintendo
Switch, Mobile (iOS), Desktop

More information: https://carcassonneapp.com/

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/carcassonne/id375295479
Carcassonne and its expansions were adapted to digital games that mimic the same turn-
based play of the board games. You may play as a single-player against AI or choose PvP
mode online. Tere are many adaptations and expansions available on multiple platforms.

Catan Universe
Developer: Exozet Game Released: 2017
Publisher: Azmodee, United Sof Media Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, Android,
iOS, Nintendo Switch

More information: https://catanuniverse.com/en/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/544730/Catan_Universe/
Catan Universe is an online game mimicking the tabletop board and card game series
Catan. It includes the original board game, the expansions, and the card game as well. Up
to three players can participate in a real-time game experience. Te online game ofers AI
and single-player options. An online-only expansion is available for in-game purchase.
 Games Reference ◾ 413

Catherine
Developer: Atlus Released: 2011
Publisher: Atlus Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4, Switch, PS Vita / PS3,
Xbox 360, PC

More information: www.catherinethegame.com/fullbody/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/893180/
Catherine is a narratively driven platformer/puzzle game with gameplay derived from
the classic arcade game Q*bert. It is notable for its “mature” themes that generated praise
from some and were seen as sexist and misogynist by others. A new edition of the game
subtitled Full Body, with more content/storylines, was released on modern consoles in
2019/2020.

Chess
Developer: N/A Game type: Board game
Released: 15th century

More information: www.chess.com/

Available through: Retail
Chess is an ancient two-player strategy board game. Chess is played on a checkered board
with 64 squares. Each player has 16 pieces; each piece has a type of movement it can do,
sometimes more than one. Play is turn-based and can be timed.

Clash Royale
Developer: Supercell Released: 2016
Publisher: Supercell Game type: Digital game
Platforms: iOS, Android

More information: https://supercell.com/en/games/clashroyale/

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1053012308
Clash Royale is a real-time multiplayer strategy game. It includes elements of collectible
card games, multiplayer arena style combat, and tower defense-style play. Te game has
a top-down view of the space, and play is conducted with “cards” that resemble physical
playing cards. Players choose among their collection and compose a “deck” prior to play
to use in combat.
414 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Clicker Heroes
Developer: Playsaurus Released: 2014
Publisher: Playsaurus Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Browser, PC, Mac, Mobile,
PS4, Xbox One

More information: www.clickerheroes.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/363970/Clicker_Heroes/
Clicker Heroes is a simplistic idle game, in isometric view. In gameplay players only have
the choice to click on an enemy. Only single-player mode is available.

Clue/Cluedo: Te Classic Mystery Game

Developer: Anthony E. Pratt Platforms: Board game
Publisher: Hasbro, Waddingtons, Parker Released:1949
Brothers, Winning Moves Game type: Board game

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1294/clue

Available through: Retail
Clue is a 3–5 player mystery board game. Tis game is a tabletop adaptation of the tradi-
tional country house mystery parlor games played throughout the 20th century. Players
choose a character and proceed to ask questions and move around the board to solve the
murder mystery. Te board consists of a layout of the mansion in which the murder took
place. Te winner is the player who discovers all the elements of the murder: who did it,
with what weapon, and where it was done.

Crackdown
Developer: Realtime Worlds Released: 2007
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox 360

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackdown_(video_game)

Available through: https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-us/Product/Crackdown/66acd00
0-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d5307dc
Crackdown is a third-person action-adventure shooter. Te avatars are superpowered
“Agents” giving the player far more enhanced movement and combat options than in
previous open-world shooters. Te sandbox-style gameplay allows for nonlinear game-
play and of-story adventures. Single-player and multiplayer options are available. Later
sequels to Crackdown allowed for a wider range of intractable environments in a multi-
player space than had been available in a game before.
 Games Reference ◾ 415

Crash Bandicoot
Developer: Naughty Dog Released: 1996
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_Bandicoot_(video_game)

Available through: N/A
Crash Bandicoot is a third-person platformer. It is the frst of its series. Play is conducted
by traversing levels in sequence, and avoiding or using jump or spinning attacks to com-
bat enemies. Tis game was Naughty Dog’s frst 3D game, and special efort on the envi-
ronment’s natural look and organic shape was emphasized. Only single-player mode is
available.

Dark Souls
Developer: FromSofware Released: 2011
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games JP: Game type: Digital game
FromSofware
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo
Switch

More information: https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/dark-souls

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/211420/DARK_SOULS_Pr
epare_To_Die_Edition/
Dark Souls is an action-adventure RPG with a strong emphasis on exploration in an open-
world setting. Although communication is limited, players may choose cooperative, PvP,
or single-player modes.

Dead Space
Developer: EA Redwood Shores Released: 2008
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

More information: www.ea.com/games/dead-space/dead-space

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/17470/Dead_Space/
Dead Space is a survival/horror over-the-shoulder third-person game. Its atmospheric
and close-quarters world mixed with graphic gore garnered it much attention. Dead
Space utilized “strategic dismemberment” and monster regeneration to create a nontra-
ditional shooter.
416 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Dear Esther
Developer: Te Chinese Room Platforms: PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One
Publisher: Te Chinese Room, Curve Released: 2012
Digital Game type: Digital game

More information: http://www.thechineseroom.co.uk/games/dear-esther

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/203810/Dear_Esther/
Dear Esther is an adventure/exploration game in the frst-person. Te atmospheric art
game ofers diferent narratives for each playthrough and has an ultimately open-ended
plot resolution. Te environment is highly detailed and there are no puzzle-solving events
or interactions with NPCs, leaving the narrative and the environment to create a lasting
impression on the player.

Death Stranding
Developer: Kojima Productions Released: 2019
Publisher: Sony Interactive, 505 Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4, PC

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Stranding

Available through: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/death-stranding/
home
Death Stranding is a third person action game by the developer Hideo Kojima. Te game-
play is unusual in its focus on simulation realistic traversal of the game world.

Devil May Cry

Developer: Capcom, Ninja Teory Released: 2001
Publisher: Capcom Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Mobile, PC, Console

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_May_Cry_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/631510/Devil_May_Cry_HD_
Collection/
Devil May Cry is a hack-and-slash third-person action game. Te gameplay is combat
heavy, focusing on stylized string attacks and ranking players by their variety and use of
those styles. Tere is only a single-player mode.
 Games Reference ◾ 417

Diablo
Developer: Blizzard Released: 1997
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_(video_game)

Available through: www.gog.com/game/diablo
Diablo is a hack-and-slash RPG action game in an isometric view. It includes random
procedurally generated tasks and dungeon levels. Multiplayer and single-player modes
are available. In the multiplayer mode players can choose between PvP and cooperative.

Don’t Starve
Developer: Klei Entertainment Released: 2013
Publisher: 505 Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Mobile, Desktop (PC), Console

More information: www.klei.com/games/dont-starve

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/219740/Dont_Starve/
Don’t Starve is an action-adventure survival game in an isometric view. Overall the game
is played in a sandbox open-world, but it contains a fve-level internal campaign adven-
ture mode. Failure in the campaign returns the player to the sandbox.

Dominion
Developer: Donald X. Vaccarino Released: 2008
Publisher: Rio Grande Games Game type: Card game

More information: http://riograndegames.com/games.html?id=278

Available through: Retail
Dominion is a competitive turn-based strategy card game. Players each have the same
deck of cards at their disposal and there is a mutual pool of cards as well. Winners have
the highest score when the cards are depleted. Tere are 2–6 players.

Donkey Kong
Developer: Nintendo R&D1, Nintendo Released: 1981
R&D2 (NES) Game type: Arcade/ Digital game
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Arcade, Console (Nintendo
Switch), PC, Mobile
418 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_(video_game)

Available through: www.nintendo.com/games/detail/arcade-archives-donkey-kong-sw
itch/
Donkey Kong was one of the original arcade games featuring platform-style gameplay.
Innovations were introduced here with the use of characterizing graphics and cutscenes
between levels to mold the storyline. Digital games allowed for multiplayer modes.

Doom
Developer: id Sofware Platforms: Desktop (PC), Mobile,
Publisher: GT Interactive Sofware, Console
Activision, Bethesda Sofworks, Sega, Released: 1993
Atari Corporation, SNES (North America) Game type: Digital game
Williams Entertainment, Ocean Sofware,
Nintendo

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_(1993_video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2280/Ultimate_Doom/
Doom is a frst-person action shooter. Continuing the new 3D action trend it started with
Wolfenstein, id Sofware developed this dungeon-style single player game. Minimal plot
and propulsive gameplay come together to create a heavy-action playstyle that has defned
the genre.

Doom 2016 (called Doom 4 prior to release)

Developer: id Sofware Released: 2016
Publisher: Bethesda Sofworks Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo
Switch, Stadia

More information: https://slayersclub.bethesda.net/en

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/379720/DOOM/
Doom 2016 is a frst-person shooter. While not a full reboot of the original game, it has
the same core elements of play, with the same combat and movement-focused nonlinear
gameplay.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Developer: BioWare Released: 2014
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
 Games Reference ◾ 419

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Age:_Inquisition

Available through: https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/dragon-age/dragon-age-
inquisition
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the third installment in this franchise. It is a single player third
person action RPG in which the player manages a party of characters. Te game features
a detailed narrative and complex character interactions,

Draugen
Developer: Red Tread Games Released: 2019
Publisher: Red Tread Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

More information: www.redthreadgames.com/draugen

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/770390/Draugen/
Draugen is a frst-person suspense mystery. It is designed mostly as a walking simula-
tor that allows the player to explore the environment and solve the mystery. A highly
atmospheric dynamic environment changes with the status of the character and the story
points.

Dreamfall
Developer: FunCom Released: 2006
Publisher: Aspyr, Empire Interactive Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Xbox

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamfall:_Te_Longest_Journey

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/6300/Dreamfall_Te_Longes
t_Journey/
Dreamfall is a third person action adventure game that continues the story of the devel-
opers’ previous game Te Longest Journey. Te game is known for a compelling narrative
and poor combat and stealth mechanics.

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)

Developer: Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson Released: 2015
Publisher: TSR, Wizards of the Coast Game type: Board game
Platforms: Originally tabletop, multiple
adaptations across multiple platforms

More information: https://dnd.wizards.com/

Available through: Retail
420 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

D&D is a fantasy tabletop RPG. It is a dungeon exploration and dice combat storytelling
game for multiple players. Te forefather of the tabletop RPG and still the bestseller, the
D&D franchise has heavily infuenced tabletop and digital games.

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Developer: Humble Hearts Released: 2013
Publisher: Microsof Games, Limited Game type: Digital game
Run Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, Desktop (PC), PS4,
iOS, Nintendo Switch

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust:_An_Elysian_Tail

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/236090/Dust_An_Elysian_
Tail/
Dust is an action side-scrolling RPG. Platform-adventure mechanics are Metroidvania in
style (based on the mechanics of Metroid and Castlevania) containing permanent char-
acter enhancements, an open-world style of play, and the need for key items to open new
spaces.

Echochrome
Developer: Game Yarouze, SCE Japan Platforms: PS3, PSP
Studio Released: 2008
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echochrome

Available through: www.PS.com/en-us/games/echochrome-ps3/
Echochrome is a perspective puzzle game. Gameplay consists of manipulation of the
environment through rotation and view angle rather than manipulating the character.
Echochrome in North America is only available in single-player mode. Japan added “pair”
and “others.”

Te Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Released: 2002
Publisher: Bethesda Sofworks Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Xbox

More information: https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en/morrowind

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/22320/Te_Elder_Scrolls_I
II_Morrowind_Game_of_the_Year_Edition/
 Games Reference ◾ 421

Morrowind is the third game in this series by the developer, unlike the previous two
games which used procedural generation to create a huge world the open world of
Morrowind was constructed entirely by hand. Te setting was unique in its departure
from western tropes.

Te Elder Scrolls V: Oblivion

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Released: 2006
Publisher: Bethesda Sofworks, 2K Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox 360

More information: https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en/oblivion

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/22330/Te_Elder_Scrolls_I
V_Oblivion_Game_of_the_Year_Edition/
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the fourth installment in the Elder Scrolls universe. It is an
action RPG in frst-person. Oblivion continued the style of nonlinear narrative with a
fully open world and enhanced the graphics and included fully voice-acted NPCs for this
game. Only single-player mode is available.

Te Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Released: 2011
Publisher: Bethesda Sofworks Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Console

More information: https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en/skyrim

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/489830/Te_Elder_Scrolls_
V_Skyrim_Special_Edition/
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the ffh installment in the Elder Scrolls universe. It is an action
RPG in either frst- or third-person, set in an open world. Sandbox-style nonlinear play is
exhaustive. Tousands of quests and NPC-driven mini plots are available, as well as the
main storyline quests. Te primary character is fully customizable and upgrades in all
skills and equipment make for a very wide variety of play experiences. Only single-player
mode is available.

Elder Sign
Developer: Richard Launius, Kevin Released: 2011
Wilson Game type: Board game
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
422 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/100423/elder-sign

Available through: Retail
Elder Sign is a card and dice tabletop game based on the Cthulhu Mythos derived from
H.P. Lovecraf’s work. It is a PvE cooperative game with two- to eight-player rounds.

Elder Sign: Omens

Developer: Richard Launius, Kevin Platforms: iOS, PC
Wilson Released: 2011
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Game type: Digital game

More information: www.fantasyfightgames.com/en/products/elder-sign-omens/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/257670/Elder_Sign_Omens/
Elder Sign: Omens is a single player adaption of the board game. Its heavy atmospheric
visuals and theme deepen the timed, turn-based dice-and-card mechanics.

Emily is Away
Developer: Kyle Seeley Released: 2015
Publisher: Kyle Seeley Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC)

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Is_Away

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/Emily_is_Away/
Emily is Away is a single player narrative adventure game presented as a mostly text inter-
face designed to resemble early social media platforms. Players choose diferent conver-
sational options that afect the course of the game. However the possible outcomes are
limited and refect the designers’ desired message.

Eve Online
Developer: CCP Games, Released: 2003
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Atari (2008) Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac

More information: www.eveonline.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/8500/EVE_Online/
Eve Online is a MMORPG in a sci-f space universe in either frst person or third person.
It has many options for gameplay types and environments, and has PvP, PvE, and coop-
erative opportunities.
 Games Reference ◾ 423

Fable II
Developer: Lionhead Studios Released: 2008
Publisher: Microsof Game Studios Game Type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox 360

More Information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_II

Available Trough: https://www.microsof.com/en-us/p/fable-ii/c2wkjj9f5936
Fable II is a single player third person action game. Character appearance and NPC inter-
actions change to refect the moral implications of the players playstyle. In the extremes
the character may grow horns or develop an angelic appearance.

Fall of the Last City

Developer: Chris Barney Released: 2017
Publisher: Not published Game type: Tabletop

More information: http://www.fallofhelastcity.com/

Available through: Not available
Fall of the Last City is a tabletop strategy game. Play happens simultaneously each round.
Te game is notable for its heavy use of theming and use of player choice to create a feeling
of unpredictability with a rule set that contains no randomness.

Fallout 3
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Released: 2008
Publisher: Bethesda Sofworks Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

More information: https://fallout.bethesda.net/en/games/fallout-3

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/22300/Fallout_3/
Fallout 3 is a frst-person or over-the-shoulder third-person action RPG. Te third in the
post-apocalyptic Fallout series, this game ofers 3D graphics and real-time combat. It is
single-player style, with fve downloadable add-ons.

Fez
Developer: Polytron Corporation Released: 2013
Publisher: Trapdoor Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), PS4, PS Vita, iOS
424 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: http://fezgame.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/224760/FEZ/
Fez is a single-player puzzle platform game. Perspective and alternating between 2D view
and 3D view is essential to solving the puzzles and progressing the character.

Final Fantasy VIII

Developer: Square Released: 1999
Publisher: Square Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Console

More information: https://fviiipc.square-enix-games.com/en

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/39150/FINAL_FANTASY_
VIII/
Final Fantasy VIII is the eighth installment in the Final Fantasy series. Te RPG has a
third-person view of the party of characters and the 3D landscape is navigable through
three maps choices. Tis game includes motion capture technology and realistically pro-
portioned characters among other changes to make the game more realistic looking.
Only single-player mode is available.

Final Fantasy XIII

Developer: Square Enix 1st Production Released: 2014
Department Game type: Digital game
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Mobile

More information: https://square-enix-games.com/en_GB/games/fnal-fantasy-xiii/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/292120/FINAL_FANTASY_XIII/
Final Fantasy XIII is a third-person, single-player action RPG. With a 360° view, the
proportional environment is new to this 13th installment of the series. When combat is
initiated a new screen appears with the combat progress. Players may choose to use the
automated combat system or choose their own moves, but only one character is operable
by the player in a party of characters.

Te Flame and the Flood

Developer: Te Molasses Flood Game type: Digital game
Publisher: Curve Digital
Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Released: 2016
 Games Reference ◾ 425

More information: http://www.themolassesfood.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/318600/Te_Flame_in_the_
Flood/
Tis third-person “roguelike: survival game is heavily themed with a “post societal: set-
ting refected in its art and haunting alt-country soundtrack. Te procedurally generated
gameplay is very difcult and refects the theme.

Flashback: Remastered Edition (Mobile)

Developer: Delphine Sofware Released: 2019
International, Tiertex, Chui Game type: Digital game
Publisher: U.S. Gold, JoshProd, Microïds
Platforms: PC, PS4, Mobile, Nintendo
Switch

More information:
Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/961620/Flashback/
Flashback: Remastered Edition is the same as the classic puzzle-platformer sci-f game of
the same name, with updated graphics. It intermingles elements of previous releases such
as cutscenes that were available with a macOS release and the original music score from
the frst Amiga release. Te character is challenged with levels of platforming nonscroll-
ing environments that scale in difculty.

Fortnight
Developer: Epic Games Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console, Mobile
Publisher: Epic Games, Warner Bros. Released: 2017
Interactive Entertainment Game type: Digital game

More information: www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/home

Available through: www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/fortnite/home
Fortnight has three modes all using the same gameplay and engine in third-person.
Available in sandbox open-world creation mode, PvP mode, and a team cooperative sur-
vival/shooter mode. Multiplayer.

Gears of War
Developer: Epic Games, People Can Released: 2006
Fly, Te Coalition, Mediatonic, Splash Game type: Digital game
Damage
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Platforms: Mobile, PC, Xbox One
426 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gears_of_War_(video_game)

Available through: https://gearsofwar.com/games/gears-of-war
Gears of War is a third-person action shooter game. Emphasis on cover and avoidance of
damage by strategic positioning has been a hallmark of this game and subsequent fran-
chise. Single-player and multiplayer modes are available.

Gloomhaven
Developer: Isaac Childres Released: 2017
Publisher: Cephalofair Games Game type: Board game

More information: http://www.cephalofair.com/gloomhaven

Available through: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfles/fledetails/?id=1340508741*
Gloomhaven is a strategy tile and card game for 1–4 players in a dungeon-crawl style. Te
branching narrative storyline is very large for a board game. Tis is a “legacy”-style board
game where the game is changed in a permanent way every time it is played, creating an
evolving campaign world.

God of War
Developer: SIE Santa Monica Studio Platforms: PS3, PS Vita
Publisher: Sony Computer Released: 2005
Entertainment, Capcom Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War_(2005_video_game)

Available through: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP9000-NPUA80490
_00-GODOFWARHDUS0000
God of War, the frst game of the franchise, is a third-person action-adventure. It is single-
player and ofers puzzle and platforming gameplay as well as combat. Te introduction
of dramatic action setpieces in which control of the character is abstracted to arbitrary
sequences of prompted button presses was innovative at the time and is commonly
referred to as ‘Quick Time Events’.

God of War
Developer: SCE Santa Monica Studio Released: 2018
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4

* Tis is a board game, but a digital simulation is available through the Tabletop Simulator.
Additionally there is a digital adaptation that is in early access, but that should be considered a
distinct game. Te physical game is available through retail channels.
 Games Reference ◾ 427

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War_(2018_video_game)

Available through: http://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP9000-CUSA07408_
00-00000000GODOFWAR
Tis edition of God of War is a reimagining of the franchise set later in the protagonist's
life. Te gameplay of this version is similar to the previous games but its tone is much
more mature and thoughtful. Te introduction of the character's son requires the player
to consider the NPC in their strategy.

Gone Home
Developer: Te Fullbright Company, Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console, iOS
BlitWorks (Switch) Released: 2013
Publisher: Te Fullbright Company, Game type: Digital game
Majesco Entertainment, Annapurna
Interactive

More information: https://gonehome.game/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/232430/Gone_Home/
Gone Home is a highly interactive frst-person exploration game. It has narration-driven
nonlinear gameplay in a mode that is nonstandard and ofen called a walking simulator.

Gradius
Developer: Konami Released: 1986
Publisher: Konami Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, PC, Console (PS4)

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradius_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.PS.com/en-us/product/UP0571-CUSA02307_00-
HAMPRDC000000001?emcid=se-pi-239770
Gradius is a side-scrolling shooter game. It is the frst in its series, originally released for
arcade and other versions were made later for other platforms. Te player controls a single
spaceship, Vic the Viper, and must fght squads of invading ships, ofen containing a boss
ship with a “core” that must be destroyed. 1–4 players depending on platform.

Grand Tef Auto IV

Developer: Rockstar North, Rockstar Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox One
Toronto Released: 2008
Publisher: Rockstar Games Game type: Digital game
428 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: www.rockstargames.com/gta/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/12210/Grand_Tef_Auto_IV
_Te_Complete_Edition/
Grand Tef Auto is an action-adventure third-person game in an open-world setting.
Tere are a variety of play options including driving, racing, shooting, melee, stealth, and
some role-playing.

Gravity Rush
Developer: Team Gravity Released: 2012
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS Vita, PS4

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Rush

Available through: www.PS.com/en-us/games/gravity-rush-remastered-ps4/
Gravity Rush is a third-person open-world action-adventure where the player manipu-
lates gravity via the character’s special powers to traverse the world, interact with objects,
and avoid enemies. Tere is only a single-player mode. Moving the screen around as you
shif gravity was a major gameplay feature in the mobile version.

Gris
Developer: Nomada Studio Released: 2018
Publisher: Devolver Digital Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Mac, PC, Nintendo Switch,
PS4, Mobile

More information: https://devolverdigital.com/games/gris

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/683320/GRIS/
Gris is a platform adventure game in the third-person. Te lush soundtrack is highly inte-
grated into play and the environment.

Guild Wars 2
Developer: ArenaNet Released: 2012
Publisher: NCSOFT Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac

More information: www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/

Available through: www.guildwars2.com/en/
 Games Reference ◾ 429

Guild Wars 2 is a MMORPG with nonstandard responsive narrative that integrates player
actions into an overall persistent open-world. Rather than using quests, Guild Wars 2
incorporated instanced events and environments in real-time 3D to further the ripple-
efect narration of the game. Initially only in third-person view, a frst-person option was
added later.

Half-Life
Developer: Valve Released: 1998
Publisher: Sierra Studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS2

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/
Tis story-focused frst-person shooter represented a major shif from games solely
focused on action to action mechanics being used to tell a story. It also launched Valve
sofware and its success positioned the company to assume its current dominant position
in the industry.

Halo: Combat Evolved

Developer: Bungie, Gearbox Sofware Platforms: Xbox, Mac, PC
(PC), Westlake Interactive (Mac) Released: 2001
Publisher: Microsof Game Studios, Game type: Digital game
MacSof (Mac)

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo:_Combat_Evolved

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1064221/Halo_Combat_Evolv
ed_Anniversary/
Halo: Combat Evolved is a sci-f frst-person shooter in a 3D world. Drivable vehicles
maintain the third-person view from earlier Halo games. Single-player and multiplayer
(both competitive and cooperative) modes are available.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifce

Developer: Ninja Teory Released: 2017
Publisher: Ninja Teory Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo
Switch

More information: www.hellblade.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/414340/Hellblade_Senuas_S
acrifce/
430 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Hellblade is an over-the-shoulder third-person action adventure, with a highly integrated

mental-health theme of psychosis. Gameplay refects the character’s condition in a vari-
ety of ways. Tis is a single-player game that integrates puzzles and combat, cutscenes,
and voice acting.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Developer: Guerrilla Games Released: 2017
Publisher: Sony Interactive Game type: Digital game
Entertainment
Platforms: PS4, PC

More information: www.guerrilla-games.com/play/horizon

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1151640/Horizon_Zero_
Dawn_Complete_Edition/
Horizon Zero Dawn is an open-world third-person action-adventure RPG. Single-player
story-based quests and dynamic environments add to the discovery elements of the open
world. Combat is real-time and multiple options exist for strategy and varied styles of
play.

Illimat
Developer: Keith Baker, Jennifer Ellis, Released: 2017
Carson Ellis, Game type: Board game
Publisher: Twogether Studios

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/210040/illimat

Available through: www.illimat.com/
Illimat is a 2–4 player rounds-based strategy card game. Rules for play change based on
the “season” represented by the game’s box orientation in the center of the table. Changing
the season is a strategy in the game.

Journey
Developer: Tatgamecompany Platforms: PS3, PS4, PC, iOS
Publisher: Sony Computer Released: 2012
Entertainment, Annapurna Game type: Digital game
Interactive

More information: https://thatgamecompany.com/journey/

Available through: www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/journey/home
 Games Reference ◾ 431

Journey is an adventure platformer game in the third-person. It has nonlinguistic nar-

rative-driven gameplay. Its environments are sparse but beautiful, as are the music and
gameplay. Everything contributes to the atmosphere of the game. Very limited random
multiplayer interaction may occur, and others are intended to feel like random strangers
met on your journey.

Jumpman
Developer: Epyx Released: 1983
Publisher: (Automated Simulations) Epyx Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64,
Apple II, ColecoVision, PC

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpman_(video_game)

Available through: www.myabandonware.com/game/jumpman-2f/play-2f
Jumpman is a side-scrolling platformer game. Play is accomplished by both avoidance of
bullets, successful difusion of bombs, and traversal of platforms. New levels scroll up. It
is single-player.

Kingdom Death: Monster

Developer: Adam Poots Released: 2015
Publisher: Kickstarter by Adam Poots Game type: Board game

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55690/kingdom-death

-monster
Available through: https://shop.kingdomdeath.com/products/kingdom-death-monster
-1-5
Kingdom Death: Monster is a cooperative strategy fgurines game for four players. Te
game is rounds based with extensive narrative elements. Each round, or “lantern year,”
is made up of three phases and players can record their progress at the end of play. Tere
are approximately 30 lantern years. Tis progression enables long-term play over many
sessions.

Labyrinth
Developer: Max Kobbert Released: 1986
Publisher: Ravensburger Game type: Board game

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1219/labyrinth

Available through: www.ravensburger.org/uk/discover/labyrinth/index.html
432 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Labyrinth is a 2–4 player competitive strategy card and board game. Players move sec-
tions of the labyrinth to thwart their opponents while progressing their own piece within
the board.

Te Last Blade
Developer: SNK Released: 1997
Publisher: SNK Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, Neo-Geo
CD, NGPC, PC

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Last_Blade

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/465840/THE_LAST_BLADE/
Te Last Blade is a hack-and-slash 2D fghter game in an arcade style. Players can select
from 12 characters to defeat 10 opponents. Two-player competitive mode is available.

Te Last of Us
Developer: Naughty Dog Released: 2013
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Last_of_Us

Available through: www.PS.com/en-us/games/the-last-of-us-remastered-ps4/
Te Last of Us is a third-person survival action game. Tis is a story-driven adventure in a
post-apocalyptic landscape. Te player controls Joel who must escort an NPC named Ellie
through all but one of the chapters. Ellie is active in combat and problem-solving. Te
player controls Ellie during one chapter of the game. If Ellie dies the game ends. Single-
player and multiplayer modes, both cooperative and competitive, are available.

Te Legend of Zelda
Developer: Nintendo EAD Released: 1986
Publisher: Nintendo Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Famicom Disk System,
Nintendo Entertainment System

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda_(video_

game)
 Games Reference ◾ 433

Te Legend of Zelda is an overhead-view action-adventure RPG. Players control the char-

acter Link through an open environment containing dungeon instances. Te nonlinear
play encourages exploration but there are ranked instances that must be completed and
items to collect in order to unlock the fnal boss. Only single-player mode is available.

Te Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Developer: Nintendo Released: 2017
Publisher: Nintendo Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Wii U

More information: https ://en .wik i pedia .org/ wik i/ The _L egend _of_ Z elda:_
Breath_of_the_Wild
Available through: www.nintendo.com/games/detail/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-
the-wild-switch/
Te Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a third-person action-adventure RPG. It is the
19th in the Zelda series. Te play is open-ended to encourage exploration and side quests.
Te open-world setting is created with high-defnition visuals and detailed physics. Only
single-player mode is available.

Te Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Developer: Nintendo Released: 2006
Publisher: Nintendo Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Wii U, Nvidia Shield TV

More information: https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Te_Legend_of_Zelda:_Twilight_Princess

Available through: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/the-legend-of-zelda-tw
ilight-princess-hd-digital-version-wii-u/
Te Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the thirteenth game in the Legend of Zelda fran-
chise. Its primary diferences from previous versions are the use of motion controls, shif-
ing between two character forms, and a darker narrative tone.

League of Legends
Developer: Riot Games Released: 2009
Publisher: Riot Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac
434 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://play.na.leagueofegends.com/en_US

Available through: https://play.na.leagueofegends.com/en_US
League of Legends is a MOBA strategy game. It has an isometric perspective and ofers
NPC enemies to fght as well as the overall team co-op vs. AI and matchmaking.

Lef 4 Dead
Developer: Valve South Released: 2008
Publisher: Valve Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Mac

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lef_4_Dead

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/500/Lef_4_Dead/
Lef 4 Dead is a multiplayer survival/shooter horror game in the frst-person. Tere are
four game modes including group competitive (8 players), group cooperative (4 players),
single player, and group survival (4 players). Te game encourages cooperative play to the
point that movement choices, voice acting and visuals, and respawn criteria are built in
specifcally to aid in the coordination of teams. Both single-player and multiplayer modes
are available.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Developer: Crystal Dynamics, Nixxes Platforms: PS, Dreamcast, PC
Sofware BV Released: 1999
Publisher: Eidos Interactive Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_Kain:_Soul_Reaver

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/224920/Legacy_of_Kain_Sou
l_Reaver/
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is a third-person action adventure. Gameplay includes plat-
forming, block puzzles, timed puzzle-solving and hack-and-slash combat.

Life is Strange
Developer: Dontnod Entertainment Released: 2015
Publisher: Square Enix, Feral Interactive, Game type: Digital game
Black Wing Foundation
Platforms: Mobile, Desktop (PC), Console

More information: https://lifeisstrange.square-enix-games.com/en-us

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/319630/Life_is_Strange__E
pisode_1/
 Games Reference ◾ 435

Life is Strange is a narrative-driven third-person adventure game. Players can interact

with the environment, and branching NPC conversations and the ability to “rewind
time” enables further puzzle-solving options.

Loneliness
Developer: Jordan Magnuson Released: 2010
Publisher: N/A NecessaryGames.com Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Browser with Flash

More information: www.gametrekking.com/the-games/korea/loneliness

Available through: www.necessarygames.com/my-games/loneliness/fash
Loneliness is a micro-game in which play consists of playing a dot and attempting to inter-
act with other dots. It has a highly metaphoric and atmospheric nonlinguistic narrative.
Only single-player mode is available.

Te Long Dark
Developer: Hinterland Studio Released: 2017
Publisher: Hinterland Studio Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Xbox One, PS4

More information: www.thelongdark.com/about/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/305620/Te_Long_Dark/
Te Long Dark is a frst-person survival game. Tere are two play modes, survival and
story. Te story mode has gone through many versions. Survival mode is PvE, a simula-
tion of wilderness survival, containing randomly spawned items, wildlife, and weather
patterns. Only single-player mode is available.

Magic: Te Gathering
Developer: Richard Garfeld Released: 1993
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Game type: Collectible card game

More information: https://magic.wizards.com/en

Available through: Retail
Magic: Te Gathering is a collectible card game for 2 or more players. Players assemble
a deck of cards prior to play and use in turn-based play to attack opponents and defend
themselves. Players may choose to cooperate temporarily to eliminate other opponents,
but there is only one winner.
436 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Magic: Te Gathering Arena

Developer: Wizards Digital games Studio Released: 2018
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac

More information: https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena

Available through: https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena?source=MX_Nav2020
Te original Magic: Te Gathering was again ported to digital media (afer Magic:
Te Gathering Online) and play is conducted with the same rules as the analog game.
Gameplay is free with micro-purchasing available. Deck building is available in both
Constructed (player chosen from library of cards) and Draf (randomized deck building
with free library of cards) with corresponding rules for winning new cards. Players may
not trade cards amongst themselves. No redemption from digital to paper is available.

Magic: Te Gathering—Duels of the Planeswalkers

Developer: Stainless Games Released: 2009
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_Te_Gathering_–_Duels_o

f_the_Planeswalkers
Available through: www.PS.com/en-us/games/magic-the-gathering-duels-of-the-plan
eswalkers-ps3/
Magic: Te Gathering—Duels of the Planeswalkers is a simplifed version of the original
game. Cards are not monetized. Decks are prebuilt and gameplay may award new cards
and open new decks, but choice is limited. Players play against AI opponents, other play-
ers, or team up against AI opponents.

Magic: Te Gathering Online

Developer: Leaping Lizard Sofware, Platforms: PC
Wizards of the Coast Released: 2002
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Game type: Digital game

More information: https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgo/gameguide

Available through: https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgo?source=MX_Nav2020
Magic: Te Gathering Online was ported from the original game and consisted of all the
same cards and expansions afer Mirage. Mirage is the oldest set that online supports.
 Games Reference ◾ 437

Players must purchase the digital cards at the same MSRP as paper cards. Play consists
of choosing a room (leveled by difculty and deck choice) and playing with up to 8 oppo-
nents. Tournaments are ofered and cash prizes. Players may trade cards amongst them-
selves in digital form. Digital decks and booster packs are monetized. Wizards of the
Coast has allowed redemption (for a fee) from digital to paper cards (full sets only) and
has entertained the idea of redemption from paper to digital cards.

Mass Efect
Developer: BioWare Released: 2007
Publisher: Microsof Game Studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC, PS3

More information: www.ea.com/games/mass-efect/mass-efect

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/17460/Mass_Efect/
Mass Efect is a third-person sci-f shooter RPG. Tis is the frst installment in a trilogy.
Play is accomplished in a quest-based single-player format. Tere are six classes for the
player to choose from before beginning the game.

Max Payne
Developer: Remedy Entertainment Released: 2001
Publisher: Gathering of Developers Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS2, Xbox, Mac, Game
Boy Advance, iOS, Android

More information: www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne/index.html

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/12140/Max_Payne/
Max Payne is a third-person neo-noir shooter. Gameplay features slow-motion abilities
that allow the player to view attacks advantageously, reposition the reticle, and then play
forward in real-time. Camera shots of the slow-motion bullets picked up the term “bullet
time” from Te Matrix movie series. Only single-player mode is available.

Metro 2033
Developer: 4A Games Released: 2010
Publisher: THQ, Deep Silver Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console
438 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: http://www.metrothegame.com/en-gb/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/286690/Metro_2033_Redux/
Metro is a horror frst-person shooter in a post-apocalyptic setting. Troughout the game
the character encounters humans and mutants, and is given subtle choices that afect the
cutscenes at the end of the game. Limited ammo and supplies encourage stealth and infu-
ence the choices the player faces.

Metroid
Developer: Nintendo R&D1, Intelligent Released: 1986
Systems Game type: Digital game
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Console, Arcade, Nintendo 3DS

More information: www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/NES/Metroid--275726.html

Available through: www.nintendo.com/games/detail/metroid-3ds/
Metroid is a single-player platformer with a 2D side-scrolling camera perspective. Te
game ofen requires players to scroll backward to retrace their steps in a nonlinear sto-
ryline. At the end of the game the character is revealed to be a female in spite of English-
language manuals using the “he” pronoun.

MidiMaze
Developer: Xanth Sofware F/X Released: 1987
Publisher: Hybrid Arts, Bulletproof Game type: Digital game
Sofware
Platforms: Atari ST, Game Boy, Game
Gear, SNES, PC-Engine CD-ROM

More information: www.atariprotos.com/8bit/sofware/midimaze/midimaze.htm

Available through: Not available
MidiMaze is a multiplayer maze frst-person game. Gameplay ofers a 360° turning ability
in a 3D maze. Players fre bullets at each other while traversing the maze. Up to 16 com-
puters could be networked together via MIDI ports, thus creating the frst deathmatch
multiplayer.

Mirror’s Edge
Developer: EA DICE Released: 2009
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, iOS,
Windows Phone
 Games Reference ◾ 439

More information: www.ea.com/games/mirrors-edge/mirrors-edge

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/17410/Mirrors_Edge/
Mirror’s Edge is an action-adventure platformer in frst person. Dynamic camera and
movement elements including momentum play a prominent role in the traversal play.
Tis is a single player game but a mode to download “ghosts” of other players to compete
against is available, as are additional short-timed maps.

Monument Valley
Developer: Ustwo Games Released: 2014
Publisher: Ustwo Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows
Phone

More information: www.monumentvalleygame.com/mv1

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/monument-valley/id728293409
Monument Valley is a nonlinguistic single-player puzzle game in an isometric view.
Gameplay consists of manipulating the environment to solve the puzzles, which include
visual illusions and impossible objects.

Myst
Developer: Cyan Inc. Released: 1993
Publisher: Brøderbund Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console, Mobile

More information: https://cyan.com/games/myst/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/63660/Myst_Masterpiece_Ed
ition/
Myst is a frst-person single-player puzzle adventure game. Te environment is interactive
and the play open-ended to encourage discovery and revisitation of areas of discovery.
Gameplay is entirely puzzle and discovery based, with no NPC enemies and no combat.
Characters cannot die.

NieR: Automata
Developer: PlatinumGames Released: 2017
Publisher: Square Enix Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4, PC, Xbox One
440 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nier:_Automata

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/524220/NieRAutomata/
Nier: Automata is a single-player open-world third-person action game that breaks many
gaming conventions. Te perspective of the game shifs from close third person to top-
down isometric or side scrolling depending on the needs of the narrative and gameplay.
Te narrative structure is also unusual in that the game is intended to be played multiple
times and changes radically with each playthrough.

Night in the Woods

Developer: Infnite Fall Released: 2017
Publisher: Finji Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console

More information: http://www.nightinthewoods.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/481510/Night_in_the_Woods/
Night in the Woods is a single-player adventure discovery game. It is third-person and
narrative-driven with themes of mental health and small-town socioeconomic collapse.

Ninja Pizza Girl

Developer: Disparity Games Released: 2015
Publisher: Disparity Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC)

More information: https://www.disparitygames.com/ninja-pizza-girl/

Available through: store.steampowered.com/app/319470/Ninja_Pizza_Girl/
Ninja Pizza Girl is a game about ninjas delivering pizza, but is also a serious game about
bullying and the emotional experience of being a teenage girl. Te game features traditional
action platforming but replaces combat with a system refecting the emotional state of the
character.

Noita
Developer: Nolla Games Released: 2019
Publisher: Nolla Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC

More information: https://noitagame.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/Noita/
Noita is a side-scrolling action-adventure game in a 2D open-world that is procedurally
generated. Each pixel in the game is interactable and has expressed physics. Only single-
player mode is available.
 Games Reference ◾ 441

Ori and the Blind Forest

Developer: Moon Studios Released: 2015
Publisher: Microsof Studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Nintendo
Switch

More information: www.orithegame.com/blind-forest/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/261570/Ori_and_the_Blind_
Forest/
Ori and the Blind Forest is an action-adventure platformer in 2D. Play includes puzzles
and skills progression in a Metroidvania manner. In order to save the game players must
collect energy cells, which are not abundant, making the player choose carefully where
and when to save the game. Te environment contains no repeated objects.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Developer: Moon Studios Released: 2020
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Xbox One

More information: www.orithegame.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1057090/Ori_and_the_Will_
of_the_Wisps/
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a direct sequel to the frst Ori game. Platforms and puzzles
are predominant with a strong narrative. Te save element was changed to auto in this
second game and the “shard” system has replaced the sequential skill-building.

Papers, Please
Developer: 3909 LLC Released: 2013
Publisher: 3909 LLC Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), iOS, PS Vita

More information: https://papersplea.se/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/Papers_Please/
Papers, Please is a puzzle simulation empathy game. Players take on the role of an immi-
gration ofcer in a fctitious postwar state and have to evaluate each immigrant as they
apply for passage. It is single-player and gameplay is conducted through a single-screen
interface, showing current paperwork, the current applicant, and an overall view of the
line forming in wait.
442 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Phantasy Star IV
Developer: Sega Released: 2012
Publisher: Sega Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Sega Genesis, PC

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasy_Star_IV

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/211205/Phantasy_Star_IV_T
he_End_of_the_Millennium/
Phantasy Star IV is a party adventure RPG in an isometric view. It includes turn-based
combat, overworld maps, exploration, and dungeon areas. It is single-player.

Planescape: Torment
Developer: Black Isle Studios, Beamdog, Released: 1999
IdeaSpark Labs Inc. Game Type: Digital game
Publisher: Interplay Entertainment
Platforms: PC, Linux, Mac, Android,
iOS, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One

More Information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape:_Torment

Available Trough: https://planescape.com/
Planescape: Torment is an isometric role playing game. Te narrative of the game was
more complex and nuanced than was common at the time of its release. Te game fea-
tures a large amount of text in the form of dialogue, item descriptions and diegetic
writing.

Pokémon Go
Developer: Niantic Released: 2016
Publisher: Niantic Game type: Digital game
Platforms: iOS, Android

More information: www.pokemongo.com/en-us/

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pok%C3%A9mon-go/id1094591345
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality mobile game using the Pokémon collectibles from
the franchise. It is location-based, and play consists of physically traversing the real world
and viewing it on your map interface with either an AR background or a virtually ren-
dered background and fnding the Pokémon on the map. PvP is available, as well as coop-
erative battles and captures.
 Games Reference ◾ 443

Pokémon: Sword / Pokémon: Shield

Developer: Game Freak Platforms: Switch
Publisher: Nintendo, Te Pokémon Released: 2019
Company Game Type: Digital game

More information: https://swordshield.pokemon.com/en-us/

Available through: https://swordshield.pokemon.com/en-us/
Pokémon: Sword and Pokémon: Shield are the 2020 editions of this franchise. Tey largely
follow the exploration, collection and combat formula of the previous versions, while
introducing open world elements and online play for small groups of players.

Poker
Game type: Card game

More information: https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/basics-of-poker/

Poker is a family of strategy card games played by 2 or more. It involves several sets of
rules for diferences in play, but consistently includes betting and elimination of players.
It is turn-based and consists of collecting prescribed sets of cards (three-of-a-kind, full
house, etc.) and placing bets into the pot based on the confdence level of the infuence
of the sets. Players do not reveal their sets to each other until a full round of betting has
been completed. Winning a round is having the highest set value; winners take the pot.

Poptropica
Developer: Jef Kinney Group, StoryArc Platforms: iOS
Media Released: 2007
Publisher: Pearson Education, Sandbox Game type: Digital game
Networks

More information: www.poptropica.com/

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/poptropica/id818709874
Poptropica is a 2D adventure platformer game with social multiplayer elements. More than
50 standalone adventures were produced for the game as well as multiplayer minigames
and procedurally generated worlds that players could modify to create their own levels to
share with other players.

Portal
Developer: Valve Released: 2007
Publisher: Valve Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Mac,
Linux, Android
444 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/Portal/
Portal is a puzzle-platform single-player game in frst-person. Interspatial portals are pro-
jectable via a portal gun device and the character can then pass through the portal. Play is
predominantly teleporting through these portals to solve the puzzles. Tere is no combat
in Portal.

Prince of Persia
Developer: Broderbund Released: 1989
Publisher: Broderbund Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console, Mobile

More information: https ://en .wik i pedia .org/ wik i/ Princ e_of_ Persi a _(1989_
video_game)
Available through: www.microsof.com/en-us/p/prince-of-persia-pc/9nblggh35r2n
Prince of Persia is a side-scrolling action game emphasizing jumping. Te use of rotoscop-
ing to capture realistic movement made this game an important milestone.

Prince of Persia (2008)

Developer: Ubisof Montreal Released: 2008
Publisher: Ubisof Montreal Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, Desktop (PC)

More information: https ://en .wiki pedia .org/ wiki/ Princ e_of_ Persi a _(2008_
video_game)
Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/19980/Prince_of_Persia/
Prince of Persia (the reboot 2008) is an action-adventure platformer with hack-and-slash
combat. Te game features an open-world to encourage exploration of the nonlinear plot.
Play is third-person. Te combat and open-world elements difer strongly from the origi-
nal Prince of Persia (1989) and also vary from the many sequels that followed that original.

Prototype
Developer: Radical Entertainment Released: 2009
Publisher: Activision Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
 Games Reference ◾ 445

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototype_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/10150/Prototype/
Prototype is an action-adventure in a sandbox-style but with a strong narrative. Te char-
acter is a shapeshifer, which enables assorted combat styles. Tis is a single-player game
in a third-person.

Q*bert
Developer: Gottlieb Intellivision, NES, Odyssey,
Publisher: Gottlieb Mobile, SG-1000, Standalone
tabletop, TI-99/4A, PS3-4, ZX
Platforms: Arcade, Atari
Spectrum
2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit,
ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Released: October, 1982
Game Boy Color, MSX, VIC-20, Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q*bert

Available through: www.sonypictures.com/games/qbert
Q*bert is an action/puzzle arcade game in an isometric view. Play consists of hopping on
cubes while avoiding obstacles and enemies. It is a one- to two-player game.

Quake
Developer: id Sofware Released: 1996
Publisher: GT Interactive Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2310/QUAKE/
Quake is a frst-person shooter. Te environment is a 3D dungeon crawl with medieval/
Gothicesque architecture. Quake has both single-player and multiplayer deathmatch
modes. Mods and add-ons exist to further the multiplayer options.

Red Dead Redemption

Developer: Rockstar San Diego Released: 2010
Publisher: Rockstar Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360

More information: www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption/

Available through: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1004-NPUB30638_
00-PSNREDDEAD2V0004
446 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Red Dead Redemption is a third-person action-adventure in an expansive open-world.

Te setting is a fctionalized American Old West in 1911, and horseback riding and gun-
fghting combat are prominent. Troughout the narrative the character is forced to make
morality choices that infuence their status in the game. Single-player and multiplayer are
available, and there are cooperative and competitive modes for multiplayer.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Developer: Rockstar Studios Released: 2019
Publisher: Rockstar Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia

More information: www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption2/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1174180/Red_Dead_Redempti
on_2/
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel to Red Dead Redemption and takes place in the same
expansive open-world setting. Tis game adds hunting and swimming, dual-weapon
wielding, dynamic NPC interactions, and the ability to use a bow. Te high level of detail
for actions and adventures was well received. Single-player and multiplayer are available.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Developer: Capcom Released: 2017
Publisher: Capcom Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Console

More information: http://www.residentevil7.com/us/#_top

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/418370/RESIDENT_EVIL_7_
biohazard__BIOHAZARD_7_resident_evil/
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a frst-person survival horror game. Unlike the rest of the
franchise, which focused on action, this game focuses on survival and exploration. It is
also the frst of the franchise to use a frst-person perspective. Tis is a single-player game;
VR is available on PS4.

Rock Band
Developer: Harmonix, Pi Studios Released: 2007
Publisher: MTV Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Band_(video_game)

Available through: https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Rock-Band/66acd00
0-77fe-1000-9115-d80245410829
 Games Reference ◾ 447

Rock Band is a rhythm game where 1–4 players use peripherals to mimic the musical
“notes” on their interface. Tere are four diferent peripherals: vocal, lead guitar, bass gui-
tar, and drums. Players can choose a character who will be locked into one type of musical
instrument. Single-player and multiplayer is available. Multiplayer is cooperative.

Roulette
Game type: Casino table game

More information: www.wikihow.com/Play-Roulette

Roulette is a betting game on a numbered wheel with two sections. Te croupier (dealer)
spins the wheel of numbers in alternating colors (usually red and black) in one direction,
while inside the wheel they spin a ball in the opposite direction, when momentum stops
the ball drops onto one of the numbers. Bets are placed before the spin in four types: what
color, what number, odd or even number, or low or high number. French/European rou-
lette has 37 numbers and American roulette has 38 (double zero).

Spacewar!
Developer: Steve Russell Released: 1962
Platforms: PDP-1, PC (emulator) Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar!

Available through: https://www.masswerk.at/spacewar/
In this, the frst video game, two players control simple two-dimensional representations
of space ships in the gravity well of a star. Tey can maneuver and fre at each other.
Te game was developed as a hardware demonstration by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz,
Wayne Wiitanen, Bob Saunders, and Steve Piner among others.

Scrabble
Developer: Alfred Mosher Butts Released: 1948
Publisher: Mattel, Hasbro Game type: Board game

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/320/scrabble

Scrabble is a tile-placing word game for two to four players. Play is turn-based. Te game
board is a 15-by-15 grid of squares. Te squares all have varied values. Te tiles each also
have a value. Players place whole words consisting of tiles with a letter each on the game-
board (utilizing other players tiles if they want) in a crossword-like manner. When the tile
pool is exhausted the player with the highest score on the board wins.
448 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Te Secret World
Developer: Funcom Released: 2012
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC

More information: www.secretworldlegends.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/215280/Secret_World_Legends/
Te Secret World is a MMORPG with strong horror and dark-fantasy elements. Players
may choose either frst-person or third-person and interact with both NPC and other
player characters. Te regions of the game are difculty-based but the setting is open
world. Tis game difers from other MMORPGs by making on-the-fy reconfguration of
abilities available at any time in the game. Multiplayer except for a novice introduction
section.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Developer: FromSofware Released: March 21, 2019
Publisher: Activision, FromSofware Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

More information: www.sekirothegame.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/814380/Sekiro_Shadows_Die
_Twice/
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a third-person stealth/action-adventure. Combat is focused
on unbalancing the enemy or breaking their poster to create an opening for a killing
blow. Tere is limited gear enhancement and a skill tree, but no large-scale investing
mechanism of improvements for character building. Only single-player mode is available.

Settlers of Catan
Developer: Klaus Teuber Released: 1995
Publisher: Kosmos, Catan Studio, and Game type: Board game
many others

More information: www.catan.com/#start

Available through: www.catan.com/game/catan
Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer strategy board game. Game play is the accumulation and
use of the resources as represented on the board, randomized with dice and enhanced
with bonus cards. Players may negotiate with each other and trade resources within their
turn. Tere are many expansions and adaptations to the main game. Te winner is the
frst player to get to ten Victory Points. Tree to four players, or up to six with expansions.
 Games Reference ◾ 449

Silent Hill
Developer: Konami Computer Platforms: PS, PSP, PS3
Entertainment Tokyo (Team Silent) Released: 1999
Publisher: Konami Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill_(video_game)

Available through: https://store.PS.com/en-us/product/UP9000-NPUJ00707_00-
0000000000000001
Silent Hill is a single-player survival-horror game in third-person. It uses 3D real-time
rendered environments made possible through limiting visibility with fog and darkness.
Te atmospheric and psychological elements of the horror motif are put into sharp relief
by the “everyman” character who is not skilled in combat. Tere are fve possible endings.

Silent Hill 2
Developer: Konami Computer Platforms: PS3, Xbox, PC
Entertainment Tokyo (Team Silent) Released: 2001
Publisher: Konami Game type: Digital game

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill_2

Available through: https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-us/Product/Silent-Hill-HD-Co
llection/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024b4e0845
Silent Hill 2 is the second installment in the Silent Hill series. Although the plot is unre-
lated, the main world mythos is the same and ˆ2 takes place in the same town (named
Silent Hill) as the frst game. While maintaining the same psychological and atmospheric
survival/horror mode as its predecessor, Silent Hill 2 focuses closely on navigation, puzzle-
solving, and avoidance of combat. Te game has six alternative endings. It is single-player.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Developer: Climax Studios Released: 2009
Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Wii, PS2, PSP

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill:_Shattered_Memories

Available through: www.PS.com/en-us/games/silent-hill-shattered-memories-psp/
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a reimagining and reframing of the frst Silent Hill.
Using the same premise and many of the same characters, this game places the plot in a
diferent fctional universe and includes new characters. Play is framed in two parts, the
frst being the creation of the character and scenario via the means of an interview format
450 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

that is also part of the plot. Te second part is the character’s quest. Unlike the frst game
of Silent Hill, there is no option for combat. Stealth, puzzles, strategy, and navigation are
prominent. Tere are four alternative endings. It is single-player.

Te Sinking City
Developer: Frogwares Released: 2019
Publisher: Bigben Interactive Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Console

More information: http://frogwares.com/games/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/750130/Te_Sinking_City/
Sinking City is a horror action-adventure game in third-person. Te play is an open-
world exploration and mystery-detective style. Te plot and themes are rooted in the H.P.
Lovecraf horror mythos. Only single-player mode is available.

Snatcher
Developer: Konami Released: 1988
Publisher: Konami Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Sega CD, PS, Sega Saturn

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snatcher_(video_game)

Available through: Not available
Snatcher is a mystery puzzle adventure game. Cinematic and narrative-driven play is con-
ducted in a semi-open world, with a static/animated display and tab menu options. Only
single-player mode is available.

Sonic Te Hedgehog (8-bit)

Developer: Ancient Released: 1991
Publisher: Sega Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Mobile, Console

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(1991_video_

game)
Available through: www.sega.com/games/sonic-hedgehog
Sonic Te Hedgehog is a platformer with a side-scrolling playfeld. Te 8-bit was devel-
oped for mobile devices and has all the same characteristics of the 16-bit version with less
complexity. Tere are more exploration elements in the slightly slower 8-bit version. It is
single-player.
 Games Reference ◾ 451

Soulcalibur
Developer: Project Soul Released: 1998
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, Dreamcast, iOS,
Xbox 360, Android

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulcalibur_(video_game)

Available through: www.microsof.com/en-us/p/soulcalibur/c27k7xx3dtrd
Te second Soul game in the series, this arcade-style hack-and-slash was ported to many
other consoles, including upgrades and multiple small diferences for each. Tis game
featured an overall improved movement system over its predecessor and favorable bufer-
ing for combat moves. Tere are 19 characters to choose from: 9 from the frst Soul game
and 10 new ones. Tird-person. 1–2 players.

Space Invaders
Developer: Taito Released: 1978
Publisher: Taito, Atari, Inc. and others Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, Atari,
Desktop, Android

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders

Available through: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.taito.am.spac
einvaders&hl=en_US
Space Invaders is an arcade fxed-shooter game. One to two players must shoot down a
barrage of enemies as quickly and accurately as possible with a fxed weapon that can only
move horizontally. Enemies scroll down from the top of the screen in rows.

Spec Ops: Te Line

Developer: Yager Development Released: 2012
Publisher: 2K Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), PS3, Xbox 360

More information: www.2k.com/en-US/game/spec-ops-the-line/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/50300/Spec_Ops_Te_Line/
Spec Ops: Te Line is a third-person shooter. Play consists of multiple war scenarios
including squad tactics and environmental hazards and advantages. Te plot challenges
the player to make morally ambiguous choices and confronts them with the ethical and
moral questions that war itself poses, while also calling into question the role of war
games as entertainment. Single and multiplayer modes are available, and multiplayer is
both cooperative or competitive.
452 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

’Splosion Man
Developer: Twisted Pixel Games Released: 2009
Publisher: Microsof Games Studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox 360

More information: http://www.splosionman.com/

Available through: https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-us/Product/Splosion-Man/66ac
d000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841098f
’Splosion Man is an action platform 3D game, in a side view. In this level-heavy game
the character’s only asset is his ability to explode. Obstacles, enemies, walls, and other
explosives can be triggered/exploded by using this skill, as well as events and the ability
to jump. Single-player and multiplayer modes are available.

StarCraf
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Released: 1998
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo 64

More information: https://starcraf.com/en-us/

Available through: https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/starcraf
StarCraf is a real-time sci-f strategy game in an isometric view. Tere are three races to
play, and each have their own set of military strategies and support economics. Tere are
single-player and multiplayer modes. Multiplayer is up to 8 players.

StarCraf II: Wings of Liberty

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Released: 2010
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac

More information: https://starcraf2.com/en-us/game

Available through: https://starcraf2.com/en-us/
StarCraf II was released as a trilogy, beginning with StarCraf II: Wings of Liberty. Each
game/expansion concentrates on one of the races from StarCraf. Wings of Liberty focuses
on the Terrans. Te expansions Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void complete the
trilogy. Tese games incorporate the same characters, story, and gameplay as StarCraf,
while introducing new elements and expanding the storyline. Single-player and multi-
player modes are available.
 Games Reference ◾ 453

Stardew Valley
Developer: Eric Barone, Sickhead Games Released: 2016
Publisher: Concerned Ape, Chucklefsh Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox
One, Nintendo Switch, PS Vita, IoS,
Android

More information: www.stardewvalley.net/

Available through: www.stardewvalley.net/
Stardew Valley is an isometric farming simulator with secondary crafing and combat and
social mechanics. Te game uses simple pixel-art style visuals and repetitive time manage-
ment gameplay. Some cooperative multiplayer elements have been added to the game post
release.

Starsiege: Tribes
Developer: Dynamix Released: 1998
Publisher: Sierra On-Line Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starsiege:_Tribes

Available through: www.tribesuniverse.com/
Starsiege: Tribes is a frst-person squad-based MMO shooter game and the frst in its
series. Tere are fve basic play types, and three character classes. Multiplayer.

Star Wars Roleplaying Game

Developer: Wizards of the Coast Released: 2000
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Game type: Physical game
Platforms: Tabletop

More information:
Tis tabletop RPG is set in the Star Wars universe and id unique in that it introduced
mechanics around the light and dark sides of the force. Tis game was produced between
2000 and 2010. Previous and subsequent Star Wars tabletop RPG’s use entirely diferent
systems and were developed independently.
454 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Street Fighter
Developer: Capcom Released: 1987
Publisher: Capcom Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, Desktop,
Console (Xbox One)

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Fighter_(video_game)

Available through: www.microsof.com/en-us/p/street-fghter-30th-anniversary-collect
ion/c24t2mrdbb3w
Street Fighter is a competitive third-person fghter arcade game. Pressure sensitive con-
trols in the deluxe edition add physicality to the combat, and play is up to two people. Te
game has two characters: a primary and a secondary for an additional player. Tere are
single-player and competitive play modes. Fluidity between modes exists. Tere are ten
AI opponents.

Summer Games
Developer: Epyx Released: 1984
Publisher: U.S. Gold Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Legacy Console,
Legacy Desktop, PC

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Games_(video_game)

Available through: https://classicreload.com/c64-summer-games.html
Summer Game is a sports simulator in the vein of the Olympics. Tere are several games
to compete in, which vary from platform to platform. Players choose a country to rep-
resent and compete in the games against AI or other players to win medals. Play is con-
ducted in third-person side view. Single and multiplayer modes are available.

Super Mario Bros.

Developer: Nintendo EAD Released: September 13, 1985
Publisher: Nintendo Game type: Digital game
Platforms: NES, Nintendo 3DS

More information: https://mario.nintendo.com/history/

Available through: www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-mario-bros-3ds/
Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling platformer. It is the successor to the arcade game
Mario Bros. Jumping is the primary combat move. Te game has eight “worlds” and each
world has four levels. Single-play and multiplayer cooperative modes are available.
 Games Reference ◾ 455

Super Mario Kart

Developer: Nintendo Released: 1992
Publisher: Nintendo Game type: Digital game
Platforms: SNES, Nintendo 3DS

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Kart

Available through: www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-mario-kart-3ds/
Super Mario Kart is a go-kart racing game in the third-person perspective 3D. Tis is the
frst in the Mario Kart series in the Mario world. Ofen considered the creator of the kart
genre, this game departed from the earlier platformers in the Mario world. Tere are eight
Mario Bros. characters to choose from and several modes of play including timed and
competitive. Single player and multiplayer modes available.

Super Mario World

Developer: Nintendo EAD Released: 1990
Publisher: Nintendo Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, SNES, Game Boy
Advance, Nintendo 3DS

More information: www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Super-Nintendo/Super-Mario-Wor

ld-752133.html
Available through: www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-mario-world-vc-snes-3ds/
Super Mario World is a side-scrolling platformer. It is the ffh in the Mario world. Tis
game introduced the character Yoshi and added the ability to foat or fy. Te navigation
is managed through both the side-scrolling feld and an overworld map view. Tere are
seven “worlds.” Single-player and multiplayer cooperative are available.

Super Meat Boy

Developer: Team Meat Released: November 30, 2010
Publisher: Team Meat Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Linux,
PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, Nintendo Switch

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Meat_Boy

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/40800/Super_Meat_Boy/
Super Meat Boy is a single-player platformer. It is the sequel to Meat Boy. Game play is
side-viewed, and timing and fne control are essential. Tere are unlockable alternate
characters, and hidden or unlockable levels.
456 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Tag
Game type: Physical/athletic

More information: www.wikihow.com/Play-Tag

Tag is a backyard or playground game consisting of two or more players. Te player who is
“it” must run and touch another player to “tag them out.” Te tagged player is then “out” or
becomes another “it” depending on the variation. Tere are many variations on the game.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Te Arcade Game

Developer: Konami Released: 1989
Publisher: Konami, Ultra Games, Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Arcade, PC, Xbox 360, PS2,
Game Cube

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_

(arcade_game)
Available through: http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/31368/Teenage+Mutant+
Ninja+Turtles+-+Te+Arcade+Game.html
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Te Arcade Game is a “beat-’em-up” combat game. Tis
arcade is based on the animated series of the same name. Players can choose one of the
four turtles from the series to play. One to four players (depending on platform) in a side-
scrolling 2D world. Tis game was released for other console platforms later.

Tetris
Developer: AcademySof Released: 1984
Publisher: AcademySof Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console, Mobile

More information: https://tetris.com/about-us

Available through: https://tetris.com/play-tetris
Tetris is a tile-matching vertical feld game. Players must match and combine falling tiles
in speed-based play. Players may only rotate, move, or speed up the falling pieces. Scoring
is based on combinations of stacked tiles and time. Te game is unending. Single-player
and multiplayer modes are available.

Tetris Efect
Developer: Monstars Resonair Released: 2018
Publisher: Enhance Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PS4, PC
 Games Reference ◾ 457

More information: www.tetrisefect.game/

Available through: www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/tetris-efect/home
Tetris Efect is a tile-matching vertical feld game much like its predecessor Tetris. Tetris
Efects has added few additional play features, including a zone feature to clear sections
of tiles. Tis game has enhanced themes, background graphics, music, and a variety of
play-style choices. Te music element is pivotal to the timing in this version. Single-player
and multiplayer modes are available.

Tey Are Billions

Developer: Numantian Games Released: 2019
Publisher: Numantian Games, BlitWorks Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

More information: http://www.numantiangames.com/theyarebillions/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/644930/Tey_Are_Billions/
Tey Are Billions is a real-time survival strategy game in an isometric view. Players must
manage resources, plan developments, and fght of invasions of enemy zombies. Only
single-player mode is available.

Tis War of Mine

Developer: 11 bit studios, War Child Released: 2014
Publisher: 11 bit studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console,
Mobile

More information: http://www.thiswarofmine.com/#stories

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/282070/Tis_War_of_Mine/
Tis War of Mine is a survival war strategy game. It’s a side-scrolling 3D landscape of
a war-torn city. Te player is responsible for a party of “Survivors” ranging from 1 to 4
and must manage resources to keep everyone alive until a “ceasefre.” With point-and-
click the player chooses characters to do tasks. Gameplay duration is randomly gener-
ated. Some playthroughs take only several “weeks” to complete, while other playthroughs
might take “months.” Usable items in the gamespace are also randomly generated so no
two playthroughs are ever the same. Only single-player mode is available.

Ticket to Ride
Developer: Alan R. Moon Released: 2004
Publisher: Days of Wonder Game type: Board game
458 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-ride

Ticket to Ride is a railway-building turn-based strategy board game for two to fve play-
ers. Cards are used to purchase game tokens. Players are given a choice of destinations
to connect (pairs of cities) at the beginning of play. Tey then have a hand of cards and
an additional pool to pick from to build railway connections between these chosen cities.
Players who connect their destinations get points. During play, additional destination
cards can be purchased. Destinations that are not connected count against player’s points
at the end of the game.

Tomb Raider
Developer: Core Design Released: 1996
Publisher: Eidos Interactive Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Legacy Console,
Desktop (PC), Mobile

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_(1996_video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/224960/Tomb_Raider_I/
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure in an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective.
Tere are many puzzles and platforming in the 3D world, encouraging player exploration.
Minimal combat, mostly with wild animals, adds to the adventure. Only single-player
mode is available.

Tomb Raider (2013 reboot)

Developer: Crystal Dynamics Released: 2013
Publisher: Square Enix Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), PS4,
Xbox One, Stadia

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_(2013_video_game)

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/203160/Tomb_Raider/
Tomb Raider, the 2013 reboot, is an action-adventure over-the-shoulder third-person game.
Much of the style of the gameplay is the same, but in this reboot the survival narrative is the
goal rather than mystery-solving or fnding objects. More combat and stealth oriented than
the earlier games in the series. Single-player and multiplayer modes are available.

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Developer: inXile Entertainment Released: 2016
Publisher: Techland Publishing[ Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC), PS4, Xbox One
 Games Reference ◾ 459

More information: https://tormentgame.com/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/272270/Torment_Tides_of_N
umenera/
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a third-person isometric perspective RPG in pre-rendered
3D. Tis narrative-driven game has complex character interaction with NPC and a highly
personalizable character-creation process. Only single-player mode is available.

Total War: Warhammer 2

Developer: Creative Assembly Released: 2017
Publisher: Sega Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Desktop (PC)

More information: www.totalwar.com/games/warhammer-ii/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/594570/Total_War_WAR
HAMMER_II/
Total War: Warhammer 2 is a real-time strategy game with a detailed isometric view.
Players must manage resources and armies. Tere is a strong narrative, and players who
have both the frst Warhammer game and this second one unlock a special multiplayer
option. Both single-player and multiplayer options are available.

Train
Developer: Brenda Romero Game type: Board game
Released: 2009

More information: http://brenda.games/train

Train is a one-of-a-kind (only one copy exists) board game using a dice/card system to
depict the transportation of Jews to concentration camps. Players are not told what the
tokens represent or where the trains are going at the beginning of play. Play is turn-based
and players have to load tokens into their trains and move the trains toward their destina-
tions. Generally play changes dramatically when the frst destination card is revealed at
arrival. Outcomes vary, winning is ambiguous, and rules are lef intentionally vague. Te
intent of the game concerns complicity and the players’ feelings toward it.

Trespasser
Developer: DreamWorks Interactive Released: 1998
Publisher: Electronic Arts Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC
460 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trespasser_(video_game)

Available through: https://gamefabrique.com/games/jurassic-park-trespasser/
Trespasser is an action-adventure game set in the Jurassic Park universe. Play is frst-
person. Trespasser was ahead of its time in many design and engine implementations,
creating issues with the computers at the time that could not render and run the game
fast enough. Te rushed development of the game compounded these issues, resulting
in less than satisfactory movement and graphics despite their cutting-edge intent. Only
single-player mode is available.

Trials HD
Developer: RedLynx Released: 2009
Publisher: Microsof Game Studios Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Xbox 360

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trials_HD

Available through: www.microsof.com/en-us/p/trials-hd/c0pk4504xscn?activetab=p
ivot:overviewtab
Trials HD is a motorcycle racing game. It is the third in the Trials series. Tis game
includes 2.5D-enhanced graphics courses, an improvement on the graphics of previous
Trials. It also includes modifcations to the management of physics, and although the
physics is almost realistic, it has been tweaked to create a slightly enhanced feel. Trials
HD also includes a level editor where players can create and share their own courses. Only
single-player mode is available.

Vikings: War of Clans

Developer: Plarium Released: 2015
Publisher: Plarium Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Browser, iOS, Android

More information: https://plarium.com/en/strategy-games/vikings-war-of-clans/

Available through: https://plarium.com/en/strategy-games/vikings-war-of-clans/
Vikings: War of Clans is an MMO strategy game. Play consists of resource management
and competitive strategy. While groups of players are encouraged to create and partici-
pate in Clans through rewards and cooperative elements, both voluntary and game-man-
aged, it is not necessary to be a member of a Clan. Multiplayer.

Virginia
Developer: Variable State Released: September 22, 2016
Publisher: 505 Games Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One
 Games Reference ◾ 461

More information: https://505games.com/games/virginia/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/374030/Virginia/
Virginia is a frst-person mystery game. Cinematic editing and minimalistic interactive
objects draw focus toward a narrative-driven story. Only single-player mode is available.

VVVVVV
Developer: Terry Cavanagh Released: September 7, 2010
Publisher: Nicalis Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, Mac,
Linux, Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita, PS4, iOS,
Android, Ouya, Commodore 64, Pandora

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VVVVVV

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/70300/VVVVVV/
VVVVVV is a puzzle platformer in a side-view, side-scrolling 2D game. Unlike other
platformers this game utilizes the manipulation of gravity rather than the option to jump.
Only single-player mode is available.

Te Walking Dead
Developer: Telltale Games, Skybound Released: 2012
Games Game type: Digital game
Publisher: Telltale Games
Platforms: Desktop (PC), Console, Mobile

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Walking_Dead_(video_game_

series)
Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/207610/Te_Walking_Dead/
Te Walking Dead is an episodic, third-person, story-driven game. In this graphic adven-
ture style, players’ choices both in action and in dialogue trees manipulate the actions
and reactions of NPCs. Te game allows players to compare their choices with others who
have played the game, as well as “rewinds” to explore other choice options. Only single-
player mode is available.

Warcraf: Orcs & Humans

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Released: November 23, 1994
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: MS-DOS, Classic Mac OS

More information: www.blizzard.com/en-us/games/legacy/

Available through: www.gog.com/game/warcraf_orcs_and_humans
462 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Warcraf: Orcs & Humans is a real-time strategy game in a top-down view. Tis is the
frst game in the Warcraf universe and departed from the usual RTS games by includ-
ing new types of quests and missions that varied play from the norm. Single-player and
multiplayer modes are available.

Warhammer 40,000 (eighth edition)

Developer: Games Workshop, Citadel Released: 1983
Miniatures, Forge World Game type: Board game
Publisher: Games Workshop

More information: https://warhammer40000.com/

Warhammer 40,000 is a miniatures wargame. Play is conducted on a tabletop “battle-
feld” with players each presenting their models of troops and vehicles on either end. In
turn players move their models into battle formations and wins are decided with math
and dice rolls. All models are predetermined in the rulebook, but must be assembled and
painted by the players. Te eighth edition updated the rules to ofer a simplifed beginner-
friendly approach. Two or more players.

Warhammer Quest 2: Te End of Times

Developer: Perchang Released: January 31, 2019
Publisher: Perchang, Chilled Mouse Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch,
Mobile

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/videogame/228149/warhammer-quest-

2-end-times
Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/910450/Warhammer_Que
st_2_Te_End_Times/
Warhammer Quest 2 is a tactical strategy RPG game in 3D with a rotational view. It is the
second of the Warhammer Quest digital games and based of of the Warhammer Quest
board game in the Warhammer Series. It has turn-based combat and mimics the board
game. Only Single Player is available.

Werewolf (Mafa)
Developer: Dimitry Davidof Game type: Board game
Released: 1986

More information: www.playwerewolf.co/rules

Available through: www.playwerewolf.co/buy-werewolf
 Games Reference ◾ 463

Tis game designed by Dimitry Davidof created the social deduction genre and has gone
on to be adapted into various forms. It has been released commercially with diferent
themes, the most successful versions are Werewolf, Ultimate Werewolf, and WitchHunt.
Te game provides very little information to players and creates a situation of distrust to
drive social gameplay.

White Death
Developer: Nina Runa Essendrop Game type: Live-action role-playing game
Released: 2012

More information: http://www.ninaessendrop.com/white-death/

White Death is a nonverbal live-action RPG. Restricted player movement and emotional
direction create an intense emotional experience. Also notable is the use of light to defne
the playspace and music to denote the progression of time.

Te Witness
Developer: Tekla, Inc. Released: 2016
Publisher: Tekla, Inc. Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, iOS

More information: http://the-witness.net/news/media/

Available through: https://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/Te_Witness/
Te Witness is a frst-person puzzle game in an open-world environment. Play is con-
ducted by solving puzzles as the player moves toward the center of the island. Rules and
instructions are given to the player in the form of the puzzles themselves, adding com-
plexity as the player progresses. Keen observation of the environment also plays a role.
Only single-player mode is available.

Words With Friends

Developer: Zynga, Newtoy Released: 2009
Publisher: Zynga Game type: Digital game
Platforms: Android, iOS, Facebook,
Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, Windows
Phone, Windows

More information: www.zynga.com/games/words-with-friends-2/

Available through: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/words-with-friends-classic/id321916
506
464 ◾ Pattern Language for Game Design

Words With Friends is a tile-placing crossword-like word game. Players have a selection of
tiles with letters on each tile. Each tile has a value. In turn-based play, players create words
with their tiles and place them on a board. Te winner is the player with the highest score
when all the tiles are used. Multiplayer.

World of Warcraf
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Released: 2004
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment Game type: Digital game
Platforms: PC, Mac

More information: https://worldofwarcraf.com/en-us/

Available through: https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/family/world-of-warcraf
World of Warcraf is an MMORPG set in the Warcraf universe and is the fourth game
in the series. Play is either over-the-shoulder third- or frst-person in a 3D open-world.
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Index

AAA titles, 6, 308 Basic Pattern Exercise, 79–87

Adaptation, 194, 227, 333 Bastion, 59, 66
Additive patterns, 327 “Battle arena” gameplay mode, 92
Advanced Warfare, 7 Battle Chess, 187
Age of Empires, 372 Battlefeld (helicopter), 151–154
Aggressive player actions, enhancing, 83 Battleship, 371
AI, see Artifcial intelligence Beat Saber, 126, 227, 288, 292
Alexander, Christopher, 3–4, 11–12, 14, Bejeweled, 291
38–39, 41–42, 219–221, 226, 227, Te Binding of Isaac, 131, 133, 135
397, 399 BioShock, 174, 177, 182, 200
A Pattern Language by, 10, 11, 21 Black & White, 289
criticisms, 24–26 Borderlands 3, 350–354, 356
implications for games, 27–28 Boss encounter patterns, 158–163
pattern theory, 24 Braid, 80
Alexandrian patterns, 41, 44, 45, 147–148 Breaking spaces patterns, 185–198
Alice, 81 Bringing About the Apocalypse pattern,
Alternative patterns, 327 143–145
American McGee’s Alice, 404 Broad game scope, 262
Ammo, limiting, 70 Brothers, a Tale of Two Sons, 366, 368
Among the Sleep, 289, 292 Building a pattern language, 314–330
Anarchy Online, emergent narrative
pattern in, 167 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, 7
And Now I Guess We’re Doing Tis Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, 182
pattern, 255–257 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, 6–7
Anthem, 66, 86, 99, 140, 167, 235, 252, 253, Canabalt, 272
256, 272, 273 Candy Crush, 342
Anti-patterns, 32, 72–74, 327 Can I Do Tis Alone? pattern, 284–286
Architectural weenie, 60–61, 64, 65 Carcassonne, 188
Architecture, 13, 22–24, 224 Castlevania, 420
Artifcial intelligence (AI), 8, 91, 187 Catalogue Editing, 32
Artists, 14–15 Catan Universe, 189
Assassin’s Creed, 65, 81, 114, 234, 241 Categorizing patterns, 392
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, 226, 244–245 Catherine, 211
Assessing patterns from others, 389–390 Character and goal, obstacles
Audience of a game, 28 between, 358
Audience patterns, 293–302 Character growth, 273
Authority, privileged, 73–74 Character limitation, 273
469
470 ◾ Index

Character power, 244, 272–273 Devil May Cry, 81, 271

Chess, 187 Diablo, 105, 107
Child patterns, 64, 170, 325, 382 Disco Elysium, 209
Circular pattern, 71 Dominion, 120
Circulation patterns, 147–154 Donkey Kong, 80, 371, 374
Clash Royale, 93 Don’t Intellectualize My Pain pattern, 101,
Clue, 189 110–112
Coercive Ludonarrative Resonance Don’t Starve, 131, 133, 135
pattern, 203–207, 364 Doom, 81, 91, 95, 105, 107, 116, 119, 122,
Cognition patterns, 321 236, 278–279, 281, 285, 292, 372
Common Pattern (+1), 57 Doom 2016, 260
Complete pattern language, 42, 54 Doom Eternal, 360
Computer science, pattern languages in, Dragon Age: Inquisition, 266, 268–269
29–32 Draugen, 59–60, 66
Confdence, pattern, 56–57 Dreamfall, 259
Construction of pattern language, 313 Dreamfall: Te Longest Journey, 259, 263,
Context, defned, 45 266–267
Contrast, 230–231 Dungeons & Dragons, 118, 120, 123, 246
Convenience, 273 Dust: An Elysian Tale, 98
Core mechanics, patterns from, 241–250
Crackdown, 81 Echochrome, 289
Crash Bandicoot, 342 Echoes, 234
Cuphead, 372 Educational games, 6, 321–322
Education in game-making, 8
Dark Souls, 99, 101, 148, 280–283, 285, Te Elder Scrolls, 245, 280, 282, 342–343
350–354, 356, 358, 360 Te Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, 252, 253
Dead Friend/Good Until It’s Gone Te Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, 64, 165
pattern, 366–367 Te Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, 292
Dead Space, 104–106, 174, 178, 182, 307 Elder Sign: Omens, 188
Dear Esther, 59, 66, 160–161, 163, 206, 211, Te Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, 171
213, 298, 351–356 Eliminating patterns, 370–374
Death Stranding, 209, 213, 367, 368 Embedded and environmental narrative
Demonstrated Pattern (+1), 57 patterns, 174–183
Design element Emergent narrative patterns, 163–173
formal game, 103–104 Emily is Away, 367, 368
functional game, 115–116 Emotional motivation, creating, 7
naming, 63 Emotional patterns, 124–129
problem-solving, 64 Empty Nest pattern, 367–368
Designing with pattern language, 379 Enemy soldiers, 7
as the basis of design, 381–383 Engagement patterns, 322
integration into existing design Eve Online, 131, 133, 245–246
processes, 380–381 Exercises, Pattern, see Pattern Exercises
Design patterns, 40 Experienced designers, 84
Design problem, 4, 37, 55 Experienced game designers, 15
patterns addressing, 69–70
solving, 65–66 Fable II, 363
Destructible armor, 70 Fallen London, 165, 166
Developing with patterns, 387–388 Fall of the Last City, 137–139
 Index ◾ 471

Fallout 3, 137, 139 Gravity Rush, 81

Familiarity Breeds Contempt pattern, 123, Greater Choice Requires Greater
267–270 Motivation pattern, 172–173,
Feature, defned, 45 247–250
Feedback, providing, 388–389 Gris, 126
Female characters, 71 Group pattern exercises, 390
Fez, 372 Guild Wars 2, 81, 144
Fighting games, 70–71, 91, 95, 119, 150 Gym battles, 92
Fight Like You Live pattern, 121–124,
157, 293 Half-Life, 174, 233
Final Fantasy VIII, 342 Halo, 105, 108
Final Fantasy 13, 105, 108, 111 Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifce, 206,
Te First Choice, 286–293 297–298, 301
First-person games, 371, 373 Hero Clicker, 98
First-person shooter (FPS) game, 37, Higher-Order Patterns, 62–63, 89–96
70, 153 High-rises, construction of, 22, 23
Te Flame and the Flood, 141 Horizon Zero Dawn, 114, 140, 246,
Flashback, 83 248–249, 279–280, 282, 285
fOw, 371, 374
Focused patterns, 147–183 I Could Be Bounded in a Nutshell and
Forces, defned, 45 Count Myself a King of Infnite
Formal games education, 8 Space pattern, 154–157
Formal patterns, 102–114 Ideation phase of game design, 44
Fortnight, 92–93 Illimat, player experience pattern in,
FPS game, see First-person shooter game 131, 133
Fridging, 7 I’ll Miss Our Time Together pattern, 203
Functional game designer, 10 I’m Doing It As Hard As I Can pattern,
Functional patterns, 16, 87, 102, 115–124 101, 135, 340–344, 364
Immersion, maintaining, 83
Gabriel, Richard, 29–30 Imminent Death pattern, 44
Galak-Z, 151–153, 156 Implications for games, 27–28
Game, Know Tyself pattern, 261–264 Independent Sources (+1), 57
Game Developers Conference (GDC), 8 Infamous, 363
Game Perspective pattern, 371–372 Information discovery phase, 33
GDC, see Game Developers Conference Inner calm, 235–237
Gears of War, 288, 373 Innovation, patterns in, 207–214
Genre, categories from, 320 Institutional pattern language, 387
Genre expectations, 262, 266 Integration patterns, 321
Geometry Dash, 80, 82 Interactive Institute Swedish ICT,
Gloomhaven, 167–168 48–49
God of War, 201, 205, 279, 281–282 Interlock, deep, 229–230
GoldenEye 007, 151–153 I See Where You Are Going with Tis
Gone Home, 28, 174, 297, 307 pattern, 307–309
“Good” building, 23 Isometric games, 373
Good shape, 227–228 It All Depends on How You Look at It
Graded variation, 231–232 pattern, 291–293
Gradius, 341–342 I Tought You Should Know pattern, 172,
Grand Tef Auto, 59, 65 181–183
472 ◾ Index

Journey, 59, 65, 105, 106, 111, 125–126, Magic: Te Gathering Arena, 197
128, 351–356, 358, 367, 369 Magic: Te Gathering Online, 436
Jumping, 62, 63, 72, 80–83, 86 Mario Kart, 342
Jumpman, 80 Mass Efect, 105, 108, 263, 266
Just Look at What You’ve Become pattern, Mass Efect 1, 2, and 3, 260
343, 361–364 Massively multiplayer online game
(MMO), 66, 99
Keywords, 61 Max Payne, 200–201, 205
adding, 316–318 McGee, Kevin, 45–46
creating, 391–392 Meta-level patterns, 323
Kind Fortress, 47–48 METATOPIA conference, 10
Kingdom Death: Monster, 118, 120, 123, Metro 2033, 105, 107–108, 111, 139–140
168, 171–172, 210, 351–356 Metroid, 420
Know Your Past, Know Your Future, Micro, Macro, and Meta Circulation
Know Yourself pattern, 195–198 Patterns, 147–157
Kreimeier, Bernd, 41 Micro-level patterns, 323
MidiMaze, 105
Labyrinth, 177, 189, 190, 197 Minecraf, 175, 245
Language Organizing, 32 Mirror’s Edge, 80, 105, 107–108, 111,
LARPs, see Live-action role-playing games 139–140, 272, 275
Last Blade, 99 Missing patterns, fnding, 250–257
Te Last of Us, 139, 144, 271 MMO, see Massively multiplayer
League of Legends, 291 online game
Lef 4 Dead, 342 Modern architecture, 22, 23
Legacy of Kain, 363 Modern buildings, 21, 22
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, 201 Monetization, 8
Legend of Zelda, 104, 105, 111, 291 Monster Hunter World, 151–153
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, 372 Monument Valley, 125, 127, 236, 288, 307
Te Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Moon Hunters, 166
165, 272, 275 More or Less Running Away pattern,
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 150, 274–276
152, 153 Movement and attack, 83
Leitner, Helmut, 24 MTG: Arena, 187–188
Lenses, example pattern from, 349–361 Multiplayer shooter, 70
Life is Strange, 43, 118, 121, 126, 131–133, Myst, 281, 283, 351–353, 355, 356, 359
135, 160, 162–163, 235, 253, Mystery-Driven Exploration pattern,
266–267 58–61
Limited Pattern (+1), 57
Live-action role-playing games (LARPs), Naming convention for patterns, 44
10, 47, 322 Narrative-driven games, 43
Local symmetries, 228–229 Narrative roughness, 233
Loneliness, 297, 301, 351–354, 356, 358 Te Nature of Order (Christopher
Te Long Dark, 140 Alexander), 23
Lower-order patterns, 96–102 Negative patterns, 73, 257–264
NES game, see Nintendo Entertainment
Macro-level patterns, 148, 323 System game
Magic: Te Gathering, 117, 120, New pattern exercises, creating, 375
187–188, 198 analyzing the examples, 377
 Index ◾ 473

articulating the pattern, 377 Pattern confdence, 56–57

framing the intent of the exercise, 376 Pattern Exercises, 61–67, 77–78
listing and describing examples, 376 basic, 79–87
Next Time, Gadget! pattern, 203 group, 390
Nier: Automata, 211, 289 new pattern exercises, creating,
Night in the Woods, 126, 297 375–377
Ninja Gaiden, 279, 281 structural, see Structural pattern
Ninja Pizza Girl, 108 exercises
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) A Pattern Language by Christopher
game, 91 Alexander, 10, 11, 21
Noita, 126 criticisms, 24–26
Non-player characters (NPCs), 15, 72, implications for games, 27–28
195, 198 pattern theory, 24
Not separateness, 237–238 Pattern Mining, 32
NPCs, see Non-player characters Pattern name, 85
Pattern Prototyping, 32
Object decomposition, 29 Pattern recognition, 14
Object-oriented programing, 29–30 Pattern relationships, pitfalls of, 365
Oh! Tat Went Unexpectedly Well Patterns, defned, 3–4, 13
pattern, 127–129 Patterns in Game Design (Bjoörk and
Older buildings, 21 Holopainen 2006), 35–38,
Old Me Was Afraid of Old You, But New 344–346
Me Is Stronger! … And Now Pattern template, 41, 45, 48, 54–57, 67
I’m Afraid of New You pattern, Pattern theory, 24, 32, 46
100–102, 343 Pattern writers workshops, 33
One of Tese Days Tat's Going To Get Pattern Writing, 32
You Killed pattern, 85–87, Pedagogy, categories from, 321–322
135, 343 Persona 5, 209–210
Organizing and maintaining a pattern Personal language, 33
language, 333 Phantasy Star IV, 202
combining patterns, 365–366 Planescape: Torment, 363
integrating patterns from other Player experience pattern, 129–136
sources, 333–335 Player limitation, 273
lenses, example pattern from, 349–361 Player manipulation patterns, 198–207
pattern relationships, pitfalls of, 365 Player retention, 8
Ori and the Blind Forest, 64, 245, 249 Player versus player (PvP) battles, 92
Ori and the Will of the Wisps, 114, 233, Player versus player (PvP) frst-person
357, 369 shooter, 345
Other people’s patterns, developing Player’s exploration, 64
with, 390 Poker, 131, 132
Other’s projects, reviewing, 391 Pokémon Go, 92, 246, 249, 269, 307,
351–356
Pacing, need for, 262 Pokémon Sword/Pokémon Shield, 260
Pac-Man, 339, 371, 373 Poptropica, 9, 81
Papers, Please, 5 Portal, 160, 162, 307, 372
Parent patterns, adding existing, 324–325 Positive patterns from negative patterns,
Te Path, 210 264–270
Pathologic, 210 Positive space to games, 226
474 ◾ Index

Potential patterns. 41, 62 categories from patterns in game

Prescriptive patterns, 71–72 design, 320–321
Presentation patterns, 321–322 disciplines, categories from, 319
Prince of Persia, 81, 372 genre, categories from, 320
Te Prisoner’s Dilemma (iterative), live-action role-playing game (LARP)
202–203 design, categories from, 322
Problems in proposed patterns, 69 meta-, macro-, and micro-level
anti-patterns, 72–73 patterns, 323–324
circular pattern, 71 pattern categories, 319
desire to be the authority/kill your pedagogy, categories from, 321–322
babies, 73–74 Scrabble, 189, 190
jumping to conclusions, 72 Te Secret World, 66, 99, 105–107, 111, 114,
patterns addressing design problem, 150, 152–153, 162, 259–260, 272
69–70 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, 86, 132, 252,
prescriptive patterns, 71–72 253, 256
shallow patterns, 70–71 Self-determination theory, 26
Problem-solving, 83 Sense of danger, creating, 82
Project-specifc languages, 42 Settlers of Catan, 6, 189, 190
Protagonist and antagonist, relationship Sexist perception, 70
between, 359 Shalev, Isaac, 47
Prototype, 201–202 Shallow patterns, 44, 70–71, 340
Punching, 83 Side-view games, 371, 373
Silent Hill, 105, 107, 122–123, 289
Q*bert, 80, 372 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, 272
Quake, 81, 150–152, 155–156, 252, 253 Silent Hill 2, 83, 111, 159–162, 178–179,
Qualitative language, 25 259, 272, 275
Simulated systems, 6
Raids, 92 Single Example Pattern (+1), 57
Real-time strategy (RTS) game, 70 Singleton, 31
Red Dead Redemption, 202 Te Sinking City, 272
Red Dead Redemption 2, 43, 144 Ski jumping, 82
Repetition, alternating, 225 Skyrim, 59, 66, 93, 95, 98, 100–101, 242
Resident Evil 7, 292 Snatcher, 342
Te Risk of Knowing You pattern, Social and behavioral science, pattern
134–136, 343 languages in, 32–33
Rock Band, 91–92 Social interaction and teaching
Rocket jumping, 82 patterns, 322
Role-playing games (RPGs), 71, 323 Soulcalibur, 81, 91, 95, 150–153, 156, 202
Te Room, 66, 288–289 Space Invaders, 116, 118–119, 339, 341
Roughness, 232–234 Spatial and Temporal Design class, 11
Roulette, 130–132 Spec Ops: Te Line, 6, 7, 198, 205, 297, 363
RPGs, see Role-playing games Speculative Patterns, 48
RTS game, see Real-time strategy game Splosion Man, 81
Te Stanley Parable, 210
Sagan, Carl, 14 Star Citizen, 151–152, 154, 156
Sandbox games, 43 StarCraf, 117, 119, 123, 131, 133
Schell, Jesse, 220 StarCraf II, 373
Scope of Pattern Language, 318 Stardew Valley, 269
 Index ◾ 475

Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 252, 253 Tere Had Better Be a Very Good
Static Generator, 39 Explanation for Tis pattern,
Stereotypes, 16 212–214
Street Fighter, 81, 104, 106, 111, 117, 119 Tey Are Billions, 140
Strong centers, 223–224 Tird-person games, 373
Subtractive patterns, 327 Tis Game Isn’t about You … But It Is for
A Suddenly Empty Nest pattern, 368–369 You pattern, 300–302
Summer Games, 272 Tis War of Mine, 297
Summoners War, 93 Te Tree Bears Teory of Level Size
Superhuman jumping abilities, 82–83 pattern, 94–96
Super Mario Bros., 80, 82, 85–86, 91, 114, Te Tree Pillars of Meaning in Emergent
116, 119, 123, 237, 252, 253, 271, Narrative pattern, 170–173
280, 282, 372 Ticket to Ride, 188
Super Mario World, 81 Tomb Raider, 81, 135, 148, 288, 292
Super Meat Boy, 81 Torment: Tides of Numenera, 117, 119, 123,
Susurrus: Season of Tides, 166–167 140–141, 253
Symmetry, defned, 228–229 Total War: Warhammer 2, 372
Totten, Christopher, 12
Tag, 272 Traditional architecture, 23
Target audience of a game, 28 Train, 5
Teaching the Pattern Language, 385 Trespasser, 104–106
assessing a pattern language, 392–394 Trials HD, 81
assessing patterns from others, Tribes, 81
389–390 Tropes, 16
categorizing patterns, 392 Twilight Princess, 367, 368
designing exercise using patterns,
394–396 Understanding, using patterns for, 270
developing with patterns, 387–388
dividing the examples, 390–391 Validated Pattern (+1), 57
feedback, providing, 388–389 Vikings: War of Clans, 350, 352–354, 356,
group pattern exercises, 390 359
institutional pattern language, 387 Virginia, 206, 210–211, 213, 235, 296, 301,
keywords, creating, 391–392 351–356
other people’s patterns, developing Te Void, 210
with, 390 Void property, 234–235
other’s projects, reviewing, 391 Vulnerability, 272
Team Fortress 2, circulation patterns in, VVVVVV, 81
151–153
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Te Arcade Te Walking Dead, 131, 132, 134–135, 140,
Game, 342 367–369
Template, Pattern, see Pattern template Warcraf, 351–356
Temporally Unavailable Space pattern, Warhammer, 188
112–114 Warhammer Quest 2, 198
Tetris, 92, 291, 350, 352–354, 356, 358, 359 Well-formed pattern, needs of, 46
Te Tetris Efect, 126, 128–129, 131–132 We’re Going to a Dark Place Together
Teme patterns, 136–145 pattern, 161–163
Teoretical Pattern (+0), 57 Werewolf, 202
Teoretical patterns, 303–309 Western architectural tradition, 27
476 ◾ Index

Western shooter games, 27 strong centers, 223–224

White Death, 172, 209 symmetries, local, 228–229
Wholeness in game design, 219 void property, 234–235
boundaries, 224 Te Witness, 351–353, 355, 356, 359
contrast, 230–231 Wolfenstein, 372
echoes, 234 Words With Friends, 189, 190
good shape, 227–228 World of Warcraf, 118, 120, 123,
graded variation, 231–232 351–355
inner calm, 235–237 World of Warcraf: Wrath of the
interlock, deep, 229–230 Lich King, 160, 162
levels of scale, 222–223
not separateness, 237–238 Zelda, 64, 98, 100, 280, 282
positive space, 226 Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 86, 93–94, 148,
repetition, alternating, 225 223, 252, 253, 256
roughness, 232–234 Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 156–157