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Hi All,
As part of my research project, I’m interested in finding out what we might learn from games and playing. The following questionnaire aims to see if any of us use games to challenge our personalities and perhaps to inspire or better ourselves in some ways.
Choose a game that changed the way you think about something in the real world — even in a small way. This doesn’t have to be a tangible thing; it could be an aspect of the way you live your life — an attitude. Also, it doesn’t have to be a video game, but you must answer from the perspective of a player (being a football fan doesn’t count). It also doesn’t have to be your favourite game, but you’ll probably have an easier time answering the questions if it is.
1. What is the name of this game?
2. What format does the game take?
3. Please briefly describe the gameplay.
4. Does this game cause you to focus on a particular aspect of your personality?
5. Have you ever learned something about yourself that surprised you when you were playing this game?
6. Do you feel that when you play this game it displays more of your own talents and skills or are you more aware of the talents of the game’s creator?
7. Is the represented context of the game (if there is one) important to you? (For instance, the terrorism theme of Counter-Strike may be particularly meaningful to you because of the World’s current social climate)
8. Do you continue to learn new things from this game? Why?
9. If the answer to the last question was “no”, do you continue to play this game? Why?
10. Do you feel that this game stimulates a particular sense in you more than others? (Obviously we don’t have games that stimulate taste and smell, but you might include something like a sense of synchronisation here or a sense of “getting to know what’s just around the corner”).
11. What skills do you think are required to play this game?
12. Without using standard genre buzzwords (action-adventure, FPS, RPG, etc.), please describe this game in 5 words or phrases. Please don’t just say “it’s cool”. The kind of thing I’m looking for is more like this: “rhythmic, subtle, bleak visuals, fast, makes me feel greedy”.Answers don’t need to be particularly long, but I’m very appreciative if they are. Credit will be given in the notes of my paper and your forum handle will be used as your name unless you otherwise sign your reply. If you don’t want to use the forum to answer, feel free to email me at
shanethewhelan@yahoo.co.ukThank you,
Shane Whelan
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I’ll get it started:
1. Name? Kick the Can
2. Format? It’s a children’s game, usually played outside.
3. Gameplay? An area is designated as the base and a can, or some other noise-maker is placed here. Everyone hides and one seeker sets off from the base. If the seeker sees someone, he runs back to the base and sounds the alarm by kicking the can. This person becomes a hostage and moves to the base. Hiders can kick the undefended can while the seeker is away and free hostages in this manner. The last hostage taken becomes the new seeker. Being the seeker is considered to be a bad thing. House rules vary.
4. Personality traits? It caused me to weigh prestige against responsibility. Being the last hider carries a lot of prestige but all the resposnibility of rescuing the hostages.
5. Learned anything new? Being the first hostage was embarrasing. Being the last hider was stressful. Being the seeker was embarrasing. Being one of the middle hostages caused the least emotional trauma. Sometimes if things weren’t going well, getting caught accidentally on purpose saved face.
6. My talent or creator’s talent? The scope for showing off your own creativity was endless with all children’s games, because rules could be changed and the gameplay was different depending on the environment. (We used to play it in the ruins of my grandfather’s slaughterhouse). Also it’s played with only your own body, so you feel very much like you’re creating the game as you play it.
7. Context important? The context of the game is irrelevant. It could almost be considered abstract. If you wanted, it could be given a setting — soldiers, prisoners, etc.
8. Continue learning? No. I don’t play it any more.
9. Why not? I don’t play it because I can’t find anyone my own size to play with. Counterstrike does a pretty good impression of Kick the Can in a number of areas though.
10. Stimulated senses? It made me aware of my own sense of loyalty and also cowardice. It’s also incredibly tense and after a few turns, you actually get to anticipate how successful you are likely to be quite early on in the round.
11. Skill requirements? The main skill reqired I think is to be an opportunist. It’s also good for breaking shyness because players need to shout all over the playing area when they kick the can.
12. Tense, strategic, adaptive, malleable, balances prestige and embarassment
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1. What is the name of this game?
Balance of Power, by Chris Crawford
2. What format does the game take?
Computer game for Macintosh and IBM PC, circa 1986
3. Please briefly describe the gameplay.
You play either the United States or the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The object is to increase your side’s geopolitical prestige by supporting other friendly nations and destabilizing or provoking coups or revolutions in unfriendly nations. You do this through a variety of means, military, economic and diplomatic. The game proceeds in turns of one year each and lasts ten years. In each turn, both sides have the opportunity to object to the other’s actions, instigating a “crisis.” This raises the stakes enormously. A crisis goes back and forth as a game of poker; the first side to back down loses heavily. However, if neither side backs down, a nuclear war ensues and the game ends with no winner.
The gameplay consists of carefully choosing your battles and trying to subtly increase your involvement in areas typically considered part of your enemy’s sphere of influence.
4. Does this game cause you to focus on a particular aspect of your personality?
It reminded me that bold, aggressive moves are only wise in cases where they are justified by the situation; in others, they tend simply to do damage.
5. Have you ever learned something about yourself that surprised you when you were playing this game?
Not really, but I found playing the Russian side to be extremely interesting and strange. It showed me their situation in a very visceral way.
6. Do you feel that when you play this game it displays more of your own talents and skills or are you more aware of the talents of the game’s creator?
I’m aware of the talents of the game’s creator.
7. Is the represented context of the game (if there is one) important to you? (For instance, the terrorism theme of Counter-Strike may be particularly meaningful to you because of the World’s current social climate)
Yes, very much so. I’m interested in problems of international diplomacy and foreign policy.
8. Do you continue to learn new things from this game? Why?
Not so much any more, but I learned a lot at the time. There’s also a companion book which is very good.
9. If the answer to the last question was “no”, do you continue to play this game? Why?
Seldom. It’s awkward to make it run on modern hardware.
10. Do you feel that this game stimulates a particular sense in you more than others? (Obviously we don’t have games that stimulate taste and smell, but you might include something like a sense of synchronisation here or a sense of “getting to know what’s just around the corner”).
Not a sense per se, but playing the Russian side had a profound effect on me. As an American I had never put myself into their shoes in quite that way. It left me feeling quite odd for several hours to have my geopolitical world turned upside down.
11. What skills do you think are required to play this game?
Close attention to detail; observation; deduction; a nice level of judgment. Also patience. It takes quite a while to learn.
12. Without using standard genre buzzwords (action-adventure, FPS, RPG, etc.), please describe this game in 5 words or phrases.
Subtle, detailed, information-rich, innovative, political simulator
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1. What is the name of this game? Project Gotham Racing 2
2. What format does the game take? Xbox
3. Please briefly describe the gameplay. Driving cars at high speeds around a city
4. Does this game cause you to focus on a particular aspect of your personality? Yes it lets me vent my frustration at having to commute or sit in traffic all day
5. Have you ever learned something about yourself that surprised you when you were playing this game? Yep, I can’t do the slides in real life unless it’s REALLY wet
6. Do you feel that when you play this game it displays more of your own talents and skills or are you more aware of the talents of the game’s creator? No, it lets you do what the game’s creator wants you to do, after all they define what talents and skills you can use, and there is little that they haven’t put into the game that you can expand on, so you are limited in what you can do.
7. Is the represented context of the game (if there is one) important to you? (For instance, the terrorism theme of Counter-Strike may be particularly meaningful to you because of the World’s current social climate) Not really applicable
8. Do you continue to learn new things from this game? Why? Yes, mainly because of circumstances have meant that it’s been in and out of my house, more often out of it, for the last six months, so when I sit down and play it after some time away, I notice different things and the skills learnt from before are put back into a new situation, and i feel it lets you improve your driving style.
9. If the answer to the last question was “no”, do you continue to play this game? Why?
10. Do you feel that this game stimulates a particular sense in you more than others? (Obviously we don’t have games that stimulate taste and smell, but you might include something like a sense of synchronisation here or a sense of “getting to know what’s just around the corner”). How to memorise a track, and feeling p*ssed off when someone snatches first place away by .003 of a second.
11. What skills do you think are required to play this game? Hand/eye coordination, not taking it too serious (which as plenty of people don’t have this ‘skill’ I thought i’d mention it)
12. Without using standard genre buzzwords (action-adventure, FPS, RPG, etc.), please describe this game in 5 words or phrases. Please don’t just say “it’s cool”. The kind of thing I’m looking for is more like this: “rhythmic, subtle, bleak visuals, fast, makes me feel greedy”. Gorgeous looks, sh!t soundtrack, fantastic control system, perfect online play, shouting at English
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1.What is the name of the game? Halo:Combat Evolved
2.What format does the game take? X-Box
3.Please briefly describe the game. Halo is a Sci-Fi epic based on an Alien ring world called Halo, the premise for the story is the survival of the Human race, pioneered by the last battle cruiser The Pillar of Autumn. The pillar of Autumn holds keep to the last Spartan warrior Master Chief, who is both strong and loyale to his role. this sets the pace for you, in control of the master chief you must prevent the Covenant(the games menaceing force) from gaining control of the alien ring world(which houses a deadly secret).
4.Does the game cause you to focus on a particular aspect of your personality?
This is somewhat direct, sub-conciously I am always aware of my team-mates in battle, and i feel responsilble for their lives(but due to inconsistent AI, I often throw caution to the wind)..this trait is at it’s strongest when playing with my brother, as we are both at the same skill level in Halo we always watch each others backs when playing Co-Op, especially as we play on Legendary. I find that when we play, we instinctivly know where one another are and what will be done next. there for we are always able to cover each other in battle. I take great pleasure in being able to provide “cover fire” for my brother when we play, although this is not the case on single player. This is one of Halo’s strong points, the morale responsability for your comrades.5.Have you ever learned something about yourself that surprised you when you were playing this game?
More or less, I learned that Halo is more than a game to me, the sum of it’s parts represent something special to me, the time in my life when i started playing Halo, It’s “culture” to me. and I have grown to really love the game and its evolving story, something which i thought was not possible with games.6.Do you feel that when you play this game it displays more of your own talents and skills or are you more aware of the talents of the game’s creator?
Most definatly the talent/skill/ and dedication of Bungie, they have truly created a fantasic game, Halo would be good just as a combat 1st person shooter, but with this the story(one of the most orginal stories in awhile i might add)and the quality of the music and sound effects have elevated it beyond any other 1st person shooter to date. I admire Bungies skill and talent and wish them all the best with Halo 2.7.Is the represented context of the game (if there is one) important to you?
Yes, it is. The story of Halo is unique because in this day and age Bungie have ceated a tale of Humanity united against a common foe, Halo’s story of the Covenant forces bend on wiping the Human race from the face of exsistence is particulary interesting for several reasons. The very fact that one day the world will be united is a comforting thought(especially with al the madness concerning the middle east and north Korea)indeed, it’s a sad world we live in, in my opinion, people are mindlessly killed everyday, no every hour, and for what? the pride of a certain super power or for a real threat?….I won’t go any further with this because politics is a form of corruption and besides were talking games here not world domination, and the sort. But yes Halo’s story is very important to me.8.Do you continue to learn new things from this game? Why?
All the time, What evokes alot of thought for me in Halo is the Score, the music is particulary emotional in Halo and it often makes me nostalgic, over what i am at complete loss. Other than this(please don’t laugh)I’ve found that after 2 years of playing Halo I am quite efficent at performing Marine tactics, covering fire, cross flanking, and of course a few saying’s, like, Blow that fucking thing up!(joke). recently I learned that Marines always have designated zones of fire.Regarding the last few questions:
I think that aquirments are things you keep and that is certainly the case with Halo, I could say that I have acquired many things, heres a list:
1.A more appreciate sense for finely crafted Video Games
2.A definate love of good story telling
3.A more open minded approach to game design
4.A further love of Sci-Fi
5.A more developed sense of awarness(in the game world anyway)
6.A more developed sense or Morality.
7.An admiration for Bungie studios.
8.A development in my 1st person shooter skills.Describe the game eh?,ok
Visual Poetry
So thats probably it. Cheers
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Great answers so far — keep them coming. Who knows, we may get to know each other quite well through talking about how we play. (Though we’d probably learn more about each other if we knew how everyone liked to cheat.)
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(Though we’d probably learn more about each other if we knew how everyone liked to cheat.) [/quote:635bc2f8cb]
LOL :p
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Great! Cheating is fascinating. The Fire Team Charlie guys did a nice bit of satire on cheating in one of their episodes (no. 7, I think).
http://www.xboxottawa.ca/movies.htm
I love the fact that cheating so often gets absorbed by the rules of the game and formalised to the point where it almost becomes a rule in itself — as tends to happen in field sports particularly (sliding tackles, etc).But staying on topic, perhaps you can reveal Hockey’s hidden mysteries, Aphra?
Shane
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Here’s another one.
Train back to Kerry was delayed by over an hour on the way back last weekend. As a result they didnt check the tickets at all and I have a pristine ticket that I could theoretically use next week saving me a good 60 quid. Should I? :)
Or
Should I download mp3s that I know to be illegal off the net? :)
More to follow
Dave
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I’ve found that after 2 years of playing Halo I am quite efficent at performing Marine tactics, covering fire, cross flanking, and of course a few saying’s, like, Blow that fucking thing up!(joke). recently I learned that Marines always have designated zones of fire.[/quote:718697632f]
Try playing Full Spectrum Warrior. That gives you a real sense of military squad tactics. Squad Alpha covers as Bravo moves to next safe cover zone. Then vice versa. Its all about cover and movement, suppression and flanking, resource management(ammo), setting up fire sectors and situational awareness. Its a really excellent urban warfare strategy game.
You should buy it, I think you’d like it.On topic, I will try and get some time this evening to fill out your questionaire. Although I’m not sure if I could think of a videogame that will allow me to answer all those questions. I’ll try though!
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Ya, I was thinking of getting that particular game this fri, haven’t had a trip to game in awhile so i’ll see whats out, but yeah Full Spectrum Warrior looks quite good.
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1. Name?
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
2. Format?
A table-top, pen and paper role-playing game, aswell as multiple successful PC and console games
3. Gameplay?
Brief… Ok… 3 books, 200 pages each… brief.. Right: Jist of the game; design a character choosing from a number of different races, classes, abilities, feats etc. Come up with how the character looks, a history, hwo they act, almost a complete personality profile. A DM takes of group (generally 4 or so) of these character and presents them with challenges, quests and all the things heroes should do. It is up to the player to decide how they react to the situation, and must act how their character would e.g. an evil character would only rescue a damsel in distress if he was getting paid or getting something powerful in return. The overall aim of the game, really, is to gain experience points to reach new levels and become more powerful but how one gets to that stage is entirely up to the player. Think that’s all the important stuff…
4. Personailty traits?
Yes very much so. Depending on what character you play, you will begin to see that the characters personality is drawn from an aspect of your own character only amplified. Quite useful for seeing how one appears towards others.
5. Learned anything new?
Yes I have. I learned I have a rather sinister and twisted mind… (evil character) And that I am loyal to the point of offering my life for my friends! (good character) … well, maybe not my life… like my hand or something ;)
6. My talent or Creator’s?
Because of the utter versatility of the game, and the freedom that the creators have given to the player, literally anything is possible. But it is not without flaws, and because of this updates have to be released aswell as reprints and sometimes rules can get confused and may not balance the game properly. But the player is also given the freedom to become a designer and are given all the ruiles, as well as examples, of how to go about creating their own world, items, races etc. allowing them to explore their own creative side and it is in this part that the player can become more aware of their own skills and talents.
7. Context important?
Nope, could be set in modern times, medievil futuristic, doesn’t matter. Could be political or anything
8. Continued Learning?
Yes. Because your character continues to evolve and change you get to see different aspects of your own personality and you are able to see how versatile you can be, how good a problem solver you are, how friends react to different parts of your personality, etc.
9.
10. Senses Stimulated?
The game can almost be like reflection of self. you see the different aspects of yourself mirrored in your character. You don’t want them to die because you have spent so long developing them but you may be loyal to your friends and can be forced into a difficult position. You must learn to work as a team or you will fail also you may have to learn to swallow your pride and ask for help. You always get a sense that you are perhaps bettering yourself and learning more about yourself as you play
11. Skill requirements?
You must be able to see your own flaws and those of the people around you. Learn to work to your strengths and have others work to theirs. Overall you need an understanding of your own character and his personality. On a technical level, the number of rules, and variant rules and circumstance rules can be mind boggling. The game is not exactly easy to pick up and understand instantly and can be daunting for a first time player.
12. Five words:
Reflective, immersive, escapism, overwhelming, diverse
Sorry took so long Shane, been busy with work
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1. What is the name of this game?
Go; I-Go; Wei-qi.
2. What format does the game take?
Grid on a Board of differerent sizes (9×9, 13×13, 19×19) and pieces (Black & White).
3. Please briefly describe the gameplay.
Players place a stone each, in turn, at intersection between lines on a grid: the Board.
placement is random on board, cannot be on occupied intersection, cannot be suicide move. By fully surronuding a stone or touching group of stones, stones are captured.
By consequence of these rules, groups of stones with two “eyes” (empty spaces that constitute suicide move for opponent) are considered alive and cannot be removed.
At board resolution (no more good moves can be made) a player can decide to pass; passing twice means game over.
Dead groups are removed, territories and captures counted, and a winner declared.A 19x 19 board can take hours to resolve.
Points are scored for territory (empty space in control by one colour) and captured stones.
A few other rules required for Stall resolutions (Ko).
4. Does this game cause you to focus on a particular aspect of your personality?
I favour unaggressive play, and this reflects in the way I play this game, meaning I loose often but when I win it seems to happen by itself…
5. Have you ever learned something about yourself that surprised you when you were playing this game?
That I prefere for a sense of wholeness to come out of a game, rather than enjoying the winning phase, and despising the losing one, Eg: Fresbee Vs. Soccer
6. Do you feel that when you play this game it displays more of your own talents and skills or are you more aware of the talents of the game’s creator?
The game is from somewhere in China ~600 B.C. So the creators are unknown, of peculiar times in history. The idea of a talent in the game is difficoult to quantize, as the rules are so simple. AS far as I could immagine, this game was found ready made under a tree or something, more integral part of reality than creation.
7. Is the represented context of the game (if there is one) important to you?
It’s a very good introduction to Eastern way of thinking: Black and White are the colours of Yin and Yang, with it’s enphasis on the need of safe “empty” spots, the importance of “no-thing” or emptyness of Tao comes to mind.
In current state of science, It’s the essence of Emergence;, at first the stones are placed quasi-randomly, as the game progresses, the possible moves become more and more meaningful/focused by default.
In the original chinese game, (forbidden in China during the Cultural Revoluton because of it’s definition as an Intellectual Practice) a penalty consisting in the loss of one point was given at the end of the game for every separate group of stones on the board, this still reflects on Chinese stress for Unity of the Republic and the existence of one-party government in chinese politics.8. Do you continue to learn new things from this game? Why?
It’s said that no two games of GO can be the same, EVER! so the learning curve is infinite…
9. If the answer to the last question was “no”, do you continue to play this game? Why?
10. Do you feel that this game stimulates a particular sense in you more than others?
On one occasion, not under influence of altering substances, looking intensely at a 2/3 complete board, I “saw” the intersection where I was to place the stone as “needing to be played”, almost glowing. I won that game, and that move was the resolving one!
11. What skills do you think are required to play this game?
Spatial awareness of the grid, a sense of aesthetics and drawing
and the quasy-military contrast of Surrounding and Breaching, also present in Live-stock Farming…12. Without using standard genre buzzwords (action-adventure, FPS, RPG, etc.), please describe this game in 5 words or phrases. Please don’t just say “it’s cool”. The kind of thing I’m looking for is more like this: “rhythmic, subtle, bleak visuals, fast, makes me feel greedy;)
Calm & Aggressive; Fast & Old; Spontaneous & Complex: Organic
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Hmm that I-Go game sounds familiar, there is something similar to it in Harvest Moon: its a wonderful life
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Every game designer should play Go. It produces the most emergent possibilities with the least amount of rules. Many people use it as a tool to help meditation, presumably because its abstract nature makes it easy to map what’s going on in the game over something that’s going on in your life.
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There’s a anime series called “Hikaru no Go” thats based around Go. Sounds like a dodgy premise for anime, but its actually quite watchable. I didn’t know anything about the game before playing, but its amazing how much you pick up from watching. Does look like an amazingly strategic game….trying to do AI logic for it would be a nightmare!
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So where can I get this “I-GO” game?
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The Ex- Nintendo boss (Yamauchi) is a badass ‘Go’ player. Thats all. Carry on.
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There’s a Go Club in Dublin, as far as I know they meet in teachers club, Never been but…
The best approach is to look on line for rules, and make the
board yourself!for Online versions, AYA is Very tough, but very good program.
For a strange one go to http://www.alife.co.uk and Go-zilla.
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cheers, But I might try crafting a board myself.
“Only one man can make despair a reality”
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Not too late at all, Ronny — thank you for the reply and keep them coming. You can answer more than once if you like. Already I can see one or two interesting patterns coming out of the answers, but I need more people to answer for it to really be useful. I’d also be quite happy with the same people answering about more games. Please stick to the format of the questionairre, though — it just makes it easier to compile, etc.
I’m quite surprised by many of the answers to the question of represenation. No matter what the format — digital or anlaogue — most people have given almost a polar opposite answer to what I expected — particularly from Emmet and Ronny. There’ll be follow up questions when I have enough info.
I’m also posting on other forums (fora?) but the most dedicated posters are here on gamedevelopers.ie
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What is the name of this game?
MineSweeperWhat format does the game take?
PUzzle game found as standard on WindowsPlease briefly describe the gameplay.
Flag all the mines based on knowing how many are around an immediate square. Click a mine and game over.Does this game cause you to focus on a particular aspect of your personality?
Attention to detail is important and logistic reasoning.Have you ever learned something about yourself that surprised you when you were playing this game?
How quickly you start to recognise some patterns and on seeing them don’t even need to think, you just react.Do you feel that when you play this game it displays more of your own talents and skills or are you more aware of the talents of the game’s creator?
The game brings out your own skills in order to complete the game, however the creators initiveness is evident in the simplicity and addictiveness of the game.Is the represented context of the game (if there is one) important to you? (For instance, the terrorism theme of Counter-Strike may be particularly meaningful to you because of the World’s current social climate)
Context….find mines….?….unimportant :)Do you continue to learn new things from this game? Why?
No, but it keeps me entertained when I only have a few mniutes on my hands, or waiting for a long compile or something similar situation.If the answer to the last question was “no”, do you continue to play this game? Why?
Ah….as above :)Do you feel that this game stimulates a particular sense in you more than others? (Obviously we don’t have games that stimulate taste and smell, but you might include something like a sense of synchronisation here or a sense of “getting to know what’s just around the corner”).
Gives a sense of “i need to complete this….one more go…”What skills do you think are required to play this game?
Logistic reasoning and if you want fast times, quick thinking and fast reactions.Without using standard genre buzzwords (action-adventure, FPS, RPG, etc.), please describe this game in 5 words or phrases. Please don’t just say “it’s cool”. The kind of thing I’m looking for is more like this: “rhythmic, subtle, bleak visuals, fast, makes me feel greedy”.
Quick, simple, mind-stretching, initive, failure REQUIRES another go.
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