Back in my Freshman year of high school, I read almost all of this one gigantic, 800-page book from 1996 called The Ultimate Game Developer's Sourcebook by Ben Sawyer. Even though people consider it "outdated", it certainly has some incredible game development considerations, and I highly recommend it. With gaming, nothing is ever outdated. I'm still amazed at concepts/papers that people wrote down and shared in the 1970's and 1980's!
As I was rereading Sawyer's book a few months back, I started thinking about "what makes gameplay fun or exciting to the players of the game?" and other things like "what is considered a 'good' game to the eyes of a player?", especially because this is very subjective.
I brainstormed on the key aspects of gameplay before reading Sawyer's section on it, and after I read his section, I came up with 3 core features that I thought must exist to make gameplay supposedly feel "amazing":
1.) Interactivity - This is the most important feature. This is the capability of the player to perform many actions in the world and manipulate the environment around him/her. Examples of interaction can include talking to artificially intelligent agents in the game, picking up items for your inventory, firing a weapon or projectile, punching someone, driving a vehicle, turning lights on/off, sitting down, eating/drinking, climbing or jumping, throwing objects, trading items/bargaining, and a VAST amount of other possibilities. Basically anything that the player can physically "do" in the game world is defined as interactivity. Without a lot of interactivity in a game, the less the player can "do", which usually makes the gaming experience get old or repetitive quickly.
2.) Immersion - The subjective feeling of the player to the point where he/she connects to the environment he/she is surrounded in. In other words, this is that feeling (whether conscious of it or not) where you feel as if you are a part of this artificial environment and connect with the world, its people, its story, and/or anything else that draws you in! This is that feeling of transcending from the physical world into this artificial game world, like when you can't put a book down because it is so intriguing. That may sound funny, but seriously... that happens! Having a highly interactive world assists immersion because the more the player can interact with, the more likely the player will bond with and feel a purpose to the world. However, this is not always the case. Immersion could be related to the level design or environment. For example, if you are playing a horror game that takes place in space, and you don't find the spaceship environment stimulating or interesting, then that takes away from immersion and ruins this experience; this may cause you to "not like" that game because the environment is "boring", even if there are a lot of items you can pick up.
3.) Creativity/Variability - This is really the feature about the "little" details in games. What stands out in this world that other games haven't considered? What makes this world unique and changing? Mad Max the game is a great example of these small details! Your car in that game has a certain amount of gas that needs to be filled regularly. It has realistic winch physics and tires that spin in the sand as you're dragging. You have to replenish Max's health with water fountains throughout the world, and the fighting is awesome! Very realistic in terms of survival. This is just one game, but all of those features are creative, different, and make the game that much more enjoyable. Without some creative power or varying mechanics among other games, the game can seem like a "copycat" or a bit bland, which would ruin immersion as well.
Gameplay is very interesting, indeed. Stay tuned for more. I will definitely discuss more topics that are also in Ben Sawyer's book sometime soon.
Perhaps tomorrow... (wink, wink)
Ben Sawyer's book I mentioned. Don't be fooled by reviews on this book. It is definitely an interesting read, regardless of how old it may be.