type, then this global solution would work for all objects. If each object was set up with a
reasonable weighting, it would not matter what objects players tried to place on the
pressure plates, as they would all work automatically.
This latter method is less of an anticipatory technique of game design; it is more
holistic and systems-based in its approach. It relies more on creating reliable, consis-
tent systems with which your game will function. With these systems in place, the
game becomes more a simulation and less of a hard-coded puzzle. A game need not be a
flight simulator or aSimCity-style game to include some level of simulation; indeed
almost all games include some degree of simulation, however crude it may be. The
more designers recognize the value of simulation over hard coding and emphasize
these complex and interconnected systems in their games, the deeper their games
become. In a game with a more simulation-based approach, containing a puzzle such as
the pressure plate one described above, the designer and programmer come up with a
series of success conditions for that puzzle. Instead of “the puzzle is solved if players
use rocks, weapons, or monsters to offset the plates,” the rule is “the puzzle is solved
when the plates are offset by the correct weight being placed on top of them.” Certainly
the example of this puzzle is a simple one, but the same techniques can be applied to
much more sophisticated and interesting systems that engender a wide variety of suc-
cessful playing styles.
Emergence................................
It is the development of numerous robust and logical systems that leads to
player-unique solutions to situations in the game. One could describe these solutions
as “emergent” from the systems design of the game, a popular buzzword in game
design circles. Establishing a game universe that functions in accordance with logical
rules players can easily understand and use to their advantage allows those same play-
ers to come up with their own solutions to the problems the game presents. Nothing is
more rewarding for players than devising some obtuse, unobvious method for solving a
Chapter 7: The Elements of Gameplay 117
TheCivilizationgames
are some of the best
examples of complex
gameplay emerging out
of multiple consistent
systems running in
parallel. Pictured here:
Civilization II.