It seems to me that a useful way to approach game design is with a list of things that are fun, and things that are not fun. Perhaps we can collaboratively assemble one?
(Many of these things overlap, and most can be freely moved between "fun" and "not fun" by inserting a "not".. I've put them wherever seemed to make more sense)
(Also, these are told from _my_ perspective. I may not be an Average Player).
As a player, these things are fun: ------------------------------------------------
* Feeling like a hero * Pushing myself past what I thought were my limits * Seeing my actions affect the gameworld * Coming up with a creative solution to something and having it work * Adopting a character and having that adoption recognised by someone else. * Making decisions * Being afraid * Winning * Getting respect from other players after doing something cool ...
As a player, these things are not fun: ------------------------------------------------------ * Waiting * Listening to rules * Ambiguity in the rules or their application * Not knowing how to win * Not thinking that I can win (or lose) * Winning (or losing) too easily * Not knowing which actions are permissible in the gameworld * Worrying about my safety * Being lost * Having a feeling of missing out (ie by being out of position) * Having technical failures * (in general) Repetition. Doing anything or going anywhere more than once. ...
I really think that when these lists are long enough they can be applied like a checklist to a game design. For example, the Bridge Scene in 2.8 Hours Later gave me "coming up with a creative solution" and "getting respect" by allowing me to distract a zombie out of position to get my team up the stairs. "Dog Tag" triggered "listening to rules", "ambiguity in application", "missing out" and "repetition"..
* Having a story to tell afterwards (even a brief anecdote) * Seeing a familiar environment in a different light * Camaraderie and friendly rivalry with other players * Having a rough sense of how well I did compared to other players * Outwitting another human (either a player or an actor)
NOT FUN
* Finding a very powerful rule exploit (and not being sure whether to use it) * Realising halfway through the explanation (or the game!) that gameplay includes something I can't or don't want to do * Rules or scoring being changed mid-game, in a way that invalidates some of my earlier gameplay * Noticing other players cheating and getting away with it * Another player going game-breakingly rogue, and the game not being able to react to it * Not knowing how big the playing area is
It'd be good to try to tackle all of the not-funs, and to lay down specific definitions. I'd argue that "having a feeling of missing out" can be a good thing, in the Punchdrunk sense of realising you're part of a much bigger world (which ties into the temporal perspective stuff Alex was writing about) - there are five interesting things happening, you only get to experience three of them, and everyone becomes keener to swap stories afterwards. So long as you're not missing out on everything, a little denial can be good.
And I think some of the non-fun things can be used as a good set-up to a fun thing - being lost for a moment, or being initially daunted by a seemingly undefeatable foe, can add a lot of dramatic tension. Waiting can be okay if it gives people a chance to pause for breath, and to let slower players catch up. These things are often bad if unintentional, though.
What's your problem with "listening to rules"? Is this the old thing of it being good to give out written rules as well as spoken ones, since different people prefer to absorb information in different ways? Or do you just mean that listening to badly-explained rules isn't fun?
Some good additions there. "Listening to rules" can be expanded to "absorbing rules": _however_ it's done, every single second that I spend integrating rule knowledge is a negative. It's a necessary chore in order to play games.. but I can actually see the light die in a player's eyes after about two minutes of rules.
It's probably possible to organise these into a Master List, and then to select sublists weighed by class of game and game-runner preference. For example, I'd assign "-20 points/minute" to "absorbing rules" and "+50 points" to "pushing myself past personal boundaries", but I'm sure other people will vary.