Lecture

Video Game Analysis: Structures and Mechanics

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In course

HUM-380: Video games and gamification

Ce cours propose d'acquérir des compétences en création de jeux vidéo, en invitant les étudiant·e·s à mettre leurs connaissances au service d'un projet collectif de recherche-création centré sur la ludification (gamification) d'un contenu scientifique. ...

Description

This lecture covers the analysis of video games, focusing on three levels: representations, ludic structures, and code. It explores visual and narrative elements, gameplay mechanics, and the dual structure of games according to Frans Mäyrä. The lecture delves into formal game analysis, including game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics. It also discusses the importance of narratives in game studies and the institutionalization of game research. The presentation concludes with examples of past projects and potential themes for creating video games across various disciplines.

Instructor

Yannick Rochat

Expertise Digital Humanities, graph theory, social network analysis, character networks, centrality, datavisualisation, social media studies, maritime networks, game studies. Current work I successfully defended a Ph.D. thesis called "Character networks and centrality" in September 2014. It was co-directed by Prof. Henri Volken (UNIL) and Prof. Frédéric Kaplan (EPFL) for a doctoral degree in Applied Mathematics to Humanities and Social Sciences. This research was focused on Les Confessions from Jean-Jacques

Official source

Related concepts (25)

Game design

Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, and rules of a game. Games can be created for entertainment, education, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in the form of gamification.

Game mechanics

In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shaped move of the knight in chess. A game's mechanics thus effectively specify how the game will work for the people who play it. There are no accepted definitions of game mechanics.

Narrative

A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc.). Narratives can be presented through a sequence of written or spoken words, through still or moving images, or through any combination of these. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare (to tell), which is derived from the adjective gnarus (knowing or skilled). Narration (i.

Game balance

Game balance is a branch of game design with the intention of improving gameplay and user experience by balancing difficulty and fairness. Game balance consists of adjusting rewards, challenges, and/or elements of a game to create the intended player experience. Game balance is generally understood as introducing a level of fairness for the players. This includes adjusting difficulty, win-loss conditions, game states, economy balancing, and so on to work in tandem with each other. The concept of game balance depends on the game genre.

Plot (narrative)

In a literary work, film, or other narrative, the plot is the sequence of events in which each event affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect. The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a series of events linked by the connector "and so". Plots can vary from the simple—such as in a traditional ballad—to forming complex interwoven structures, with each part sometimes referred to as a subplot or imbroglio. Plot is similar in meaning to the term storyline.

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