In the best-case
scenario, these objectives seem challenging??”but
achievable??”to the players. In addition to providing
challenge, the objective of a game can set its tone.
A game in which the objective is to capture or kill
the opponent??™s forces will have a very di?¬? erent tone
from a game in which the objective is to spell more
or longer words.
Some games are constructed so that di?¬? erent
players have di?¬? erent objectives, while other games
allow the player to choose one of several possible
objectives, and still others allow players to form their
own objectives as they play. Additionally, there might
be partial objectives, or miniobjectives, in a game
that help the players to accomplish the main objective.
In any case, the objective should be considered
carefully because it a?¬? ects not only the formal system
of the game but also the dramatic aspects. If the
objective is well integrated into the premise or story,
the game can take on strong dramatic aspects.
Some questions to ask yourself about objectives
as you design your own games are:
?· What are some objectives of games you have
played?
?· What impact do these objectives have on the
tone of the game?
?· Do certain genres of play lend themselves to
certain objectives?
?· What about multiple objectives?
?· Do objectives have to be explicit?
?· What about player-determined objectives?
Here are some examples of objectives from games
you might have played:
?· Connect Four: Be the ?¬? rst player to place four
units in a contiguous line on the playing grid.
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