Easy to Use and Incredibly Difficult: On the Mythical Border between Interface and Gameplay by Juul & Marleigh

Juul & Marleigh writes about game interfaces.

Abstract:

In video game literature and video game reviews, video games are often divided into two distinct parts: interface and gameplay. Good video games, it is assumed, have easy to use interfaces, but they also provide difficult gameplay challenges to the player. But must a good game follow this pattern, and what is the difference between interface and gameplay? When does the easy-to-use interface stop, and when does the challenging gameplay begin? By analyzing a number of games, the paper argues that it is rare to find a clear-cut border between interface and gameplay and that the fluidity of this border characterizes games in general. While this border is unclear, we also analyze a number of games where the challenge is unambiguously located in the interface, thereby demonstrating that “easy interface and challenging gameplay” is neither universal nor a requirement for game quality. Finally, the paper argues, the lack of a clear distinction between easy interface and challenging gameplay is due to the fact that games are fundamentally designed not to accomplish something through an activity, but to provide an activity that is pleasurable in itself.

http://www.jesperjuul.net/ludologist/?p=657

Lies and Seductions 1.0.1

Version 1.0.1 published. The version contains corrections as follows:

  • dialogue logic fixes;
  • dance mini-game score calculation error fix;
  • heart indicators are posted after dialogue ends, so it is possible to see the indicator.

Known issues: The windows version have rendering artifacts. The correction is waiting for Unity 2.6 version which should contain the fix for this problem.

Knutepunkt 2009 Book Available Online

Lates Knutepunkt book, Larp, the Universe and Everything: An anthology on the theory and practice of live role-playing (larp), is now published online. The book chapters are available at http://knutepunkt.laiv.org/2009/book/

TOC:

  • Introduction (Matthijs Holter, Eirik Fatland, Even Tømte)
  • A bilingual history of Latvian larp (Agnese “Axa” Dzervite)
  • 33 ways to have fun at a Latvian larp (Agnese “Axa” Dzervite)
  • Towards a larp-acting culture: A manifesto (Morgan Jarl)
  • Elements of Harry Potter: Deconstructing an edu-larp (Malik Hyltoft & Jakob T. Holm)
  • Ten comparisons between UK LRP and French GN (Tadeusz Cantwell)
  • Larp in Kamensky forest (Anita Myhre Andersen & Erik Aarebrot)
  • Role-playing games and education in Brazil: how we do it (Wagner Luiz Schmit, João Batista Martins & Thales Ferreira)
  • Notes on designing repeatable larps (J. Tuomas Harviainen)
  • Tabletop RPG meets performing arts: Bringing pen & paper role-playing to the stage (Florian Berger)
  • Pix or didn’t happen (Juhana Pettersson)
  • Britta Bergersen: The in-game photographer (Interviewed by Eirik Fatland)
  • Creating a character: A summary of a process with exercises and advice (Morgan Jarl)
  • Face and figuration in RPG play (William J. White)
  • The Vademecum of the Karstic Style (Andrea Castellani)
  • Philosophies and strategies of pervasive larp design (Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros & Annika Waern)
  • Excavating AmerikA (Eirik Fatland)
  • Fun for everybody? (Katri Lassila)

Lies and Seductions 1.0.0 Released

The game can be downloaded for free at www.liesandseductions.com. OSX and Windows versions available. Works also in Linux via Wine.

Lies and Seductions is a single player game about seduction, lies, and betrayal.

Are you able to guide Abby to seduce a rock star, Chris, promised to stay virgin untill marriage? In order to success you need to gather dirty little secrets, use those secrets in your advantage, and make an impression on Chris.

Features:

  • four seduceable characters
  • flirt, mislied, eavesdrop, and pump information
  • persuade characters to help you to reach the goal
  • play Texas hold’em poker
  • dance to impress
  • non-player characters forms opionnions based on your choices they perceive
  • three different endings