Defining the Abstract

Thompson

design, depth, clarity, drama, decisiveness

@article{thompson-gapd2015,
  author={J. Mark Thompson}, 
  title={Defining the Abstract},
  journal={Game and Puzzle Design Journal},
  year=2015,
  volume=1,
  number=1,
  pages={83--86}
}

Children's games need a fair amount of randomness to counter skill in playing against adults, keep them fun

Depth: "Human beings are capable of playing at many different levels of expertise. For most board positions, until the last stages of the endgame, the puzzle of finding the best move should not be completely solvable."

Clarity: "Ordinary human, without devoting his career to it, can form a judgement about what is the best move in a given situation."

• "If a player has a move that will win the game immediately, it should not ordinarily be difficult to find it."

Drama: "Should be possible for a player to recover from a weaker position and still win the game."

Decisiveness: "Should be possible ultimately for one player to achieve an advantage from which the other player cannot recover."

These are in tension: Depth vs clarity, drama vs decisiveness.