Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design – A

Second of Thursdays lessons was

 Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design
A PopCap Case Study

Marcos Venturelli Kranio Studio

It is looking into aspects reverent to pacing, in casual games.

Pacing is connected to the rhythm of a game. The designer

Paces  the game so that the player experiences excitement

And pleasure all at the right levels.    

some of the elements connected to pacing are

Movement, impetus,Tension threat, and Tempo,

These four elements happen

Inside the Lower Arch of Pacing (that of a level or of a

Specific play session), and the Upper Arch of Pacing,

That represents the long-term relation between the

Player and the game, and how much time he is willing

to invest before becoming frustrated or bored and

Abandoning play.

Movement Impetus, is the will

or desire of a player to move forward through a game, as a designer we need to

keep  the player playing and wanting to come back for more. The paper uses the term “advancement decisions”,  if we do not put sufficient stimulus into our designs so  the player wants  to make “advancement decisions”, then as designers we have failed.  

Tension is a sense of danger; the player thinks he is in danger. Things like music,

sounds can make the player think he is about to be eaten by zombies. Threat is the zombies actually  trying to eat him.

Tempo is the “intensity” of play. It is the

time  between each significant decision made by the player.

You have to decide what type of game and who your target audience is to be to set the correct tempo. If your players have to think carefully about each move so playing too slow, but you have set the tempo of the game to high, then you will just have frustrated player. He will not make “advancement decisions” but will go and watch foot ball, or even worse play someone else’s game.

I like the term  “Space of Possibility”

It would be a good name for a game.

The patterns of a game and how the player sees them is very important, if there are too many and too hard then player has to slow down, so spoiling the tempo of the game. To easy and to obvious then he loses Impetus.