Game Design Patterns
Jussi Holopainen, Nokia Research Center
Staffan Björk, Interactive Institute
Our perspective: Interaction Design
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The design area which
focuses on interaction
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Describing the interaction in
games
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Computational technology a
powerful enabler
Game Design Patterns
Describing the facilitators of
that interaction
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Component framework
Elements of a game
What are game design patterns?
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A way to describe design choices (or emergent
features) that reoccur in many games
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A guide of how to make similar design choices in
game projects
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Offers possible explanations to why these design choices
have been made
What is required to make the pattern emerge
What consequences can the pattern have on game play?
We will not talk about the origins of design patterns in
architecture nor its use within software engineering, humancomputer interaction or interaction design
Again, what are game design patterns?
Pac-Man® © 1980 2004 Namco Ltd. All rights reserved. Courtesy of
Namco Holding Corp.
Examples
 Power-Ups
 Boss Monster
 Paper-Rock-Scissor
 Cut Scenes
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Asteroids®, Civilization®, Missile Command® and Pong® screenshots
courtesy of Atari, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Role Reversal
Parallel Lives
Orthogonal Unit
Differentiation
Social Interaction
Why is this interesting?
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Need a vocabulary for talking about games
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Describe and compare games while focusing on
the interaction provided in games
Need to discuss and do game designs in a
structured fashion
Provide a tool for, especially experimental,
game design
Yet again, what are game design patterns?

Important characteristics
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No canonical definition
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Recurring game mechanics or elements of
interaction in games
Semi-formal inter-dependent descriptions
Can be intentional or emergent in game designs
Our definition (others are possible)
Not only a collection of patterns
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The methods in which they can be used
Our pattern template
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Name
Description
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Core Definition
General Description
Examples
Using the pattern
Consequences
Relations
References
Works upon a component framework (game sessions, rules, players, actions, goals,
closures, modes of play etc.)
Our pattern template, cont.
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Name
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Preferable short, specific, and idiomatic
Description
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Concise description of the pattern
Description of how it affects the structural
framework (if it does)
Examples of games in which the pattern is found
Our pattern template, cont.
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Using the pattern
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What components from the framework are
required to use the game
Patterns that can be used to instantiate or
modulate the pattern
Consequences
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What effects the game pattern has on game play
What other patterns the pattern supports
Potentially conflicting patterns and why
Our pattern template, cont.
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Relations
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Instantiates/Instantiated by
Modulates/Modulated by
Potentially conflicting patterns
References
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To descriptions of the phenomena not using
patterns
Games exemplifying the pattern
Patents
Example pattern - Producer-Consumer
Name
Producer-Consumer
Description
The production of resource by one game element that is consumed by
another game element or game event.
Producer-Consumer determines the lifetime of game elements, usually
resources, and thus governs the flow of the game play.
Games usually have several overlapping and interconnected ProducerConsumers governing the flow of available game elements,
especially resources. As resources are used to determine the
possible player actions these Producer-Consumer networks also
determine the actual flow of the game play. Producer-Consumers
can operate recursively, i.e. one Producer-Consumer might
determine the life time of another Producer-Consumer. ProducerConsumers are often chained together to form more complex
networks of resource flows.
Producer-Consumer
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Example: in Civilization the units are
produced in cities and consumed in
battles against enemy units and
cities. This kind of a ProducerConsumer is also used in almost all
real-time strategy games.
Example: in Asteroids the rocks are
produced at the start of each level
and are consumed by the player
shooting at them. The same
principle applies to many other
games where the level progression
is based on eliminating, i.e.
consuming, other game elements:
the pills in Pac-Man, free space in
Qix, and the aliens in Space
Invaders.
Asteroids®, Civilization®, Missile Command® and Pong® screenshots
courtesy of Atari, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pac-Man® © 1980 2004 Namco Ltd. All rights reserved. Courtesy of
Namco Holding Corp.
Producer-Consumer

Using the pattern
As the name implies, Producer-Consumer is a compound pattern of Producer and Consumer and as
such this pattern governs how both of these are instantiated. The effect of producing and
consuming Resources or Units often turns out to be several different pairs of Producer-Consumers
as the produced game element can be consumed in many different ways. For example, the Units
in real-time strategy game such as the Age of Empires series can be eliminated in direct combat
with enemy Units, when bombarded by indirect fire, and finally when their supply points are
exhausted. The Producer-Consumer in this case consists of the Producer of the Units with three
different Consumers.
Producer-Consumers are often, especially in Resource Management games, chained together with
Converters and sometimes Containers. These chains can in turn be used to create more complex
networks. The Converter is used as the Consumer in the first Producer-Consumer and as the
Producer in the second. In other words, the Converter takes the resources produced by the first
Producer and converts them to the resources produced by the second Producer.
This kind of Producer-Consumer chains sometimes have a Container attached to the Converter to
stockpile produced Resources. For example, in real-time strategy game StarCraft something is
produced and taken to the converter and then converted to something else and stockpiled
somewhere. Investments can be seen as Converters that are used to convert Resources into
other forms of Resources, possibly abstract ones.
Producer-Consumer
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Consequences
As is the case with the main subpatterns Producer and Consumer of ProducerConsumer, the pattern is quite abstract but the effects on the flow of the game
are very concrete. The Producer-Consumers simply govern the whole flow of the
game from games with a single Producer-Consumer to games with complex and
many layered networks of Producer-Consumers.
The feeling of player control is increased if players are able to manipulate either the
Producer or the Consumer part or both. However, in more complex ProducerConsumer chains this can lead to situations where players lose Illusions of
Influence as the effects of individual actions can become almost impossible to
track down and the process no longer has Predictable Consequences. Also,
adding new Producer-Consumers that the players have control over gives them
opportunities for more Varied Gameplay. Producer-Consumer networks with
Converters and Containers are used in Resource Management games to
accomplish the Right Level of Complexity. The game usually starts with simple
Producer-Consumers and as the game progresses new Producer-Consumers
are added to the network to increase the complexity.
Producer-Consumer
Relations
Instantiates: Varied Gameplay, Resource
Management
Modulates: Resources, Right Level of
Complexity, Right Level of Complexity,
Investments, Units
Instantiated by: Producers, Consumers,
Converters
Modulated by: Container
Potentially Conflicting with: Illusions of
Influence, Predictable Consequences
Uses of game design patterns
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Inspiration
Creative design tool
Design verification
Problem-Solving for Game Interaction Design
Communication and analysis
Inspiration
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Avoid getting stuck in the same thoughts
Avoid missing possible ideas
Each pattern is an example of possible
interaction in a game
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No need to distill ideas from existing games
Can be used tarot-like for brainstorming
Inspiration: example
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Brainstorming session
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Game for future mobile phones
9 participants
Design requirements:
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number of required players 3-12
technical details: has to use Instant Messaging etc.
use of certain patterns from Bluffing, Social Interaction,
Cooperation, Competition, Hovering Closure, Uncommitted
Alliances, Tension, Producer-Consumer etc.
Creative Design Tool
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A collection of patterns as the starting point
for a game concept
Refinement can be done by examining and
choosing additional patterns, gradually
building a more concrete game design
Creative Design Tool: example
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Stimulated Social Interaction
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Trading -> Producer-Consumer -> Asymmetric
Distribution -> Collection
Mutual Goals
Shared Rewards
Tension
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Bluffing -> Asymmetric Information
Betrayal -> Uncommitted Alliances ->
Collaborative Actions -> Delayed Outcome
Design Verification
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Use of the patterns
and structural
framework to check
design against
intentions
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Spot gaps in design
Spot overemphasizes
Spot redundancies
Spot opportunities
Problem-Solving in Interaction Design
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Understanding why a design has certain
wanted and unwanted characteristics
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NOT why the game isn’t fun or good!
Give examples of what can be added to, or
removed from, a design to achieve a certain
effect
Communication and Analysis
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Offer a neutral definition instead of relying on
that subjective understandings match
Patterns can be used as concise definitions
that make descriptions shorter and more
specific
Makes the design process more visible
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Explain design decisions
Identify new patterns
Communication and Analysis
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Avoid jargon specific to profession
Allows comparisons with other games
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How same pattern used in different ways
The selection of patterns used
How the patterns relate to each other
Communication and Analysis: example
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Patterns as design requirements
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Common understanding of the features of the
game with all stakeholders (publisher, producer,
development team, marketing)
Easier to check if the features present in design
Design decisions easier to explain
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“To achieve Social Interaction I used Trading in
such and such way…”
Conclusion
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A possible common language for game
design
A collection of game design knowledge
Tool for
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Inspiration
Structured creative design
Problem-solving
Communication and Analysis