Game structure

-A game with two or more players and a single winner

-Make up the large majority of the market for tabletop games

-Each player begins the game with a roughly equivalent chance at victory

-Players coordinate their actions to achieve a common win condition or conditions. Players all win or
lose the game together.

-Cooperative gaming is notable because it lowers barriers to entry for a game. Disparities in skill level
can often make a competitive game a sour experience both for the expert and the newcomer.

-Can be placed into two categories: those with an artificial intelligence (AI) and those without.

- Can be placed into two categories: with the alpha-player or not.

-Teams of players compete with one another to obtain victory. There are a variety of possible team
structures, including symmetrical teams like 2v2 and 3v3, multiple sides like 2v2v2, and even One vs. All

- An ancient human pastime and is prevalent in sports, classic card games, and war games

- The players perform different roles in the game

- A solo game is a game or game mode intended for play by a single player.

- Solo games are closely related to cooperative games in the sense that the player plays against the
game system itself, rather than a sentient opponent

-Kinds of solo games: goal-based, record-based, and AI-based

- A game which ends with either no winners or with the players winning as a group, but a single player
being recognized as the individual winner as well.

- Players can all lose together to the game itself.

- A group’s enjoyment of this style of game depends on all members having the same answer to the
question of whether a group win, coupled with an individual loss, is in fact superior to a total group loss.

- A game with three or more players which ends with only one loser.
- Games with one loser flip the script by incentivizing players not to perform better than everyone else,
but better than at least one other person.

-Сan be seen as a kind of team game, or as a cooperative game with a betrayal mechanism.

-It’s important to consider how the game plays at different stages of knowing the traitor’s identity.

-This is a game system that can be applied to a variety of different maps, starting resources and
positions, and even different win and loss conditions.

-Scenario structures are popular in dungeon crawler games. Swap in a new dungeon map, a new boss
monster, maybe some new mission types.
-This is a game in which players play until reaching a stopping condition, then record scores, reset the
game, and play one or more additional rounds.

-Commonly used in card games.

-A legacy game is a multisession game in which permanent and irreversible changes to the game state
carry over from session to session.

-They are difficult to playtest, require generating quite a lot of content, and are tricky to produce and
price properly.

-Legacy games require a substantial commitment to complete, and they typically call for the same group
to come together ten or more times.

Turn order and structure terminology

-One of the elements that separates “games” from “play” is structure

-A Turn is typically one player taking a series of Actions or Steps, although sometimes other players may
interrupt or otherwise participate.

-A Round is composed of multiple Turns. This can be a fixed number of turns, or variable depending on
player actions or random events.

-Turn order is set at the start of the game and never varies.

-Play proceeds from a starting player clockwise around the table (with some cultural exception).

-Fixed Turn Order will often result in an imbalance favoring one of the player positions.
-The turn order within each Round is set by some statistic relating to the players’ resources or position
in the game.

-Turn order may also be variable for different phases of the game, based on different statistics.

-When the advantages of turn order are extreme, manipulating turn order may become a dominant
feature of game play, which may or may not match the designer’s intent.

-Players bid for turn order. A variety of auction mechanisms may be used.

-Adding an auction for turn order, or Bid Turn Order, helps improve balance by allowing the players to
decide the relative merits of different turn orders at different times and situations.

-Slows the game down.

-One player has the First Player token. At the end of the round, the token passes to the player to the left
who becomes the new First Player for that round. During the round, players take turns clockwise around
the table.

-Naturally rotates the first player marker through the players in a predictable way.
-Introduces a timing element. If you are going second, you know that you will be going first the next
round.

-Can leave a large gap between player turns.

-In each round there is a First Player, and turns are taken clockwise from the first player. There is an
action that may be taken to claim a place in the turn order for the next round, with play proceeding
clockwise from the First Player. If no one takes the action, turn order remains unchanged.

-Gives more control to the players over the turn order, as they need to do something to seize control
over the first player marker.

-Player to the left of the player who chooses to go first gets a great boon.

-On their turn, players may either take an action or pass. The first player who passes becomes the new
first player for the next round. The second player who passes becomes the second player for the next
round, and so on.

-Players are presented with a choice: take additional actions this turn, or be earlier in the turn order for
the entire next round.

-Games in which players are very likely to take an equal number of actions in a round are a poor fit for
this mechanism.
-No turns. Players play as quickly as possible, subject to certain constraints, until the game or phase is
completed.

-Need to be very simple. Anything that causes confusion requires the players to stop the action.

-Game’s length needs to be short.

-High risk of mistakes and cheating.

-No turns. Players play as quickly as possible, subject to certain constraints, until the game or phase is
completed. Play is also interrupted by specific player actions, which are resolved before resuming the
real-time action.

-The action may be stopped at any time, at the discretion of a player, or upon taking a valid stopping
action.

-Players plan their turn simultaneously and secretly. Then, they reveal their plans at the same time.

-Has players selecting actions at the same time, but actions are generally resolved in turn order.
-Gives players the opportunity to try to anticipate what their opponents will do, and plan accordingly.

-Players secretly and simultaneously select an action, role, or priority. Then they are revealed, and the
actions/roles revealed determine the order in which players act.

-If no one selects a role, it is skipped, so if players really want a specific role to occur, they can select it,
or gamble that, based on the situation.

-Representatives of play pieces or players are randomized, and one is drawn at a time.

-Can introduce a lot of excitement and tension to a game, as players anxiously await which token will be
revealed.

-Inability to create a perfect plan.

-No turns. Players place owned timers on action spaces and pieces and take an action. When the timer
runs out, it may be moved to another location to take that action.
-Conflicts based on time management (someone turned sand timer later).

-Each player has a marker on the track, which indicates where they are “in time”. The player with the
marker lowest on the track (furthest “back in time”) takes the next action.

-Obvious who goes next, even though turn order jumps around a lot.

-Players have some choice over who goes next, allowing for additional tactical play.

-Can lead to players being out of the action for some time if they have taken long-duration options.

-Players possess one or more Action Tokens. Those who have an Action Token may take a turn, then
they pass the token clockwise, allowing the next player to perform an action.

-In order for this mechanism to work, there needs to be multiple Action Tokens being passed around the
circle at the same time.
-In an Interleaved Phase structure (a), all players perform the first phase, then all perform the second
phase, etc. In a Sequential Phase structure (b), each player performs all phases before moving on to the
next player, who then performs all phases, etc.

-Interleaved structures in general are preferred in modern design, as they reduce downtime between
player actions.

-A player who “Loses a Turn” must skip their next opportunity for a turn, and will go to the next round,
or the next time their turn arises.

-Considered an anti-pattern to be avoided, as it was frequently used as a possible outcome of landing on

a particular space or drawing a card—which were, themselves, random.

-Players may take an action that interrupts the normal turn flow.

-Keeps players engaged. If you can interrupt what your opponent is doing, you can look for the perfect
opportunity to strike.

-Add uncertainty and chaos to the game and undermine the ability of players to create a perfect plan.

-Players who are more familiar with the game than new players have more advantages.
Actions
An Action is an atomic step or series of steps that a player chooses to perform. For example, moving a
piece, picking up a cube ect.

-A player receives a number of Action Points on their turn. They may spend them on a variety of Actions.

-A player receives a fixed number of Action Points on their turn, and can spend them on any
combination of Actions.

-Limit players to only performing an Action one time per turn.

-Players select from an assortment of Actions in a shared pool. The available Actions are limited in
quantity, and once a player has chosen an Action it may not be chosen again.

-Sometimes players need to adapt to whatever is available.

-Each player has a set of Actions available to them, embodied in cards, tokens, or some other
affordance. Once performed, they are spent and may not be performed again until retrieved.

-Has a much more strategic feel (opponents will/will not know, for example, that you do not have a
Move action available)

-On their turn, the player plays a card that shows Action Points and an Event. They must choose to
either use the Action Points or perform the Event.

-Allows designers to integrate a lot of flavor and special actions to a system to emphasize theme.

-Add another layer of player decision-making by having some or all events only eligible for specific
players.
-Players have a hand of cards that allows them to activate and perform actions with a subset of their
units.

-Players create Action Queues and perform them in sequence.

-Players must plan their actions and commit to a specific sequence of execution.

-Emphasize planning, but can also introduce chaos.

-All players add Actions to a central Action Queue. Actions in the Queue are performed by all players.

-A player adds one or more Actions to the end of a queue shared by all players, and then executes the
full queue from start to finish.

-Increases interactivity, as players are planning actions not just for themselves.
-One player selects an Action. Other players may then perform that Action, or a modified version of it.

-Have a high degree of player involvement.

-Forces players to consider not just what they want to do, but what will be good for their opponents.

-Slows down play, since players have to decide on every single turn whether they wish to Follow and
how.

-Players place Order Tokens into regions, indicating what they want to do in that particular region of the
board. After all tokens are placed, they are executed in sequence.

-Opponents know where you are planning to do actions, but not which.

-Must balance a variety of factors.

-The available Actions are represented as pie wedges in a circle. Each player has one or more tokens on
Rondel’s wedges. On their turn, they may move their token around the Rondel and perform the Action
indicated by the wedge where they stop.

-Emphasize trade-offs, planning, and efficiency, as players need to balance taking the action that they
want to do now and paying a cost.
-Players are restricted from which actions they may choose.

-Each player has special Actions that only he or she can perform, or that modify standard actions.

-Has a unique player power that sets them apart from the other players.

-Improves replayability, as players will want to return to the game to try out different factions and see
how they play.

-Make a particular strategy optimal for that player.

-Players have a special ability that they can use one time per game.

-Adds another dimension of consideration for players—timing.

-One player has a token that permits them to do a special Action, or modify an Action. Once used, the
token passes to another player.

-Gives the players more control over certain random aspects of the game.

-May slows the game because of long-time choices.

-At certain points in the game, different actions are made available to the players. Actions may become
available by a variety of means, including reaching a certain turn or game stage.

-Affects the availability of Actions, rather than how they are selected.

-Gives a sense of forward momentum and narrative arc.

-During the course of the game, new Actions become available to specific players, or existing Actions are
improved.

-Technologies do not have to be themed as research to use the mechanism. In many games, hiring
people, or building certain structures unlocks new or advanced abilities.

-Actions occur outside the control of players that cause an immediate effect, change the state of the
game, or impact subsequent actions.

-Events can add variety and theme to a game.

-Their usefulness is multiplied by affecting the overall game state for an extended period of time.

-Multiple action options are presented to the players via a narrative format.

-The ability to bring more structured narrative and flavor to the game, without the players needing to
create narrative from abstract game elements.

-Adventures they present can be disconnected from the main course of the game.