Understanding games in four episodes

April 8th, 2007 by tim finin

Everybody loves Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. The content is informative, thought provoking and at times even philosophical. But the form — a comic book about how comic books work — is not just cleverly self-referential but also a direct demonstration of the techniques that underly the unique graphical format.

Kongregate uses the same approach to explain the basics of computer games. They’ve released a set of four simple 2D flash games to “raise awareness for the basic concepts of computer and video games.”

• Episode one covers rules, interactivity, representation and simulation in games.
• Episode two deals with player’s motivation to continue playing instead of leaving a game and examines what makes a game fun — instead of frustrating — to play.
• Episode three introduces the principles of learning in computer games.
• Episode four covers identification in computer games

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• Understanding Nintendo’s success with the Wii
• THQ buys Big Huge Games
• Sims creator Will Wright: Video games do no harm to children

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