After reading chapter 3: Working with Formal Elements from the textbook Game Design Workshop a Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, by Tracy Fullerton I did not think about how important a player counts could be for a game. Currently, I am making a board game for about three players. After reading the section Number of Players in chapter 3 I believe adding a couple more players to the game could make it more interesting and more unpredictable. Another section that caught my attention was the Player Interaction Patterns section. There are many kinds of player interactions such as single-player vs game, multiple individual players vs game, player vs player, unilateral competition, multilateral competition, cooperative play, and team competition. Even though all player interactions are great, I personally lean towards single player vs game and team competition. In a single-player vs game, you are playing against a computer and not an actual person. An example of a single-player vs game would be Pac Man and Solitaire. In team competitive games it is based on two or more groups who are competing against one another. An “example include[s] soccer, basketball, charades, Defense of Ancients, and Team Fortress 2” (Fullerton p. 64). Both of these player interactions are the opposite of one another and because of that, it makes them so great. Sometimes I get frustrated playing competitive games such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and Fifa 20, that I will play single-player games such as Pokémon, Zelda, or Animal Crossing to calm my mind. The same idea when I get bored of player single-player games, I would switch to a more competitive team-based game.

What makes video games unique is that there is a genre and player interaction for everyone. Currently, my friends want me to get into the Borderlands games, which can be a single-player and cooperative play. They always ask if I want to play cooperative with them and I usually say no. The reasoning why I do not usually play cooperative modes is because I believe if I am going to play online with friends, I simply want it to be against other human players. I believe the game would be more challenging and fun if you are facing real people rather than CPUs. I still think cooperative games are a great idea for players who want to play with friends and not having to worry about a competitive atmosphere.

Works Cited:

Fullerton, Tracy. Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, 4th Edition. 2019.