Episode 39 Abstraction in Games

Abstraction in Games

Hi and welcome to Experience Points by University XP. On Experience Points we explore different ways we can learn from games. I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. Find out more at www.universityxp.com

On today’s episode we’ll cover abstraction in games.

Abstraction is not something that we often think about deeply when we play games. Most of us play games for fun. That’s what most games are for. But abstraction is the heart of what makes games… games.

Simulations are often mistaken for games. But simulations focus on one thing that most other games don’t: fidelity.  Simulations are meant to simulate their content as accurately as possible. Games on the other hand are full of abstractions.

Abstractions are the “mental leaps” that designers make when creating games around certain themes. Street Fighter is a fighting game; but as a player you don’t actually fight in it. A series of moves on the directional pad (and to be honest a little button mashing) simulates the game’s hand-to-hand combat.

Moving via the directional pad? Throwing a punch using a button? That is just one level of abstraction that games offer.

This episode will dive deeper into abstraction in games. Specifically what abstractions are; why they are used in games; and how they affect the player experience. This episode will also review specific examples of abstraction in games and how they affect our play and engagement.

Abstraction is just another method of “leaving it up to the imagination” for players. Abstraction is the mental leap that players make when connecting game mechanics and dynamics to theme and content.

Abstraction is one of those elements that often comes up in video games. It’s part of one of its core elements. Designers use abstraction because they may not want to (or at least choose not) to accurately represent the experience to the player.

Rather, abstraction allows designers to subtract, filter, curate, and distill the kind of experience they want their player to have. Often times that means prioritizing visual aesthetics and engagement over realism.

Abstraction is a model. It’s a hypothetical of what could be. I’ve never been in a dungeon myself; so I don’t know if playing Dungeons and Dragons is an accurate representation of what it’s like to dive deep into a dank subterranean lair.

But I’m leaving it up to my game master to curate the experience of dungeon diving with point to point movement; character stats; and generated monsters for me to slay and loot. I’ve thought a lot about abstraction in games lately; and the best way for me to summarize it is this:

Abstraction takes a complex concept and makes it easier for the player to grasp. Because of this, game designers, and games-based learning educators can use abstraction to both obscure necessary (but complex) elements of a game as well as curate the player experience.

Abstraction can be fun to design with; but why use it?  What makes it such an important element in game design?

Abstraction is important because of the limited cognitive capacity that each player has to dedicate to the game. By abstracting certain elements of the game through avatars; hexes; and meeples; we can concentrate on curating the player’s experience.

In this instance, the player doesn’t have to see everything. Disney Land is famous for having it’s underground “utlilidor” tunnel system. This allows cast members to move from one part of the park to the other without walking through sections where they don’t belong.

I know that it would ruin it for me if I saw a cowboy walk through tomorrow land. Such a discrepancy ruins the sense of immersion for park guests.

As designers; we need to throttle the complexity. We need to emphasize the moments where players can make meaningful decisions. Then remove the framework around the more complex decisions where we don’t want them spending excess time and energy. By doing so, we ensure that they focus on the essence of the game.

Now, think about a game like Mario Kart. Here, the experience of the game is to race your Nintendo licensed characters around a crazy track. I’m having fun because I’m competing against my friends and trying to avoid that crazy blue shell.

But what am I not doing? I’m not changing the oil on my kart or making sure that my tire pressure is at the right level. The designers have made the choice to abstract those elements away so that players can focus on the essence of the game: social racing.

Abstraction is very important for defining and influencing the player experience. Abstraction is something that the player “decodes” in their process of playing the game. That kind of decoding is an optimization that the player builds over time. It’s really left up to them how “turns” in Civilization make sense within the game state and their actions.

From the player perspective they are given tools and resources at the beginning of the game to gain a sense of agency and competency. They then use those tools and resources in order to affect their environment.

Minecraft is a great example of this as agency is one of the central characteristics of the game. By allowing players to create what they want from the world, the designer has made it so that fundamental elements of construction are represented by uniformly sized cubes. Players use those cubes (abstractions of general resources) to create whatever they like!

This means that abstraction in games is part of the designer’s intent. What we really see as gamers and consumers is what we are meant to see. As educators and designers we show our students and our players what we want them to see and the context that we want them to see it in.

Abstraction allows us to curate the experience for users. And with it on our side we can use abstraction to take complex content; theories; and relationships and distill them down to their requisite elements. By doing so; we can make a small portable game a much larger experience than it really is.

One of the best phrases that I’ve come to rely on for explaining abstraction in games is “video game logic.” Video game logic allows us to explain away and “abstract” some of the core and fundamental elements of games.

You really shouldn’t be gain “experience points” for every monster your slay. But, experience points is simply an abstraction of your character becoming more experienced.

Likewise, a turn based strategy battle in Twilight Imperium doesn’t indicate who is the best at strategic planning; diplomacy; or subterfuge. The game abstracts agency of players in those areas through specific mechanics and dynamics of the game. 

The game doesn’t require you to be successful; but it does reward players who understand how certain relationships within the game work with one another.

Lastly, we can see abstraction in modern sports where actions are both allowed and not allowed as part of the rules of the game. These constraints represent abstractions of some real world weaknesses; limitations; or elements necessary to keep the game interesting and challenging. 

I could probably play soccer much better if I could use my hands as well as my feet; but then it wouldn’t be soccer anymore. It would be a totally different game.

This episode dove deeper into abstraction in games. It provided an overview of what abstractions are; where they are used in games; and the kind of impact that they can have on the player experience. This episode also reviewed specific examples of abstraction in video games; table top games; and sports.

Abstraction can be a complex concept; but it’s necessary in order to honor the commitment players make to playing your game.

I hope you found this episode useful. If you’d like to learn more, then a great place to start is with my free course on gamification. You can sign up for it at www.universityxp.com/gamification You can also get a full transcript of this episode including links to references in the description or show notes. Thanks for joining me!

Again, I’m your host Dave Eng from games-based learning by University XP. On Experience Points we explore different ways we can learn from games. If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing.

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References

Chuk, N. (2015, September 23). THE IMPORTANCE OF ABSTRACTION. Retrieved November 20, 2019, from http://www.firstpersonscholar.com/the-importance-of-abstraction/.

Eng, Dave. “Meaningful Choices.” University XP, University XP, 6 Aug. 2019, https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/8/6/meaningful-choices.

Eng, Dave. “The Player Experience.” University XP, University XP, 10 Sept. 2019, https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/9/10/the-player-experience.

Juul, J. (2007, September 24). "A Certain Level of Abstraction". In Situated Play: DiGRA 2007 Conference Proceedings, edited by Akira Baba, 510-515. Tokyo: DiGRA Japan, 2007. http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/acertainlevel

Kapp, K. M. (2011, June 29). Games are an Abstraction of Concepts and Reality. Retrieved November 20, 2019, from http://karlkapp.com/games-are-an-abstraction-of-concepts-and-reality/.

Leon, T. P. de. (2015, September 15). Game Design 101: The Beauty Of Abstraction. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://blackshellmedia.com/2015/09/15/game-design-101-the-beauty-of-abstraction/.

The Underground World of Tunnels Beneath Disney. 9 Apr. 2018, https://www.messynessychic.com/2015/04/16/the-underground-world-of-tunnels-beneath-disney/