Summary
In Minecraft, players explore a blocky, procedurally generated, three-dimensional world with virtually infinite terrain and may discover and extract raw materials, craft tools and items, and build structures, earthworks, and machines.
Game Play Analysis
| Formal Elements | |
| The Basics | REMINDER: PLACE YOUR RESPONSES IN THIS COLUMN (DELETE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE YOU WRITE) |
| Name of the game | Minecraft |
| The platform | Xbox, Playstation, PC, Phone |
| Time played (should be at least 30 minutes) | An hour or 3 hours |
| If you could work on this game (change it), what would you change and why? | I would change the game by adding new monuments and adding new mobs |
| Players | 4 people can play on one console |
| How many players are supported? | there are over 126 million players that have Minecraft |
| Does it need to be an exact number? | No, it doesn’t have to be |
| How does this affect play? | no |
| Some types of player frameworks:Single Player – like Solitare.Head-to-head – 1 vs. 1, Chess.PvE – Player vs. Environment, or multiple players vs. the game. Common in MMOs like World of Warcraft.One against Many – Single-player vs. multiple (obvy).Free-for-all – Every man for himself (1 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1..). Most common for multiplayer games, from Monopoly to Modern Warfare.Individuals Against the System – Like Blackjack, where the Dealer is playing against multiple players, but those players have no effect on each other.Team Competition – Multiple vs. multiple, i.e. sports.Predator-prey – Players form a circle and everyone’s goal is to attack the player on their left and defend themselves from the player on their right.Five-pointed Star – Eliminate both players who are not on either side of you. | It is a free-for-all or single player |
| Objectives/Goals | The goal of the game is to beat the end |
| What are the players trying to do? | go to different dimensions and collecting loot to get to the end |
| Some common objectives include:Capture/Destroy – Eliminate all your opponents pieces (Chess).Territorial Acquisition – Control as much territory as you can, not necessarily harming other players (RISK).Collection – Collect a certain number of objects throughout the game (Pokemon).Solve – Solve a puzzle or crime (Clue).Chase/race/escape – Anything where you are running towards or away from something (playground game Tag).Spatial Alignment – Anything involving the positioning of elements (Tetris or Tic-Tac-Toe or that game at Cracker Barrel).Build – Advance your characters or build your resources to a certain point (The Sims).Negation of another goal – The game ends if you perform an act that is forbidden by the rules (Jenga or Twister). | The Capture/Destroy could be a mini game Minecraft servers. The Territorial Acquisition could be a server where the players are trying to have land to themselves. The Collection could be rare resources that you need to progress throughout the game. The Spatial Aligment could you plan how to win mini games in servers. The Negation of another goal where you’re trying to have a peace in a survival Minecraft server |
| Rules/Mechanics | there are no rules really to Minecraft its a sandbox game |
| There are three categories of (what the book Rules of Play calls) operational rules:Setup – the things you do at the beginning of a game.Progression of Play – what happens during the game.Resolution – How an outcome is determined based on the game state. | You have to get wood for your setup to start the game or not.You have to progressed to get better tools for items you want, and the resolution is beating the ender dragon. |
| Controls | NOTES |
| What controls are used? | for movement Space – Jump. Double Tapping Space – Toggle fly mode in creative mode. Left Shift – Sneak. Left Control – Sprint. A – Strafe Left. D – Strafe Right. S – Walk Backward. W – Walk Forward. |
| Was there a clear introductory tutorial? | Yes, there is in the console and in the setting |
| Were they easy to understand or did you find yourself spamming the controller? | they were easy to understand |
| Resources & Resource Management | NOTES |
| What kinds of resources do players control? | need to get wood first, it is the most important resources |
| How are they maintained during play? | you can get more by going to a first so you don’t have to maintain |
| What is their role? | Their role in the game is to upgrade to better loot |
| A resource is everything under the control of a single player. Could be the money in Monopoly or health in WoW. Other examples are:Territory in RISK The number of questions remaining in 20 Questions Objects picked up during videogames (guns, health packs, etc.)Time (game time, real-time, or both)Known information (like suspects in Clue) | there is game time in Minecraft a day in Minecraft is 20 minutes in real life time |
| Game State | NOTES |
| How much information in the game state is visible to the player? | It is visible in the books and the game it has lore in the books and leave some hints in the game |
| A snapshot of the game at a single point is the game state. The resources you have, the un-owned properties in Monopoly, your opponent’s Archery skill all count towards the game state. Some example information structures are:Total Information – Nothing is hidden, like Chess.Info per player – Your hand of cards is only visible to you.One player has privileged info – Like a Dungeon Master.The game hides info from all players – Like Clue, where no one knows the victory condition.Fog of War – In video games, where certain sections of the map are concealed if you do not have a unit in sight range of that area. You also cannot see other players’ screens, so each player is unaware of the other’s information. | In Minecraft you are able to see many things like your hot bar which contains a just a few items that are immediately accessible to the player yet represent just part of a larger inventory, when it comes to things that are by obscured in some way or another there really aren’t any examples I can think of besides for the fact that the nether a faint fog effect |
| Sequencing | NOTES |
| In what order do players take their actions? | spawn, get wood, make a crafting table, make a pickaxe, get stone, make stone tools, make a furnace and then whatever the player wants to do |
| How does play flow from one action to another? | quite easily, you complete one action and move to another one provided you have the right tools |
| Some structures include:Turn-based – Standard board game technique.Turn-based with simultaneous play – where everyone takes their turn at the same time (like writing something down or putting a card down in War).Real-time – Actions happen as fast as players can make them. Action-based video games.Turn-based and time limits – You have this long to take your turn. | Minecraft is a real time game, meaning everything happens as fast as the player can make that happen |
| Player Interaction | there is no one way to interact in Minecaft as its a game of infinite possibilities and therefore no one way to interact with the game |
| Some examples:Direct Conflict – I attack you.Negotiation – If you support me here, I’ll help you there.Trading – I’ll give you this for that.Information Sharing – If you go there, I’m warning you, a trap will go off. | there is trading in Minecraft you have to find a village, when you find a villager you can trade with them |
| Theme & Narrative | NOTES |
| Does it have an actual story structure? | no |
| Is it based on a historical event (or similar)? | no |
| Does the theme or narrative help you know how to play? | no |
| Does it have emotional impacts? | no |
| Also, look for en media res (does it start in the middle of the game)? | no |
| The Elements in Motion | NOTES |
| How do the different elements interact? | water and lava can react to other blocks |
| What is the gameplay like? | it can make cool build and |
| Is it effective? | yes and no |
| Are there any points where the design choices break down? | no rarely they all ways updates |
| Design Critique | NOTES |
| Why did the designer make these particular choices? | the design in Minecraft has got better over the years |
| Why this set of resources? | they make new resources every once a while |
| What if they made different decisions? | they don’t need to make different decisions unless they mess up with their new item they made or a glitch has been found |
| Does the design break down at any point? | it doesn’t break down ever that much |
| Graphics & Sound | NOTES |
| Does the game art pair well with the mechanics? | yes, there are paintings, but it’s all related to the game |
| Did you find any bugs or glitches? | no but other people have found glitches, but the devs try to fix it right away |
| What about sound? | the musics and the sound are perfect |
| Can you spot any technical shortcuts? | no |
| Various Stages of the Game | NOTES |
| To wrap up, some things to keep in mind (as if there aren’t enough already) as you play: | there is the beginning where you get the wood and your basic tools to get to the other stage and other stages |
| What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them? | the mobs that can kill you |
| Is the game fair? | yes, it is |
| Is it replayable? Are there multiple paths to victory or optional rules that can change the experience? | yes, it is replayable it’s has different victory and lost |
| What is the intended audience? | it’s for everyone |
| What is the core, the one thing you do over and over, and is it fun? | playing with friends |
This analysis form was adapted from https://notlaura.com/a-template-for-analyzing-game-design/
Resources
- Playing Like a Designer – I: Examine Your Experiences by Extra Credits
- Playing Like a Designer – II: How to Analyze Game Design by Extra Credits
- Game Analysis Guidelines by MIT
- Level 3.2: Critical Analysis of Games at learn.canvas.net
Books
- A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
- Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design by Scott Rogers
- Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals by Katie Salen