Summary
I chose Minecraft because on the surface its a simple game about blocks, but as begin to lean in you realize the subtle details that have created the world’s best selling game. the reason Minecraft works inst the fact that its well marketed or it has a great story (there’s no story) its the sense of freedom that the game gives you the training wheels are off from day one and that freedom is why more and more people continue, start, or return to playing Minecraft.
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, switch |
| Time played (should be at least 30 minutes) | >300 hours |
| If you could work on this game (change it), what would you change and why? | in terms of the base game Minecraft is a masterpeice but its differences in the versions of games that i have trouble with, for instance the windows 10 and console versions of minecraft all run on minecraft bedrock edition while the java download of minecraft is reserved for pc, if i could change some thing it would be unifying all versions of the game to just one single “minecraft version” |
| Players | NOTES |
| How many players are supported? | you can have as many players as you like on one world so long as the server your playing on doesn’t crash |
| Does it need to be an exact number? | no, the maximum amount is the number at which the server crashes |
| How does this affect play? | well the more players you add obviously the more Lag will be generated |
| 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. | there is really no one way to play minecraft which is one reason i love it so much, the fact that you can play single player or with friends or you could even find a server that is dedicated to PvP, team games, building, or puzzles games. if you look hard enough you can find a way to play minecraft in the style that fits you |
| Objectives/Goals | NOTES |
| What are the players trying to do? | the ultimate goal of minecraft is to beat the ender dragon. |
| 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). | as I mentioned earlier there is no one way to play minecraft and any of these listed answers would work but lets think about the base game, “what are we trying to do?” and that’s just it the goal of the game is whatever the player says it is, sure the ultimate goal is to defeat the ender dragon. but thats not where the game ends sure after that the credits roll, but the thing is that the game isn’t over after the end sequence you wake up in your house the game is over when you say it is, and that is why minecraft is a masterpeice |
| Rules/Mechanics | NOTES |
| 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. | like i said, and i hate to beat a dead horse, there is no one way to play minecraft and you can take as long as you want but if i had to set strict rules for myself and break up minecraft into parts here is how i would structure it: – the begging of the game starts from the moment you spawn in and the world is loaded, this time is spent gathering materials including iron, diamonds, and enchantments. – the “progression of play” or the middle part begins when you enter the nether this realm serves as a trial of strength and endurance, with the lava, extraodinary terrain, and the unforgiving and powerful enemies that make their home here finding and obtaining blaze powder (which is very important for the rest of the game) – the resolution, the resolution is when the players steps into the end dimension and faces off aganist the ender dragon should the player succeed the game is “over”. |
| Controls | NOTES |
| What controls are used? | since minecraft is available on many many devices i’m not going to list the inputs but i will list a handful of out puts such as break, place, use, and attack |
| Was there a clear introductory tutorial? | No, there is no tutorial enabled, which is unfortunate really the lack of a clear tutorial (there is one but you have to go into settings and turn it on though) is most likely why you don’t see many new players because if someone has absolutely never heard of minecraft or doesn’t have much video game experience they will probably feel overwhelmed and quit before they finish the game |
| Were they easy to understand or did you find yourself spamming the controller? | once you know the controls they are relatively easy to understand and use properly |
| Resources & Resource Management | NOTES |
| What kinds of resources do players control? | the resources the player controls are (yet not limited to) armor, equipment, their inventory, their health, their hunger, and the world around them being able to shape it however they please |
| How are they maintained during play? | I don’t really understand this question but i’m interpreting it as “how do the players resources stay relevant throughout the game?”; the players resources stay relevant because armor and tools have certain amounts of durability and always need to be either repaired or replaced, and block are our most important asset allowing to control the environment. |
| What is their role? | the resources the player find throughout the game have one role, to help progress the goals of the player. |
| 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) | yes, those are resources, I have to be honest I don’t really understand this question. |
| Game State | NOTES |
| How much information in the game state is visible to the player? | the player is able to see anything within their field of view they are also able to see their current health hunger and all the items within their hot bar |
| 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. | |
| Theme & Narrative | NOTES |
| Does it have an actual story structure? | no, minecraft does not have a story structure |
| Is it based on a historical event (or similar)? | nope absolutely not absolutely not comparable to any historical event |
| Does the theme or narrative help you know how to play? | no the story does not have any affect on the game play |
| Does it have emotional impacts? | no, because it doesnt have a story |
| Also, look for en media res (does it start in the middle of the game)? | no, also i’m sorry for all the answers being the same but there is absolutely no story in minecraft |
| The Elements in Motion | NOTES |
| How do the different elements interact? | tools can break blocks and hurt things, and blocks can create buildings and barricades |
| What is the gameplay like? | minecraft is a sandbox game and focuses around gathering materials, hunting, and building |
| Is it effective? | the game play is very effective as minecraft is the worlds best selling game |
| Are there any points where the design choices break down? | only one aspect of the game I feel could be improved upon and that is the fact the minecraft has very unintuitive combat often when engaging in combat with another player the player who is able to click faster usually comes out the victor |
| Design Critique | NOTES |
| Why did the designer make these particular choices? | the designers went with a minimalist art, animation, and design style as it was intended to be a sandbox game and sandboxes don’t need to be overly complicated and there fore allowed for them to add more and more things to the game. |
| Why this set of resources? | because the block game is about B L O C K S |
| What if they made different decisions? | it would be really weird to see minecraft but everything was like a circle |
| Does the design break down at any point? | nope |
| Graphics & Sound | NOTES |
| Does the game art pair well with the mechanics? | yes the games art pairs very well in the sense that they are both… well… blocky |
| Did you find any bugs or glitches? | it might be a bug, or it might not but when combining items using an anvil the two same exact items but rearranged in a different orientation may cost less experience |
| What about sound? | for most part minecraft has great audio but there are a few sounds are feel out of place for example eating and drinking are both really loud and end in a loud burp |
| Can you spot any technical shortcuts? | the entire design of the game is a technical shortcut, by using a minimalist art style there are no complex animations |
| 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: | is this about the game or is it the play like a developer thing? |
| What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them? | with a sword, shield, bow, and food |
| Is the game fair? | yeah its fair, but be careful when fighting someone you know can click faster than you can |
| Is it replayable? Are there multiple paths to victory or optional rules that can change the experience? | minecraft has a high amount of repeatability as the game really never ends but along with that every new world brings a blank slate for you to do as you please |
| What is the intended audience? | all ages |
| What is the core, the one thing you do over and over, and is it fun? |