Insightful analysis! I like how you abstracted away other bits of the game to get to the pattern. This served me also as a good reminder to be very thoughtful about the relationship you create between aspects of a game (just yesterday I spotted a feedback loop in a game I'm testing, which I realised I didn't fully acknowledge 😄).
I can definitely see how the pattern can be distinctive of gateway games, and I imagine you can essentially generalise it in something like [do something -> do something more -> get rewards].
I imagine the pattern doesn't guarantee you have something gateway, as any of the steps can still be incredibly thinky (e.g. imagine if in Azul you had way more colours and pots to choose from, and if penalty VPs were more harsh) - but it's a useful angle to (de)construct a game!
You forgot the part of the feedback chain where you go on tilt when you realize that there is no representation of women or POC in the game or just unrealistic ones <cough TTA>
1) you win by [thing]
2) on your turn you X, Y, or Z
X) gain this
Y) spend this
Z) gain some flexibility
3) the game ends when [event]
That’s been a pretty useful model for designing gateways (and teaching them) for a long time
Insightful analysis! I like how you abstracted away other bits of the game to get to the pattern. This served me also as a good reminder to be very thoughtful about the relationship you create between aspects of a game (just yesterday I spotted a feedback loop in a game I'm testing, which I realised I didn't fully acknowledge 😄).
I can definitely see how the pattern can be distinctive of gateway games, and I imagine you can essentially generalise it in something like [do something -> do something more -> get rewards].
I imagine the pattern doesn't guarantee you have something gateway, as any of the steps can still be incredibly thinky (e.g. imagine if in Azul you had way more colours and pots to choose from, and if penalty VPs were more harsh) - but it's a useful angle to (de)construct a game!
You forgot the part of the feedback chain where you go on tilt when you realize that there is no representation of women or POC in the game or just unrealistic ones <cough TTA>
Really clever approach. It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's theory of stories: https://bigthink.com/high-culture/vonnegut-shapes/
As usual, really smart analysis. Well done, sir.
Drawing these diagrams for games seems really useful and isn't something I thought about yet. I will definitely try to do this for some designs.
I agree; thank you for the visual diagrams!
As soon as I started reading, I thought, “wife”. Immediately, I think, “Ticket to Ride”. Bingo! TtR pops up.
I love the diagrams. Simply excellent analysis. Kudos!