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Concept
Gameplay
Summary
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it. Video game gameplay is distinct from graphics and audio elements. In card games, the equivalent term is play.
Arising alongside video game development in the 1980s, the term gameplay was used solely within the context of video games, though now its popularity has begun to see use in the description of other, more traditional, game forms. Generally, gameplay is considered the overall experience of playing a video game, excluding factors like graphics and sound. Game mechanics, on the other hand, is the sets of rules in a game that are intended to produce an enjoyable gaming experience. Academic discussions tend to favor game mechanics specifically to avoid gameplay since the latter is too vague. The word is sometimes misapplied to card games where, however, the usual term is "play" and refers to the way the cards are played out in accordance with the rules (as opposed to other aspects such as dealing or bidding).
There are three components to gameplay: "Manipulation rules", defining what the player can do in the game, "Goal Rules", defining the goal of the game, and "Metarules", defining how a game can be tuned or modified. In video games gameplay can be divided into several types. For example, cooperative gameplay involves two or more players playing on a team. Another example is twitch gameplay which is based around testing a player's reaction times and precision, maybe in rhythm games or first-person shooters. Various gameplay types are listed below.
Asymmetric video game
Cooperative video game
Emergent gameplay
Nonlinear gameplay
The term gameplay can be quite ambiguous to define; thus, it has been differently defined by different authors.
For instance:
"A series of interesting choices." -Sid Meier
"The structures of player interaction with the game system and with other players in the game.
Official source
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