• Audio-visual description of the game/of the avatar/other characters
    • colors, objects, assembly of, behavior of
    • sounds, music
    • what do these things symbolize? Refer to?
    • how and to what effect are they assembled? Replay, repetition?
    • What is the tone of the game?
  • Game-Play description of the game
    • what the player does
    • how the game reacts
    • what does the kind of play refer to outside of the game?
    • what are the smaller and larger play structures?
    • how/do you “beat the game”?

"By gameplay, I mean the collection of game mechanics in a given game, and by game mechanics, I mean the rules that govern the interaction of the various game components." Jason Rohrer, The Game Design of Art

  • Intentions of the game-makers
    • Do you discern a narrative, how & why is it employed?
    • What are the “interesting possibilities”( Will Wright)?
    • What makes it interesting but beatable
    • Does the game succeed? Because of/despite the game-makers intentions?
    • Can you break the game.
  • Assumptions made by the game makers
    • About their audience?
    • About people?
    • About how the world works?