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Forums - Gaming - Is exploration a form of gameplay?

F0X on 12 December 2013
pbroy said:

A game is anything you can play with. A dildo can be a game. Throwing a rock can be a game. All you need is some imagination. Now translate that into videogame form. Playing with a dildo in a videogame. Using it on someone, stick em, smack em, Dead Rising style. Yes, a game. Throw a rock in a videogame. Yes, you just made gameplay.


But when you move a character, you are playing with a character, correct?



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SvennoJ on 12 December 2013
Boutros said:
F0X said:
Boutros said:

I seriously wouln't consider something like Dear Esther to be a game. Really the only thing you do is walk around. And the path is pretty straightforward. Same thing for Thirty Flights of Loving.

Maybe an interactive novel.


Then we have different standards. When something has a game mechanic in it, even if it's  merely one, I'm inclined to call it a game. Am I wrong? Is advancing through a digital world no different than turning the page of a book? Is exploration a form of gameplay? You didn't really answer my question, cy the way. You restated the kind of argument I'm addressing in the OP.

If by exploration you mean moving around using arrows on a keyboard then yes that's a gameplay feature but only if it has a greater purpose. To be a video game it needs some sort of interaction and some sort of results to the action the user inputs. If you can't have any true impact on what happens then I can't call it interaction (essential to be called a video game). I need to be challenged or be given choices. And so walking around for the sole purpose of seeing the progression of a story is not very video game like.

It's like considering Google Street View a video game.

http://geoguessr.com/ I consider that a game, pretty fun one too.

Exploration is the biggest part of a game to me. My interest level goes down a lot after I've seen it all.
The exploration in Dear Esther was good enough for a second playthrough, Proteus 5 playthroughs, Thirty flights of loving twice, Mirrormoon EP well too huge for even 1 playthrough.

It's exploration that keeps me going through an fps/tps. Get all the annoying enemies out of the way, then check out the level design. Honestly the shooting mechanics have been the same the past 10 years, it's the environments and sometimes the story that keep it fresh.



kabamarutr on 12 December 2013
F0X said:
kabamarutr said:
In my opinion, exploration is a major asset in a game and paramount in aiding gameplay reach high standards. That does not mean, however, that a game cannot exist without exploration.


But what if it focuses on exploration alone?

Interesting. This brings to mind the game Proteus and one of my colleagues' review. This game relies on exploration alone and delivers a very strong experience. Why should we limit the definition of game anyway? Should it be, exclusively, the kind created in the late 70's-early 80's?

I believe not! Many artists managed to form their expression through games. Creativity thrives in the shadows of the mainly perceived "games" like CoD and AC and whatever. Let it be, I say! Give us everything, so we can choose something. Some people (myself included) got thrilled by Journey. My head editor mocks the game constantly, comparing it to dull, artistic movies.

That's all I need actually: we have come to a point where we are able to say: the gaming world has cinematographical variety! Taste now takes the control and leads anyone's "journey" in the gaming world.



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pbroy on 12 December 2013
F0X said:
pbroy said:

A game is anything you can play with. A dildo can be a game. Throwing a rock can be a game. All you need is some imagination. Now translate that into videogame form. Playing with a dildo in a videogame. Using it on someone, stick em, smack em, Dead Rising style. Yes, a game. Throw a rock in a videogame. Yes, you just made gameplay.


But when you move a character, you are playing with a character, correct?


Yes, moving a character is gameplay. Moving a pointer with a mouse is gameplay

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Boutros on 12 December 2013
F0X said:
Boutros said:
F0X said:


Then we have different standards. When something has a game mechanic in it, even if it's  merely one, I'm inclined to call it a game. Am I wrong? Is advancing through a digital world no different than turning the page of a book? Is exploration a form of gameplay? You didn't really answer my question, cy the way. You restated the kind of argument I'm addressing in the OP.

If by exploration you mean moving around using arrows on a keyboard then yes that's a gameplay feature but only if it has a greater purpose. To be a video game it needs some sort of interaction and some sort of results to the action the user inputs. If you can't have any true impact on what happens then I can't call it interaction (essential to be called a video game). I need to be challenged or be given choices. And so walking around for the sole purpose of seeing the progression of a story is not very video game like.

It's like considering Google Street View a video game.


What a funny thing to say. I couldn't tell you how many times I walked around in a game looking for a way to progress. And what is this "true impact" you speak of? The only example I've listed without any other sort of interactivity is, in fact, Dear Esther. The other games allow players to interact with objects, at the least.

When discussing choice, I can't help but think of The Stanley Parable, which actually lampoons this notion of choice in video games. It centers around a series of simple decisions: do what you're told, or do not. And it uses this gameplay to hammer the main points of the story, which is itself an extraordinarily clever examination of choice in video games.

I'm only talking about Dear Esther and Thirty Flights of Loving. I haven't played the other ones.



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fatslob-:O on 12 December 2013

Absolutely!

Just because these titles have less forms of interactivity in them doesn't stop them from being labeled a game. Exploration is fairly important for open world games and that counts alot towards gameplay.



SvennoJ on 13 December 2013

QTE's are considered a form of gameplay, Dragon's lair is a game. Exploration is about a thousand steps above that.

Story telling through the environment is a great art form. Exploration allows you to enjoy the world and its story at your own pace and fill in the gaps from personal experience. That's what makes Dear Esther a great experience.



Akvod on 13 December 2013



adriane23 on 13 December 2013

It's the staple of most games since Super Mario Brothers, so I'd say yes.



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kitler53 on 13 December 2013
Boutros said:
F0X said:
Boutros said:

I seriously wouln't consider something like Dear Esther to be a game. Really the only thing you do is walk around. And the path is pretty straightforward. Same thing for Thirty Flights of Loving.

Maybe an interactive novel.


Then we have different standards. When something has a game mechanic in it, even if it's  merely one, I'm inclined to call it a game. Am I wrong? Is advancing through a digital world no different than turning the page of a book? Is exploration a form of gameplay? You didn't really answer my question, cy the way. You restated the kind of argument I'm addressing in the OP.

If by exploration you mean moving around using arrows on a keyboard then yes that's a gameplay feature but only if it has a greater purpose. To be a video game it needs some sort of interaction and some sort of results to the action the user inputs. If you can't have any true impact on what happens then I can't call it interaction (essential to be called a video game). I need to be challenged or be given choices. And so walking around for the sole purpose of seeing the progression of a story is not very video game like.

It's like considering Google Street View a video game.

to be completely honest,. i've played the shit out of google street view.