research-article

Ludemes and the linguistic turn

Author:

Nis BojinAuthors Info & Claims

Futureplay '10: Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology

Pages 25 - 32

https://doi.org/10.1145/1920778.1920783

Published: 06 May 2010 Publication History

Abstract

Ludemes is an approach to game design notation that takes a unique 'atomist' approach to documenting the operational parameters of a game's design (Cousins, 2005; Koster, 2005). Conceived by designer Ben Cousins and developed by designer/theorist Raph Koster, ludemes are meant to clearly articulate design functionality by paying close attention to a game's basic units, or designed choice 'atoms' in games (Koster, 2005).

Ludemes introduces a granularity that opens the door to detailed design analysis, but although ludemes is one of the more intriguing forays into the realm of formal design notations and languages, it currently overlooks what gives designed 'atoms' their place--not with regard to their usefulness, but with regard to how designers use them and an inquiry into what their conventional uses are (Wittgenstein, 1953; Ryle, 1949). This position paper argues that that a re-evaluation of the notion of design atoms via the linguistic turn---playing closer attention to the use of atoms rather than considering them as a priori design concepts---leverages the linguistic turn in a way that could contribute to the development of ludemes both as a tool for forwarding game design and design analysis.

References

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Bojin, N. (2008). Language Games/Game Languages: Examining Game Design Epistemologies Through a 'Wittgensteinian' Lens. Eludamos, Vol 2., No. 1. Available at: http://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/viewArticle/29/55.

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Cousins, B. (2005). Low-Level Game Design, Atoms, Measurement and Hierarchies. Presented at: Game Developers Conference Europe, London, UK.

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Koster, R. (2005). A Theory of Fun. Paraglyph Press, New York

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Koster, R. (2005). A Grammar of Gameplay. Presentation at Game Developers Conference 2005, San Francisco, CA. Available at: http://theoryoffun.com/grammar/gdc2005.htm

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Koster, R. (2006). 'A bit on how I think games work', Raph Koster's Website. Available at: http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/03/05/a-bit-on-how-i-think-games-work/

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Kreimeier, B. (2002). 'The Case for Game Design Patterns'. Gamasutra. Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20020313/kreimeier_pfv.htm

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Cited By

Hansen D(2022)Formalisations du jeu vidéo : la métaphore langagière du jeu mise à l’épreuve au travers du concept de ludèmeVideo Games as Formal Systems: (Re)Assessing the Conceptualization of Games as a Language through the Notion of LudemesSciences du jeu10.4000/sdj.3975Online publication date: 13-Mar-2022
https://doi.org/10.4000/sdj.3975
Mayr SLedit LPetta PEichenberg CSindelar B(2016)A serious game to treat childhood obesity2016 IEEE International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH)10.1109/SeGAH.2016.7586258(1-6)Online publication date: May-2016
https://doi.org/10.1109/SeGAH.2016.7586258

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Ludemes and the linguistic turn

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Futureplay '10: Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology

May 2010

282 pages

ISBN:9781450302357

DOI:10.1145/1920778

Conference Chairs:
Bill Kapralos
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada
,
Andrew Hogue
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada
,
Simon Xu
Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie, Canada

Copyright © 2010 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 06 May 2010

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Cited By

Hansen D(2022)Formalisations du jeu vidéo : la métaphore langagière du jeu mise à l’épreuve au travers du concept de ludèmeVideo Games as Formal Systems: (Re)Assessing the Conceptualization of Games as a Language through the Notion of LudemesSciences du jeu10.4000/sdj.3975Online publication date: 13-Mar-2022
https://doi.org/10.4000/sdj.3975
Mayr SLedit LPetta PEichenberg CSindelar B(2016)A serious game to treat childhood obesity2016 IEEE International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH)10.1109/SeGAH.2016.7586258(1-6)Online publication date: May-2016
https://doi.org/10.1109/SeGAH.2016.7586258

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