The Concept Layer

Concept is a pretty broad term meaning “the abstract description of an idea”. In games, the concept is composed of a couple of phrases that describe the game's style, general setting, and sometimes the main plot motivation, as well as the types of characters and interactions involved. Game concepts are generally short, but they serve as the ultimate definition of the game, something that the developers should keep in mind at all times to make sure that they are really making the game they were supposed to.

Therefore, the game concept is the topmost layer of our proposed architecture, tying all the other layers together into cohesive game design. A proper definition of the game's concept is crucial for establishing the game's vision and focus, inspiring the whole design and development processes. The concept is also the general starting point of the top-down approach, as discussed later in this article.

Gilliard: Now, that is a good example of game concept turning into verbs, is it not?
Rafael: Yeah... Lots of verbs, like “click”, “click”, and... ummm... “click”?

As the starting point of our discussion, the concept layer represents the most abstract view of the game. The next sections describe the remaining layers with increasing granularity, representing an incremental process of specification of the game idea, turning it into the detailed description of the game.

The Context Layer

The context of a game, as far as the proposed architecture is concerned, comprises the story, circumstances and motivation presented to the player. Why must the player do what he is doing? Does he have to save the princess from the castle or must he save the world from an alien invasion? The context does not have to be story-driven, but it must define a more concrete view of the game that the players can easily refer to.

Whenever a player has to make a choice in order to progress further in the game, his options are based on, and related to, the concept at hand. Such decisions could be choosing between types of weapons in a shooter, dialogue options in an adventure game or RPG, or even whether he will dodge or strike in a fighting game. It is expected that every choice the player makes in a game is a meaningful one, even if its purpose is merely aesthetic (say, to answer a question made by a character that has no other purpose besides telling you how mean he is).

The context should be the guide to these choices, enriching the game environment with events related to the situation proposed by the game. It is important that every non-aesthetic choice has a clear purpose and outcome in the game; if not, the game should rather “choose” for the player, and keep the things going. For example, in 2K Boston/2K Australia's masterpiece BioShock, you are not supposed to use your weapons in certain areas, so the game “chooses” no weapons for you, instead of letting you choose any weapon -- that you will not be able to use anyway.

It is important to note that it is not always necessary for the context to be related to the storyline, but one important purpose of context, being it through aesthetic or game-changing choices, is to bind the player to the game universe.

Take for example Square's highly-praised RPG Chrono Trigger for the Super NES. This game puts the player in the role of Chrono and his friends, inhabitants of the interesting and conflicting kingdom of Guardia. The game's context comprises the journey among the Guardia region in different eras in time, and the story itself is full of opportunities for the manipulation of future events through actions taken in the past.

Gilliard: Beware! Wonderfully crafted world and story, amazing context... The greatest game of all time!
Rafael: When did we start talking about Ocarina of Time?
Gilliard: (Sigh) We never did... This is Chrono Trigger...

On the other hand, let's look at Wii Sports; there is no story there to guide the player through, but the game's context comprises several activities that everyone is familiar with.

Gilliard: See? You don't need to tell a story in order to play with Mii and my Wii... hehehe...
Rafael: Dude... that joke was already old six months ago...