What is exploration in games?
IntroWhat is exploration in games? What defines it and how can we as designers use it in video games? What defines exploring?The discovery of the unknown. This phrase sums up what exploitation in games is. That includes everything from discovering how the controls works to exploring a unknown cave in Minecraft. Now, if you follow that phrase, it means that almost every game has an exploration element (excluding Dance Dance revolution). However the game itself does not have to be about exploration. Example: Castlevania for NES has hidden objects in levels. In order to find these objects the player has to break down walls to find them. This is exportation, however Castlevania is about wiping enemy and platforming since this is what the player are doing for most of the game. Experimentation vs ExplorationSo what is the difference between experimenting and exploration? Both lead to the same result, knowing the unknown. To me, Experimenting is the act to find a single solution to a question. If I press x, what will happen? If I press x and y, what will happen? If I build z here, does it allow me to win and so on. Exploring on the other hand is more about experiencing the unknown. Confused? Well… Take this for example: Question->Experimentation->Exploration->Answer to the question We ask ourself a question: What is inside that cave? We Experiment in order to get to the Answer: Trying to move and such We explore: We get visual feedback and see whats in the cave We get our answer: It is dark in the cave. It is made of stone. ConclustionIn the end I believe there is a lot more to exploration in games than what we discussed. We could probably have gone for another set of hours and gotten even deeper in the distinction of exploration vs experimentation. I believe exploration and experimentation is the different side of the same coin, where one leads into another.There are truly something magical in exploration in games. Nest Invader in the sky //Marc |