Abstract

In the capitalistic landscape of games today there exists a paradigm where metrics rule over game design which constrains the creativity and diversity of game design. Realistic games have seen a surge in popularity under this paradigm and as an artist I look to the art movement of impressionism for answers. In 19th century France, impressionist painters managed to escape the conventional realism of their time and their work diversified art. I explore how game mechanics could be refined using impressionist painting techniques as inspiration. Existing definitions of game mechanics such as Sicart which sees mechanics as methods invoked by agents, designed for interaction with the game state and Lundgren et al. which see mechanics as any part of the rule system that covers one possible kind of interaction that takes place during the game, both definitions fail to recognize the context in which they exist and looks at mechanics in isolation. Using the analogy of a game as a painting, the properties of a brushstroke is translated into six considerations which can be used to explore game mechanics in a novel way. Through three case studies I learned that my approach to game mechanics can be complementary to existing definitions and provides a language to discuss game mechanics. The six considerations proved useful both in research and in practice and enables a designer to quickly explore game mechanics, embracing the context of the game they exist in.