Pure gameplay examples and why are they fun?

[DinnerX]

Puzzle games are probably the purest gameplay around. They are fun because they are challenging. It's just the fun of you against the game and trying to over come the challenge. People love a little lighthearted challenge. Even when there is no person or AI or hi-score to beat puzzle games are still fun. It is fun to learn new aspects of the game and use new techniques to set up a big combos. Lots of people like to learn things if it's not a chore and everyone likes to see themselves accomplish something even if it is just something in a video game.

[msimplay]

Puzzle games are probably the purest gameplay around. They are fun because they are challenging. It's just the fun of you against the game and trying to over come the challenge. People love a little lighthearted challenge. Even when there is no person or AI or hi-score to beat puzzle games are still fun. It is fun to learn new aspects of the game and use new techniques to set up a big combos. Lots of people like to learn things if it's not a chore and everyone likes to see themselves accomplish something even if it is just something in a video game.

Actually yes I remember this in the case of many 8bit and Arcade games they were all about the difficulty, the challenge to win kept you playing.

I myself felt a sense of huge achievement after completing Street Fighter 2 in the Arcades with one credit and no losses it might not seem like a lot now but back then it was a huge achievement for me.

I remember discussions used to be "I played that game" and then followed by "what level you got to ?" The good old days eh

[jeffro11]

I actually don't like many arcade games and playing just for points because there is no story. A story is integral to gameplay no matter how you look at it.

Let's take Pikmin for example. Remove the story (albiet small)... Why are you collecting these items? What are these Pikmin? Who is the main character? Why do I like this? What will I gain in the end other then a headache?

Without a purpose there is no real point in progressing through the game if there is no reward in the end. I don't consider getting a high score a reward in any way at all.

Even Mario has a simplistic but still existent story. The princess is missing and you must find her. Sure this is very small in the grand scheme of things compared to an RPG for example.

Now lets shift focus onto an RPG. I find it enthralling to learn about characters and their troubles. When you can delve yourself into a game and relate to the character in a few ways the story BECOMES the gameplay. It's true that the word "game" means to have competition and play according to rules laid out. But this definition isn't really applicable to video games as I feel they are so multifaceted it's unfair to equate gameplay to pushing a button when your basically "told" to do so.

In summary a game without a story is a game not worth playing at all. Pacman and Pong I will not play because of this. They bore me to death a thousand times. But this is just opinion and no one can agree on what makes something fun.

[Xeogred]

I've been playing Doom for 15 some years nonstop and I really can't explain it. The game is just so damn fun and never gets old with the near infinite amount of amazing user made WAD's out there, so after my few months off from the game when I go back, it's pretty much a new experience every single time.

shmups are another good example, I don't know why, I just love them because they're so damn fun. I can say the aesthetics of a lot of shmups are very pleasing and interesting to me though. As in how some of these titles are ultra 90's Japanese sci-fi/anime with awesome art I can't help but love, or half of these games are filled with some of the best sprite work you'll ever see, and well no doubt this genre has some of the best music in gaming period. I guess those factors all help too, hehe.

[brunoafh]

Now lets shift focus onto an RPG. I find it enthralling to learn about characters and their troubles. When you can delve yourself into a game and relate to the character in a few ways the story BECOMES the gameplay. It's true that the word "game" means to have competition and play according to rules laid out. But this definition isn't really applicable to video games as I feel they are so multifaceted it's unfair to equate gameplay to pushing a button when your basically "told" to do so.

Even with RPGs though it's the gameplay that's make or break. I mean really, most RPG storylines are absolute drek. WRPG stories are usually painfully boring (Elder Scrolls, Diablo) and JRPG stories are usually laughably non-sensical and are full of equally non-sensical characters (Tales games, list goes on and on). I suspect JRPGs usually turn out that way because they're catering to children most of the time.

I like all of the games that I brought up though don't get me wrong, but it sure as hell isn't because the stories are intriguing in any way. I usually just skip the dialogue in every Tales game because everything is so silly, and I don't even bother doing any main quests in the Elder Scrolls games. I put like 60 hours into Oblivion and I have absolutely no idea what the game's storyline is about.

[Gamerforlife]

I'll just list random thoughts that enter my mind when I think "fun"

Letting me do crazy things I can't do in real life
Giving me goals to accomplish like rankings, 100% completion, etc.
Giving me things to collect
Giving me different ways to defeat enemies and giving me lots of creative ways to kill them
Rewarding me for thinking strategically and creatively
Games that recreate the feeling of being in an arcade(the loud, disembodied voice you hear in games like X-Men Legends when you do a super attack or combo comes to mind)
Wanton destruction of environments or wanton slaughter of enemy forces
Solving puzzles

and now random gameplay examples that popped into my head

Ratchet & Clank combat arena challenges
Wiping out every red enemy dot on the map in Starcraft or Dynasty Warriors 3 with a fleet of Battlecruisers or an army of high morale soldiers
Killing enemies with traps, environment kills, stealth kills or throwing them into pits
Pulling off that perfect, maximum hit combo with both characters in Prince of Persia(2008)
Slaughtering a group of enemies in one fell swoop in Dynasty Warriors 3 with a powerful shadow element attack
Performing a perfect tate in Shinobi(PS2)
Stealth kills in Tenchu
Head shots in Resident Evil 4
Air juggling or chip damaging an enemy to death in a corner with Nicole's energy blast in Guardian Heroes
Getting major air in SSX Tricky
Shoving rival players in NBA Jam T.E. to get the ball or flying across the court for a slam dunk and hearing, "He's on fire!"
Raising an animal's happy meter in Viva Pinata or the sweet sense of satisfaction when you gain another level and get a series of congratulatory messages and notifications about new abilities or items
Mind controlling an enemy in Oddworld:Stranger's Wrath and using him to slaughter his own friends
Putting together an elaborate trap combo in Kaegero Deception 2 and watching it in action as your victim bounces from one trap to another like a looney tunes cartoon until his health drains to nothing and he is a pile of blood on the floor. Mwuahahaha!
Performing Kung Lao's "bunny" fatality in Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks
Weaving in and out of a barrage of projectiles in the Red Star as you return fire in a ballet of death

[Erik_Twice]

Without a purpose there is no real point in progressing through the game if there is no reward in the end.

The puporse is that playing the game is fun on itself or enjoyable in other ways. No more, no less.

In summary a game without a story is a game not worth playing at all. Pacman and Pong I will not play because of this.

Your loss.

Funny how all those sports, any abstract game, most boardgames and paintball are not "worth playing" because they don't have a "story".

[J T]

Puzzle games are probably the purest gameplay around. They are fun because they are challenging. It's just the fun of you against the game and trying to over come the challenge. People love a little lighthearted challenge. Even when there is no person or AI or hi-score to beat puzzle games are still fun. It is fun to learn new aspects of the game and use new techniques to set up a big combos. Lots of people like to learn things if it's not a chore and everyone likes to see themselves accomplish something even if it is just something in a video game.

Yes, I think puzzle games are the best examples because they rarely rely on graphics and sound at all. Your explanation as to why they are fun is accurate, but it still leaves me wondering why those things (learning about the game, developing techniques for success, etc) are fun. Like, why is it that dropping a perfectly placed line piece in Tetris is so satisfying? What is it about humans that we would enjoy ordering blocks and feel so satisfied when we order 4 lines at once? Is it some need to feel like we can order the world around us? Is it a sense of accomplishment from being given a task and then completing it? Are these cognitive skills that we are hard wired to feel pleasure for practicing because it gives us some evolutionary advantage as a species to develop our brains in this way?

[J T]

I'll just list random thoughts that enter my mind when I think "fun"
*snip*

Awesome post! Thanks.

[msimplay]

I actually don't like many arcade games and playing just for points because there is no story. A story is integral to gameplay no matter how you look at it.

Let's take Pikmin for example. Remove the story (albiet small)... Why are you collecting these items? What are these Pikmin? Who is the main character? Why do I like this? What will I gain in the end other then a headache?

Without a purpose there is no real point in progressing through the game if there is no reward in the end. I don't consider getting a high score a reward in any way at all.

Even Mario has a simplistic but still existent story. The princess is missing and you must find her. Sure this is very small in the grand scheme of things compared to an RPG for example.

Now lets shift focus onto an RPG. I find it enthralling to learn about characters and their troubles. When you can delve yourself into a game and relate to the character in a few ways the story BECOMES the gameplay. It's true that the word "game" means to have competition and play according to rules laid out. But this definition isn't really applicable to video games as I feel they are so multifaceted it's unfair to equate gameplay to pushing a button when your basically "told" to do so.

In summary a game without a story is a game not worth playing at all. Pacman and Pong I will not play because of this. They bore me to death a thousand times. But this is just opinion and no one can agree on what makes something fun.

Story is important aspect but I would prefer more action less gameplay in all honesty.
In recent times I have shied away from games that I know have extensive stories because I just don't have the time to play them due to work and other responsibilities.

RPG's I agree story is the most important aspect here but gameplay still has to be there
I mean after I played an RPG very few times have I ever felt like replaying it FF7 for me would be one of the few exceptions.

I think a games replayability factor is based purely on the gameplay not the story.