Emergence in game design: Theoretical aspects and project’s potentialities

Abstract

Games are propitious environments for the appearing of new behavior patterns (emergence). It’s necessary to comprehend the nature of these changes taking into account demands and their modifying potential on this process. To support this trajectory, concepts of emergence were presented back from classical sciences to contemporary studies which touch metadesign and game design. This paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of emergence in digital games, encompassing the utilization of projective resources that can increase the interactivity and trigger this process. The research involves literature review, articulation of concepts of complex adaptive system (CAS), emergence incidence in game design and the analysis of three selected objects: Tibia, PokemonGO and The Sims. The perspectives of metadesign usage and artificial intelligence are highlighted as propeller resources of new behaviors. The context, phenomenon and tool relation is discussed concerning: adaptive complex systems, emergence and artificial intelligence. This paper concludes that the usage of methodologies which incorporate metadesign and the gamer as co-designer are more appropriate when dealing with the emergent character of games. Furthermore, the use of artificial intelligences expands the possibilities of interaction in the game, multiplying the amount of active agents in the system.