ABSTRACT
The formal analysis of a game requires a series of terms and concepts that refer to the design of the game. Formal elements help us understand how the game works and how the game relates to it. Some of these aspects include the rules of the fictional world, the game dynamics, how the game system can invoke a certain set of values, the audiovisual representation, the difficulty levels, and the control schemes. Level design, choice design, and game modifications are different areas that we can also analyze formally. An analysis of the formal elements of a game involves identifying the elements that help us generate new knowledge about the game first; the next step is to establish relationships between elements, as well as other building blocks. Another productive aspect of analyzing the formal properties of a game is to explore the relationship between the rules and the fictional world of the game. Although fictional worlds are not exclusive of digital games, digital media seems particularly apt for creating complex fictional worlds.
