ABSTRACT
When I prototype, I keep a watch out for the emotions that arise from playing even the simplest of the systems. Often early prototypes involve simple shapes, abstract numbers, and little evidence of what a typical player might consider plot or theming. Yet I regularly notice myself becoming excited about a variable ticking upward or crushed when I lose a resource. However, most players are not trained to watch for the emotions that arise from play. They’ll experience broad moments of joy and failure; particularly when they engage with an abstract game, the subtler emotional signals can be quite weak and so they are left feeling cold about the whole experience. Beyond a very small segment of abstract thinkers, the emotional payload of the clever gameplay systems falls flat.
