ABSTRACT
In immediate play, the situations people encounter are linked together in a linear chain and each move carries us forward to the next situation. This model works well enough for fast-paced action games that demand quick decisions—shooters, racing games, endless runners. The outcome of anticipatory play is in a shift in our internal constraints—a new plan or prediction that alters our understanding of the game. If anticipatory play needs to be brought to an end before closure is achieved, the transition to immediate play should be foreshadowed so that player can smoothly switch to a different set of active internal constraints. The transition from immediate to anticipatory play should be cued by a threshold—an abrupt change in context. A threshold is one type of crux. Cruxes occur whenever our expectations are thwarted or our actions fail to achieve their desired effect.
