Week 4

The sport I choose to analyze is tennis. Games contain core tools, which are “...constraint, direct and indirect interaction, goals, challenge, the interplay of skill, strategy, chance and uncertainty, decision-making and feedback, abstraction, theme, storytelling and context” (Games, Design and Play, ch. 2). In tennis, the players just want to hit the ball over the net and for the ball to land inside the court. If players had the ability to throw and/or catch the tennis ball, it would be easier to achieve the goal of getting the ball over the net inside the court. The gaming tool, constraint, is “...putting limits on player actions and interactions with the objects, other players, and the playspace with the intention of creating a play experience” (Games, Design and Play, ch. 2). In tennis, one of the constraints is having to use a racket to precisely hit the ball over the net. Also, the baseline serves as a constraint because when a player serves, their feet are not allowed the cross the baseline. Another tool is direct actions “...which the player has immediate interaction with objects and the playspace…” (Games, Design and Play, ch. 2). Hitting the ball with the racket is a direct action because the player has to hit the ball to keep the keep going. On the other hand, “...indirect actions are those that occur without direct contact by the player or the primary objects they use while playing” (Games, Design and Play, ch. 2). The tennis net serves as an indirect action in the game because if a player hits the net, the opponent is unsure where the ball is going to land. In some cases, the ball might swipe the top of the net and end up falling over to the other side. In tennis, the goals are quantifiable in relation to winning the match. Numerous challenges exist in the game of tennis. Physical ability is one challenge because a player has to be able to run to the front, back, or sides of the court to save the ball before it goes out of play to keep the game going. Another challenge in tennis is being able to win the most sets within a match. A challenge that I have personally experienced is the sun beaming straight into my eyes when I was trying to serve the ball. Skills are “...the degree to which a player has mastered an action within a game…” (Games, Design and Play, ch. 2). A skill a tennis player can accomplish is hitting the ball accurately within the court and serving the tennis ball because the players have to hit it directly within the square. Strategy “...is the ability of the player to determine the best ways to perform the actions of the game in order to achieve their goals” (Games, Design and Play, ch. 2). One strategy in tennis is to put a backspin on the ball, which makes the opponent have to change their way of hitting the ball. Another strategy would be to hit the ball off the back corners of the court, making the opposing player run a lot, which tires them out. 

Macklin, C., & Sharp, J. (2016). Games, Design and Play: A Detailed Approach to Iterative Game Design. Addison-Wesley Professional. Accessed 18 Sept. 2020.