1. Select two video games that you will play for the week.
   1. They must be similar genres and must be similar type of game.
   2. They must be from similar platforms. There is a difference between mobile games and other video games.
   3. Pick at least one game that gives you the option to play with others. Many free mobile games do this such as Clash of Clans, Township, Angry Birds 2 etc.
2. Analyze the game using the following steps. Please follow the instructions and include the header for each section (e.g. Context Analysis: 1. Game developer. 2 Game genre...)

1. Before you start writing, play the game - Play the games extensively. Try to complete the games, or at least familiarize yourself with all the modes. In your analysis, be explicit about how you played each game, if there are different options (e.g. level of difficulty, character that you used.) - Take notes while you play. It's good to keep track of things you come across in each game. What do you like? What don't you like? Is there something that you did not expect? Does a specific part of the game remind you of something else (another game, or a movie, or some other event)?
2. Focus on the type of analysis you are going to use. Once you've played the games, you should decide what you want to focus on. What makes each game worth analyzing? What are you going to discuss? Are you going to compare/contrast the two games?

1. Contextual Analysis:Make it accessible to your reader, particularly if they are not familiar with the game. Your contextualization should include at least three of these aspects.

1. Game Developer/Studio; Artists, Designers, Programmers, Writers (or whoever is relevant). The creative team of a game is important, particularly in the case where it connects to other relevant games they worked on before or after this game. Some development studios or designers have certain trademarks, or specialize on a particular genre (e.g. Valve, Square Enix or Will Wright), so choosing one of their games can mark a specific time in the evolution of their games, which might be important to the context of your analysis.
2. Game genre and related games A game genre usually has a set of established conventions behind it, such as First-Person Shooters, adventure games, real-time strategy games or Role-Playing Games. Establishing the game within a genre can help determine, for instance, why it is like other games of the same type, or what is innovative about it. If the game partakes of conventions from different genres, that can also be a way of explaining what sets it apart from other games.
3. Technological context What platform(s) was the game developed for? It is important to note which version of the game you are playing, e.g. Assassin's Creed for the DS is a different game from the PS3 version. The technology will determine, for instance, the length of the game or whether there is an ending (think of arcade games in the early 80s, where games typically did not end). In other cases, such as the Virtual Boy or the Wii, the technology can also shape the way the way the game is played.
4. Socio-historical context When was the game made? It's different to analyze a game from the 70s, when videogames were almost exclusively played in arcades, than a recent game now that videogames start to enjoy a more general acceptance in cultural terms. Where was it released? A game released in the US in the mid 80s (after the videogame crash) may not have had the same influence as a game released in Europe (where videogames were played almost exclusively in home computers).
5. Audience Who is the game intended for? Games can create communities around them, at times fostered by the developers themselves. The fans of a particular game can be a phenomenon worth studying, for example, as creators of content for it, as critics/reviewers, or as assistants to other players by providing walkthroughs or strategy guides. Studying the game community in depth can veer away from the textual analysis provided here, so be aware that if you study the community you may not be analyzing the game itself. It is a perfectly valid analysis, but different from the one proposed here.
6. Relations to other media Is the game part of a franchise, a tie-in with a work in another medium (e.g. Lost - Via Domus, Wall-E)? Is it an adaptation of the work in another medium, or is it only using the same characters and settings? Is it inspired by a situation or premise of another medium (e.g. Dead Rising taking the zombies-in-a-mall premise of Dawn of the Dead)? Does it incorporate and re-work pre-existing stories (e.g. Too Human using Norse mythology as the basis for its story, but transposing it to a high-tech world) Does it use other works as documentation, background or inspiration (e.g. the writings of Ann Rynd as background reference to Bioshock)?

1. Game Details: It is always good to explain briefly what you do in the game to someone who has not played it or is not familiar with it.
   1. No. of Players (single player/multi-player/MMO) Can you choose the number of players? Does it have different modes depending on the number of players? If there is more than one player, do they play simultaneously or do they take turns?
   2. Rules and goals of the game Make a summary of the basic rules of the game, a summarized version of the instructions, as it were. If the game has an end / a win state, what is it? If it does not, it's also worth explaining whether it is an endless game, or whether there are multiple goals, or whether the player is able to set their own goals/win state (e.g. The Sims). Does the game have different modes, where the rules change slightly?
   3. Description of Gameplay: what do you do in the game? Focus on the core mechanics: what are the most recurring actions in the game? You can think of this in terms of verbs: what are the main verbs of the game? For example, in Super Mario Bros. the verbs would be run, jump, pick up, slide down, stomp. In Tetris, the verbs would be rotate, drop, clear. - Spaces of the game Where does the game take place? How does the player navigate the space? How does the game encourage exploration of the space, if at all? Are there different types of spaces, corresponding to different levels? Does the space or navigation do anything that is not possible in the real world? How does the space of the game relate to the space of the player?
   4. Aesthetics: General gameplay experience This section is a tricky one since your experience will probably be different from other people's. Your skills or game knowledge affect the way you play the game. You can contrast your own gameplay with that of other players by reading walkthroughs or reviews. You can also compare how you played with the experience intended by the developers if you find interviews or postmortems where they express that intention.
   5. Rules and Fiction How is the setting presented outside and in the game? How does the game live up 6 to it? How does it establish the fictional world of the game? How does it relate to the rules and goals of the game? If the game has a strong story component, you may summarize its premise; however, you should avoid turning your analysis into a retelling of the story of the game.

1. Formal Elements: In this section, you have to identify the different game elements that make up the game system and establish the relationships between them.
   1. Gameworld rules: What model is each game trying to simulate? How does the gameworld work, outside of the rules of the games? For instance, San Andreas in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a city where pedestrians walk on the sidewalk, cars run at normal speed on the road and follow traffic rules, and the day/night cycle changes every 20 minutes. This could be called a simulation of the real world, within certain limits. Other examples can refer to the difference between what is possible in the gameworld and what the player is allowed to do. For example, in the main mode of Halo characters talk to each other in cut-scenes, but the player cannot choose when to talk or what to say.
   2. Simulation and Levels of Abstraction: What level of abstraction is each game using? How nuanced is the simulation in each game? For example, Diner Dash simulates the strategic aspects of waitressing, where the key is to optimize your path to do the most things the least amount of time but does not include taking down people's orders and memorized who ordered what. How complex is the simulation, depending on that level of abstraction.
   3. Game mechanics and resulting dynamics From the rules of each game described above, What are the main strategies? What is their range (i.e. are there just a couple of strategies or is there a wide variety)? Are there any emergent strategies that are possible but may not have been predicted by the developers? Does the game accommodate different play styles? Can the player save the game? If so, can the game be saved at any point, or does the game regulate when to save the game? The gap between the game and the player: Player character, mediation, interface design How does the player have agency in the gameworld? How is the information displayed on the screen? Is the interaction menu-based (as in Sim City)? Is there a player character who represents the player in the world? Is it a given character or is it customizable? Can the player character die or not? Does the player manipulate the objects directly, without a player character or avatar (e.g. in puzzle games like Bejeweled)? Can the player select different entities in the world at a time (as in real-time strategy games)? How is gameplay information 7 conveyed through the visuals / audio?
   4. Audiovisuals: visual design, sound design, music What is the audiovisual style of the game? Does it evoke / imitate the style of other media (e.g. painting, photography, cinema, classical music)? Does it use other games as aesthetic reference (e.g. retro games)? What is the color scheme? How do these audiovisual elements contribute to the fiction of the game? How do they contribute to the mood of the game? How does the game encourage players to experiment with it? - Mods / Modes / Cheats / Hacks. Cheats and game hacks have a great potential as texts to analyze, since they can become commentaries on the original game and reveal hidden or non-obvious aspects of the game.
2. Round up your discussion Remember to finish off the paper with a conclusion. Reiterate the main points of your paper, what you want your reader to remember, the core of your paper in brief. This is an opportunity to ratify your thesis statement, re-stating it and summarizing how your evidence supports it. A conclusion can also address one of the following points, based on your discussion. - Why is this game relevant to the study of games? - What is innovative about game? Can it be applied to other games? Open up to further questions that need addressing, in videogame theory, game design, more game analysis, etc. Why did you choose the games you did? Did you play something for the first time?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Based on your criteria I would select the following two games for analysis 1 Fortnite Developed by Epic Games Fortnite is a freetoplay battle royale game available on multiple platforms including PC c... View the full answer