This concept, which I had seen batted around in the video game media before over the past five years or so, really registered with me after playing CHAOS IN THE OLD WORLD because what it effectively offers is a kind of emergent gameplay. We effectively built the game and its narrative through our decisions and outcomes. I had to be reflexive to other players’ actions. I had to select what route to victory I wanted to pursue. I had options to shift advantage in certain regions or despoil the efforts of others. I had to choose, every turn, how to budget my summoning points while watching what others were doing with theirs. All of this while trying to ascertain the best way to leverage my character’s unique capabilities and upgrade options. And everyone else at the table was doing the same thing. The game we played was a unique one with emergent gameplay that likely could not be exactly repeated as whole although certain tactical situations and developments are likely to be common.

To be clear, I do think that most board games have a degree of emergent gameplay. Even in non-interactive games where the height of engagement is watching someone else take their turn (such as RACE FOR THE GALAXY) there is an element of decision-making and variability in card draws or variable positioning that generates the specific game experience. In PUERTO RICO, scarcity or unavailability of resources can alter plans or cause players to react in different ways and decisions are often affected by timing or supply. However, I think that this kind of emergence is very different than in a game like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA where every player choice, every bit of metagame conversation or discussion, and numerous random elements come together to create unique events and game states that may not be replicable in other plays. I’ve often said that one of the things that make ARKHAM HORROR so great is that there are literally millions and millions of possible interactions in the game along with an endless number of situations that will approached in different ways by different players playing different characters. That to me is meaningfully emergent gameplay, and that is the one thing that I think makes a game truly great.

I don’t think that a game has to have millions of interactions or be wholly dependent on player negotiation or luck to generate emergent gameplay, but I do think that the game itself has to be designed to allow it to happen. The designer is tasked with trusting the players with freedom, creativity, and the ability to explore the game space the rules create. I’ve played a lot of games where I almost felt like the designer didn’t trust me not to break his game and therefore didn’t offer me enough choices or potential interactions. I also think that certain game concepts that have been widely dismissed by many in the hobby such as imbalance, player elimination, “leaderbashing”, and “kingmaking” are, in fact, great things that can help to create emergent play. It’s too bad that like luck, these things have been vilified.

Luck is a crucial device in terms of creating emergent gameplay. Luck is one of the things that make games come to life in terms of drama, surprise, and unpredictability. Randomness adds an element for players to react against, and that generates emergent play. Mitigating swings of fortune, making the most of advantages or bonuses, and taking chances all help to create a living game environment. This is why games like CAYLUS are almost completely soulless- the player isn’t allowed to form creative or reactive responses to changes in game state because emergent gameplay is foreclosed upon by stricture, anticipatory prediction, and linearity.

Likewise, interaction is a chief component as direct competition and meta- or intra- game discussion allows games to develop along unique and organic lines. When players have the ability to affect the position or holdings of others through any variation of a competitive mechanic then it stands to follow that emergent gameplay will result. If players are left staring at individual player boards with limited interaction, the game is likely to feature much less of the kind of play that I think is indicative of a great game.

Looking it over, particularly after playing CHAOS IN THE OLD WORLD and realizing that when I read the “instructions” it didn’t sound like much although the gameplay itself was something incredible and absolutely in line with the things I like best in hobby games, I’ve realized that the concept of “emergent gameplay” embodies almost every single element I look for in a great game. Luck, competition, drama, interaction, variability, unique player abilities, surprise, narrative, replayability…it’s all there in that turn of phrase. It sums up why I love SETTLERS, why I love DUNE, and why I love UP FRONT.

Another concept that comes out of all of this, and one that I think again characterizes great games, is that exploration is a major component of emergent gameplay. And the really great games, the ones that you play regularly and get something new out of every time, are the ones that give the player room to explore possibilities in both player and mechanical interactions. I have no idea how many times I’ve played DUNE over the past five years but every single time I’ve discovered something new about the game itself or about how the people I play it with act or react and I could tell you specifics of almost every game because what I explored were memorable, meaningful places. As for the last two or three times I played POWER GRID, I couldn’t tell you anything about those games because each pretty much followed its schedule to the end and offered almost no opportunity to get outside of its bounds and explore the game space. Player personalities were restricted by an impetus to make optimal purchases and decisions and offered little or no opportunity to experience or explore a unique game created by the people playing it.

Emergent gameplay has had a tremendous effect on video game design, but the irony is that it has almost always been present among hobby games. Roleplaying games, wargames, CCGs, and many of the games popular in the 1980s have always offered a wide variety of emergent gameplay experiences It has really just been over the last ten years that hobby games have lost sight of the freedom and creativity that emergent gameplay can generate for players With the rise in popularity of co-op games and the continued sales and play of board games that demonstrate this concept, it is pretty clear that it is something that most gamers want- just like they do in video games. It’s another reason why board game designers should be watching what is happening in other gaming mediums and start taking notes.

Questions or comments for Michael? Send them along to wabner@gameshark.com .

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