“Play the Game Again”: Repeatability in Computer Games

Piotr Sitarski

Abstract

Sitarski draws our attention to the fact that computer games have their own history, systems, structures and trends. The article author is interested in a certain continuity which becomes a kind of value in the game system. Computer games develop, get complicated and are becoming more sophisticated technically. The deciding factor is the so-called ’playability’, defined by Sitarski as a given game’s ability to arouse the user’s interest repeatedly and in long periods of time. Computer games, like films, have a plot pattern but their advantage results from the fact that their plot is constantly modified. The player can influence the course of the plot, which is an important condition of why the game is attractive. What is important is the cyclical nature of games, the circular pattern in which a pattern of events is identical but the degree of complication of tasks and characters is growing. The user may also make literal repetitions and modifications of his/her own moves. The start seems to be more important than the final. Some examples of concrete games are cited, and Sitarski makes a comparison with patterns of cinematic construction and reception.