Entity

Term

Belongs to the term

Ludic Entity: A Ludic Entity is an element that is there in a game: a piece, a card, a die, a ball, a goal; an avatar, an inventory item, an element of the interface; points, hit points, energy, money.

Stack

What it is about

The Entity stack describes what exists in a game: figures and cards, dice and board, an avatar, items in the inventory, points, hit points, money. Something becomes an entity not through its material but by being included in play – the doll on the shelf is not an entity, the same doll in play is one. An entity does not decide; it is controlled or moved by the game.

The stack has two parts. The eight prototypes are frequent profiles against which an entity can be placed: the avatar that embodies the playing person (Mario), the piece as an instrument (the pieces in chess), the unit the game moves by itself (the ghosts in Pac-Man), the value container (the money in Monopoly), the unchanging board and others. The eight dimensions are the axes on which every entity is described: mutability, persistence, control, visibility, ownership, mobility, interactivity and value. A guide card belongs to the stack.

Entities are not divided into fixed types. The prototypes are points of reference, not a complete list; many entities form a profile of their own.

How to use it

Method: (1) Find – collect the entities of the game, for instance with the Entity Finding method and its nine search perspectives. (2) Select – choose the three to five most important entities. (3) Place – determine the nearest prototype for each: which profile does it most resemble? (4) Configure – set its profile on the eight dimensions; when unsure, draw on the dimension cards, each with a design question and a contrasting pair. Transfer the result to the Element Worksheet (Nearest prototype field).

Note: A game does not need many entities but the right ones. A few well-configured entities often create more depth of play.

Time: 15 to 45 minutes, depending on whether the entities first have to be found and how many are configured on the dimensions.

Also for analysis: For an existing game, the dimensions show how its entities are configured.

Relations

Entity and action are the two bearers to which the determinations of a game adhere – regulation, appearance, ascription: the entity says what is there, the action what happens. Entities are what is acted on and with (Actions, Activities). Mechanisms configure entities and connect them, for instance in an auction in which money and goods change owners. In the Temporal Structure, entities can depend on the phase – they appear and disappear. Whoever decides independently is not an entity but an agent.

cards

The cards

ENT-01 Direct Controllable Unit An Entity that an agent controls directly – movement and action follow their input immediately. The generic profile of direct agent control; *Avatar* and *Pawn* are its specializations.

ENT-02 Avatar A directly controlled Entity that represents an agent 1:1. If the avatar is lost, the agent loses. The identification with the agent is what distinguishes it from the Pawn.

ENT-03 Pawn A directly controlled Entity without identification – an instrument with which the agent acts. There are often several; their loss is a resource loss, not a defeat.

ENT-04 Indirect Controllable Unit An Entity that the agent influences but does not control directly – the game executes, the agent sets incentives, wishes or conditions. A rarer prototype that fills the control axis between direct and autonomous.

ENT-05 Self Controllable Unit An Entity with its own behaviour that Ludic Regulation controls – not the agent. It acts autonomously by rules or AI and thus becomes a co-player or opponent.

ENT-06 Value Container An Entity that stores or exchanges a value: points, money, energy, resources. No one "controls" it, and its main purpose is the value it carries.

ENT-07 Affected Unit An Entity that reacts to actions or gives feedback but stores no value of its own. It is operated, triggered or changed and clearly signals that.

ENT-08 Static Unit An immutable, non-removable Entity, it forms the fixed frame in which everything else takes place. No one controls it; it stays as it is.

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