Ludic Operation

A Ludic Operation is the execution of a Ludic Action under the conditions of a Ludic Form - how it is done. “Shooting” is the space bar on the PC, the trigger on the console, the throw of the die in the board game, the drawing of the bow in LARP. The action stays, the operation changes with the form.

The operation is a coupling: the form opens up the set of operations, Human Agent Capacitas limits it. This is why it is the place where accessibility becomes modellable: making the same action reachable through different operations is accessibility in play.

It brings about nothing of its own - what it triggers is the action. Nevertheless it is a bearer of all three terms: the how of execution is regulated, it appears, and it counts as something. Where the execution itself is the challenge - rhythm, dexterity, movement in space -, the operation carries design weight of its own.

Place and design access

Place on the axis: AGENT–FORM - a coupling: the offer is the Ludic Form, the condition Human Agent Capacitas; the result is that the action becomes executable. This is why the operation has no single place but stands on its pair.

Design access: designable - which operations trigger an action, how their execution is regulated, how they appear and what they count as. The form sets the set, capacitas the limit; what a person can execute is not designable but addressable - through the choice of operations.

Relations on the axis:

• FORM: the form spans the space of possibilities of operations: every form opens up at least one, usually many, and the same operation can be available in several forms - throwing the die at the table and in LARP. Conversely the operations individuate the form: two realisations are the same form if they open up the same space of available operations.
• AGENT: the operation requires Human Agent Capacitas. The Ludic Agent Situation constrains which operations an agent can execute in it - on the bus, with one hand. What a person can execute the game does not determine; it addresses them through the choice of operations.
• CORPUS: the operation executes a Ludic Action - at least one, depending on the game state different ones: button A jumps in the open and climbs at the wall. Ludic Regulation, Ludic Appearance and Ludic Fiction determine at it how it is to be executed, how it appears and what it counts as; every operation is at least regulated.

The trias at this concept

The operation is a bearer of all three terms:

Regulation - the how of execution: in chess touch-move; in table tennis the serve from the open palm, at least 16 cm high; in dice games the cup; in fighting games the time window in which an input counts. Appearance - how the execution is answered: in Celeste every jump with trail, particles and screen shake; at the table the clatter of the die. Ascription - what the execution counts as: in Wii Sports the arm movement as a stroke; in LARP an agreed hand sign as “the character is not present”.

Process formula. The determinations adhere to the operation and hold for a process:

A Ludic Operation has a Ludic Regulation for a Ludic Process. A Ludic Operation has a Ludic Appearance for a Ludic Process. A Ludic Operation has a Ludic Fiction for a Ludic Process.

Delimitations

Delimitation from Ludic Action

Against the Ludic Action: how it is executed and what happens. “Shooting” is an action; “press the space bar”, “pull the trigger”, “kick with the foot” are operations by which it is carried out. In LUNA the boundary runs firmly along the form, not along the agent’s practice: even one who hits without looking is shooting - the key remains an operation.

Delimitation from Ludic Form

Against the Ludic Form: condition and execution. The form is the medial, material and interactional condition of a game; the operation is what is executed under it. The form opens up the set of operations, and the operations individuate the form: PC with mouse and keyboard, smartphone with touch and console with gamepad are different forms because their operations differ; the PC with gamepad and the console are the same.

Delimitation from Human Agent Capacitas

Against Human Agent Capacitas: what the person can do and what is executed. Capacitas is what a person brings - strength, fine motor skills, reaction time, perception. The operation is the execution it demands. Whoever cannot press the key fast enough fails not at the action but at the operation; a different operation for the same action can shift the limit.

Delimitation from Ludic Activity

Against the Ludic Activity: execution and field of action. The operation is the execution under the conditions of the form - pressing the key, throwing the die, laying down the card. The activity is the field that means something - hunting, trading, exploring. Between the two lies the Ludic Action: operations execute actions, actions contribute to the activity. That a key is pressed in Monster Hunter says nothing about the fact that someone is hunting.

Examples

• Shooting: the space bar on the PC, the trigger on the console, the dice roll in the board game, drawing the bow in LARP - one action, four operations.
• Super Mario: jumping - button A on the gamepad, a jerk of the controller with motion control.
• Football: a direct shot, a bouncing shot and a header are different operations of the same action “shooting”; the form, play with the whole body, determines their space.
• Chess: touch-move - a rule at the operation, not at the action.
• Beat Saber: the blade movement to the beat is not mere input but the core of the experience.
• “No laughing”: the operations are carried out by the body alone, without a device.
• Accessibility: free key mapping, one-handed control, holding instead of rapid pressing - the same action reachable through other operations.

Explanation

How an action is carried out in practice depends on the form of play. “Shooting” means on the PC: press the space bar. On the console: pull the trigger. In the board game: roll the die. In LARP: draw the bow. These operations are where players and game touch. With practice they become invisible - but they shape the game more than one thinks. In dexterity, rhythm and VR games they are even the challenge itself.

And they decide who can play along. Whoever makes an action reachable through several operations opens the game to more people.

Usage context

Dimension	Classification
Phase	Ideation only indirectly, with the choice of form; development (primary: per action the operations, their motor demands and alternatives); evaluation (accessibility: is every action executable for the expected players?)
Tool type	no stack of its own; in the action stack the note card AC-50 “Operations - the invisible level”; reference: the form-specific sheets of the element worksheet (tabulae/worksheet/element-worksheet.md §4 - material design, interface design, staging, integration)

Theoretical foundation

• Leontiev, Activity, Consciousness, and Personality: the operation as execution under conditions, the lowest level of the triad. LUNA deviates: in Leontiev an act becomes an operation with growing practice; in LUNA the boundary runs firmly along the form.
• Norman, The Design of Everyday Things: the gulf of execution - how far the path is from intention to executed act; applicable to the operation and to accessibility.