Game Elements

We need a shared language of game design.

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From what I've read, i understand that game designing is more progressive using tools by which we can analyse and design the games. This really made sense to me "After all, how can you design a game if you don’t know how all the different parts fit together?"
When i design my game it would be helpful to think of it as a system, when designing you must give thought to the elements or "tools" of design and make sure that each is a deliberate choice. Elements are interrelated, and changing one can affect others. 
https://learn.canvas.net/courses/3/pages/level-3-dot-1-atomic-elements-of-games

This is a summary i did for these elements/tools:

Players

Solitaire

“PvE”

One-against-many

Free-for-all 

Separate individuals (against the system)

Team competition 

Predator-Prey.

Five-pointed Star.

Objectives (goals)

Capture/destroy.

Territorial control.

Collection.

Solve. 

Chase/race/escape

Spatial alignment

Build

Negation of another goal.

Rules

operational (xs and os), constituative ( abstract, 3 to 15), and implied

Resources and Resource Management

Territory in RISK

Number of questions remaining in Twenty Questions

Objects that can be picked up in video games (weapons, powerups)

Time (either game time, or real time, or both)

Known information (as the suspects that you have eliminated in Clue)

Game State

 what are rules, but the means by which the game is transformed from one game state to another?

Information

A few games offer total information, where all players see the complete game state at all times. Chess and Go are classic board game examples.Games can include some information that is private to each individual

Sequencing

In what order do players take their actions? How does play flow from one action to another?

turn based

simultanious turn based

real time

Player Interaction

Direct conflict 

Negotiation 

Trading 

Information sharing 

Theme (Narrative, Backstory, Setting)

the setting provides an emotional connection to the game. I find it hard to really care about the pawns on my chessboard the way I care about my Dungeons & Dragons character. And while this doesn’t necessarily make one game “better” than another, it does make it easier for a player to become emotionally invested in the game.

emotion. 

a well-chosen theme can make a game easier to learn and easier to play, because the rules make sense. 

Games as Systems

 When designing a game, give thought to each of these elements, and make sure that each is a deliberate choice.

elements are interrelated, and changing one can affect others. 

https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/four-elements-of-game-design-1--cms-22720

I find these tools very helpful to keep in mind and refer back to during the designing process as a critical analysis.

Critical analysis is making use of the elements, how they relate and work together and finally why the designer chose those elements and not others.

Im trying to understand types of games and analyse them this way.

I read that its easier to understand the game when you've played it, I want to put this into practice and throughout the game to keep questioning the designer in relation to their choices to benefit from it and learn from their uses of the tools.

https://learn.canvas.net/courses/3/pages/level-3-dot-2-critical-analysis-of-games?module_item_id=44530

GAME DESIGN

Definition:

"a play activity with rules that involves conflict."

A simple gave concept i found a new appreciation for is this game here:Link:"Level 1.0: What is a game?: Game Design Concepts"

6	7	2
1	5	9
8	3	4

The numbers 1 through 9 can be arranged in a 3×3 grid known as a “magic square” where every row, column and diagonal adds up to exactly 15
Now you may recognize it. It is the game of Tic-Tac-Toe So, is Tic-Tac-Toe the same game as Three-to-Fifteen, or are they different games? It depends on what you mean… which is why it is important to define what a “game” is!

This simple popular game had a twin that i didn't know about!


I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Games

What makes a thing into a game is the need to make decisions.

ConsiderChess: It has few of the aspects that make games appealing – no simulation elements, no roleplaying, and damn little color. What it’s got is the need to make decisions. The rules are tightly constrained, the objectives clear, and victory requires you to think several moves ahead. Excellence in decision making is what brings success.

source.

SimCity is described as a software toy. It offers many interesting behaviors, which you may explore. You can bounce it, twirl it, throw it, dribble it. And, if you wish, you may use it in a game: soccer, or basketball, or whatever. It is a set of player-defined objectives overlaid on the toy.
Just so SimCity. Like many computer games, it creates a world that the player may manipulate, but unlike most games, it provides no explicit goal.

Gamasutra:

So You're Going To Make A Game For The Very First Time?

• make a tabletop game, or use a simple level editor to modify an existing videogame
• make something based on a game you know
• reign in your ambition--try to complete a small project, not a large one
• focus on gameplay not prettiness or story
• play the game yourself before anybody else plays, even if it isn’t intended to be a one person game
• iteratively and incrementally playtest and improve the game
• your never really finish