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One Button Games

by Berbank Green [Design]

1 comments

June 2, 2005 Page 1 of 2

Introduction

This article is an exploration of interaction. It is likely to appeal most

to designers with a particular interest in the low-level mechanics of
basic actions. It does not intend to set out facts and figures, rather its
intent is to pose questions, provide suggestions, and present
possibilities. The focus is on the abstract, where exploitation of
interaction is not considered or considered only in moderation where
necessary. A glossary is included in the appendix.

In this article, one button is the limitation on interaction. Using this

limitation, the reader can then draw their own conclusions about how
these ideas may be exploited on multi-button interaction systems.

By beginning with the most fundamental interaction, it is possible to

carefully explore and experiment with it. By the end of this section, it
should be apparent just how many applications there are for such a
basic interaction. Whatever is discovered will be applicable to
elements of most games, since they use one or more buttons. This is
the basic currency of interactivity.

Let's begin with looking at our button:

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Our button has two states: Pressed and released. How can this be
used?

There are an infinite number of answers to this, so let's begin with

some basic actions of early computer or arcade games.

Movement (the Player Toy's movement around the playfield)

Attacking (the execution of an aggressive move or construction
and deployment of a projectile)
Activation (a change in state of one or more Toys or playfield
elements)

All of the above might be considered actions of the Player Toy, and for
the moment this will be the focus.

Taking movement as our first study, it's customary to assign multiple

buttons - or as is more often the case now, an analog control - to
movement, as this is usually intuitive to the Player. However, the
purpose of this section is to explore the diversity of options available
for manipulating a Player toy with one button. What is possible?

Movement

There are a surprising number of applications. Here are some options:

Option #1

Player toy experiences gravity.

Player toy collides with ground.
Player toy jumps (to fixed height) when the button is pressed.

Option #2

Player toy moves to next fixed position each time the button is
pressed.

Option #3

Player toy moves forward a step when the button is pressed.

Player toy rotates when button is not pressed.

Option #4

Player toy occupies position B when the button is pressed.

Player toy occupies position A when the button is not pressed.

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Option #5

Player toy moves forward continuously when the button is not

pressed.
Player toy stops when the button is not pressed.
Player toy rotates when the button is not pressed.

Option #6

Player toy moves down continuously when the button is not

pressed.
Player toy moves up continuously when the button is pressed.

Option #7

Player toy moves forward continuously regardless of button

state.
Player toy rotates counter-clockwise continuously when the
button is not pressed.
Player toy rotates clockwise continuously when the button is
pressed.

Option #8

Player toy experiences gravity.

Player toy collides with ground.
Player toy lowers trajectory when the button is pressed.
Player toy increases jump power when the button is pressed.
Player toy jumps to fixed height when the button is released.
Player toy jumps horizontally with speed proportional to button
held time when the button is released.

Movement options (interactive

Flash demo)

Of course, this is not a complete list. Each possibility holds a number

of sub-possibilities each of which are open to many different
exploitations. If natural rules are added to the system, such as
inertia, gravity, and perhaps even torque, the number of ways each
can be exploited increases still further.

It is also worth noting at this stage the powerful, yet often underused,
significance that time can play in interaction. In many of the examples
above, holding down the button affected a continuous action over
time, which is similar to applying an upward force on an analog
joystick to move a Player Toy forward in the world. However, the last
example is different.

The last example has two systems at work. The first part is the
continuous action again: the raising (or lowering) of the trajectory
based on whether the button is held down (or released). The second

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part is quite different. The jumping of the toy or firing of a projectile

happens on release of the button. This has an important effect on the
player. They will know that, once they have pressed down the button,
they are committed to jumping/firing at some point in the future. With
the added element of trajectory involved, there are the mechanics for
a simple skill based game. This system was employed in DMA's Wild
Metal Country for the firing mechanism

Wild Metal Country

Timing might also be used in the first three options in our table
above. Let's give it a go:

Option #1b

Player toy stops when the button is pressed.

Player toy jumps to a height which is proportional to held time
when the button is released.

Option #2b

Player toy selector cycles through positions with highlighter

when the button is pressed.
Player toy jumps to selected position when the button is
released.

Option #3b

Player toy stops rotating when the button is pressed.

Player toy jumps forward in proportional to held time when the
button is released.
Player toy rotates continuously when the button is not pressed

Attacking

Many of the same mechanisms in the movement example can be used

in firing. Simple shooter systems will be looked at in this article, along
with examples and variations where it is useful.

Deconstruction Note: It might be useful to think of what shooting is.

From a design perspective, firing is the creation of a toy (projectile)
that is positioned at the exit point of a weapon. The projectile toy is
then given a direction to move in and continues moving until it hits
something it is designed to read as a viable target (i.e. a meanie toy
or the playfield). It can be taken for granted, but can provide our
player with some original experiences by questioning what is taken for
granted.

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For instance: what if the projectile toy was not created at the point of
firing, but was instead part of the player toy, so that the Toy got
lighter as it ran out of ammunition. This could be taken even further
by suggesting the player toy was entirely constructed of ammunition.
What would happen when it ran out? Game over? Does the player
become the last shot? What natural and supernatural rules affect the
toy?

1. First the most basic system of all: The event of the button
changing state (from released to pressed) triggers the shot. The
player has to release the button in order to fire again. In other
words, the duration that the player holds down the button has
no effect. The event (firing) is triggered only when the button
goes from released to pressed.

Button state changing in action

(interactive Flash demo)
This is how Space Invaders works, except it has the further restriction
(in the original version) that you will be unable to fire again until the
first missile has hit something, or exited the screen.

Space Invaders
1. A slightly more advanced interaction would be the auto-fire
ability. In this situation, the character on screen will continually
shoot while the button is pressed and will stop firing when
released. This is how Ikaruga and many other shooters work. It
is a simple system that has an impressive visual effect, and
focuses the play experience on the Player Toy movement,
rather than the accuracy of shooting.

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Shoot and release action

(interactive Flash demo)

2. The next step is to change the effect or power of a shot in

proportion to the time the button is pressed and consequently,
the shot would only fire when the button is released. This might
be called a "charged shot", as the analogy is that the time spent
holding the button down is the action of channeling power into
the shot over time.

Shot charging (interactive Flash

demo)

This basic variation has huge consequences. In the mind of the

player, a "charged shot" has invested in it time and risk. The shot is
now much more important than before, and the player will be that
much more intent on using it well.

R-Type used this to great effect and became a classic game which
many others tried to copy.

R-Type
1. Any attribute could be selected to vary with time, rather than
just the power of shot. The spread of fire could be varied. With
this system a short tap might produce a wide, weak shot and a
held button might produce a tight, focused, powerful shot.
Perhaps the mode of shot could be changed entirely in discrete
stages. A tap could be a simple low power shot. Held for longer
and then released, it might split into three shots. Held longer
still, it could invoke homing shots. There is a great deal of
variety to be found in trying out different approaches.

Although some of the options above may seem more powerful, this
does not mean they are better. Consideration should be given to the

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game as a whole. Treasure's Ikaruga, for instance, has a very simple

shooting system, and its binary mode player toy really makes it stand
out. Treasure knows not to overload the player with unnecessary
options, and they focus on the original aspects of their design to make
them really shine.

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Comments

UAT Media 3 Mar 2011 at 12:51 pm PST

Great article! In your "Jump systems" section, an

example that uses mechanic #2, "Press Button =
Jump to fixed height. Release Button = drop to floor",
is Princess Peach from Super Mario 2.

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