AGE Model of Game Design & Play
Current Version: 1.1.b.
The AGE Model is an ecological approach to games, gaming and roleplaying. Instead of divining the internal motives of the players or the group, it focuses instead on the shared environments of the players – physical, mental and social. It then describes relationships between the players, the players and the environments, and lastly the impact of the ‘invisible player’ involved in the creation of these environments – the game itself.
This last is the most important distinction of the AGE Model – the design and implementation of the game’s rules by the players is fundamental in the construction of the shared gaming environments; by altering the rules and presentation of the game, you alter the social dynamics and the mental models of the players. Therefore, the design of the game is as important to the emergent mental and social spaces of the players as their group history or prior experiences.Part of this distinction is the premise that all games share these same principles: Game, Art and Emulation – but that different games (and different taxonomic groupings of games) reinforce different principles. This is not a new idea. However, the AGE Model suggests that differences between taxonomies is minor, and what may appear to be very disparate forms of games are, in fact, right next door to each other.
As such, the AGE Model seeks to break down the traditional barriers between board games, card games, tabletop roleplaying games and digital gameforms – each of these has strengths and weaknesses, and each can be informed by the design parameters of the other.