Week 2 - Game Elements

 So far in the 7.5 hours I've spent within Terraria, I have observed aspects of most of the elements Kapp discusses in chapter two of our textbook. The three that I believe have been the most prominent in my gameplay are: goals, rules, and replay/do overs. As both Kapp and Squire point out, these and the other elements in the game overlap heavily. Very quickly within the game all three of these become evident, most players upon being dropped into this world will attempt to explore the landscape some before realizing what your initial goal should be. A player quickly learns through the repeated failure of dying that they cannot simply explore the landscape with the starting equipment, as there are too many zombies and the stats of the starting sword, pickaxe, and wooden axe are not sufficient to stave off the zombies forever. 

Starting Equipment

Through these failures, a player quickly discovers one of the games key operational rules, upon death the player will respawn in the same location they began the game. With this necessary information, a player must use critical thinking skills to determine how to achieve the initial goal, which is to survive the first night. The player must use knowledge of a standard game rule that if a player is given particular tools at the start of the game, they are meant to use them frequently starting out. With this prior knowledge, I looked at my main tools, the sword was clearly meant for the zombies, after some exploration I realized the pickaxe is meant for excavation of the environments' materials, and the wooden axe was to cut down nearby trees. Upon cutting down my first tree, I received an achievement, which led me to find where the other game achievements were stored so I could determine what else I needed to do to move the gameplay along. 

Some Initial Game Achievements

From this, I quickly learned that I needed to use the recent materials obtained to construct a shelter that would allow my player to survive the night. Once I determined these foundational rules, and acknowledged that dying is an inevitable part of the game I was able to begin going deeper into the game.

Current Shelter

There are many ways in which the game elements can be used for learning. Just by participating in this game, a player is forced to use self-guided inquiry skills. A player has to be willing to explore the game's environment; by walking around and experimenting with various tools, by exploring the games various menus (i.e. inventory, achievements, settings). The game itself not only encourages this initiative-taking, it requires it. 

Current Level of Exploration

In addition, the game teaches that failure is not only okay but inevitable and not a big deal. The player will die within the game and can use this knowledge to their advantage by putting their avatar in danger to glean important information for later replays. Through these failures, the game encourages collaboration, after my multiple failed attempts, I took to the internet to find others who had had similar problems, learning through them. The game also encourages this collaboration in that it offers multiplayer. Through this option, a player can learn through a more experienced player, achieving further goals then they could imagine on their own.

Gameover Screen