Franchise Funk & Gameplay Bloat - GUI 139

Playing a game involves two things: gameplay on the one hand and, on the other, the world, story & meaning which gameplay conveys. Gameplay, like the words in a book or paint on a canvas, is the medium the game-maker uses to communicate his concept. Even where gameplay mechanics are similar, as between entries in the same genre, each game is distinct at least to the extent that its mechanics are used to communicate an original world, a novel story & meaning. Sometimes gameplay impedes player enjoyment of the world & story; tedious, repetitive mechanics, reused assets or even scenarios implemented to pad out the game can make it impossible for the qualities of the game-maker’s ideas to shine through. We call this ‘gameplay bloat’. Other times, the concept a developer has tried to communicate is itself impoverished: tedious & reused, passed between hands & kept alive for profit alone. This is ‘franchise funk’: no mechanics of any quality can save a game from a poor, zombified & unappealing concept.