{"id":211,"date":"2025-11-13T02:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/?p=211"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:36:53","slug":"week-6-reflection-game-systems-core-loops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/2025\/11\/13\/week-6-reflection-game-systems-core-loops\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 6 Reflection &#8211; Game Systems &amp; Core Loops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday 3<sup>rd<\/sup> November, we had guest speaker Venezia Georgieva come in to give a talk on the topic of game systems: specifically, the three topics of game design pillars, game loops and meta game systems. Venezia is a friend of our senior lecturer in games Vanissa Wanick, and actively works alongside her in the research-driven independent games studio Nucleolus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Venesia has a strong field of expertise in gameplay and systems design in particular meta game systems. She is UoS Games Design &amp; Art alumni, and is currently working at Sumo Digital on an undisclosed AAA project \u2013 with a history in creating games for Snapchat as a junior designer at studio Mojiworks, as well as working in a management role on other AAA projects as part of SEGA\u2019s Creative Assembly team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Firstly, Venesia talked us through the concepts around game pillars, described as \u201cfoundational concepts a game wants to explore\u201d. In most cases of game development these will act as the foundations that guide designers throughout the entire dev process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key takeaways about game pillars:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Should be short and concise, as well as specific \u2013 give each pillar a defined title and 1-2 specific sentences to further explain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pillars need to be adaptive \u2013 should be consciously reviewed and adapted as the game grows mid-development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We then did a quick study task to identify the game pillars of some of our own favourite games to better understand the topic through application. My chosen game was Metroid Dread: a 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania game. The pillars I identified were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Exploration: A staple of the Metroid series; traverse through an unknown, alien planet with a variety of scenic environments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High-Tempo Action: Fast-paced combat that takes advantage of movement and speed, as well as quick-time actions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tension (\/Dread): Experience high-stakes tension and atmosphere, from tense encounters with challenging enemies to terrifying EMMI chase sequences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"761\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-761x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-219\" style=\"width:397px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-761x1024.jpeg 761w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-223x300.jpeg 223w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-768x1033.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-1142x1536.jpeg 1142w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-1522x2048.jpeg 1522w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-803x1080.jpeg 803w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_taskGamePillarsLoopsMetroidDread-1-scaled.jpeg 1903w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Next we covered game loops \u2013 sets of repeatable mechanics that players will experience throughout the game. These are defined by two categories: core game loops, which handles moment-to-moment gameplay and short-term goals, and meta game loops, which are overarching game loops that encompass long-term goals and systems. We used the example of Hades II to showcase this (see notes below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We also covered \u201ctime loops\u201d: much more situational game loops that separates layers of loops by time \u2013 second-to-second, minute-to-minute, and hour-to-hour. We used Astro Bot as an example for this scenario (again, see notes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"713\" data-id=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5372-2-1024x713.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5372-2-1024x713.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5372-2-300x209.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5372-2-768x535.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5372-2-1536x1070.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5372-2-2048x1427.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5372-2-1550x1080.jpeg 1550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"718\" data-id=\"221\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5373-1-1024x718.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5373-1-1024x718.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5373-1-300x210.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5373-1-768x538.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5373-1-1536x1077.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5373-1-2048x1436.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/IMG_5373-1-1540x1080.jpeg 1540w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, we covered the topic of meta-game systems, Venesia\u2019s personal area of expertise. These are best described as \u201cthe game beyond the game\u201d and provide the player with a framework of long-term objectives to motivate them to keep playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key takeaways about Meta Game Systems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Making progress is essential to keeping players engaged and interested \u2013 especially after they fail. Some examples might be skill\/weapon upgrades and EXP systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adds game depth, giving players tools for systemic decision-making, strategy and replayability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We also covered in-depth some key ways to document these game systems, including a well-used format:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Begin with a concise overview of the system \u2013 this should be around 2-4 sentences long.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ensure that it explains how the feature supports the core game pillars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The user story is an example of why a feature is important to players. This is vital to understanding the motive behind adding such a system.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As [blank]\u2026 I want [blank]\u2026 so that [blank].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Explain how the feature works. This should be the meat of the document \u2013 outline how the system works (use diagrams). Make sure to keep paragraphs concise and use bullet points where you can.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use a table to document systems where suitable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After her lecture, me and some of my friends (Erik, Derry, Lettie, Adi) had the chance to ask Venesia some questions about her tenures and how she came about getting her placements. Her best advice was to simply apply to as many places as possible \u2013 she gave us a very useful resource in UKIE\u2019s Games Map (<a href=\"https:\/\/ukie.org.uk\/uk-games-map\">https:\/\/ukie.org.uk\/uk-games-map<\/a>) as a means to search for nearby job offerings in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also shared some stories about her time at those companies and her experiences with layoffs, which are a very big and worrying issue in games at current. Her talking to us was very useful, and in particular her stories about finding jobs made me feel more hopeful about my potential future in the games industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later in the week, we had our second round of presentations. Despite a light barrage of technical issues at the beginning, the actual presentation went relatively well and my classmates seemed to enjoy both the presentation itself and my concepts. I was much happier in particular with the visual presentation of my slides, even though somewhat barebones I put a lot more effort into making them visually appealing and cohesive. Said slides are attached below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"574\" data-id=\"222\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_1-1-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_1-1-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_1-1-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_1-1-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_1-1.png 1412w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"578\" data-id=\"223\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_2-1-1024x578.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_2-1-1024x578.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_2-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_2-1-768x433.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_2-1.png 1411w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" data-id=\"224\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_3-1-1024x577.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_3-1-1024x577.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_3-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_3-1-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_3-1.png 1412w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" data-id=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_4-1-1024x577.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_4-1-1024x577.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_4-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_4-1-768x433.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_4-1.png 1412w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" data-id=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_5-1-1024x577.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_5-1-1024x577.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_5-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_5-1-768x433.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_5-1.png 1413w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" data-id=\"228\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_6-1-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_6-1-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_6-1-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_6-1-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_6-1.png 1413w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"227\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_7-1-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_7-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_7-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_7-1-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/55\/2025\/11\/img_talking_sim_presentation_7-1.png 1411w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday 3rd November, we had guest speaker Venezia Georgieva come in to give a talk on the topic of game systems: specifically, the three topics of game design pillars, game loops and meta game systems. Venezia is a friend of our senior lecturer in games Vanissa Wanick, and actively works alongside her in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,1,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weekly-class-reflections","category-y2-parent","category-y2s1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions\/232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/om3g24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}