Building game (computer game)
As a build-up play , building simulation or building strategy game one is genre of computer games called, where it is the player's primary task to build something.
Terminology
Building games are a variant of computer strategy games . In contrast to usual strategy games, the focus is not or at least not mainly on military strategy and defeating the opponents, but on growth and development. The entertainment software self-regulation (USK) describes building strategy as the "civil" form of strategy games, in which "town planning, resource management or diplomacy are in the foreground". Development games usually do not have a competitive character. They are often single-player titles.
A simple game loop in a build-up game consists of earning resources (for example "wood"), which are then used to buy additional objects (for example additional buildings such as a "lumberjack's hut") and place them in the game world. The acquired objects then produce further resources, let the creation grow and the cycle begins again.
During construction games the players often demand from economic decisions, is in contrast to pure economic simulations of the focus of the game not only on economic decisions. It's less about maximizing profits than about looking after your residents, visitors or animals, or letting your creativity run free. In many cases, players also build from an aesthetic point of view, i.e. to create something particularly "beautiful". PC Games magazine describes the gameplay of building games as follows:
“Most of the titles in this genre present us with an empty card at the start of the game and give us the first buildings. These gameplay components are nothing more than canvas and paint for an artist or tools and materials for a craftsman. In building games we become the ruler and creator of our own little empire. We determine the layout, the economic direction and also the appearance of our creation. "
The Austrian federal agency for the positive rating of computer and console games writes about building games:
“Building - a very popular occupation that has been with us for a lifetime. [...] A very popular form of "digital building" are development games in which cities can be developed from the "first stone" according to your own ideas on an as yet unpopulated landscape. "
A characteristic of many development games is the lack of a specific game goal. Often there is no narrative plot and also no opponents or bosses who have to be defeated economically or militarily. There are also seldom time restrictions, the player can spend as much time as he wants with his creation and let it grow further and further. In many cases, the only limit is the available, buildable area. Building games often use a top view or isometric perspective to give the player a good overview.
Ralf Vollbrecht describes development strategy as one of three differentiable variants of strategy games alongside real-time strategy games and turn-based strategy games . The differentiation, however, is not always clear-cut, game series such as Die Siedler or Anno, for example, operate at an intersection between construction and real-time strategies.
Educational benefit
Building games promote many skills in the game end. They expand imagination and planning skills, strengthen forward-looking and networked thinking, promote the understanding of connections and the finding of optimal solutions. To be successful, you sometimes have to try a lot or research the best possible solution. This particularly affects the key qualification of problem solving .
Building games with an explicitly educational background are published again and again. So appeared in the publishing house Cornelsen in cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education , the policy -Aufbauspiel "Genius - In the center of power." In the game the player builds a city and pursues a political career in order to get to know the political institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany .
In a study in which 200 secondary school students played the game for a week in their free time, several positive effects were found. Christoph Klimmen summarizes the results:
“We can just show that in our little knowledge test the children who played the political game were actually able to answer more questions about the political system in Germany than the comparison group who played another strategy game. In addition to the knowledge, the interest in politics has increased slightly but demonstrably. In this respect, there are not only knowledge effects, but we also see traces of motivational effects that such a game can also arouse interest in a topic that may not have been so interested before. "
variants
Urban planning simulations
In city building simulations, the player builds the largest possible city . One of the oldest and best-known urban planning simulations is the SimCity series. The game Cities: Skylines is also very popular . Game developers have relocated the gameplay to a variety of different settings, including, for example, antiquity ( Pharaoh ), the Middle Ages ( Banished , Die Siedler ), science fiction scenarios ( Surviving Mars , Frostpunk ) or the Caribbean of the Cold War ( Tropico ).
Depending on the scenario, the player has to take care of the needs of his residents as the population increases. These vary from basic needs such as food or water to luxury products and cultural or religious offers.
A recurring motif in many city planning simulations are random disasters such as volcanic eruptions , crop failures , diseases or hostile attacks that force the player to react spontaneously and protect the city as best as possible.
Theme park simulations
In theme park simulations, the player builds an amusement park . Well-known games are the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, Planet Coaster , Parkitect or Zoo Tycoon and Planet Zoo . Depending on the level of difficulty, these games either focus on the development strategy or (on a higher level of difficulty) on the financial simulation of the operation.
Management and factory simulations
Management games such as Theme Hospital or the Dungeon Keeper series are repeatedly categorized as development games in trade magazines . There is considerable overlap here with economic simulations, although the aspect of building and “taking care” still predominates over purely financial decisions. The factory building game Factorio is also considered a building game.
Biosimulation
In Spore (derived from the biological concept of Spore ) is about a species at different stages of the protozoa to develop intelligent beings. The player must z. B. procure food for his creatures and protect them from the fittest.
God simulations
Many god simulations in which the player rules a planet or a species like a god ( Black & White ) contain aspects of a building game.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Gunther Rehfeld: Game Design and Production: Basics, Applications and Examples . Carl Hanser Verlag , 2020. p. 83.
- ↑ Lexicon entry "Development Strategy". Entertainment software self-regulation , accessed January 18, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Olaf Bleich and Benedikt Plass-Flessenkämpe: Development strategy with a difference: The fascination behind Planet Zoo, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Co. PC Games , October 19, 2019, accessed on January 19, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c Karina Kaiser-Fallent: The pleasure of building - implemented digitally - used pedagogically . In: Medienimpulse , Vol. 57, No. 3, 2019. doi: 10.21243 / mi-03-19-16 .
- ↑ Ralf Vollbrecht : Computer games as a media educational challenge In: Jürgen Fritz: Computer games (r) understand. Access to virtual play worlds for parents and teachers. Federal Agency for Civic Education , 2008, p. 13. ISBN 9783893318322 . Online here , accessed January 18, 2020.
- ↑ a b Adalbert Siniawski: Serious Games: Lernvergüngen in Level clock. Deutschlandfunk , March 1, 2012, accessed on January 28, 2020 .
- ↑ Maurice Weber: The 10 best building games on the PC - built for eternity. Gamestar , September 25, 2019, accessed January 19, 2020 .
- ↑ Christian Just: Factorio - building game increases the price, will soon leave Early Access. GameStar , March 31, 2018, accessed January 19, 2020 .