BIBLIOS

Document type
Journal articles

Document subtype
Full paper

Title
Measuring Drama in Snakes & Ladders

Participants in the publication
João Pedro Neto (Author)
Dep. Informática
BioISI
Jorge Nuno Silva (Author)
Dep. S. A. História e Filosofia das Ciências
Dep. História e Filosofia das Ciências
CIUHCT

Summary
Board games can be judged by different characteristics, which may be subjective in nature but nonetheless useful for describing a game’s dynamics. One is drama, introduced by J. M. Thompson in his article ‘Defining the Abstract’ [1], which is connected to the ability to recover from a weaker position. This article proposes several criteria to measure drama in the context of race games, specifically for several historical and modern variants of the traditional game of Snakes & Ladders (known as ‘Chutes and Ladders’ in the USA). Given the probabilistic nature of race games, these\ncriteria are measured by simulating millions of matches and statistically analysing the results. The article includes a discussion of this analysis. This methodology can be used to measure drama in other board games with strong random elements, and can thus be a useful tool in game design.

Editor(s)
Cameron Browne


Institution
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA

Where published
Game & Puzzle Design

Publication Identifiers
ISSN - 2376-5097