Emotive Mechanics & Thematic Illusions.

How can the inherent characteristics of a theme inform the systems and mechanics of the game? 

Theme itself is quite a slippery term. It tends to be used interchangeably with words like style, setting and atmosphere when describing a game. But setting, style, atmosphere and theme are not quite the same.

Theme can be much more than simply employing the appropriate thematic aesthetics and associated music, iconography, lexicon or lingo.  

Take, for example, a simple, hypothetical platform game set in the jungle. Let’s say at the last minute for some unforeseen reason the game now needs to be set in space. Our intrepid jungle explorer has now been replaced with a space marine, and all of the jungly hazards are now Spacey hazards. We are no longer swinging on vines over snapping crocodiles, but swinging on cables over pools of corrosive liquid on an enemy space station. 

Maybe this requires replacing every asset in the game. Every sprite and background needs to be swapped out from jungle to space. The music, sound effects, the fonts - all of it . 

But it is quite probable that the code that defines the underlying logic of the whole game doesn’t need  be tampered with very much at all.  Player movement, enemy behavior, level design, health, power-ups, etc. can all behave in exactly the same way. 

This is most obviously apparent in the free to play,  Mobile shovelware scene in which identical games are skinned and reskinned with almost infinite seeming themes. 

So what can this tell us about the causal effects of the games theme on the games feel ? 

In this bizarre example, It appears that our atmospheric experience of a platform game hasn’t been drastically altered in any meaningful way, despite its radical resetting.

Whilst this may seem obvious, it’s still worth thinking about as it allows us to see how inherent properties and systems at work in different areas, subjects, fields and themes  can influence game design in quite surprising and non-obvious ways.

This is to say that if there is something unique about a particular theme, the developer should look for ways to incorporate this unique concept into the players experience of the game.