Phase 2 of 3
Implementation
Implementation is the heart of design: translating values into the practical elements of a game — specifications, graphics, lines of code. Flanagan and Nissenbaum call these fifteen elements the game's “semantic architecture”: the way a game generates meaning. Each one can embed values, alone or in combination.
1. Narrative premise & goals
A sparse story is as much a values statement as an elaborate one — narrative signals what your game thinks players should care about and aspire to become.
2. Characters
Avatars, NPCs and who gets represented are carefully chosen lenses: every character decision — including having none — commits your game to values about realism, inclusion and safety.
3. Actions in game
What a player is allowed to do is a statement of purpose: open action sets value exploration and ownership; tight ones value safety, compliance and clean measurement.
4. Player choice
How much freedom you give players — which mistakes you allow, which options you strip out — is where your beliefs about learning, safety and ethics become playable.
5. Rules for interaction with players & NPCs
How players may treat other people — real or virtual — sets the social and ethical culture of your game; removing interaction is as loaded a choice as scripting it.
6. Rules for interaction with the environment
How players are allowed to touch the game world — and how tightly you script it — decides what they learn to care about and how much agency they get.
7. Point of view
Camera choice is a moral choice: first person creates responsibility, second person creates empathy, and a god's-eye view creates understanding of systems.
8. Hardware
Hardware decides who can play your game at all. Every device choice trades fidelity against reach, and the trade-off is a moral one, not just technical.
9. Interface
The interface decides who gets to play and what behaviour is possible. Simplicity, context and user-centred design are value positions, not just usability craft.
10. Game engine & software
Your engine choice feels pragmatic, but it quietly decides who can contribute, what's feasible, and which values your game can actually express.
11. Context of play
Where a game is played — clinic, classroom, workplace or living room — decides which values win before you've written a line of code.
12. Rewards
What a game rewards — and what it lets you fail at — is the clearest statement of what it values. Points, progress and fail states all tell players what matters.
13. Strategies
The strategies a game allows, rewards or quietly rules out are a tacit statement of what it values — and of what counts as being good at the real thing.
14. Game maps
Maps were the least value-laden element in the study — but when they do appear, they signal guidance and care; when absent, control and focus.
15. Aesthetics
Visuals, sound, animation and even hardware finish are moral choices, not decoration — they decide who feels welcome, safe and represented, and who doesn't.