A Diagnostic Taxonomy of Failure in Videogames

Batu Aytemiz, Adam M. Smith

Abstract: Failure is integral to playing videogames, we do not have a precise terminology for discussing different categories of failure. This is a problem because certain failures are critical to the design intent of the game, and, as such, are desirable, whereas other failures detract from the play experience and are meant to be avoided. In this paper, we taxonomize several classes of failure in the player’s experience, offering a diagnostic tool that distinguishes in-loop failures from out-of-loop failures. By classifying both games and specific failure instances, the Taxonomy of Failure extends present vocabularies for: game designers making design choices, scholars critiquing the usability of games, educators teaching games, data analysts segmenting players, and game developers creating more adaptive games.