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High Score Lists
High Score lists give players the chance to rank themselves against other players who have previously played the game.Example: The first arcade game to have High Score Lists was Asteroids. The player who achieves a high enough score compared to the other players of the same machine is allowed to enter his initials to be displayed in the High Score List.
Using the pattern
The use of High Score Lists is fairly standardized, with the main design choices being the number of Scores saved in the High Score List and how Handles are supported. Most High Score Lists make use of Handles so that the players can identify their own scores and know that other players can recognize them. Since High Score Lists typically are ordered, they need Tiebreakers or have to be explicitly designed to allow several players with Tied Results to be displayed as completely equal.
The use of Ghosts can be seen as a form of High Score List that allows players to judge their progress against other performances, as well as their own individual performances, in previous game sessions while playing the game.
Consequences
High Score Lists create a Meta Game out of the game by using Trans-Game Information, allowing players to have Player Defined Goals such as to rank themselves against previous achievements, and thereby encouraging Game Mastery. Doing so adds Replayability to the game, as the players have the additional goal of simply performing slightly better than in the previous game sessions. High Score Lists are also a simple way to introduce Competition to otherwise Single-Player Games and are also a way for players to compare and display their Social Statuses.
Relations
Instantiates: Player Defined Goals, Meta Games, Replayability, Trans-Game Information, Social Statuses, Tied Results
Modulates: Game Mastery
Instantiated by:
Modulated by: Tiebreakers, Single-Player Games
Potentially conflicting with:
(C) Æliens 04/09/2009
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