Choose a game that you've played recently. Describe all the verbs in that game and how they work as part of the system. Which verbs are more central to the game's experience? Which are used more often, and which are more peripheral? Are some of these verbs orphaned, and if so, why? What kinds of objects are in the game, which verbs do they interact with or help develop, and how?

What will be an ideal response?

As a class, pick a single well-known genre of game, such as a nondigital strategy board game, a first-person shooter, or a side-scrolling platform game. Discuss what the central verbs of this genre are; make sure you've picked a genre in which most of you can agree about what the central verbs are!

Split into groups and have each group brainstorm and describe the design of a new game that tries to develop the central verb in an interesting way. This development doesn't have to be an entirely new idea that's never been seen before. It could be similar to existing games, but with a slightly different spin, or based on the aspects of the genre that one or more members of a group find interesting or worth exploring.

Have groups use this list of methods to develop a verb as a starting point; pick one or more of these and explore it to see how a verb can be developed:
• Introduce a new verb alongside the central verb or verbs of the game, and create a design that develops the central verb by combining it with the new verb. For example, the game Braid uses verbs common to side-scrolling platform games ("move," "jump") but develops these verbs extensively by combining them with new verbs like "rewind time."
• Develop a verb by setting up new kinds of choices for the player. What scenarios can you come up with whereby the player has to make difficult or interesting choices about whether to use the verb, when to use it, and how? For an example, see Figure 2.12 and the accompanying discussion about shooting a "caged robot" in the Janet Jumpjet game.
• Come up with new kinds of objects that can be acted on or used with the verb. What kind of interesting choices do these objects create? Can they interact with other verbs in the game's system, so that other verbs can become more robust?
• Think about different ways of using the physical layer. If a game is normally played using a joystick, what might change if the player used a touchscreen instead of, or in addition to, the joystick? What kinds of new developments could come out of changing the physical layer?