Gameplay Elements

• Pacing: The player needs to receive meaningful and immediate feedback for interactive choices in addition to any potentially delayed feedback. Even if the player's choices affect events that occur much later in the game, there needs to be an obvious immediate effect. Time spent during non-interactive sections should be minimized (such as unskippable cutscenes, needlessly long door opening animations, menu transition animations, and unskippable scripted events in which non-player characters are doing everything). Players need to be able to get from the title screen to actual interactive gameplay very quickly. Players should be able to navigate any menus quickly to access any required options or information.
• Player Initiative: Players should be able to set their own goals and create their own solutions to problems to a significant degree. The game should establish overall long term objectives for the players, but not lead them around by the nose down a linear sequence of sub-objectives. Potential sub-objectives that may aid in completing the long term objectives should be chosen by the player after observing the situation and coming to their own logical conclusions (if a player is supposed to retrieve an item from inside a building they should be allowed to realize for themselves that they have to look for a way inside first). Situations in which the game prompts the player to make choices by answering multiple choice questions have their place, but should be replaced by unprompted player-driven choices when possible. Examples of games that fail to meet these criteria (but are immensely successful anyway) are the rhythm games like "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Rock Band," in which players thoughtlessly follow step-by-step instructions.
  
• Dynamic Challenges: The challenges the players face are capable of adapting to the player's behavior. This can be through competing against real people or good artificial intelligence when in combat, but also requires enough variety in the kinds of options available to the enemies for them to choose from for the situation. This is related to having immediate feedback for the player's actions. An enemy that changes tactics to protect is "weak point" differently after being struck by the player makes the player feel effective and important, because that enemy is now "worried" about the player, but also forces the player to react and change tactics as well. This exchange effectively creates a "dialog" or a "dance" between opponents, which is a form of communication and connection.
• Earnings: Players earn score or expendable resources through their actions in the game. This provides a measure of achievement, and in the case of expendable resources may act as a means of gradually unlocking game features. This is also a form of player feedback, which is immediate in terms of the points gained, but also delayed because points may have to be accumulated significantly before they become meaningful. Alternately, players may simply earn new abilities and options directly through their actions, rather than resources to spend on abilities. This option reduces the sense of gradual progression and anticipation, but still produces a powerful rewarding feeling.