Elements of a Successful Game

According to Raph Koster in his book A Theory of Fun for Game Design, a successful game has six successful elements:

• Preparation 

              Practicing in advance, gearing up for battle, building a poker hand

• A Sense of Space 

                ​Landscape, board, relationships between players

• A Solid Core Mechanic

              Interesting ruleset, movement, recurring puzzle

• A Range of Challenges

              Content; enemies, environmental obstacles

• A Range of Abilities Required to Solve

              Variety; multiple tools, special moves

• Skill Required to Use These Abilities 

               Not based on luck; based on timing, dexterity, etc.

In addition, three other features are required to make it a good learning experience:

• A Variable Feedback System
  • ​The outcome of any encounter should not be completely predictable​
• The Mastery Problem must be dealt with
  • ​High level players cannot get too much out of easy encounters
• Failure Must Have a Cost
  • ​There must be at least an opportunity cost, otherwise preparation would mean nothing