"Affordance, to put it simply, is the quality of an object that communicates a way to use it."

Good affordances in game design will mean that the players know how to interact with items without significant instruction. An example of a good affordance is seeing a lock after you've already found a key.

Here's an example from Activision's Mindshadow of one of the most horrible misleading affordances I've ever seen:

This is a text adventure, so you have to type something. At this point, you know you need to drop the anchor to stop the ship. In the picture you see a spool with a rope attached to a chain. You have a cleaver. I tried "CUT ROPE" and "CUT ROPE WITH CLEAVER" etc, it just said "I can't see any rope here." The answer to this puzzle is "CUT CHAIN WITH CLEAVER".

WHAT CLEAVER CAN CUT A GIGANTIC THICK STEEL CHAIN

See this article for more discussion: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichelMcBrideCharpentier/20110102/88710/Affordance_Design_in_HalfLife_2.php

"Affordance, to put it simply, is the quality of an object that communicates a way to use it."

Good affordances in game design will mean that the players know how to interact with items without significant instruction. An example of a good affordance is seeing a lock after you've already found a key.

Here's an example from Activision's Mindshadow of one of the most horrible misleading affordances I've ever seen:

This is a text adventure, so you have to type something. At this point, you know you need to drop the anchor to stop the ship. In the picture you see a spool with a rope attached to a chain. You have a cleaver. I tried "CUT ROPE" and "CUT ROPE WITH CLEAVER" etc, it just said "I can't see any rope here." The answer to this puzzle is "CUT CHAIN WITH CLEAVER".

WHAT CLEAVER CAN CUT A GIGANTIC THICK STEEL CHAIN

See this article for more discussion: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichelMcBrideCharpentier/20110102/88710/Affordance_Design_in_HalfLife_2.php

"Affordance, to put it simply, is the quality of an object that communicates a way to use it."

Good affordances in game design will mean that the players know how to interact with items without significant instruction. An example of a good affordance is seeing a lock after you've already found a key.

Here's an example from Activision's Mindshadow of one of the most horrible hidden affordances I've ever seen:

This is a text adventure, so you have to type something. At this point, you know you need to drop the anchor to stop the ship. In the picture you see a spool with a rope attached to a chain. You have a cleaver. I tried "CUT ROPE" and "CUT ROPE WITH CLEAVER" etc, it just said "I can't see any rope here." The answer to this puzzle is "CUT CHAIN WITH CLEAVER".

WHAT CLEAVER CAN CUT A GIGANTIC THICK STEEL CHAIN

See this article for more discussion: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichelMcBrideCharpentier/20110102/88710/Affordance_Design_in_HalfLife_2.php

"Affordance, to put it simply, is the quality of an object that communicates a way to use it."

Good affordances in game design will mean that the players know how to interact with items without significant instruction. An example of a good affordance is seeing a lock after you've already found a key.

Here's an example from Activision's Mindshadow of one of the most horrible misleading affordances I've ever seen:

This is a text adventure, so you have to type something. At this point, you know you need to drop the anchor to stop the ship. In the picture you see a spool with a rope attached to a chain. You have a cleaver. I tried "CUT ROPE" and "CUT ROPE WITH CLEAVER" etc, it just said "I can't see any rope here." The answer to this puzzle is "CUT CHAIN WITH CLEAVER".

WHAT CLEAVER CAN CUT A GIGANTIC THICK STEEL CHAIN

See this article for more discussion: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichelMcBrideCharpentier/20110102/88710/Affordance_Design_in_HalfLife_2.php