'Twas brilling, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe...
-- Lewis Carroll
In 2002, the Strange Breezes used a scoring system that awarded 10
points in each of 10 categories (details here).
After reviewing and scoring 36 games
in the IF Comp 02, I realized that
it needed some work. Ten categories is too many, as it tends to
compress game scores into a smaller dynamic range, and the categories
weren't defined particularly well, making it hard to determine what a
score of, say, 7, meant in a particular category. So, the new
scoring system was devised, finalized in January 2003, and is posted
here for all to enjoy. We call it... the WABE system.
The WABE Scoring System has four categories, adapted from the old
system's ten. Each category receives a score from 0 to 5,
explained in more detail below. In addition, there is a special
modifier for competition games only to penalize a game that I can't
finish in the two-hour time limit: -4 points (or one point in each
category). This will yield a score on a scale of 0 to 20 (except
for competition games I don't finish), which can then be divided by 2
to get a score on a scale of 1 to 10, rounding fractions to the
nearest integer if you like.
The categories are as follows:
W - Writing. This category encompasses everything having to
do with the writing of the game, from spelling and grammar to
character development, plot, and story. Also, watch out for the
it's vs. its punctuation.
- 5: very good writing skills, interesting or well-thought-out
story, no spelling or grammar mistakes
- 4: good writing, few typos or awkward phrases, good story
- 3: serviceable writing, basic plot, story is fine if not great,
occasional technical errors all right
- 2: passable in all areas, except for one really bad of the
following: grammar, story, spelling, or writing skill
- 1: bad in more than one of the above, such as pointless,
nonsensical story on top of ubiquitous spelling and grammar
mistakes
- 0: absolutely terrible in every aspect of the writing, including
next to no story, stupid or inconsistent characterization,
atrocious spelling and grammar
A - Appeal. The "Appeal" category takes a lot of
things into account. How immersed in the game was I? Did I
identify with the PC? Did the game move me? A game can be
likeable for many reasons, from its delightfully charming humor to its
serious, poetically dense imagery.
- 5: something about this game grabbed me and wouldn't let go;
totally immersed in it or loved it
- 4: really liked the game; moving or fascinating in some way
- 3: something was likeable about the game, but not consistently;
nothing to excite in either positive or negative ways
- 2: disliked the game; either one really bad instance of
something bad or the game was just generally unappealing
- 1: felt out of sync with the PC, was disgusted by something in
the game, generally turned off from the very start, and the game
has no redeeming qualities
- 0: absolutely awful; something about the game was so despicable
and bad that I almost couldn't play through to the end
B - Bugginess. Okay, so I chose "Bugginess" instead
of "Mechanics" or "Programming" because I liked
the acronym, but the principle is the same. This category grades
a game's coding and ease of use, and takes into account any bugs,
missing synonyms, ease of communicating with the parser, and extra
efforts put into coding.
- 5: no mechanical, parser, syntax, synonym, or bug problems of
any sort, probably with extra verbs and responses thrown in
- 4: occasional bug or "quirk," mostly well-coded, a few
missing synonyms, most reasonable things handled by parser
- 3: a few bugs, some problems getting things across to the
parser, missing synonyms abound, some requests not understood
- 2: fatal error with workaround, obvious verbs/items not
implemented, repeated frustration with parser, non-intuitive
syntax required
- 1: horribly buggy, crashes or no response when you leave the
path of the walkthrough, all sorts of missing
items/synonyms/verbs, serious problems (but still playable!)
- 0: so buggy that the game cannot be finished
E - Entertainment. How fun is the game to play and
solve? Is it an entertaining way of passing time?
Satisfaction and ease of puzzle-solving, quality and availability of
hints, and in-game humor and cleverness all contribute.
- 5: great puzzles, fun and logical actions to take, good and
thorough hints available (or unnecessary--though this is
unlikely), and just darn fun
- 4: pretty entertaining, mostly good puzzles, some funny bits or
other cleverness, hints available
- 3: some fun just for playing a game, but nothing special (or
alternating between fun and tedious), pretty good puzzles, hints
or at least a walkthrough available
- 2: not fun or entertaining, poor or no humor throughout, no
hints available, perhaps started off okay but turned out not fun
- 1: no fun at all from beginning to end, but at least it's still
a "game"
- 0: I'm having trouble thinking of how any game could receive a 0
for entertainment value -- perhaps if it isn't really a game and
is otherwise not entertaining or amusing in any way, it might
receive a 0
Special - If a competition game cannot be finished in the requisite
two-hour limit, dock the game four points.
Comments on the WABE scoring system are welcome. Please e-mail me.
Last updated: 20030117.
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