Six Elements of Play

Our game technically used all six elements of play. However, I would argue that the most important elements used are  Actions, Goals, and Play Space. The actions are necessary because that is the entire game. The entire game is based on the actions of hide and seek. One team hides and must not get caught, the other team tries to find the hiders. Goals are also essential, if not the most essential. Of course, you have the goal of not being caught or catching if you are the seeker. But in this version, there is a second goal for each team. The hiders must not only try not to get caught, but they must also be seekers themselves, as they must find the hidden objects and then return them to the base all while being stealthy themselves. The seekers have the additional challenge of needing to find the hiders that have the objectives because they can then "steal" the objectives and give them more of an advantage. The Play Space is essential as well because you do not want something so big, that it takes forever to find even one person, but you also do not want it to be too small to where the hiders are found immediately.  The play area also needs to have the right type of hiding spaces big enough for hiders to remain undetected, but must also have some obvious spots so the hiders do not spend the entire time looking for the first object. 

Upon the initial playtesting, I was made aware that another essential element is at the top of the list. The rules. Now, you might think that that element is obvious, after all, how can a game even function without the rules? But this element is not important for its existence, as much as it is important to have certain types of rules, or the game is unfair. The rule that creates the most fairness, I believe, is there needs to be a third party who hides the objects. that way neither the hiders nor seeker know where they are from the start. The hiders need to not know it for... obvious reasons. But the seekers do not need to know where the objects are either because they do not need to stay in one spot and "guard" the objects. This brings another rule for the seeker that I believe is essential. The seeker has a limited amount of time they can spend at a location. This prevents them from in the event they find an object, they cannot guard it.