Building an Ontology of Boardgame Mechanics based on the BoardGameGeek Database and the MDA Framework

This work intends to build a Game Mechanics Ontology based on the mechanics category presented in BoardGameGeek.com vis à vis the formal concepts from the MDA framework. The 51 concepts presented in BoardGameGeek (BGG) as game mechanics are analyzed and arranged in a systemic way in order to build a domain sub-ontology in which the root concept is the mechanics as defined in MDA. The relations between the terms were built from its available descriptions as well as from the authors’ previous experiences. Our purpose is to show that a set of terms commonly accepted by players can lead us to better understand how players perceive the games components that are closer to the designer. The ontology proposed in this paper is not exhaustive. The intent of this work is to supply a tool to game designers, scholars, and others that see game artifacts as study objects or are interested in creating games. However, although it can be used as a starting point for games construction or study, the proposed Game Mechanics Ontology should be seen as the seed of a domain ontology encompassing game mechanics in general.