Visual Metaphor in Games of Chance: What You See is What You Play

Gaming, gambling and visual material have been part of the human experience since recorded time. Before widespread literacy, visual metaphor was the first gaming interface and has remained a potent form of game experience. Fundamental design elements such as pictograms, representations, graphics, icons, symbols, figures, line art, composition, layout and color have played a continuous central role in the story of the game. Visual elements have been carefully selected and filtered through cultural context so select images have potency and meaning for players worldwide regardless of geographic region. These design elements and the images themselves create a sort of story or visual narrative in the mind and emotional experience of the player. At each play of the card, the touch of the lottery ticket, or the trip to the game board, the player constructs a vivid internal story around these finely crafted visual metaphors. Combined with the promise of winnings, the visual narrative creates a compelling motivation to play. To see it is to play it. Win or lose, the visual narrative appeals to the desire within; the charmed player plays again. Humans have had relationships for centuries with paper-based images both in game play and other facets of daily life. As simple as that may sound, paper is a complex artifact in the human experience. From the time of Gutenberg in the early 1400’s, paper was the singular non-verbal source of information and communication. Long before words, images of people, places and objects delivered rich meaning to the viewer. Number 21 April 2013