What's the most important element in a game?

[Rizumu Tenshi]

• Story
• Characters
• Features
• Gameplay
• Staff
• Controls
• Graphics
• Audio
• Sound Test
• High Scores
• Challenges
• Other (if your choice is not mentioned--please specify)

I say Sound Test hence the [i].

The list has been updated with two new additions due to Supershroom's post: High Scores & Challenges.

[Asterocrat]

Replay value.

Other than that Gameplay and Controls, obviously.

[Harmless]

Gameplay, because it's not a game otherwise.

But a very, very close second is Characters and Story. If those are not needed or featured in the game in mind, then Controls, then Staff and Audio. Graphics come last, we've seen what can be accomplished with any type of graphic technology (but it's still gotta look good at least).

also by staff I assume you mean the developers and how good/many they are. The # in the staff depends on the game, otherwise it isn't too important. The quality of staff is very important to make sure the game is done right.

[Bogdan]

This post by Bogdan was thumbed up by:

Killswitch (August 15th, 2014, 5:40 am)

[Killswitch]

Immersion, gameplay. Others are optional.

[Oranjui]

Personally audio is a huuuge part of what makes a game for me. It's a really big factor of immersion and keeping me interested in the game. More variety is usually better. (See: The Sims franchise, Minecraft, several games in the Mario and Zelda franchises, games based around music [e.g. osu!, Super Hexagon, BIT.TRIP, etc]) Next is probably story/characters if applicable, gameplay/features, and definitely replay value. Good default controls are up there too, but customization has become pretty standard so anyone can change those. I can usually do with any art/graphics style, as long as it's not too terribly ugly. If it's going for a realistic feel, though, graphics definitely have to be higher priority or I wouldn't be able to take it very seriously. If by staff you mean like a dev team, that's generally the least important part of it for me, since I tend to stay out of that stuff, but I don't want to be giving my money to a complete dickhead(s) either.

If you look at the general public towards whom mainstream games are generally marketed, you can see that graphics are crucial to whether those kinds of games will be successful or not. I think that matters less as you move away from the things you see lots of ads for, since you can't really mass-advertise something that looks weird or silly and expect people to buy it or not make fun of it.

[Rizumu Tenshi]

Killswitch Immersion is like you've chosen Gameplay. If the gameplay is just perfect for you then you'll be immersed, anything wrong?

Oranjuice you're one to cherish Super Mario 3D World with that, being a Mario game. No Wii U here so can't guarantee it but I saw people here saying the move to jazz music was a revolution. Super Hexagon can't be a music game, for some reason the PC version is prone to music changes--you can toy with its music. With that I could use a variety of songs --I only took the mapped songs in osu!-- like Pavor Nocturnus, I'm Your Daddy, Kokuhaku Biyori, desu!, and especially Pulse...which was far more fit for the Hexagoners than their official Otis.

Anyways, I didn't say everything that I said, I only mentioned what I cherish: Sound Test. Well most games DO have a Sound Test, but I could do anything, even 100% a game like Kirby Super Star JUST to unlock its Sound Test, if the music is a thing you'd love to listen to. This here means Audio.

SK's choices are part of mine, btw.

Harmless I DO mean by Staff who created it and how good/many they are, yeah. Regarding this point, I only look at the music composers (like Jun Ishikawa for the ENTIRE Kirby franchise) since I could use a song in osu! (wait for VS. Magolor...), so...yeah.

Regarding the graphics, Oranj, that IS true, you see lotta ads for games especially Clash of Clans, Hay Day & Boom Beach. But their graphics aren't as much of eye candy as, for instance, Real Racing 3 or if you want a serious example the previously-made-for-NVIDIA-Tegra-only Real Boxing. Might I tell you, if you want to lose yourself in THAT kind of eye candy, find yourself an NVIDIA Tegra, it should be backed up by a GPU of NVIDIA's (I think I saw a mobile GeForce... --laptops are desktops in this case--). Don't wanna go desktop but if anything turns the target platform from mobile to desktop, maybe you may see a topic about a specific GPU...

[ChaosYoshi]

Instead of just giving my opinions on which game element is important, I'm going to go through each and state how important they all are.

• Story: It's not imperative, but it gives the world in the game more structure and it helps the player relate to the experience in some way. It's much like an interactive movie, but the focus is usually the game itself (unless it's something like a point-and-click adventure game where the game relies on the story to make sense).
  
• Characters: This pretty much goes hand-in-hand with story, though sometimes the characters stand out. It gives the game more personality, though I do know of a few cases where the characters are much better than the story, and vice versa.
  
• Features: Telling me the features of a game pretty much tells me whether or not it's a game I would waste my time on. Sometimes many features is a good thing to keep the game alive, but other times it can make the game drag on, or create many unwanted gimmicks that frustrate the player.
  
• Gameplay: This is what I consider the most important aspect of the game: being able to play it. If it is not engaging, then I will not enjoy it.
  
• Staff: This is probably the least important aspect of a game to me. The staff could have a reputation for creating one of the worst games of all time, yet they could be making the next big hit. There are a few instances where they're notorious for making only bad (and/or subpar) games, like Titus and Data Design Interactive.
  
• Controls: This is also very important. I want to be able to play the game with enough ease that I feel like I'm in control.
  
• Graphics: I greatly agree with the saying that graphics don't make up the entire game, but I do feel like it has its own importance. Graphics help the player by showing a representation of what they are interacting with, as well as what it is. A game's art style can give the game an identity, like how many games recently have a retro look, or the comic book-style of games like the Sly Cooper series.
  
• Audio: Like graphics, they help give the game its own identity and atmosphere. They are also not what makes up the game entire, but a silent one can bore the player.
  
• Sound Test: The only importance I see in this is so developers can determine which sound files to use during debug periods. Sure, it can be a neat look at the game's sounds, but it's nothing I can't live without.

[CedarBranch]

I'm just going to rate them from what is most important to what is least important to me:

1. Audio
2. Gameplay
3. High Scores
4. Graphics
5. Features
6. Challenges
7. Story
8. Controls
9. Characters
10. Sound Test
11. Staff

EDIT: Added additions into list.

[Rizumu Tenshi]

In case anyone will ask why did I add Sound Test:
So far it's one of the maingiven elements in the ENTIRE Mario Party franchise. Also one of the elements of the modern Kirby game, unless the staff hesitate to create a Sound Test for one of the upcoming games. I understand what you mean with your list, Triple J. No opposing that, you have a point there.