Establishing patterns is like agreeing that both participants in the conversation will speak in English as opposed to another language. Subverting patterns is a way for designers to actually say something to the player. A subversion might sound like....
- "Haha, tricked you!" A subversion can be a little mean, a humorous or clever trap.
- "This is more complicated than you thought." A subversion can reveal hidden depths.
- "I thought of that too." A subversion can act as an acknowledgement that the designer considered the same idea as the player.
These sentiments can vary in how antagonistic they are to the player. The first case is like a prank at the player's expense; pranks can be mutually funny or they can be one-sided and cruel. Likewise, in the second and third cases, you can imagine an excited designer saying "Isn't that interesting??" or a mean designer using these methods to taunt you.
