MDA: LEGO Batman

When I was younger, I was obsessed with the LEGO Batman series on the Nintendo DS. The game involves 3 narratives and allows the user to progress through each storyline once the previous one was completed. Each level was a series of puzzles for the user to solve in order to advance. 

Mechanics: 

  • The user advances through a subset of levels in a larger set of 3 levels that are a part of one narrative. (There are 3 narratives, so 27 levels total)
  • The user must build tools to be used to pass each level.
  • The user has the opportunity to switch between characters with diverse skill sets that are valuable to the game.
  • The user can replay certain levels to find hidden puzzles to gain more rewards and unlock other characters.

These mechanics allow for the user to create their own goals within the game that take advantage of the game’s mechanics. For example, as a kid I would go back and replay levels with newly unlocked characters to achieve hidden goals that are set in place by the game. By understanding the idea of unlocking characters, I was attentive to the skillset that each playable character had and thought about how it would benefit me in the level that I chose to play. This increased the pace at which discoveries in the game were made, making the game more fun despite finishing the storyline.

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