Before this class, I thought about play and game design as something that was for a specific demographic. I thought that since I didn’t play the typical video games, that I wouldn’t have enough experience to design games. The games that I did play, which usually fall under the “submission” type of fun, I did not consider actual games.
Throughout this class, I had learned many different concepts that I found interesting, and some were applicable for my P1 and P2 projects. Particularly, concepts that I found myself repeatedly revisiting were the different types of fun, MDA, and the development and power of a narrative. During P1, we focused on fellowship by crating an objective of deepening relationships — whether they be weak or strong ties. I’ve learned that the dynamics and aesthetics of the game enhance the mechanics in ways that would make the game much more layered and enjoyable. For example, in our Hot Takes game, the core mechanic is for the player to choose a card in their deck that they think is most suitable for the player in the hot seat. However, the dynamics of an underlying motive to for example “expose” a player goes hand-in-hand with the aesthetics of the game taking on a “heated” theme. These components helped create a premise for some of the unconventional cards, and were all intentional design choices for us as game designers.
I personally really enjoyed the week that we focused on narrative development. Creating an engaging narrative that is full of ups and downs in the plot allows for the player to feel rewarded by solving different puzzles in the game while also being presented with appropriate challenges. We implemented these aspects of narrative into Bug Breakout. With each puzzle, we had to reflect on why the components of those puzzles needed to be discovered to add to the plot of the story. Additionally, we had to make sure that the plot of the story continued to feed valuable information to the players that would progress the game.
Some challenges I experienced during this class was making decisions after playtesting. I learned that playtesting was extremely valuable, and that many times players don’t actually react the way we designed for them to. Playtesting allowed us to truly design for the players, and iterate over each test. However, my team struggled with finding a balance between deciding to implement changes versus remaining consistent with original choices. I would have ideally wanted to do more playtests to be sure whether or not different results were a pattern. I also at times struggled to play games with the mindset of a designer rather than a player, and had to train myself to develop that perspective through critical plays.
Overall, my understand of games and the design behind them deepened and I have a stronger appreciation for games. Particular lectures, such as the ones on tutorials, ethics, and narratives were very memorable to me and I would have wanted to be able to implement the content from those lectures. If I keep working on my games, I would love to consider making the games accessible, whether that be through tutorials or by critically analyzing my design choices and reflecting on whether or not they reflect societal biases.
Special thank you to Christina and the TAs! The class was very dynamic and engaging and reminded me how important fun is!
