Before this class, I thought about play and game design not as a science but as a philosophy generally aimed towards maximizing fun. However, I have since come to realize that game design is a very principled science with established formulae for creating different types of fun which appeal to different types of players. The learnings which contributed the most towards my shift in viewpoint were game mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics, and types of fun, the last of which was the most influential because I had always thought of “fun” as this abstract concept, and learning about the different types of fun explained a lot about why I’m attracted to certain types of games over others. I implemented these learnings into my work by making sure to engage multiple types of fun in my two projects. In my first project, a social deception game inspired by “Coup,” I made sure to include Fantasy (the Greek god setting), Challenge (using imperfect information to reason whether people are bluffing), Submission (game nights!), and Fellowship fun, with an emphasis placed on Fellowship. As a competitive game where each player must fight for themselves, the fellowship fun is different from the camaraderie built through games like Cards Against Humanity but born out of trying to outwit your friends and use your knowledge of their personalities to give you the tactical advantage. In my second project, a difficult platformer game set in the time of the Incan empire, I was able to engage even more types of fun due to its digital nature. In this project, I managed to include Sensation (picking up the shield and using the swing ropes), Fantasy (roleplaying as a fallen Incan god), Narrative (trying to reclaim your powers), Challenge (the platformer is extremely difficult and targeted towards experienced platformers), Discovery (varied environments, enemies, and powers), Expression (multiple ways to progress), and Submission. The only type of fun that wasn’t included was Fellowship, since I focused so much on that one for the first project, I wanted to branch out and create something different.
Another learning that stuck with me was about game arcs and loops and how to weave them together to create an engaging narrative. I made sure to implement them into my second project and discussed with my team how best to incorporate dialogues and mini cut-scenes to break up the core gameplay loops of moving and dodging. Ultimately, we settled on the following structure: Expositional dialogue arc movement tutorial loop shaman arc movement and dodging loop power-up arc surfing and blocking loop wall-jumping loop. I feel like we included a good mix of loops and arcs that all mutually supported each other and created a compelling storyline of a fallen god gradually rediscovering and remastering his powers.
Throughout the course, I experienced a couple of challenges with group work. In the first project, there was some dissonance between different group member’s expectations of each other and work schedules. In the second project, I made sure to address this by being very intentional and clear about setting standards at the beginning of the project. However, due to the coding nature of the second project, we ran into some problems with version control where I ended up working on what I thought was the current version of the project because it was the main branch while my groupmates had completely abandoned it and had instead designed the whole rest of the level on a separate local computer. In the future, I hope to have better constant communication with my group members to avoid this.
Ultimately, I feel like I grew as a game designer because I know more about game design theory and can be more intentional with my design choices. I had always been interested in designing games, and will definitely keep developing projects I am interested in in the future, using my knowledge of game design as necessary.
