What do Prototypes Prototype? – Regina Sevilla

My group plans to make an ownership and deck building game for our P1 where various “tiger mom” players have to negotiate and balance interest when competing for resources to help their child “succeed”. Here are 3 important questions that our game prototypes might answer.

1. How will our game’s narrative be structured for maximum impact on our players?
   1. This is important to consider because the main fun and intrigue that players find in our gam will probably stem from the fantasy of living out the passions of a stereotypical “tiger mom”. An accurate representation of this common trope of parenting is essential to player engagement and satisfaction with the storytelling aspect of our game
   2. We will make a look and feel prototype that includes detailed examples of our resource cards, which are to be accrued with the goal of getting one’s child to be the most successful before other players.
   3. I think it will be successful in seeing what real-life applications of the tiger mom trope are most accurate and relatable, especially to Stanford students. It will give direction on our creativity when ideating resource and milestone cards for our game.
2. How will we design our game’s user interface for optimal usability and easiness to understand?
   1. This is important for clearly demonstrating what goal players should be working towards from the beginning and making it clear how to correctly interact with our game.
   2. We will make a prototype that will have a clear outline of the players’ objectives and rules and clear distinction between cards with different functions.
   3. By testing different control schemes with our test players, we’ll be able to find the procedures and game flow that occur most naturally.
3. What game progression and reward systems will keep players motivated to play the game again?
   1. Repeatability and long term investment in our game will be a more likely outcome if players are able to make meaningful progression while playing the game and gradually benefiting from achievable reward structures.
   2. We will make a prototype that rewards and emphasize resource acquisition, hence the deck-building type game. The players will be able to feel satisfaction throughout the game as they progressively achieve “success” milestones for their child.
   3. I expect that we’ll be able to settle on a satisfying gameplay loop that allows for players to feel a sense of advancement and accomplishment, which incentives them to play again.