Before enrolling in 247G, my approach to playing and thinking about games was largely casual and uncritical. I enjoyed the experiences games offered but rarely thought deeply about their underlying design elements. The intricate details of why certain games resonated with me or what made their narratives compelling were aspects I never consciously examined. My gaming was about immersion and fun, without much reflection on the craft behind the screen.
The course opened my eyes to the nuanced world of game design. It wasn’t just about playing for enjoyment anymore; it was about dissecting why certain games elicited particular emotions and responses. One significant turning point was learning to ask concrete questions about why I enjoyed specific games. This critical questioning not only enhanced my ability to generate new ideas but also refined my proposals for game concepts, making them more coherent and engaging.
Several class concepts profoundly influenced my perspective. The Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics (MDA) Framework taught me to categorize different types of fun into aesthetic categories and understand how game mechanics influence gameplay dynamics, which in turn create particular aesthetic experiences. This framework helped me articulate my preferences and understand the interplay between a game’s mechanics and the emotions they evoke. Another enlightening concept was the narratology approach. By framing narrative through different types—such as evocative, embedded, environmental, and enacting—I gained insights into what kinds of stories appeal to me and the elements that make these stories compelling.
I applied these learnings to our game projects with tangible results. In developing our social interaction game, “Love Island: The Game,” I focused on specific game mechanics that encourage player-player interaction, particularly through humor. For instance, I designed elements that fostered unstructured conversation, allowing players to create their own narratives and enjoy spontaneous moments of fun. In our P2 project, “Hangover: The Game,” I incorporated my narrative learnings by crafting a story filled with pop culture references and humor. The dialogue was deliberately light-hearted and witty, creating a narrative that was both engaging and reflective of the kind of stories that resonate with me.
One of the significant challenges I faced was learning a new technical suite, GDevelop. It was daunting at first, but I applied my existing software development skills to navigate the documentation and understand how to translate analog puzzles into code. This process was a steep learning curve, but it ultimately broadened my technical proficiency and problem-solving capabilities.
Through this journey, I’ve come to view games not just as sources of entertainment but as powerful vessels for understanding interaction design. They offer a platform where players can communicate preferences and express themselves through concrete elements. This shift in perspective has deepened my appreciation for the art of game design and the thoughtful craftsmanship that goes into creating meaningful interactive experiences.
While I may not immediately be working on new game projects, I am excited to apply the insights I’ve gained from 247G to my work on planning systems that facilitate natural and intuitive interactions with large datasets. I plan to leverage my understanding of interaction design to create environments where people can explore, learn, and derive insights more effectively. By applying the principles of game mechanics and dynamics, I aim to design systems that have user experience elements that spark social interaction and manifest narratives that make data exploration engaging and accessible, transforming complex information into compelling, user-friendly experiences.
