Before this class, I knew game design was incredibly complex, but I did not realize how much theory also went into every part of the game from onboarding to what the end state looks like. My definition of what a game is also expanded. Especially as the quarter went on, I had never played games in some of the genres we explored for critical plays (walking simulators, mysteries, etc). I loved experiencing games as both a player, and a designer, analyzing why certain choices make different types of games fun for different audiences.
One of my favorite sketchnotes was the plants vs zombie onboarding video. I had never played the game before, but as George Fan explained all of the concepts as they related to his game, I downloaded the app and started playing to experience the theory he was talking about. Now, me staying up till 4 am because I could not stop playing Plants vs Zombies had nothing to do with it’s onboarding mechanics, but I appreciated how he made onboarding a natural and integrated process. I think his lessons are applicable to learning the rules of a game and general work onboarding or giving instructions to students. Many of those other processes could benefit from more seamless onboarding mechanics, which is interesting to think about! We implemented Fan’s lessons into our game by having the player learn all the rules through a quick introduction to our game.
My favorite takeaway from this class is how the design cycle applies to creating games. I never realized how much impact playtests and rapid iteration can have on building a FUN game. I remember feeling so unprepared for our first playtest in p2 because all we had was an idea. I never realized how early you can start asking for feedback and implementing changes off of that. This was my first HCI / Design class, and I loved learning about how to build a working product. Before this class, I thought the entire game needed to be built before testing and collecting feedback. I also think I learned how to ask better questions and be more attentive to all of the small details about a game. For example, not just hoping to create a FUN game, but also asking playtesters about the impact of the music, what text was boring/engaging, the color scheme, whether the theme felt appropriate, how does the number of players playing impact the game’s fun, and more. I still have a lot more to learn!
Throughout the class, I felt most challenged when trying to play and create games as a designer. However, I think all of the opportunities for practice and feedback from TA’s also made this the area in which I grew the most.
I definitely want to continue exploring game development, specifically serious games or the gamification of learning since I am passionate about EdTech. I will work on applying concepts we learned from formal elements to narrative architectures to rapidly iterate on ideas that help me build games that are engaging for students to play, and support long-term learning!
