Creating the IF game was a very interesting experience. I initially went into the designing the game really just thinking about how to make it fun and my focus was on just developing the mechanics of the game. When I started off, I spent less time thinking about the story or the message I would like to convey through the game. Instead, I spent time thinking of how to incorporate different mechanics e.g die rolls, random card flips etc. Once I watched someone play this little game I initially created, I could tell that the player was looking for more in the story and that the mechanics were not creating the fun I expected them to create.
After this realization, I spent time building up a story and using the techniques we were exposed to in class, I was able to build a story. However, the story premise was too real ie it was not fiction. This was when I realized that it had been too long since I had written fiction or even read fiction. I took some inspiration from other games as well as little story lines from youtube videos to come up with a fiction story. As people played this game, I realized that even though my mechanics were now much simpler, just 2-3 choices that lead to different story lines, the players felt more engaged in the game. This was because, they were able to choose how the story would proceed. In the process, I learnt how to use Twine which was a new tool for me and I was able to experiment with different features as well as add a timer to my game. This was very exciting for me to see how a story can be turned into a game.
From this experience, the biggest thing I learnt was that creating an IF game requires a lot of creativity. In addition, you are able to deliver very powerful messages with such games. This intersection of story writing and game design was new to me but I definitely appreciated the process of learning how different skills can be combined to create something beautiful and fun. Once again, play testing was extremely important in the process to check if the story that I trying to convey is landing with the player or not. The power of play testing was reinforced in this project too.
