Final Class Reflection – Sarah Teaw

Before this class, I thought about game design to be focused on optimizing attention and creating addictive, unhealthy behaviors in players. I associated games with dark fantasies that people wanted to live out in the virtual world since they could not in the physical world (e.g. shooter games, violent games, etc.). I felt hesitant about designing technological platforms that drew people away from the real world and into a digital space of obsession and addiction. Overall, I was very skeptical of the benefits of games coming into this class and was not sure what I could bring to this space as a designer. 

In this class, I feel through listening to lectures, playtesting games, and discussing ethics in sections opened my eyes to the benefits that games can bring, as well as the responsibilities of a designer when designing. By doing these things, I experienced learning how types of fun can be used to facilitate learning and create positive impacts, while simultaneously designing safeguards against dark patterns. The class concepts around accessibility and critical theory in game design stuck with me in what to prioritize in our game development. I think it also pushes me to think about the non-typical users that may encounter any design system I make, as a small flaw in design can have a big impact on users. I think the concept about queer time and how different timelines of life can be represented in games was something that also stuck with me and made me cognizant of what non-typical narratives might look like/who’s stories we can tell through games.

I implemented these concepts into my work by thinking and discussing these topics with my group members for P2. Small design decisions in graphics such as what gendered colors are for mom and dad in a game, as well as the definition of a family, were concepts my team and I considered in our graphic and narrative design. 

I experienced the most challenge in designing a social mediation game, especially since I’m not a competitive person, but I think the MDA’s and learning about the different kinds of fun validated that it is personal to each player. It was a challenge to work with others with a different definition of fun, but I think letting the playtesting lead us and understanding that there can be parts of a design process everyone can contribute to based on their strengths helped me overcome these challenges.

I grew in my perception of games and learning what it takes to build a game, from the art to music to technical implementation. I also grew in learning what makes teamwork function smoothly, including setting norms and having similar goals from the beginning. I also think a benefit of game design is being able to find something that’s exciting or fun to implement to balance out the technically challenging parts.

Next time, I will definitely want to continue exploring the realm of game design in the context of social good and wellbeing, since I am really interested in games that tap into abnegation type of fun!