We are still ideating on our game idea, but one of the initial ideas that came up during class was a scavenger hunt-esque game.
1. How do players feel about competitive vs. collaborative mechanics?
- Why it matters: This shapes the whole design because seeing if players are racing against each other or working together changes how scoring might work to social dynamics we want to create to replayability of the game.
- Type of prototype: Create a simple paper prototype that implements the main mechanics of the game with a couple different rounds that can be played both individually or collaboratively. Run the same game with two different small groups, once competitive and once collaborative, and note what kinds of emotions and actions occur.
- Prediction: I think that the collaborative version will create more positive emotions overall, like satisfaction, leading to longer playing. But the competitive version will probably create more heightened emotions. We will probably want to incorporate elements of both so that individual players can choose whether or not to play competitively or collaboratively themselves.
2. How specific should the clue-giving be?
- Why it matters: The variability in the game comes from the creative interpretation of the clues. They should be vague enough to be levels of challenging, but also clear enough to be solvable. With locations or items, we need to strike that same balance.
- Type of prototype: Create 15 different location or item cards. Have clue-givers describe them with different levels of constraint. Ex. words with less than 5 letters, abstract feelings or metaphors, charades.
- Prediction: I predict that level of difficulty for the guessers and clue-givers will depend heavily on BOTH the location/item and specific constraint. This will add an element of skill and replayability into the game. There could be different amount of points for the constraints, which would reward choosing harder, riskier cards.
3. What makes a satisfying/fun win condition and ending?
- Why it matters: The end of any event heavily influences how people remember the overall experience. A weak finale or unsatisfying ending to the game can reduce all the fun that came before.
- Type of prototype: Design different end conditions for the same basic game. Ex. find the final thing, hard final challenge, whoever reaches x number of points first. Test each with different groups and ask players about how they felt the game concluded.
- Prediction: I think that the harder final challenge might be more satisfying than the other options, especially if it is worth more or players choose how many points to wager (like Jeopardy). However, this could become repetitive if there are a smaller number of final challenge cards.
