Brooke Ballhaus Sketchnote: Loops & Arcs

by Brooke Ballhaus | Posted on
One game that I recently played was Monument Valley. The architecture of this game is simple, centered around a clear gameplay interaction loop. The player begins with a mental model that the perspectives of the monument puzzles can be manipulated to create paths for Ida. The player then decides how to change the environment, acting by either rotating parts of the monument or moving Ida, and the game’s rules change the structure of the level accordingly. The game provides feedback through Ida either successfully advancing, being unable to advance, or completing the puzzle. This repeated interaction loop gradually teaches the player how geometry and perspective function within the game world. The game also contains several interaction arcs through short narrative sequences between puzzles. After the player completes a puzzle (having a mental model and completing an action), Ida sometimes meets with a ghost-like figure who provides dialogue and additional context about the world and story. The player then receives this emotional and narrative feedback. These arcs build upon the player’s evolving mental model of the story between gameplay loops.

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