Week 6 Reflection and Game Play

A schematic representation of game loops, image courtesy of Daniel Cook

I was initially happy with my outcome for the first RI session, I highlighted areas on my blog that I thought I could have done better around time management and control. But looking at the game more recently i think that game play is something i really needed to focus on. It's just not fun. I looked back at my Miro board and there was a Note on there referring to this very issue, this was not dealt with and this is clear once playing it.

I think i focused on the Mechanics and then once that was in the bag it left very little time to make the game interesting/entertaining or challenging. I knew going into the task that my weakness would be in getting my game to work and creating the mechanics. Programming would be my weakness and so this is an area where I spent a lot of time researching and looking for answers and then testing them out. It was clear at the end of the project I had created an interactive experience without gameplay.

It is possible that i over scoped the project and that i missed a major aspect of the games design and that was Game Play.

I want to address these two areas in my next RI Session and hopefully see an improvement. Make the game Fun and Improve the GamePlay. These are interlinked and so addressing one will invariably impact the other.

My concept for my RI has yet to be finalised 4 days into the two weeks but i wanted to focus on getting this part of the game laid out. Interaction is a key requirement for this RI session and so Game Play is important and less so the overall look of the game which took precedence over play previously.

What is Fun?

For this I refer to (Koster, 2005) when I think about what Games are and why they are Fun. Games are learning experiences that continue to test the player and create opportunities to challenge. These can be skills that the player has been taught in the game and required to practice to complete the objectives or opportunities where the player is given the tools to create a learning experience,

(Koster 2005) suggests that Games that fail to exercise the brain become boring. Keeping the player learning throughout the game will keep the player interested and maintain the Core Game play Loop.

My game, although a vertical slice of the prototype, delivered its mechanics but once it was taught to the player it was not continuously tested. It could be suggested that the Core Game Play loop that should have existed from the start was more like that of an Arc. Described by (Cook, 2020) ‘Arcs’ have similar elements to a loop, but are not built for repeated usage. The player still starts with a mental model, they apply an action to a system and receive feedback.

The Game system is too formal and is played until the mechanics and what has been taught is exhausted and feedback becomes repetitive and without value. This then becomes boring. Koster 2005 suggests that for a game to be more long lasting needs to integrate more variables and be less predictable. This is hard to do in a vertical slice of a game so when I look at the Game Play loop I need to consider the size of the game and objectives.

(Bycer, 2020) explains that games that tend to hold the player’s attention focus on the micro layer or gameplay loop as opposed to the macro.

Micro being what the player has to do each minute of the game

Macro is the overall objective of the game.

The player should have a rough idea of how long a task is going to take, and more importantly, be able to know if they can finish it in a single session. Finally, there must be something permanently gained for their troubles.

I think that going forward into this project i want to focus on the micro element of the game play, Short levels with repeated game play and achievable objectives that will test the player in difficulty but will add an aspect of unpredictability to each level.

A schematic representation of Arc, image courtesy of Daniel Cook

A good game play loop should place a player in a state of flow (Lovato, 2020)

Therefore I want to keep the mechanics simple but increase the challenge the longer you play the game. I think if I look at games that are similar to an endless runner games similar to Temple Run where the controls are simple and the challenge is time based. If I use a specific genre of game then the player knows what to expect and allows them to focus on the micro elements of game play. This will keep the design focused and allow me to refine the game play loop. (Lovato, 2020) tells us that the Gameplay loop is the foundation of the game's design and is not just what the play does repeatedly. If i can refine this early on then hopefully i will create something that improves the experiences for the player.

Lovato, N., 2020. How To Perfect Your Game's Core Loop - Gameanalytics. [online] GameAnalytics. Available at: <https://gameanalytics.com/blog/how-to-perfect-your-games-core-loop.html> [Accessed 8 November 2020].

Koster, R., 2005. A Theory Of Fun For Game Design. Scottsdale, AZ: Paraglyph Press, pp.34 - 47.

Cook, D., 2020. Loops And Arcs. [online] LOSTGARDEN. Available at: <https://lostgarden.home.blog/2012/04/30/loops-and-arcs/> [Accessed 8 November 2020].

bycer, j., 2020. The Importance Of A Well Defined Core Gameplay Loop. [online] Gamasutra.com. Available at: <https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JoshBycer/20200306/359140/The_Importance_of_a_Well_Defined_Core_Gameplay_Loop.php> [Accessed 8 November 2020].