DE4106: Expanded Practitioner Research - Game Designer Questionnaire: Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones is an experienced Game Designer who currently works for Lucid Games. I'm very grateful that he took the time to fill in the questionnaire I provided him, and I believe his wealth of experience will help direct and define my practice within this project and beyond.

Reflective thoughts:

Andy does not have as much experience in playing Exploration games as the other designers I interviewed. However, I do not see this as a negative thing as it allows me to gain the perspective of how a Game Designer recognises and understands this emergent genre compared to existing genres.

Andy believes that in order to successfully entice the playing into exploring the game-world you have to make it overwhelming appealing (within the context of the narrative). Large open-world games seem to fit the bill here, with Skyrim being the obvious example of a game that achieves this with a good deal of success. Andy also believes that in order to trigger this desire for exploration you must invest the player emotionally into the game-world. Creating a compelling narrative that makes the player want to impact the outcome seems crucial here- or giving the player the freedom to create their own narrative would work just as well, if not more so, as they would immediately feel ownership of it. Replay-ability (or continued play) would also be enhanced here, as the player would be less likely to abandon a game they feel strongly invested in (examples: Eve Online, World of Warcraft, Football Manager).

Other notable comments made include providing just enough feedback to the player so that the player does not feel constrained (and therefore dis-empowered) have been covered in my Research Report.

Andy suggests that Exploration games can include design-driven challenges and still be successful. However, he suggests any designed challenges should be carefully entwined within the existing gameplay to tap into the player's need to overcome challenges within the goals they are presented with (or set themselves). He he stresses that these challenges must not become the player's focus; this should always be on continuing to explore the game-world and continue the narrative.

Questionnaire for Game Designers

Considering a new Design Model for the ‘Exploration’ Game Genre

Joe Shorrocks

MA Game Design

UCLan

Rationale of study: To design a completely new design model for the emerging genre of video game experience currently known as an “Exploration” game. This is a game that is centred on the emotional experiences of the player, rather than necessarily presenting the player with challenges to overcome. Recognisable titles that have been loosely included in this emerging genre are Journey, and Flower (ThatGameCompany), and The Unfinished Swan (Giant Sparrow). Other titles that explore this genre to a lesser extent are Katamari Damacy (Namco) and the upcoming title The Witness (Number None, Inc.). Journey, Flower and The Unfinished Swan have all received critical acclaim and have all sold well upon commercial release. This supports the claim that there is a demand for this type of game. However, despite their success, each game experienced unique development challenges and problems due to the nature of what they were trying to achieve. I believe that this is because the developers were constrained to traditional game design fundamentals – specifically challenge-driven designs- which are not completely appropriate for, or perhaps even compatible with, this genre. This suggests that a new design model is required, that will help future developers fulfill the potential of this genre without the difficulties experienced by the developers mentioned above.

The following questions are designed to help shape the development of this model.

Q1.  Have you played any existing titles that you would consider to be within the Exploration genre?

A1. I wouldn’t say I have played any games which are considered to be within the Exploration genre. I have always wanted to try and experience games such as Flower or Journey but never found time to play these types of games due to other commitments.

Q2.  If yes, what were your opinions on those titles in regards to what you believe the designers were trying to achieve? Were they successful?

A2. N/A

Q3.  What aspects do you believe are important when designing an Exploration title?

A3.  With these types of titles, you need to try and immerse the player into the game world, these types of games thrive on wonder and exploration. These games need to try and tap into the player’s own emotions while they progress through the game via story or gameplay and must try and connect with the player’s sense of curiosity for exploration.  The player should always be able to reach out and explore the gaming world with little or no constraints thus not breaking the illusion of the world.

Feedback to the players will be important with these types of games, you don’t want feedback to spoil the experience of the player, for this, the game world in itself can be used in such a way to help guide the player through the game, through the use of clever level design to offer the player just enough feedback and guidance for them to progress.

Game controls will be another vital aspect of an exploration game, as having a bad control mechanic can have a detrimental effect on the game. In order for the player to experience the game, the controls need to be almost perfect for the type of gameplay, almost feeling natural to the player, the controls need a sense of fluidity, giving the player the sense of freedom to explore.

Q4.  Do you believe there are any fundamental constraints when designing games within this genre?

A4. With exploration games, you need to try and reply upon the player’s curiosity and wonder to progress through the game, they need to connect to the player’s emotions without the need for challenges, motivating them to continue. Too little challenges set within an exploration game however can lead to some players losing interest due to the lack of a challenges presented to them, and oversaturating an exploration game with too many challenges can have a detrimental effect of disconnecting with the player’s emotional state thus breaking the illusion of the gaming world.

Q5.  Do you believe the Exploration genre is limited in terms of a particular demographic, or is this genre potentially universally appealing?

A5. I don’t believe the exploration genre is limited in terms of a particular demographics, I believe the demographics would be determined by the underlying theme of a game. These game themes will most likely appeal to various different demographics. The exploration genre can be used alongside most, if not all types of game themes if designed and used in the correct way.

Q6.  How important do you believe traditional fundamentals such as providing challenges to the player are for an experience of this nature? Are there any alternative approaches, or goals that you could present to the player instead?

A6. Most games from past to present have been developed around the fundamental philosophy of challenge. It is wired into the Human mind to try and improve ourselves in one way or another. Games help us practice and hone our skills, from athletic ability to reaction times.

Most games set a challenge for the player to try and overcome thus completing the challenge, improves the players particular skill.  For exploration games, the challenges need to be presented in such a way, that the player doesn’t feel overwhelmed, the challenges need to feel hidden within the game structure.