Devlog 3

This week in class our main objective was to understand the 6 elements that make a game what it is. We were challenged in class to do a few things. The first thing we did was find an old folk game and try to turn it into a newer game with new rules. My group ended up doing detective which ended up working out well. The next thing we were challenged to do was to play a game created by Professor S. I believe you named it Waterfall or something along those lines. The basis of the game was to have 3 boats make it to shore on this homemade board space. There were obstacles and a lot of chance involved. However, when the groups were asked to edit a game rule and get creative, we had to use our heads. In chapter 3 titled “The Kinds of Play “by Macklin and Sharp, they state “The proportion in which you use strategy, skill, chance, and uncertainty is one of your considerations as a designer”. This was most certainly true when trying to remove game facts such as luck and chance to take a more skillful approach to a game.

                In chapter 4 titled “The Player Experience” by Macklin and Sharp, they begin to ask questions directed towards what you want the players to know. “How much information do you want to provide to the player? What kind of attention will players use to make sense of and react to the information? Will it be reflexive or executive—thought out ahead of time?” These are the questions that I try and answer when adding any new game rules or information about the game when creating or editing a game. Chapter 4 also made a great point in referencing player feedback to a move or turn in a game. “Giving players feedback is important and it is how players connect what they see, know and what they do”. When a turn has been played you have to ask yourself how much interaction this person will have with their game and that’s why feedback is so important.