Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
When I first started making levels in
Lode Runner
, I intuitively discovered one of the most perva-
sively used techniques for refining a game and fine-tuning the conversations that can emerge
from it: I got someone to play it, went back and changed it, and made her play it again. Games
need players, and as the participants in the conversation who might not be there when our
games our played, we need to see people play and hear about their experience. Playtesting and
iteration—the process of changing a game based on what you see and hear from the player
during play—are the cornerstone of many creators' process. After all, very few composers could
create great works of music without ever being able to hear them; Beethoven, who lost his
hearing, is the astonishing exception.
We playtest because we want to see a response to determine whether we've succeeded in elic-
iting the kinds of responses we were hoping for. Usually, the response a game creator is looking
for is a smile, a look of intense concentration, the raised hands and lifted eyes that accompany a
feeling of victory—all the hallmarks of someone who's really into what's going on and hav-
ing fun. Playtesting lets us spot the barriers to reaching that place and then think about ways
around those barriers. The barriers might include confusion about how to use a verb or pacing
that's too difficult for the kinds of players you're hoping will play your game.
“Fun” is the most popular and traditional goal that game designers try to reach, however.
Think about the metaphor of conversations again: talking with others, especially your circle of
friends or other like-minded people, has often been described as one of the most consistently
engaging and pleasurable things in life. That doesn't mean that all conversations are fun. Some
are deadly serious, even if they're hard work to stay engaged with, and some conversations are
necessary to convey important ideas. More and more, game designers are finding that fun is
just the traditional role that games have played in society. We have to remember that it's what
most players
expect
of games still, but there's a huge variety of other kinds of system-driven
conversations that remain to be explored.
Papers, Please
(2013) by Lucas Pope doesn't try to present itself as a straightforwardly fun game.
It tells you that you're going to work: you play an immigration inspector, checking and stamp-
ing the documents of hundreds of would-be border-crossers (see Figure 5.2). You're employed
by a harsh, totalitarian regime that tramples on rights and demands your diligent and detail-
oriented assistance in exchange for a meager stipend to keep your family alive. The scenario
is grim and mind-numbing, and so is the gameplay: you're literally inspecting paperwork for
discrepancy, expiration, and forgery and stamping it APPROVED or REJECTED, over and over.
For each mistake you make, you're penalized, which could make a life-or-death difference for
your inspector's family.
