Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
responds with Jane's digging animation and a metallic “ting” sound, but nothing else.
The metal block does not give way but resists the verb. In that single moment of gameplay, the
game has responded to the player's push by pushing back and providing resistance.
In longer stretches of time than a single moment, the player may try many different ways to
push into the system of the game: perhaps using the “dig” verb in different circumstances, or
combining digging with left or right movement to drop Jane further into the vertical column
that comprises the space of
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. The player may develop strategies to deal with the differ-
ent scenes that follow in succession, developing her understanding of when and how to use
verbs—including the “un-verb” of simply
waiting
for the ceiling to descend and destroy metal
objects—so she can keep playing and reach the bottom.
The player of
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will also think about the goals presented by the game and her own goals
in playing—the aspects of the game that pull her forward as she pursues them. She'll have to
reconsider how to reach those goals after she finds that Jane gets crushed by the descending
spiked ceiling and falls off the bottom of the screen, followed in turn by the game resetting
itself to an earlier state. This is a different kind of push from the game, declaring that the player
won't be allowed to proceed if the spiked ceiling contacts the top of Jane's hat. The player must
decide how to respond and if she wants to keep pushing. Does the player want to win? Then
she has to find ways to push when the system pushes her back.
At each turn, the player pushes in different and increasingly complex ways, and
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pushes
back: always applying pressure with the unstoppable descent of the spiked ceiling, but also
with the changing objects that make up each scene, pushing the player to find new ways to use
verbs and keep descending. Finally,
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stops pushing when the player reaches the bottom
of the shaft. The oppressive ceiling disappears, the player uses the “dig” verb one last time, and
the game ends.
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is a straightforward game in many ways. It has a few different verbs and can be played
from beginning to end in under three minutes. Even so, the player must find many different
ways to use those verbs and push to reach the end.
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was designed and paced to push
back in different ways as well, sometimes giving the player a longer span of time to consider
her decisions, and sometimes demanding that she act immediately. Sometimes she's allowed
many choices, and sometimes very few.
Back in Chapter 1, “Language,” we made fun of the word “flow.” It's a term that's often used by
game designers to talk about difficulty, pacing, and challenge in games, but sometimes “flow”
is tossed around so freely that it becomes a substitute for “fun” or “quality”—as if flow is a magi-
cal substance needed to keep players captivated by your game.
