FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION

Design Practice case studies

For this chapter, there are two case studies. The instructor may ask you to work on a single study or both.

Choose an A-life game that you believe, from your own experience of playing it, is an excellent example of the genre (or use one your instructor assigns). It can be a commercial simulation with humans or pets or a research simulation of life. High - level graphics are not a requirement. Write a report documenting this simulation. Be sure to cover at least the following areas:

■ Describe the game mechanics and the player's role. Discuss what makes the product a "game," or if it is not a game, discuss why not.

■ If the product involved the life cycle and reproduction of a life form, compare the evolution and genetics in the game to those of real life. Did the life cycle make sense? Was it balanced so that the artificial life could succeed and remain a viable life form for more than just a few generations, or did the life form die out without your intervention?

■ What forms of interaction did the player have in the simulation? Did you per­ceive the player interactions as fun? If not, why not?

■ If the product did not involve the life cycle of a life form, what forms of interac­tion did the player have in the simulation? Did you perceive the player interactions as fun? If not, why not?

■ Briefly document the interface for the game. How does the player interact with the world, in a direct or indirect manner? How well does the interface allow the player to interact, or does the interface inhibit or limit interaction?

■ Address the game progression: Did the game change over time? How did the player interactions affect the life form(s)?

Choose a puzzle game that you believe, from your own experience of playing it, is an excellent example of the genre (or use one your instructor assigns). It should be a solitaire (single-player) game where puzzle solving is the primary activity. Write a report documenting this simulation. Be sure to cover at least the following areas:

■ Describe the gameplay and game mechanics. Describe the presentation of the game and interaction of the player.

■ If the game has a physical representation in the real world (solitaire card games, for example), what does the computer bring to the video game version? What rules or designs were changed for the new medium?

■ Does the game have levels or increased difficulty? Is it clear to the player how the game progression works? In your opinion, does the game ramp up too quickly or not quickly enough?

■ Address the combination of puzzles: Is there more than one type of puzzle in the game? Is the mechanism that is used to combine the puzzles into a single game clear to the player and does it make sense?

■ Discuss whether the victory condition for any level or the overall game is clear to the player.

In your report, use screen shots to illustrate your points. End the case study with suggestions for improvement or, if you feel the game cannot be improved, sugges­tions for additional features that might be fun to have in the game.

Alternatively, choose an A-life or puzzle game that you believe is particularly bad. Do the same case study, explaining what is wrong and how it could be improved.

A case study is neither a review nor a design document; it is an analysis. You are not attempting to reverse-engineer the entire game but simply to explain how it works in a general way. Your instructor will tell you the desired scope of the assign­ment; I recommend from five to twenty pages.