The Art of Gamedesign - Lenses 1 to 4

Lens #1: The Lens of Essential Experience

• What experience do we want the player to have?

  • Together with a friend, both players should feel like they are one of the characters in the game themselves, because there is so much tension, adventure and fun.

• What is essential to that experience?

  • The players fully being immersed into the game flow

• How can our game capture that essence?

  • The game "Strange Galactic Friends" captures the full immersion by an interesting USP, which is about the "Gravity Shift". The "Gravity Shift" promotes a team spirit between teh two players, so that one player cannot gain any achievement by himself.

Lens #2: The Lens of Surprise

• What will surprise players when they play our game?

  • That they can use our game's USP ("Gravity Shift"), to solve different challenges in many different ways.
    • This can be seen as familiar to the flying bird in "Flappy Bird", which is also surprising for the players.
    • The fact that both players have to vote for a "Gravity Shift" surprises the players, because they might think that they can shift without any confirmation.
  • Different types of enemies.
  • Interesting character and background parallax animations.
  • Gadgets and collectibles on the way to each level's final destination.

• Does the story in my game have surprises? Do the game rules? Does the artwork? The technology?

  • Yes (read above).

• Do your rules give players ways to surprise each other?

  • Yes, players will be able to help each other by fighting enemies that their partner can't fight. This surprises the player and triggers his gratitude.

• Do your rules give players ways to surprise themselves?

  • By collecting the gadgets, the players gain extra/ super powers. By using these superpowers they can surprise themselves by achieving higher goals in less time.

Lens #3: The Lens of Fun

• What parts of our game are fun? Why?
  • Every part is fun. Here are a few examples:
    • Playing with a friend is always fun (a lot of friends like to mess with each other in games).
    • Clicking 'G' simultaneously is a fun challenge, because both players have to vote and communicate with each other very well.
    • Different types and genres of levels.

Lens #4: The Lens of Curiosity

• What questions does my game put into the player’s mind?

  • 'How can I help me and my friend to reach the goal of repairing the spaceship?'
  • 'How can I help myself and my friend to survive?'
  • 'When is the best moment to shift gravity?'
  • 'How can I clearly communicate, that I want to shift gravity?'
  • 'How can I repair a whole spaceship on my own or with my friend?'
  • 'When I reached the goal, how can I show my achievements to my friends?'

• What am I doing to make them care about these questions?

  • As a player in a team one generally doesn't want to be the on responsible for a loss. This leads to each player thinking about how they can be useful to the team.

• What can I do to make them invent even more questions?

  • Create more mysterious levels, characters, enemies, themes and level-types.
  • Offer In-Game purchases, will create the following question:
    • 'How can I make enough money to spend it on "Strange Galactic Friends" in-game offers?'
  • Create a sandbox mode, which lets the players design and play their own levels.
    • 'What's the best way to design a difficult level for me and my friend Josh?'
    • 'How can I use my own background music?'
    • 'Is it possible to invite more than two players to my level?'

The Art of Gamedesign - Lenses 5 to 8

Lens #5: The Lens of Endogenous Value

• To use this lens, think about your player’s feelings about items, objects, and scoring in your game.

  • What is valuable to the players in my game?

    • Collectibles like: items, powerful gadgets, spaceship fragments

  • How can I make it more valuable to them?

    • Collecting points by collecting the items.
      • If players complete a level successfully in a shorter time as expected, they collect extra points. These points can be used to buy extra gadgets.

  • What is the relationship between value in the game and the player’s motivation?

    • Players get motivated by completing each level in a shorter time to gain extra points for buying extra gadgets.
    • By completing levels successfully, the players can open pathways to the next levels and game worlds. This feels like a big achievement to the players.

Lens #6: The Lens of Problem Solving

• To use this lens, think about the problems your players must solve to succeed at your game, for every game has problems to solve.

  • What problems does my game ask the player to solve? (communicated problems)

    • Rebuild Spaceship
      • Collect spaceship fragments spread out over the planet
    • Survive
      • Defend against enemies trying to kill you (Retaliate)

  • Are there hidden problems to solve that arise as a part of gameplay? (non-communicated problems)

    • Communication with your partner
    • Shifting gravity at the right moment, after positioning yourself for it
    • Reviving your downed partner

  • How can my game generate new problems so that players keep coming back?

    • Players want to explore next levels and game worlds, unlock extra powerful gadgets and new items (color pallets, suits, hats, clothes in general, weapons, special attacks...) to spruce up their characters
      • Players can solve this problem by completing levels successfully and in a shorter time as expected.

Lens #7: The Lens of the Elemental Tetrad

• To use this lens, take stock of what your game is truly made of. Consider each element separately, and then all of them together as a whole.

  • Is my game design using elements of all four types?

    • Mechanics: USP -> 'Gravity Shift' is communicated via character icons in the screen's top. The icon of a player lighting up means they voted.
    • Story: Cutscenes visualize the story in the game world's beginning and after each successfully completed level.
    • Aesthetics: Background parallax effect, interesting and unique character and items design
    • Technology: Gadgets and other collectibles match with the characters color schemes and art-style

  • Could my design be improved by enhancing elements in one or more of the categories?

    • We can publish different versions of each item, so the players find it more attractive to collect them. That also means, that players will have to put more time into playing the game.

  • Are the four elements in harmony, reinforcing each other, and working together toward a common theme?

    • Each of the four elements can be seperated from the others, but they also fit together very well. For example, the 'Gravity Shift' communication works well via the information bar in the screen's top, the design aesthetics are also used in the story telling cutscenes and technology items

Lens #8: The Lens of Holographic Design

• To use this lens, you must see everything in your game at once: the four elements and the player experience, as well as how they interrelate. It is acceptable to shift your focus from skin to skeleton and back again, but it is far better to view your game and experience holographically.

  • What elements of the game make the experience enjoyable?

    • Working as a team
    • USP: 'Gravity Shift' as a new and unique concept to solve problems
    • Reviving your team partner
    • Overall Design
    • Storytelling cutscenes as well-deserved non-interactive part for the players game experiences

  • What elements of the game detract from the experience?

    • none

  • How can I change game elements to improve the experience?

    • Character interactions, which break the '4th wall'
    • Non-linear storylines on different storyline branches

The Art of Gamedesign - Lenses 9 to 12

Lens #9: The Lens of Unification

• To use this lens, consider the reason behind it all.

  • What is our theme?
    • Being stranded on an alien planet with no way home
      • Because of this our levels have different themes, matching the region of the planet they are in (Rainforest / Cave)
  • Are we using every means possible to reinforce that theme?
    • We use a main theme song matching the space / stranded vibe, but each region has their own sound anf art design.

  The Lens of Unification works well with the Lens of the Elemental Triad. Use the tetrad to separate out the elements of your game, so you can more easily study theme from the perspective of a unified theme.

Lens #10: The Lens of Resonance

• To use this lens, you must look for hidden power.
  • What is it about our game that feels powerful and special?
    • The feeling of playing as a team. Only together can the player feels strong, since they are helpless on their own ("It's Dangerous to go alone).
  • When we describe our game to people, what ideas get them really excited?
    • The interesting mixture of a platforming game with our USP (shifting gravity), collecting collectibles to get rewarded. They will also love to play it with a friend or their partner, because it builds team spirit and it's easy to understand.
  • If we had no constraints of any kind, what would this game be like?
    • If we had more time: We would have used vector graphics or even 3D Models for character design.

Lens #11: The Lens of Infinite Inspiration

• To use this lens, stop looking at your game, and stop looking at games like it. Instead, look everywhere else.
  • What is an experience I have had in my life that I would want to share with others?
    • VR and AR game, which is very interesting because of its immersion effect.
  • In what small way can I capture the essence of that experience and put it into my game?
    • We will do it through parallax effect background layers, clear structured color design, lights and shadows. That will create a three-dimensional view. It is also possible to implement speech bubbles, which will include players more than pure and simple texts.

Lens #12: The Lens of the Problem Statement

• To use this lens, think of your game as the solution to a problem.
  • What problem, or problems, am I really trying to solve?
    • We solve the problem of suffering from failed team building. Therefore we created the game, so that teams (e.g., partner, at work, siblings, spouse, ...) can learn how to work together and communicate well. "Communication is the 'A' and 'O' of a good relationship."
  • Have I been making assumptions about this game that really have nothing to do with its true purpose?
    • Eliminate student's boredom in lectures.
  • Is a game really the best solution? Why?
    • Yes, of course it is. Every effective learning phase goes through games.
  • How will I be able to tell if the problem is solved?