Game Decisions

In Building a Princess Saving App the article studies social groups and friendship patterns and discusses what design lessons can be learned from smaller online games. The author recommends creating a cozy world that encourages players to bond together. Ideas like giving a gift to a single person who scored well appeals to me and having opt in interactions. Characters can be designed to appeal visually making the game more cozy and easier to emphathise with them. Visuals using natural colours or handmade materials like in Yoshi's Wooly World can have this effect.

 An example of a cozy game

Using warm welcoming colors is recommended, I think this is useful for my own game world. The author recommends building cozy worlds instead of a high stress game because many players are not looking for conflicts he says these cozy games attract a better community, with increased retention, so are very important for designers of online games. In You're Doing it Wrong, the presenter talks about the importance of having games and play if you are a designer. He emphasizes the importance of being empathetic to be a good designer.

In How to Prototype a Game in Seven Days. I enjoyed the section on general gameplay, in that complexity is not necessary for fun and how a strong central theme is needed. He emphasizes that a game should be prototyped quickly by keeping it simple, starting off with core mechanics, no graphics and this sounds like good advice to me.