Serious games

Here’s a slew of “serious games” of various kinds that we are going to look at tonight:

Art games

• Missing and Home by increpare (Stephen Lavelle)
• Loneliness and Freedom Bridge by Jordan Magnuson
• The Path by Tale of Tales
• Passage by Jason Rohrer

Persuasive games

• Memory Reloaded and Leaky World by Molleindustria
• Political Duel
• Cooking Mama – Mamma Kills Animals by PETA
• Climate Challenge by Red Redemption
• ReDistricting from the USC Game Innovation Lab

Educational games

• DroidQuest by Thomas Foote, a remake of Robot Odyssey by The Learning Company
• 1066 Game by Preloaded
• Killer Flu by Persuasive Games

Advergames

• Hotel 626 for Doritos
• McNuggets Saucy Challenge for McDonalds
• Century 21 Property Mogul by 3rd Sense

Game: Armadillo Run and Crayon Physics

There are two games for you to try this week. The first is Armadillo Run:

The second game is Crayon Physics by Petri Purho.

The original prototype was made in five days.

Game: Small Worlds

The game I want you to play this week is Small Worlds by David Shute.

This game is interesting because it is almost pure exploration. Consider:

• What drives you to explore the worlds?
• What mechanics are used to arouse your curiosity?
• When do you feel ‘rewarded’? Why?

Warco

Australian games developers Defiant Development have released a trailer for their new game Warco in which you play the part of a journalist reporting from a war zone.

Developer Morgan Jaffit talks about the game on Gamasutra.

Games: Interactive Fiction

This week we’re going to play some Interactive Fiction, a genre of games that has been neglected by the mainstream, but which still has an underground cult following and which has produced a number of innovative works in the last decade.

First, watch this episode from Jason Macintosh’s program The Gameshelf:

Then head over to the People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction and play a couple of titles. Most of the ones on that page are fairly short and can be played through relatively quickly. I particularly recommend Galatea as an interesting experiment in non-linear narrative.

Games: Bang!

Next lecture we will be talking about social dynamics in games, so the game for this week is Bang! for da Vinci games.

Bang is a spaghetti-western card game designed by Emiliano Sciarra. It is also available in iPad and PC versions.

Think about the social dynamics in this game.

• What is the relationship between players in the game?
• How does the lack of information affect this relationship?
• What is the social atmosphere of the game?
• What social challenges does the game present?
• Are there any particular dynamics that arise repeatedly?

Try some variants and see how they change the game. Some suggestions:

• Make all roles public at the beginning of the game
• Play a ‘last man standing’ version in which everyone is an outlaw and the goal is to kill everyone else.
• Play for significant stakes. Have each player put $10 in the pot at the beginning of the game, which is to be divided among the survivors at the end.

PS: I have a copy of this game and would be happy to take part in any playtesting if invited.

game 6 – amnesia and limbo

There are two games to play this week Amnesia: The Dark Descent by Frictional Games and LIMBO by Playdead. For the poor (and the cheap), both of them have demos available on Steam.

Both Amnesia and LIMBO use dark themes but in radically different ways. Your task this week is to examine the art style of each game in terms of visuals, audio and cinematography.

1. Contrast the visual rendering of the two games. What styles are being used? What effect is achieved?
2. How is sound employed in each game? What is its role?
3. What kind of music does each game use? When is it played?
4. Consider the camera-work. How is the camera being used in each game? What is the ffect?
5. Consider how the art style relates (presentation) to the gameplay? Are they resonant or dissonant? Why?

games – QWOP and GIRP

The games I want you to play this week are QWOP and GIRP by Dr Benett Foddy. Read some of his thoughts on the design.

How these games make you feel? Why?

game – braid

This week’s game to play is Braid an indy time-shifting platformer by Jon Blow.

game – from dust

Talking about toys and emergent gameplay, take a look at From Dust:

(Initial graphics issue clear after a few seconds.)