Homework to prepare for class on Thursday of week 10
Final Presentations
The plan for the last class on Thursday, June 3rd is as follows:
- Get your game ready to run on three computers in the lab. (We will have to use the console computer as well.)
- Everybody plays at least two other games and reviews them. (See questionnaire below.)
- The groups present their game. (See below for more details on how to prepare for this presentation.)
Game reviews
This is the questionnaire that we are going to use for the game reviews in class next Tuesday. Notice that not all of these questions have a clear 'good' and 'bad' answer. For example: Was the game fun to play? We still believe that games can be successful as a social issue game although they are not fun to play because they affect the player emotionally in other ways.
Social issue and goals
- What is the social issue this game is addressing?
- What do you think were the game developers' main goals for this game?
- Does this game achieve these goals? Please rate the game:
- 1 Does not achieve these goals at all.
- 2 Is likely to NOT achieve these goals with most players.
- 3 Has some aspects that support the goals, but these are in danger of being overshadowed by other aspects.
- 4 Almost achieves these goals.
- 5 Fully achieves all of these goals.
- Comments. In what ways does the game achieve the developers' goals? In what ways does it not?
Gameplay
- Is this game fun to play?
(No, not at all.) 1 2 3 4 5 (Yes, totally.) - Would you play it again?
(Never.) 1 2 3 4 5 (Yes, I could get addicted to this.) - Would you recommend it to your friends?
(Definitely not.) 1 2 3 4 5 (Yes!) - Does the game have an emotional effect on you? Describe.
A detailed look at the formal and dramatic game elements
Please write short comments for each of the following questions. Focus on the way in which these elements support the intended social issue goal of the game.
- How does the main objective that this game presents to the player relate to the social issue discussed in the game and to the goals that the developers had with this game?
- Do the mechanics used to implement this objective support the developers' goals?
- Does the game create a real conflict for the player that is challenging to resolve? For example, it is not obvious what the right decisions are. Or it takes a certain amount of skill to overcome obstacles.
- Does the game have the right level of challenge?
- Is the outcome of the game uncertain? Do you feel that your actions and decisions make a difference in what the outcome is going to be? Does the uncertainty or certainty of the outcome support the developers' goals?
- Is the player character presented to you in such a way that you can take on his/her view while playing the game? Do you feel empathy toward the character?
- Does the story or situation draw you in?
- Is the environment and atmosphere created by the graphics and music successful?
- Any other comments?
Game presentations
In your presentation, talk about the goals that you had for your game and reflect on the design and development process and the final product.
Your talk should be no longer than 5 minutes. So, plan it well, and avoid any rambling.
- Give us some background about your social issue. Refer to the research you did when preparing your goal statement. What information informed and inspired your game?
- What were your goals with the game? What did you intend the player experience to be? In what ways did you want to influence the player's future behavior or opinion? Point to those aspects of your game design that you thought would help achieve these goals.
- What was challenging? Give a few examples of things that you had planned and that just didn't create the effect that you thought they would or that you just coulnd't realize (for technical or other reasons). In what ways does your final product fall short of your goals? How could you address these problems?
- What went right? Give a few examples of things that worked just as planned or maybe even better. Were there any ideas that you didn't initially think of, but when they came to you, they really helped to improve your game? In what ways does your final product achieve your goals?