Critiquing a Game Design - Essay Example

? Critiquing a Game Design Full Introduction Understanding the essential elements of a game is necessary in the making of computer games in order to create one successfully. The game should in every aspect be categorized as a play, entertaining one self and other participants, should there be any. It includes pretending or acting of the participant/s to be somebody or to be in a specific circumstance and place. Then there are the rules to follow which definitely defines game in contrast to other entertainments. Rules give instructions to how the game is played and explains what should be done or not done that would qualify or disqualify a player which differentiates it from simply playing like riding the bike. When the activity is set to be a competition where rules are set, then biking will not just be another play but becomes a game. Another essential to consider in games is the goal. There should be an objective for the player to achieve in order to make the game more entertaining and educational at the same time. Instructions & Pretense Crazy Cabbie (mindjolt.com 2010) is the computer game which this paper will be looking into, critiquing the essential elements of a game, whether it met all the requirements or not and what would make it to be a good computer game. It is an interesting game where the pretense is for the player to be a crazy cab driver whose goal is to finish a set distance within the set time. The instruction is given just below the title of the game which makes it easily seen, giving the player the important information before even starting with the game. Somehow, it also serves as a factor attracting players to notice the game. The instruction is clearly stated and easily understood even by first time computer game players. Though it is short, it covered all the important things needed for the player/s to know. This is a sign of a good game design. Challenges of the Game Crazy Cabbie is interesting to players because of the challenges it presents and the goal that has been set for the player to succeed in doing. Since the objective of the game is to overcome all the obstacles, which would be the other cabs the cab driver meets on the road in thirty seconds, the player is thrilled to get to the finish line on time and can even make it his personal goal to outrun all the other cabbies in a shorter time than was set. The arrow keys on the keyboard are used to move the cab with the upward arrow key used to accelerate the car and the downward arrow key to decelerate it. The right and left arrow keys on the other hand are used to move the cab to the right or left lane, respectively to avoid other cars that block the player’s car. When all the lanes are blocked, the player’s cab can jump over them through the use of the space bar. Thrill and Technique As the game progresses, more cars blocking the road are presented as obstacles, making it more difficult for the player to reach the finish line on time. The time for each level also is lessened by two seconds every after one level up which keeps the player to be more attentive and creative in maneuvering the car’s moves. The game is said to create an artificial intelligence (Adams 2010) by allowing the player to discover strategies in order to overcome all the obstacles set in the game with the use of all the available moves for the player. For instance, in cases where the three lanes are blocked by three cars on the same level, the player has no other option but to jump over them. The challenge comes when the cars are aligned side by side and in a consecutive fashion. Moreover, the circumstance becomes more challenging when the distance between the cars becomes shorter, making it difficult for the player to overtake them when he misses to jump over one of the aligned cars. When the player’s car gets very near the obstacles before jumping, he is not able to have the maneuver succeed because the car needs some space for it not to bump on the other car, causing it to fall back to its original place. The trick then is to jump over the cars while the player’s car is still a few centimeters away from the cars blocking its way. In this case, the task becomes difficult when there are consecutive aligned cars because it requires the player to jump over them successively. When the player misses, sometimes he would need to decelerate to catch speed for it to be able to jump over the cars again. This action will then endanger the car’s time and distance because as it was mentioned earlier, the pace is set through the thirty second time limit, which is lessened by two seconds for every level up. Another technique for successfully completing the game is path-finding. The player can actually see the pattern of what to expect in the coming obstacles so that he could predetermine the course to take in order to get through the hindrances in the shortest time possible. Another trick is also to find the best way to cut the time spent for each level. Although finishing one level in a lesser time than the set pace will not give additional time, the score will be higher which would be a good thing if the player is aiming to get a high score. However, if the player’s goal is to finish every level on time and move to highest level he could reach; it would be a good thing to take the chance of learning the best maneuver one can take to lessen the time of travel as the player improves in his performance. On the other hand, it would be helpful for the player to maintain the least time he could spend in a level because the timer is set to a shorter time for every level. This will allow the player to be prepared for the next level, having been revved up already. Determining Patterns As the player continues with the game and be observant enough on how he should improve his performance, one can notice a pattern. With the speed needed to complete the game and the concentration demanded from the player in order to complete the level in a timely fashion, the player has to concentrate well on his car. This circumstance makes the player unable to concentrate to the level he is in, unless he is already an expert on the game, but he would know he is already on another level by the distinct sound made for every level completed. Game Sounds Speaking of sound, the player would be able to determine the jumping sound of the car as well as the bumping sound which allows him to work with his car while trying to figure out which key one should use especially to a novice computer game player. However, the game could have been more interesting if the sound of a real car accelerating and decelerating have been used. The sound of a running could be an attraction especially to car lovers and would make the game more realistic and attractive to children. Probably, the use of other car sounds would make it more interesting like the beeping, skidding and crashing sounds. This would also help in teaching players road manners like beeping to make the other car drivers aware of another car behind him who is about to overtake. A twist to this would also be a great help to make the game more interesting and challenging like including other cars like the ambulance, a police car and others. This would allow the player to think how he should go about choosing winning over road manners in the presence of such circumstances. With the absence of the aforementioned suggestions, the game can be said to be fairly good and interesting, though. Formal and Experiential Systems The game is designed to be like a car race but not in the way car races are played wherein the player’s car contests with other cars. In this game, the player tries to finish a certain distance in a given time, which is similar to a car race’s objective. The only thing with this game is the variation wherein the player competes with it trying to beat the time in completing the set distance. Crazy Cabbie reflects its formal system through the rules of the game. This aspect focuses on the logical and mathematical structures (Salen & Zimmerman 2010) wherein the player’s logical dimension and mathematical abilities are geared to be sharpened through the demand of analysis in the game. The experiential schema of the game is based more on car racing than on real life car driving since the driver, as suggested by the title can be reckless in his driving and puts finishing the game in a short time as a priority over road manners. The rules to driving in the real world are not applicable to this game. However, the rules are more or less patterned to car racing where speed is not limited but could be set by the driver according to his abilities and capabilities. The aforementioned characteristics of the game set it to be included in the genre of racing games. However, in the site, the game is included in the genre of action games where the famous cellphone game ‘snake’ is included. This is called to be so because as the name suggests, the game allows the player to maneuver the essentials of the game to make them work as desired. Movement or action is the desired activity in the game, one which is the priority makes it to be an aspect that eventually makes the player move in his seat not only mentally but also physically, as he plays. Action games are not required to make the players move in their seats but it is a part of the thrill of the game which could determine the depth of involvement of a player. The key aspect to consider in an action game is incorporated in the rule which requires the player to move his representation to somewhere else in order to achieve his goal. In this game, it is to move the car forward, jumping over cars and even decelerating to give space between the player’s car and the other car the player is attempting to successfully jump over. Cultural System The cultural system applied in the game follows the experiential system wherein speed limits are disregarded and not considered like car driving on the road. In addition, no road manners are observed as well because the rule of the game did not give such limitations to attaining the goal of the game. The player can even bump on other cars without being punished or penalized which may be true to car racing but not to car driving. Likewise, when the cars bump on each other, they are not destroyed as they do on real life situations. This then can be another point of consideration for the game designer to examine. It could be a situation that will affect the car’s performance which will eventually affect the scoring system or the end of the game when the car is not able to work anymore. Improving the Game Some of the elements of computer games that have not been used in this game are narratives, premise and dialogues. Since the game is just about a car trying to overcome all obstacles to cover the desired distance in a given time, it did not need any narrating. However, a twist could also have been made by the game designer to incorporate such dramatic element, making the game even more exciting. In effect, premise is also absent in the game together with the dialogues which make the latest computer games more exciting. This technique usually incorporated to other games with virtual people and places can be used as an educational tool to today’s students who are more attracted to computer games than books. For this reason, it could have been a good point to have been merged with the game’s objectives. However, considering the genre of the game, this failure to include the previously mentioned situations could be understandable. The formal element of the game involves only one player playing against the game. This is designed for a single player who could entertain himself even without the presence of other players. This is ideal for individuals who have no companions in playing a game. However, this limits the entertainment one acquires in competing with the game because it could become boring when the player is already used to it and has reached a certain level of expertise. The presence of other players in computer games makes one more exciting which in this case, is absent. But then again, there is not one game that could have all the elements of a game otherwise it would have to be complicated and would scope a wide range of dimensions. Conclusion The study of the game Crazy Cabbie allowed us to delve into the important things a game designer needs to know in order to create a game. Designers are now increasing in number so that competition in the field is becoming stronger. Therefore, knowing all the essentials of a game design is most important in order to make a meaningful play that would attract gamers to acquire a designer’s game. With the involvement of parents as the primary contributors to the distribution of computer games being the sifters and critiques of games made available to their children, it is a good point to consider having games that are educational. As this game has been discovered to have missed some important factors regarding it becoming a meaningful and educational play, the game designer could get a little help with some critiquing. In conclusion, as any designer desires to create the best game there could be, it is also important to pilot test the game to make it evolve to the desired concept of the designer. References Adams, Ernest 2010, ‘Fundamentals of Game Design’ (Second Edition), Google.com. n.a. 2010, ‘Crazy Cabbie’, Mindjolt.com. Salen, Katie and Eric Zimmerman 2010, ‘ Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals’, Google.com. Read More