In week 5 of the process, I was focusing on refining my enquiry a little bit more while exploring the possibilities, the visual language of the game I was working on, while also articulating not only to myself, but also my classmates, the connections of this project stage to my whole process and studio practice development.
In the game, I was working around the idea of addressing the physical embodiment of reward-driven behaviour in digital space, which is often an outcome of the algorithms and mechanisms of digital platforms. Continuing my previous work and research, I aimed to create a playful, engaging experience that the audience can immerse into while creating a space for reflection. The way to do that could have been the game’s ending and the language used in the games, so I focused on that to create a complete experience.
CURRENT DEVELPMENT
THE GAME
The player starts by setting their starting position in the window on the screen, “curating” their starting position into a square cut-out. They are encouraged to perform (eat the points of the screen) to gain a special reward! The reward is not mentioned, they are not aware what they are playing for, the game offers the motivation through the gamification.
In the game, the player is asked to ”eat the points of social validation” while the time is running out. The player needs to perform, and move to gain points and unlock a “special reward”.A progress bar shows how far the player is from reaching the “special reward”
As the game progresses and the time is running, more points appear and they move faster, encouraging the player to perform more The more points the player gets, the slower the progress bar fills and it can never be fully reached. The player gives energy, to reach points that will bring nothing. Only to start the whole process again. How long does it take the player to realise the bar can never be filled?
THE GAME OUTCOME:
There are 6 special “tokens” in the game, when these are eaten, it triggers a screenshot function (without the graphics over it). These screenshots are displayed at the end of the game as a gallery. For now, there is a download button to download the pictures.
FEEDBACK
- It is an effective way to draw the audience in and get them play, it’s fun and communicates the intention quite well
- How to refine the games even more? Is there a way to iterate on them to see what that does?
- How to use the language in the games more effectively?
- Maybe there is too many things happening /the unreachable progress bar/ – think about keeping it more simple to creating more suggestive experience
- Try to avoid the semantics that tell away immediately what the game is about, using more neutral language could lead to more personalized and suggestive experience, that is open for interpretation
- How to put the game and the outcome into a better context? Where does it go?