This is another blog post based off of The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell, specifically the part of the book where he discusses the difference between games and the experience created from game play. Basically, he explains that the game itself doesn't matter as much as what the player gets out of it as they play; the game is just the physical pieces that make it up, but the experience that the game creates because of how the player interacts with it is the real purpose of the game. This is important for game design, because we have to consider more than just the physical mechanics of the game, but also how the players will interact. This post is about analyzing the difference between a game and the experience, and I'll be using one of my favorite games Animal Crossing.
I chose this game series as my example, because in theory, the game seems silly and simple. Basically, the premise of the game is to walk around town, sell things, decorate your house, buy things, talk to animal neighbors, and make money - pretty much socializing with people and economics (sounds fun, right?). Yet, this game is pretty popular, and I definitely enjoy playing it. I used to spend hours and hours playing, just running around doing some mundane task like shaking fruit off of trees to sell at the market, and I'd enjoy every second of it. Why? Because the game designers knew how to motivate the player. I wanted to buy that new house upgrade, and if collecting fruit for three hours was what it was going to take then I was going to do it. There were so many different goals that you could work towards, whether it was completing a new outfit, helping out your neighbors, catching all of the fish or bugs, or making your town look nice, and all of them had different rewards, that were, well, rewarding. The designers really did take into account what motivates the player, as well as how long they're likely to pursue a goal before giving up. Getting enough money for a house upgrade could take days, but it always felt within reach, and there were always other tasks to complete along the way. One great feature of Animal Crossing is the real time aspect of it. Depending on what day, month, and season you play in, the gameplay can be completely different. New bugs and fish will appear, and different events would pop up on different days. It made the whole world seem more real to have these types of things happen. It makes sense that this game is really about the experience since it is all about interacting with your neighbors, or your friends online too. There's no linear storyline, the game is completely up to the player as long as they stay inside the game's rules. I think this opportunity to create your own experience in a world with so much potential is what makes the Animal Crossing experience so interesting. While there isn't much that I'd change about the Animal Crossing series, I would say that there is room for improvement in the future when technology allows for these changes at least. I think the game would be most successful if it keeps building on the idea of letting the player create their own experience within the system. The more variety that is allowed, the better the game would be. I feel like it would be a lot more immersive with more dialogue since it's usually just your character listening to the neighbors blabber on. I know it's pretty much impossible to currently add more dialogue, but in the future I think it would greatly improve the game. Overall though, Animal Crossing is a fantastic example of the difference between the game itself and the experience it creates.
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AuthorHi, I'm Abi, a DSA student who likes games, drawing, writing, and acting. Archives
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