thesis conclusions
How can we build games that get players to reflect on themselves and the world around them?
I studied this problem by looking at individual game elements, seeing how the implementation of these elements changed the player experience of transformational games.
I’m interested by this debate: How subtle should you be when designing a transformational game? Too subtle, and the player may not learn. Not subtle enough, and the game will be annoying and preachy.
There’s so much I could say, but if I only had a few minutes:
- The gold standard for a transformational game is always intrinsic integration, building mechanics interwoven with your transformational goals. By engaging with those mechanics, players will naturally understand and internalize your game’s goals.
- If playtesting identifies concepts players are struggling with (and there are no mechanics that tie well with those goals) it can be worth touching on them more directly, maybe even by adding text that directly spells these goals out. If you go that path, take the following steps to avoid annoying your players:
- Cut down unnecessary text
- Make text appear right when it’s relevant. (aka just in time learning)
- Make the text more diegetic, a natural extension of the game’s core mechanics and UI. I talk about this concept more with the design of my urban planning education game.
- Finally, I’d mention that a player’s existing interest in a topic may be important to get them to play a game in the first place, but once they’re playing, it may not actually be as relevant as you’d think — once they were playing, even politically conservative players engaged with my game on wealth inequality in similar ways as more liberal players.
See also:
