CGD: Week 3 Recap
With that core concept confirmed last week, this week we each set out to further develop the story and brainstorm some simple puzzles that would fit the 10-minute-level requirements. I sought inspiration in puzzles I’d seen in old magazines, card tricks, board games, and games like WarioWare, where a player has mere seconds to correctly finish their action before they lose a life. We were looking for quick, snappy, and fun (and maybe a little silly, like having to figure out how to shoot garlic into a big floating nose). For now, I sketched out some preliminary ideas:
The puzzles will need to be expanded, and tested to be divided into categories, from quickest and easiest to longest and hardest, to ensure there is a gradual learning curve and curb player frustration. But it is a start!
The team set up meetings to discuss the jobs to be done, the format we game designers must follow, and the plans to create a paper prototype for testing the concept and puzzles in-person before we move forward. We discussed the balancing issues, and how we could make the 3v1 asymmetry fair and fun for all players. The mechanics available to the “traitor” character are still in progress, but testing with the paper prototype next week should bring us closer to solving that problem in a satisfying way.
We decided that the story would need to be confirmed with our Prof; so far, we have settled on two possible options:
A) each level plays out the repeating 3v1 scenario in a multiverse of settings; cultists, aliens, spies, warriors, etc.
or
B) inspired by Greek mythology and specifically the 12 Labours of Heracles, the story stretches over 10 levels as the heroes perform 10 feats and reach the boss at the very end.
Both have their pros and cons: an ever-changing narrative could keep levels fresh and puzzles easily iterated, but would mean a big chunk of resources would have to be spent just on re-skinning each level and creating or acquiring assets in the same art style for each different environment. While a singular narrative, on the other hand, would have a concrete art style and direction but could make it harder to keep the puzzles feeling new and engaging throughout the whole 10-level arc. I’m a fan of both ideas, so I suppose we’ll have to figure out what fits this module best during next week’s class.
