Gameplay Interaction and Experience

What I need to cover:

- The full experience/story (game prompt interaction)

- The reasons behind the design decisions

- The players experience

The game - Play as a Shaman who's objective is to restore peace by travelling through the spirit world, interacting with spirits and using abilities to solve puzzles in order to progress.

The game objective - Restore beauty by lighting up the region, clearing the skies and establishing peace among the spirits. Successfully completing puzzles in order to turn on lanterns and clearing the sky of clouds as you go, lights up the region, restoring and revealing the immense natural beauty.

The gameplay experience from beginning to end, is explained in more detail in my gameplay structure post. But I am referring back for explanation.

The Players Experience, step by step:

Step 1. The main menu screen. Click "Play" to begin. The main menu screen will also have options to view the controls or restart the game.

The main menu screen will showcase some of the game art and tease the experience. It should set the tone of a peaceful and wondrous experience.

As we are a development team completely made of women, it would be amazing to include a women in games section, not only in our marketing or process documentation, but also as an accessible page inside the game. The aim of this interaction with the player would be to reach out to other young women interested in games and get them excited about game development. Every member of the team has expressed interest in inspiring other women and young girls and recognises the importance of doing so for our industry.

The complete selections on the main menu screen should be, Play, New Game, About (or credits) and then of course a selection to learn more about Women in games. A link to our instagram and development blog would also be great.

Step 2. Introduction to the game. Who is the Shaman and what is his purpose? This can be explained through a brief cut scene or an interaction with a spirit.

It is important at this point for there to be a tutorial of sorts for those at the arcade as many of the guests will have no previous knowledge of the game. Therefore we should include prompts for the player for what their objectives are, how to play and as this is a touch screen game, we should also include a demonstration for the touch screen movement they need to execute to use the abilities.

The purpose of the Shaman can be implemented through either a prompt on screen or through a cut scene. For the purpose of time management and our pipeline, it'd be best to aim for on screen prompts as part of the UI as these extra features, while important and valuable are not as essential to the main experience of our vertical slice.

Step 3. The player will then be able to explore the movement. Moving from left and right on the screen and jumping. Completely intuitive.

Movement would be expectedly intuitive but as we need to provide tutorial for those we are presenting to, likely some with little experience with games, there will be visible UI on screen rather than the traditional swiping method for mobile games. This will be displayed as simple forward and backwards arrows. Tapping on the screen will allow the player to jump. I don't think it is necessary at all for this to be demonstrated as it is a players first initiative to tap on a mobile device.

Step 4. First boulder puzzle. Using a boulder to fill a gap in a path. A prompt will show up to guide the player on how to use the ability. This scene involves a broken bridge that the player will have to repair/rebuild using the boulder throw ability.

The prompt mentioned above will be demonstration for how the player will have to swipe their finger on screen on their mobile device in order to carry out the interaction.

The first puzzle is reasonably easy to execute and it will be clear what the player has to do in order to get past the puzzle. This is appropriate for the first puzzle of a game; there should be little challenge. It also gives to them another method of traversing the environment and while it seems simple, variation does bring enjoyment to players.

Step 5. Second puzzle - using the gust ability to clear clouds in order to reveal the path. Again, guidance on how to use the ability will appear on screen. This scene will be a series of islands that need to be traversed but they will not be visible until the clouds are cleared.

The gust ability will require a different motion which will of course be demonstrated to the player so they are able to carry out this puzzle without confusion.

Step 6. Third Puzzle - Waterfall scene. The player will need to smash through some debris using the boulder throw in order to redirect water flow to progress further into the game.

The waterfall scene is more complicate than the first two puzzles and use of the boulder ability would require some precision for the interaction. Challenge is important however. The waterfall also provides immense beauty and alongside the sound effects I think it will bring the player peace and content while they try to solve the puzzle, perhaps easing their frustration if they struggle.

Step 7. Fourth puzzle. Use the gust ability to restore wilting, dying nature by redirecting rain clouds.

This puzzle is really beautiful and is expected to be a key resonating interaction in the game. The player will be amazed by the beauty and hopefully feel as though they have left their mark on the game by restoring its beauty.

Step 8. Fifth puzzle. Use the gust ability to help spin a windmill, supplying power to a higher up lantern that you can't reach.

The windmill I think will cause some questioning within the player. They have just traversed through an environment filled with natural beauty and very little sign of human habitant's but the windmill is suggestive of people living nearby and therefore a greater world to discover and explore. These details that suggest more to be discovered will hopefully convince players that they want to know and see more after the vertical slice and will have interest in playing the final finished game.

Step 9. Sixth puzzle. Pan flutes. Play a tune on the pan flutes that will distract a swooping eagle that is causing distress the other spirits blocking your path. The tune that needs to be played will be clued further back in the game by another spirit.

The interaction with the eagle will be exciting to the player and why it's great that we have left it for the last puzzle interaction. The eagle is an addition that should inspire more intrigue. The eagle is an obstacle, rather than an enemy, that is a bit fun and has a beautiful flying animation that brings another layer of interest to the game scenes. Alongside its sounds and song, it will provide another level of immersion to the game.

The pan pipes can be interacted with using the gust ability on each separate pipe to play a different note. There will be coloured notes that emit from the pipe that has been interacted with and those coloured notes will be synonymous with those notes sung by the eagle flying above. The puzzle is a little more complex and intuitive but it is appropriate that the final puzzle for the level is the most challenging.

Step 10. Light the last lantern and pass on to the last island on the level. The player will have no other option than to jump off.

Once the player is close enough to the lantern, they will be able to tap the lantern to switch it one. However we have discussed the lanterns switching on automatically after the puzzle interaction has been completed because it is a clear message to the player that they have done the right thing and are progressing.

The final jump into the unknown will evoke wonder and intrigue in the player as well as a will to find out what happens next. They will question what lies beneath the clouds.

Step 11. The game ends with the short animation of the player falling into darkness and on the screen, the words "to be continued" will appear before resetting back to the main menu.

"to be continued" is a promise to the player. It confirms that there is more coming; the production of the full game. The promise of more will excite them for the full game to be released in the future and will help us to gain a loyal following.

Step 12. The game can give the player the time it took them to finish the level which will inspire competition between other players at the arcade event.

Throughout the gameplay, the boulder throw ability can be used continuously in order to traverse the islands that may be too high or far to just jump onto. Furthermore, the gust can be used in other areas to clear clouds and unveil clues to complete the puzzle. For example, they could be covering the location of the lantern. For these interactions to work, the boulder will have to crumble shortly after its been thrown if it is in the wrong location, else the beautiful game scenes will risk being filled up with boulders.