Design by committee: A conversation with Kyle Gray

I had been wanting to play Henry Hatsworth for a while before I finally got the chance, and so when I did I realized that I had a lot of things to say about it. First I talked a bit about the flow of the game and then I posted a note about its starting screen. After the latter got featured in Gamasutra, I received a surprise email from none other than Kyle Gray himself.
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Design Notes: DS starting screens

I have been playing Henry Hatsworth for a while now, and have been somewhat enjoying it, though it definitely has its ups and downs. Something I cannot stand, however, is the starting screen.

Don’t put anything in your game that goes against the player’s wish to play. That’s a good rule to design by. And the very first thing you encounter when you turn Henry Hatsworth on seems to go against that.

It’s a very simple flaw: the start menu is located in the bottom DS screen, the one we are accustomed to interact with using the stylus. But for some reason the screen won’t take stylus input, so you must use the D-pad and buttons no navigate it. It looks like a minor detail, but the game definitely sends some mixed messages by not letting players interact with it in the most intuitive way.

The complete antithesis of this is Rhythm Heaven. That game is all about using the stylus to touch and flick, touch and flick. And the starting screen won’t even let you play them game unless you prove you can flick with the stylus. After you turn it on a little icon appears, prompting you to flick it. Want to play this game? You better learn how to flick!

I find it hard to believe that Henry Hatsworth’s starting screen was playtested much, if at all. True, it’s just a starting screen. But it’s precisely the first thing your players will interact with, so you better take good care of it.

The flow of Henry Hatsworth

This weekend I finally got to borrow a copy of Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, a game designed by Kyle Gray, an ETC alum, when he was still working at EA.

I had the pleasure to meet Kyle last year at the ETC when he came and gave us a very good talk on how he successfully pitched Henry Hatsworth to the EA higher-ups and got it green-lit. Right then I made a mental note that I should play this game as soon as it came out, and it wasn’t until now that I actually got the chance.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is, as the title cleverly points put, a puzzle-adventure game: think Bejeweled meets Super Mario Bros. Since the game is made for the DS, it’s very convenient to have the Sidescroller Platformer on the top screen and on the bottom one the Puzzle, where the stylus is most helpful. Read the rest of this entry »

Phantom Hourglass’ amazing mistake

Below are spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS. Though nothing from the story is spoiled, be warned that a whole temple is.

In my opinion, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is an amazing game. I’ve been a Zelda fan for a long time, however I had never played a handheld Zelda before. I expected to be overwhelmed by a full scale Zelda experience and in turn was pleasantly surprised with a much more streamlined, to-the-point adventure. This is not, however, the point of this post. For in this great game there was one thing, one amazing thing, that I just could not take: the Temple of the Ocean King.
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Mana Burn is dead: a rant

Magic: the Gathering is largely responsible for my first steps to becoming a game designer. I started to look games seriously in the eye around the same time that I discovered Magic, and have come to cherish the process of assembling a 60-card deck as a sort of ritual. When I get an idea for a deck, I go into a trance. Even now, several years after I bought my last Magic booster pack, Magic stays constant as my foremost example of design excellence. But now the rules are changing and I find myself lost in the confusion. Read the rest of this entry »

inFAMOUS and the Illusion of Choice

This piece will spoil a big part of inFAMOUS and even a bit of Bioshock So be warned. SPOILERS below.

The general consensus is that it’s healthy to stay away from the notepad when hotheaded, inflamed or when in any other situation when reason might be compromised. But for games, and storytelling, I feel like the exact opposite may be best.

I have just finished playing through inFAMOUS and I’m ready to speak my mind - hot as it might be.
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Thoughts on Metal Gear Solid 4

I just finished Metal Gear Solid 4 after a 15 hour-long playing session - almost one full year after its original release - and I feel like I should say something, like I should get off my couch and salute it with a nostalgic look on my face. Read the rest of this entry »

Game mechanics: the literal, the metaphoric and the abstract

Wherever we go, we are surrounded by game mechanics. We carry them with us, we create them and we interact with them. Life itself can be mapped into any number of game genres – resource management? Check! Platformer? Sure! Strategy RPG? Why not?! – the world itself, it seems, is the best place to find inspiration for mechanics. This is why we usually speak of metaphors when we talk about game mechanics.

The concept of the metaphor comes into play when we attempt to translate real life mechanics into game mechanics (and vice versa) and I will get to it later; but before we even have to think of the metaphor we must first be able to identify the mechanics themselves. Read the rest of this entry »