Gameplay Mechanic a Month: Emotions as Actions
Month 8 - August 2013
Mechanic Description:
In most games, players make or choose actions to take. For this mechanic, the player decides which emotion the non-player character should feel. This means that it becomes less clear how to successfully navigate your way through the story to reach the end.
Playable in the following game:
Platform:
Web
Genre:
Interactive story
Game Description:
An artificial intelligence, called AI matchmaker (A.I.M.), that was built for an online dating website has fallen in love. However, A.I.M. has just been dumped and doesn't know how to feel any other emotions other than love. You must help A.I.M. get over their ex and return to standard operating functionality.
The game was created using Twine and is a text-based adventure game. The characters were intentionally made to be gender-inspecific.
Screenshots:
|
The game begins with a letter from Jamie who talks about an AI called A.I.M. that has fallen in love. |
You help A.I.M. get over Jamie by selecting which emotion A.I.M. should show next. |
Gameplay Instructions:
- Click on the link to the web version of the game below.
- Choose between the links that appear at the bottom of the page.
- Try to help A.I.M. forget about their ex.
Downloads:
The game is implemented in Twine and can be played here: web version.
Acknowledgements:
This month I received support and suggestions from:
- Lee Lin Fulin
- Gene Mocsy
- Kate Branford
- Tarwin Stroh-Spijer
- Heidi McDonald
- Mike Papsimeon
- Sam Stoddart
- Talia Radywyl
Analysis:
An analysis of the gameplay mechanic written by me in March 2015.
Context: I wanted to have the "actions" be emotions instead of actually actions, because I feel like most games are so action focused and don't concentrate on thinking enough. I had just been through a breakup. I believed I was over my breakup and making a game about it would be a cathartic and healing experience, similar to how I imagine it must be for people writing songs or poems about breakups. But for me it wasn’t…
What Went Right:
- Apparently the black comedy was actually funny, according to a couple of friends who were brave enough to play it. I was too close to the topic and all I could see were the bitter words and examples that I used based on my personal experiences.
- Showing progress through the end based on how happy the AI was helped people work out if they were going in the right direction or not, kinda.
- I asked friends for advice on how they got over breakups to try and incorporate other people’s perspectives in the game. That was interesting to hear different coping techniques.
What Went Wrong:
- It is hard for players to think about the outcomes of choosing an emotion. That is, you had to choose between (say) "angry", "frustrated", "depressed". When building it I struggled to think about how the different choices would help the player progress or not. And I think for players it was the same. They couldn't work out the effect of an emotion. That's mostly because that's not really how our brains think about decisions. As in, there's a reason most games are about taking actions.
- The topic just drained me. I hoped it would help me with my recent breakup, but it made everything worse. There were also other bad things happening in my life at that time as well, so I just hated development of this game passionately.
Hug Rating:-5 hugs
Verdict: There might be some good out of this game, but I just can’t see it. I don’t ever want to touch this game again because it reminds me of one of the worst periods of my life. Maybe for someone who wasn’t so attached to the game it might be funny.