In a feature reprinted from Game Developer magazine, designer Ara Shirinian <a href=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134989/intuition_expectations_and_.php>examines</a> how the way a game presents information creates assumptions in the player about how it plays.
April 4, 2012
In a feature reprinted from Game Developer magazine, designer Ara Shirinian examines how the way a game presents information creates assumptions in the player about how it plays. "Video Game Cognitive Baggage" is what Shirinian calls this section, in which he examines how the game The Red Star, which was released in 2007 and for which he was a designer, elicited very different responses in players depending on how they first encountered it. "The Red Star is essentially a character-based melee and projectile action game comprising a linear series of levels. Some levels used a side-view camera, while others have a top-view camera," he writes. "Often I would present the game to a new player who had never seen the game before, but who had past experience with other games, and observe reactions without actually engaging with them while they played," writes Shirinian. "I would not always present the same starting level to a naive player, but it just so happened that the first level in the game begins with a side-view camera, while the second level in the game introduces the top-view camera." In neither perspective can the player jump. "One of my most interesting discoveries was the clear pattern that emerged from players' desire and expectation to be able to make their character jump; it depended on which level they played first!" "If the subject played the side-view level first, it was common to hear reactions like 'Where is the jump button?' or 'Why can't I jump?' or perhaps something even more colorful. "However, if the subject played the top-view level first, I never heard them make any comments about jumping one way or the other, even if they played the side-scrolling level after that." "So what's happening here? Many gamers, particularly those who grew up with the myriad 8- and 16-bit side-scrollers, carry baggage that says 'Character games that are side-scrolling have a jump button.' This baggage accumulates over time, after seeing many different examples with the same standard features. Conversely, apart from a few outliers, few games that feature a top-view also allow characters to jump, especially from the 8- and 16-bit eras." The full feature, in which Shirinian takes a careful look at how games and other user interfaces present information to players, is live now on Gamasutra.
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