Spector: Meaningful Choice Is Audience-Friendly

Author: by Staff

Deep gameplay won't scare off players, says veteran designer Warren Spector. In a new Gamasutra feature interview, he champions player choice as more expansive and rewarding for a wide audience. "From the day I started really thinking about this consciously... I've always believed that the really hardcore thing is the game where there's only one way to solve a problem and if you're not smart enough to figure it out, you stop playing," says Spector, of his "Play Style Matters" ethos, in which players are faced with multiple solutions to the same gameplay problem. "And I've always thought that the idea of, 'Hey, if one way to solve this problem is too tough for you, try another'... was a mainstream idea." "And I love having Mickey as the hero of the story of this game, because I think he's a great way to get [across] this idea that 'Hey, games are about interactivity, they're about you'." "They're not about me, as the designer, they're about you being creative," he continues. "If I can get that idea out to a larger audience, that I think is borderline important, not just something cool to do." The full interview with Spector, which more deeply explores the notion of choice in consequence in Epic Mickey and Deus Ex, and more -- including his opinion on Nintendo's 3DS -- is live now on Gamasutra.