Blog Post 4: Video Game Lab

Ly Dang playing Jurassic Heart 

Overview

The three games that we played were "Jurassic Heart", "Wizard Wizard", and "You Have to Burn the Rope". I will be describing my experience being an observer and player for "Jurassic Heart" and "You have to Burn the Rope." Then, compare and contrast those two games on their narrative. Finally, I'll discuss the design and interface based on the source code of "Wizard Wizard".

Jurassic Heart

Jurassic Heart Game Logo

"Jurassic Heart" is an anime-style visual novel game about a T-Rex being the main protagonist, trying to have her crush notice her.

Ly Dang, my lab partner, played "Jurassic Heart" while I watched, first. From the point of view of an observer, I thought it was quick since Ly reads pretty fast and decides right away without a second thought. While I watched Ly play, I had more of an urge wanting to play this than the other games because there are options to choose from that we are not sure what might happen. I felt that she went through the game too fast to enjoy the art and think about her decisions of what may or may not happen. She had a normal ending.

When it was my turn to play, I took my time to decide. I believe overthinking in love situations isn't a good move in the game (and real life). I had a terrible ending when I decided to take the liberty of paying my own gift when there was an option on who should pay which ended the game. My game ended quicker than Ly's turn. 

When Ly quickly picked the first decision in the game on which hair clip should T-Rex character wear. I, as an observer, thought she would have looked cuter if she didn't wear a hair clip and show her natural beauty instead. When I did that on my turn to play, it was considered a bad choice because T-Rex wanted to look cute and it was best to wear a hair clip.

You Have to Burn the Rope

A screenshot gameplay in "You Have to Burn the Rope" of the player (top) and the opponent (bottom)

"You Have to Burn the Rope" is a super quick, jumping game where the player reads instructions as the travel pass a tunnel into a room where they must jump high to cut the chandelier rope to kill their opponent. 

Ly had an easier time playing due to her past experience playing many hours of tricky jumping games, so she finished this in less than 1 minutes.

I thought this would be easy because I saw Ly played with ease in a matter of seconds, and there are instructions on how to play as you pass through certain points. However, I took way longer (about 5 minutes).

Player vs. Observer

It's easier to watch someone else play because they're experiencing it for you. When they pick a decision and I see what happens next, I felt that they could have done something different and I could have done better, but when I'm actually playing the game myself, it's not all that I planned it to be while I was watching. 

Overall, it's easier to be an observer than a player because I can learn from my player's mistakes and plan as I watch. But when it is actually my turn to play all plans go out the window and something else happens.

The Narratives of "Jurassic Heart" and "You Have to Cut the Rope"

Both games, "Jurassic Heart" and "You Have to Cut the Rope", has a common gameplay which is narration reaching a certain point of the game. In "You Have to Cut the Rope", the game would pop up messages each time the player reaches a certain point. This goes the same for "Jurassic Heart" since it is a visual novel game. 

The difference between the two games is 

Wizard Wizard: Design and Interface

Start Menu of Wizard Wizard

In the source code of Wizard Wizard, the design and interface made the game felt more alive. It was mostly colliders, key movements, and tons of beautiful animation and art that made the game felt alive. If it were not for the well-done pixelated art and animation, it would have been mainly jump, dodge, and to the next goal (without transition animation).