Tag: Games

Categories
Business & Travel Games & Travel

Why Travel more as a Game Designer?

  • Graphic artist, Musician, Programmer, Scenarist, Quality controller, you design games.
  • Board, Cards, Code, Graphics, Themes, you design games.

Why Travel?
If you are creating a World, you ought to know this One.

Here’s where you could start:

  • Work with limitations
  • Create your World with Mind Maps
  • Compose a travel Diary
  • Buying Memories
  • Landmarks, the Soul of a Nation
  • Restaurants & Cafes, for you & your players
  • Create a Continent
  • Parks – The Game’s Hub
  • Artistic Awareness – What’s Fun?

Learning to work with limitations

  • Limited Material & Tools
    • You don’t need a desk to be productive.
    • No internet is the best way to come up with new designs & Ideas.
    • A 200 pages moleskin journal is enough.
  • Limited Time
    • Having less time to create your next project will force better result.
    • Less time means less time to hesitate.
    • Think crucial features through & implement.
  • Focus on 1 project or have multiple one?
    • How long is your trip?
    • You’re visiting Italy for a week , can you get a Book out of it?
    • How many settings are you visiting? 1 piece = 1 setting?
    • Should you create a Pamphlet for this City, this Country?

Your essentials:

  • A small notebook + Post-it (to create categories)
  • Multiple 4-colors pens (for Mind mapping)
  • A Camera (for photo references)
  • Your phone (Interviews, post on social & check you mails)
  • Your laptop (Books & Graphic design)
  • A 512GB Flash drive (if you can’t trust Clouds)

Create your World with Mind Maps

  • Mind maps are by far the easiest way to collect & process data.
  • Wherever you are interviewing someone or taking notes about a specific setting, that will serve as the Game Hub, it is the way to go.
  • After practicing for 4 years you could put 500 pages books onto 4 sheets of paper without losing any substantial information.
    • This way you could already write the game’s manual.
  • The Process:
    • Take a piece of paper horizontally, separate it in 4 equal sections with 2 diagonals.
    • Trace 4 circles/ovals/squares/the shape your prefer with 4 different colors, (a 4-color Bic is the easy way to go).
    • Choose 4 topics you want to study.
    • Or the main 4 parts of your next project.
    • As you use it more & more you’ll realize you’ll need more than 4 topics.
    • In the early stages it’s more convenient to synthesize.
    • A Game has 4 main elements: Story, Graphics, Music & Programming.

Compose a Vibrant Game Manual

  • You notebook has 4 sections: Story, Graphics, Music & Programming.
  • Of course this is a basic overlay as every topic in intertwined with all the others.
  • And Gameplay is developed through each of them.
  • Keep a Programming section even if you’re not developing a video game.
    • There will always be some Algorithmic in every game.
    • Developing a quick Player-Behavior schema is always a good idea in order to determine how the game may end.
  • Use Post-it to separate your 4 sections (and eventual subsections).
  • While visiting take visual notes, sketch the important settings to anchor them into your world dynamics.
  • Sketch cartoon versions of the people around to define your characters physical archetypes.
  • Color is the way to go.
  • Make this booklet for you.
  • Exaggerate, dramatize, so that other people will want to read it.
  • Design clean logigrammes as easy to read procedures.
    • Most of the rules should come directly from the game design, but this journal is for you to have fun.

Buying Memories

  • Looking for Rare Items?
  • Looking for a symbol, an emblem for your game?
  • Or an accessory for your character?
  • Antique shops will give you the inspiration you need.
  • Look for foreign objects.
  • Look for useless objects with great design.
  • Buyback your Childhood memories.
  • What’s that small box that can contain nothing?
  • You can’t put nothing inside it, because it’s already full of circuits!
  • You could also go for Brocantes or Brokers.
  • Both have uniques items to sell, if you are willing to ask?
    • What’s the most expensive item you have?
    • What’s the most useless item you have?
    • What’s the most ludicrous item you have?
    • Will you sell it to me?
  • Get in with your own stuff & see if you can trade.
  • Looking for Rare consoles & board games?
  • Visit Game & electronic shops.
  • Ask around:
    • Can I have 30% off of this PS1?
    • Do you have a Japanese Dreamcast?
    • Do you have a Super Famicom?
    • Do you have 1st edition Alpha & Beta cards?
    • Anything for the Urza trilogy?
  • Look for rare pieces, 1st editions, limited editions on a discount.
  • Look for Games, especially board & card games, you couldn’t find anywhere else.
  • Visit Discount Stores.
    • Ask if they have some extra cards, board games, they would like to liquidate.
  • You won’t be able to find these things online.
  • Play again.
  • Watch the products carefully & remember.
    • Did you find this 1996 Yu-Gi-Oh! booster packs that were only sold in Japan?
    • Or the 2004 north american Magic Ruler/Metal Rider?
  • Meet fellow Gamers.
  • Ask for recommendations.

Landmarks, the Soul of a Nation

  • If you are building a world this is the place to start.
  • Make a list of x landmarks to visit, 1 per day.
  • Make a list of the questions you are going to ask/ask yourself.
  • What type of Landmark is this?
    • Tower?
    • Library/Museum?
    • Transportation system?
    • Gardens?
  • What does the Monument looks like, from the outside?
  • From the inside?
  • Observe people around you, are they happy to be there?
  • Are they tourists or locals?
  • Asking for the Landmark’s history is the best way to know the place.
  • Ask for a Guided tour to fill the blanks & you’re ready to go.
  • Create Context for the player.
  • Where does you game take place?
  • Do you have a clear idea on how you’ll build your settings?
    • What is the atmosphere?
    • What are the resources?
    • Who are the inhabitants?
    • How’s the wildlife?
  • Are you building a full scale adventure game or a 1-room survival?
  • Will you focus on Exploration, Sagas, Epics?
  • Or more intimate and smaller scales games?

Restaurants & Cafes, for you & your players

  • An Inn by the lake?
  • Is this a survival-horror?
  • A point n’ click mystery?
  • A mix of the former 2?
  • Does it have comedic elements?
  • Dramatic elements?
  • Surely, all of this would work very well.
  • If you can make the setting more alive, more human.
  • How do you make it?
  • Observation.
  • How’s in the interior design?
    • How’s the furniture?
    • The structure of the building?
    • Why does this Inn need a small library?
    • What are those noise coming from the kitchen nobody else seems to hear?
  • Who are the people? Both customers & employees.
    • What do they wear?
    • How do they act?
    • Why does this man keep put his hat on & off?
    • What did this woman hid in her purse?
  • You could completely reinvent Clue.
  • Try to mix it with Monopoly in create mechanics such as Clue transactions, or common clue pot.
  • Think about penalties such as a room that will serve for temporary custody and/or interrogation.
  • Imagine a how quick game could develop.
    • Mystery.
    • Clues.
    • Hypothesis.
    • Revelation.
  • Imagine 3 quick characters.
    • Solver (goal + skills/accessories).
    • Leader (goal + skills/accessories).
    • Conscience (goal + skills/accessories).
  • Imagine the tools you’ll have access to.
    • Cards, dices, boards, notepads, life-counters, coins/tokens.
  • Try this in multiple locations, not just inns.

Create a Continent or more

  • Your journey begins before you quit home.
  • Plan your schedule beforehand to optimize your travel time.
  • You can get access to valuable places and people to collect unique information.
  • And start.
  • Traveling by land is cheaper.
  • It’s also generally easier if you don’t need a visa or have to learn a new language every time you move.
    • Though it could be a missed opportunity.
  • Speak with the inhabitants.
  • Collect rules of local games you couldn’t find in books.
  • Ask for local versions of a popular games.
  • Ask why they didn’t like the rule they replace.
  • Ask why they never read the rulebook.
  • Would recreate the US?
  • What’s the most popular game in every state?
  • In every city?
  • Take a landmark/landscape you like and just add some Thematic contrast.
  • Make a game with the Architecture.
  • It doesn’t have to be a Sim game…
  • Same thing if you’re living in Europe.
  • The Latin culture in the west, the Germanic culture in the north & the Slavic one in the east.
  • Start your trip in Lisbon and then all the way to Minsk.
  • As you go around mix & match cultures, monuments, plants, wildlife and so on.
  • That’s the way to create new unique environments & characters.

Parks – The Game’s Hub

  • Parks are the ideal location to rest & focus at the same time.
  • Find inspiration in grassland?
  • Is there a cafe around?
  • Do you have a favorite dish?
  • An evergreen treat?
  • Then, treat yourself.
  • That’s part of the creation process.
  • You need to refuel this jauge called motivation.
  • By thinking about new projects?
  • By imagining your next composition on that little piece of napkin.
  • Or just by resting…

As usual, look around:

  • Observe the people to identify character traits.
  • Listen, for dialogues & game mechanics.
  • Watch at the Setting & Environment and describe it.
    • Write down good design choices around you

Look for the mixes of Green & Blue.

  • Today was a journey, tomorrow will be too.
  • What are the after effects of this journey?
  • What have you learned today?
  • What will you do tomorrow?

Have you ever wondered why we feel at ease in Parks?

Artistic Awareness – What’s Fun?

  • What makes you happy?
  • What makes you fulfilled?
  • Will you visit Italy before Germany?
  • Will you visit the whole Japan or just Tokyo & Kyoto?
  • What makes you travel more?
  • Or travel at all?
  • You may be aware that travel is good for developing your observation & design skills?
  • But what does it bring to you?
  • Do you need to travel abroad?
  • Or just to your hometown?
  • Do you want to create Characters?
  • Do you want to create People?
  • Do you want to create Settings?
  • Do you want to build Planets?
  • What were you doing before Game Design?
  • If you have a background in Mathematics or Programming that will surely help you realize how valuable the experience was?
  • Are you artist or a writer?
  • Do you still play with the page?
  • Or is it painful to put ink on paper?
  • Were you a musician?
  • Are you still a musician?
  • Do you believe Music is integral to Game Design and isn’t just an extra?
    • If you’ve ever played Silent Hill you probably do…
  • Where were you when you made your 1st game?
  • Where did you bought your 1st game?
  • Where did you play your 1st game?
  • Do you return to this place regularly?
    • Do you still buy the MTG/YGO cards from this local game store you pick your 1st booster from?
    • That’s travelling…
    • In time.

Categories
Games & Travel Gamification

Gamification for Travel

  • Travel is fun.
  • Travel is fun?
  • It should be.
  • Is it always the case?
  • Can you enjoy your week in Madrid or your 3 days in Berlin at the fullest?
  • Can you discover Italian, Swedish or Russian culture in such a short time?
  • No, but you can optimize that time to get the most out of your séjour.
  • How?
  • Gamification.
  • Gamification turns Travel into a Real-Life open world Game.
  • How do you create games for your team?

Here’s how:

  • Bigger Goals
  • Status & Progression
  • Teams & Collaboration
  • Learning through Interaction
  • Rewards & Incentives

Bigger Goals

  • It’s the easier part of the Journey.
  • The simplest, the earnest.
  • What do you want to do?
  • Because you can do anything.
  • Do you want to learn Spanish?
  • Do you want to run around the Taiga?
  • Do you want to find the best deals in Instanbul?
  • Choose your hurdles, better yourself & win.
  • Where : At the Beginning.
  • Games : What kind of soup would I be?
  • Customization :
    • Define your symbol, your icon, your motto.
    • It doesn’t have to be fancy, a blue square/green triangle/red circle/purple pentagone could do.
  • Balance :
    • Your Goal will set the difficulty & interest of each game and location you visit..
  • Replayability :
    • Autonomy is Engagement.

Status & Progression

Your Team
  • A global board would be useful to track everyone’s progress.
  • This could be unequally perceived by your team mates.
  • That’s the occasion to normalize the expectations & the reactions.
  • Additionally, each of your Teammates can make their own character sheet.
  • Let them track their Progression through a leveling system or a small graphic.
  • Team members increase their level/rank/skills through completing games.
  • Let them express their Individuality by designing their own character sheet.
    • Through the game ‘If I were a Pizza’ your teammates define their core goal/mission (the Crust), then choose themselves 4 behavior traits & accessories (Topping) for the duration of the game.
  • Where : Cafes & Hotels, or anywhere you can sit & write.
  • Games : The Final version of myself, Evolution (requires a small insect you’ll keep on yourself), Make your own Sheet, If I were a Pizza.
  • Customization :
    • Let everyone make a different character sheet.
    • Impose no unnecessary standards.
  • Balance :
    • Everyone should have some sort of advantage over the others in order to justify everyone’s role.
    • Start with an easy game and progressively let them get a taste of difficulty & Uneasiness.
  • Replayability :
    • Give them many progression system that they will want to try.
    • For exemple you could give them 1 based on sheer Effort, another on Patience & a last 1 based on Precision or Agility.

Character Sheet

Teams & Collaboration

  • Team members will be essential to solve problems, complete quests & achieve an objective.
  • This will train you to retain, recruit & assign people so that they can play at the top of their game.
  • Context & Culture of your team building is the core of the team building experience.
  • During a Travels there are 4 main categories of Settings : Shopping districts, Landmarks, Parks & Restaurants.
  • Each type of setting will correspond to a different types of Adventurers: The Shopper, The Explorer, The Rester & The Fooder.
  • Each team member possessing a keen interest for a specific category of activity will always be able to help the rest of the group if they aren’t too fond of that particular activity.
  • These 4 types apply for the Urban travels.
  • If you are going through a jungle, a forest, a island, a mountain or even by seas you’ll need other types of adventurer (The survivalist, the trapper, the fisher, the hiker or the sailor).
  • Tailor your group to your needs & to your ambitions.
  • Where to team-build : Everywhere, especially is parks & wild open spaces.
  • Games : A Bet, At the end of the day no one wins, Remember my secret, Find me a Nickname, Find yourself a new name, The Army of Us.
  • Customization :
    • If you’ve got some graphic skills draw a small portrait for each team mate.
    • Finding a name/nickname for the travel will make the journey more memorable.
  • Balance :
    • When determining each players roles balance Skills & Interests.
    • Each player should choose at least 1 activity.
  • Replayability :
    • If you are a group of 4-6 you can make more than 1 team.

Learning through Interaction

  • You can assist your team by offering them Hints, Enigmas & Quizzes through the games.
  • Your Team will go through 3 types of Interactions (or activity types) in order to grow.
  • The Competition is the common game setting.
  • There will be winners & losers.
  • This is the traditional setting in term of offensive behaviors such as beat, brag, taunt, challenge, & fight.
  • The Cooperation is less common, but maybe more desirable as a 1st shot if you wish to develop group cohesion.
  • There may be losers, if some players do not follow the rules.
  • The whole team may win.
  • Cooperation generally requires to unit the whole team against a common threat.
  • Another scenario may be a collect-type quest or a scavenger hunt.
  • This is the traditional setting in term of collaborative behaviors such as gather, recover, share, assist, gift, encourage, & trade.
  • The Exploration is the last type of interaction.
  • The most adapted for an adventure type game, a long quest or campaign.
  • It could also be adapted to a mystery/investigation setting.
  • It’s nice to play this type of game in an outdoor setting as well, such as a hiking trek, a forest trek, or even an underwater environment.
  • This is the traditional setting in term of Seeking behaviors such as Unveil, Questions, Discover, Read, Search, Collect, Complete, Decrypt & curate.
  • The Expression is a subset of Exploration games.
  • It can be construed as a 4th type of interaction.
  • It is a type of mental Exploration and can be exercised through a canvas of some sort.
  • The most common type of expression is the physical art expression.
  • This is the traditional setting in term of Seeking behaviors such as Decide, Customize, Design, & Transform.
  • At this stage your players may want to develop their own games.
  • Encourage them to do so.
  • They will fail to create balanced or replayable games.
  • That’s fine.
  • Give them the chance to do something different.
  • Not better or worse, just different.
  • Where to use it : Landmarks & Museums, can apply to any other place with a little history (10 years or so.)
  • Games : Ask the owner, order the Specialties, Trap the tour guide, The Irregular’s Itinerary, Draw the place you are In, Travel Journal.
  • Customization :
    • If a game is too difficult for now don’t hesitate to delay.
  • Balance :
    • Let them struggle, and let them know why.
  • Replayability :
    • Don’t drown them with data.
    • Keep some mystery.
    • Let them ask for more.

Rewards & Incentives

  • Fuels the user’s motivation and keeps engagement high.
  • Experience Points, Medals/Badges are common rewards.
  • Other rewards could be a simple treat.
  • A dinner to wherever they want.
  • Maybe they’ll just want a day of rest because they’ll be fed up with your games.
  • You can give your team a sense of protection through your ownership, which in return will entice them to show you more of themselves.
  • You can help them achieve Personal victory conditions though experiences tailored for them.
  • You can develop a progressive system of rewards adapted to the difficulties encountered.
  • The Paroxysm of this system is when the task itself become the reward.
  • A Game or an Activity could make you happier than resting.
  • In order to achieve this state the Game must make you feel fulfilled.
  • Assign only meaningful & rewarding tasks during your Games.
  • Where : Anywhere they are pleased to play.
  • Games : Blissful Productivity.
  • Customization :
    • Adapt the reward/incentive to your team’s needs & wants.
  • Balance :
    • Don’t make the game punishing.
  • Replayability :
    • Make the gaming experience rewarding on its own right.
Categories
Uncategorized

Travel Gamification – the Way to Fun

  • A park will often be relaxing.
  • A meal in a restaurant can be delicious.
  • You can learn something from your visit at the museum.
  • A monument can be inspirational.
  • But is it Fun?
  • What about Disneyland, Wet n’ Wild, Movie World?
  • Isn’t travel about being entertained?
  • What about having fun anywhere you go?

Outline of the Article:

  • Your Team
  • Let your Hobbies guide you
  • Rewards & Unpredictability
  • Resting & still having fun
  • Your World Map

Gamification for Travel

  • Thinking about making Travel funnier?
  • Travel is transporting.
  • It’s relaxing.
  • It’s allowing you to discover things.
  • But is it really Fun?
  • You may say yes, but do you enjoy it as much as you enjoy your Hobbies.
  • Travel is a great Hobby, but it’s not the most popular one.
  • And Money is not the only variable.
  • Most of the popular hobbies are Expensive.
  • Hunting is expensive, if you’re into sports you’re putting a ton of money in equipment, and nowadays people are training with coaches.
  • More & more people get into Hiking, Mountain Climbing, Scuba Diving or Sky Diving.
  • These are expensive.
  • Even Reading isn’t cheap if you are buying a new book, at 10-20$, every week or every month.
  • Maybe Drawing can be construed as cheap is you only buy regular A4 and use the same pen & pencil for the whole year.
    • But even there, you know you’ll get the fancy stuff.
  • All of that is extremely engaging though.
  • Because it shows people value Experiences over Money.
  • And Travel is all about Experiences.
  • The issue is Travel can be boring or tedious.
  • 1 of the common complain about travel, especially in the case of theme parks, is that you have to wait to get to the attraction/landmark and in the end it isn’t that great.

Your Team

  • Can you go alone? Of course.
  • Wouldn’t give you more possibilities to extend?
  • The ability to look for more things, to achieve more.
  • The alternative is to make use of locals & guides as indirect team members.
  • It’s less personal, but it does the job.
  • On the plus side, you meet people.
  • 2 is the start of a team.
  • 3 is the start of a versatile team.
  • 4 is an optimal number in our opinion.
  • 1 of the biggest aspects of cooperation is arguing.
  • You can argue when you’re 2 or 3.
  • As a matter of fact you can even argue with yourself.
  • Although when you’re 4 can start to polarize the opinion while at the same time benefiting from diverse opinions.
  • These intense discussions, especially if they end to be big successes & big failures, will become the memories you are looking for.
  • Our Travels Posts are divided in 4 categories : Shopping districts, Landmarks, Parks & Restaurants.
  • Now, your team could have 4 types of Adventurers: The Shopper, The Explorer, The Rester & The Fooder.
  • And it will only make the journey smoother.
  • You will always have someone who knows what to eat, where to rest & what the plan is in every place you go.

Let your Hobbies guide you

  • What are your hobbies?
  • How can they enhance your journey?
  • What if you were guided solely by the things that will always bring you joy.
  • Even if you don’t go to all the ‘essential places’ in Madrid or Miami during your travel, you would have only done what you wanted.
  • What you truly wanted.
  • An essential part of games is Customization.
  • You are your character.
  • What does your character want?
  • What did she build up to now?
  • How will she show it to the rest of the team and hence be helpful?
  • You’ve got a top 10 list of the things you need to do in the place you are visiting.
  • Do you want to do them?
  • Or does your characters has other plans?
  • If you’re a reader/writer, become a storyteller.
  • If you’re a drawer/painter, craft a piece which depicts where you are.
  • If you’re a sportif, give them a quick session.
  • For every Attraction, every Place you are visiting craft Quests.
  • Give your team members step-by-step tutorials, and then let them play.
  • Let them go through a nice steep progression curve so that they can feel a sens of accomplishment.
  • Balance is the key.

Reward & Unpredictability

Where does your pleasure comes from?

  • What’s your favorite color?
  • 1 of the greatest rewards is ownership.
  • You’ve already been to Barcelona and now you can show everyone around.
  • You know the best restaurants & museums in the city & can give a private tour.
  • Owning your setting, owning your game brings you the opportunity to build a narrative.
  • You can monitor the attachment to the setting.
  • You can give your team a sense of protection through your ownership, which in return will entice them to show you more of themselves.
  • You can help them achieve Personal victory conditions though experiences tailored for them.
  • You can develop a progressive system of rewards adapted to the difficulties encountered.

  • Another essential element of games is Replayability.
  • You’ve visited all the stadiums in the United Kingdom?
    • Will another match look the same?
  • You’ve visited all the museum in Berlin, can you visit them again?
    • How will you proceed?
  • You could try another sport, another type of visit, but would it be enough to surprise you?
  • Make a small deck of cards with the names of the places you want to go to and let your teammates pick 3 of them at random.
  • Make another deck with the things you could do in these places & repeat the process.
  • Unpredictability is a core element of fun.
  • What about allowing things to be unpredictable?

Resting & still having fun

  • Traveling can be extremely taxing.
  • But resting can be difficult as well.
  • Especially if you’re visiting a bubbling metropolis.
  • Unless you’re in a cool village in the country, finding a calm space can be difficult.
  • Meditation will become a challenge.
  • Find a quiet spot in a park & breathe.
  • Your Rester will help.
  • Ask her what you should do.
  • She can propose you any type of relaxing games.
  • If you’re in a water garden, or another open space that allows you to broadcast music it could be the perfect opportunity to learn outdoor meditation.
  • It may feel uncomfortable in the beginning, but you own this uncomfortable situation.
  • Controlled discomfort really is the path to fun.
  • Another great place to chill are cafes.
  • They’re more obvious too.
  • How do you turn this into a game?
  • Do you want to turn this into a game?
  • You really don’t have to, but if you want it’s easy.
  • If you’re in a foreign country, order in the language.
  • It requires a little bit of speech preparation but if you’re there for a couple of days it can be achieved fairly fast.
  • Now, this is tedious, and you have to learn the language and whatever…
  • Do you have a dice in your pocket? Probably not.
  • Do you have a dice app on your phone? You could download 1…
  • And now, random order.
  • There should be at least 6 items per page on the menu.
  • Still there?
  • Ask for 10% off.
  • Not on your order, on the bill.
  • Most of the time your interlocutor will be really surprised.
  • They may tell you “This is [whatever chain brand], you know?”
  • Answer, “I know, but it would make me a really happy customer.”
  • Only do that if you’re in a Big Brand location.
    • We don’t want to cripple small businesses.

Your World Map

  • The forest fades into a lonely mountain passage.
  • Stark & cold, all you can hear is the bursting gust.
  • The Sun is at its zenith but you can barely see the light through the canopy.
  • As the floor trembles your body shakes even more from inside.
  • You need to run.
  • The path is clear, you see a light at the end, but it’s not Sunlight.
  • It is shining, and silvery.
  • You get closer, the light turns slightly bluer.
  • The shape becomes squarer.
  • It’s just a phone.
  • Someone must have dropped it.
  • The phone is brand new, it must have happened recently.
  • There’s a bear behind you.
  • Did you like it?
  • That’s how I get my fix.
  • What about you?
  • Will you hike, will you climb, will you dive?
  • Or will you go through the ordeals of the Concrete Jungle?
  • Imagine you only have 3 days to visit Tokyo or Hong-Kong.
  • How will you proceed to optimize your time-use?
  • Where will you go 1st?
  • Where will you go next?

How will you use your world map?

How will you use the World?