Sploder Platformer

Sploder Platformer Impressions

I do not think that I would focus on making this type of game. It has never been my style, and for the purposes of my content are in science, I see limited use for this style of game. The only application that I can see for this game would be to use the platforming aspect as a pathway to minigames that relate to the content. Maybe the physics of the game could be made to fit a lesson on physics, where different parts of the game alter things like friction or gravity. However, I still think that there would need to be more time spent on minigames to learn the meaning of these factors before playing them would have much of a learning effect.

Two things that immediately come to mind in terms of the design:

1) The physics of the game are frustrating. Trying to jump from one platform to another results in falling down to lower levels, either through holes in the platform, or over the edge of the platform. These gaps are placed precisely in the spot where a jump lands, unless the jump is adjusted in mid-flight. For me, this takes away from the action of the game. Maybe some people would enjoy the challenge of making incremental tweaks to their jumps. To me, this is not the point of the game, and therefore, left me feeling very frustrated. **Note for my own design principles: The challenge needs to be the mission, not the physics.

2) There is no health bar that I can see for my character. The enemies have health bars that appear when I do battle, but I have no idea how much health I have, or how many hits it will take to kills me. Again, this is frustrating, in terms of not having a sense of where I stand. **Note for my own game design principles: Transparency is key to context. This is achieved in this course, with the objective and progression of the course being stated up front. Everyone in the class knows what they have to do, and the points progress bar lets us know where we stand in relation to that goal.