It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

During the summer period between 2nd and 3rd year i spent my time covering the research part of my upcoming word for my 3rd year. This includes, but not limited to, research into the topics i wish to approach in my dissertation, and ideas and inspiration for my year 3 studio project. Over this period i looked a lot into the topics i will go on to discuss about in my dissertation. A lot of the topics i'm interested in and get excited about within games is the relationship between the player, avatar and the space, especially with how we, as game designers, can evoke certain feelings from the player and generate situations which tackle moral questions. Games such as 'Undertale' and the short flash game 'Loved' each have interesting takes on how games interact with the player. Loved plays on attacking the player directly through the actions the player makes within the game and whether or not they comply with the demands of the 'narrator', i see it as very much a satirised view on modern day games and how people obey and comply to the orders and rules of the game too easily. But what would a game be without its set goals and obstacles? Gameplay should be about more than just achieving goals and completing tasks; it should focus on player immersion and the conditions of investment when the game makes the player do something uncomfortable and how this effects the overall player immersion. How much control can we really give the player without it being just an illusion of control. 

One such game which tackles these questions of obedience within games is Brenda Romero's board game 'Train' (see image above) Train explores complicity within systems. It also asks two questions. "Will people blindly follow the rules?" and "Will people stand by and watch?" With 'Train' there are 2 groups of people; those who 'win' and those who go out of there way to 'lose'. This game is deliberately ambiguous and aims to put the control entirely within the players hands.

This blog is going to follow my explorations with both my dissertation research and my studio practice art project work.