How the Uncharted games implement player navigation

The more ‘open world’ video game environments get, the more navigational paraphernalia get foisted upon player shoulders. Maps, markers, checkpoints, radars, and HUDs persist on the screen and faithfully point towards where the game intends you to go next.

There’s nothing wrong with map-based navigational aids: they streamline gameplay and provide helpful markers for posterity in truly open-world environments. But if we are to look at games as tools that foster exploration, immersion, and pattern identification (and we should), then overt navigational aids carry an air of spoonfeeding, at times disrespecting player intelligence and reducing challenge.

One game franchise that doesn’t feature maps is the Uncharted series. Although these games are linear, the levels are still sizable and it’s easy to get lost or take wrong turns. But the players rarely do so. Naughty Dog brilliantly uses environmental cues to guide the player along its levels without them even realizing it half the time.

Let’s look at the elements they use…

Weenies

This term was coined by Walt Disney and is in splendid effect in all Disney theme parks. Weenies are basically architectural or visual magnets that draw people towards them (usually towards where the park designer wants the to…