Week 1

The game I chose was the all-time classic Pac-Man. This 2D game doesn’t have a storyline but is a favorite among gamers and non-gamers all around the world. The player is set in the role of a circular character which eats dots in a maze. All the while, the player is alert at all times in order to not be caught by a ghost, in which case they will lose one life. However, the interesting twist comes when player eats a big dot and turn all of the enemies into blue ghosts. When, in this short time, the enemies are ghosts, the player is allowed to get rid of them. The player can only advance to the next level once they have swallowed all the dots. Skilled players may come up with more advanced strategies such as swiftly pressing controls in order to cut corners in a more time-effective manner or leaving the grid on one side and returning on the other in order to save time or quickly catch one of the enemies off guard.

The diverse color scheme definitely makes the user more aware in the game and focused on different aspects and locations on the map. On the flip side, the continuity of dots might result in a decreased sense of presence because the user is simply eating the dots in a straight line without much attention being diverted to other areas of the game.

The design and aesthetics of the game are very clean. It is simple and does not utilize more features than it needs to. The enemies are each identified by separate bright colors as well as boxes surrounding the boxes from which they are spawned. Besides that, all the borders maintain the same shade of blue. The only unexpectedness comes from the varying pathways but that is expected as the point of this game is a maze.