Lessons in Analytics From Mobile Gaming — Rime | The Frostrune | Nobodies
Perhaps the move revealing games of them all
Call them graphic adventures, call them puzzle games, call them point & click, or call them the descendants of Myst. These games have become abundant as the video quality of mobile devices have improved. And while solving puzzles is a very analytic thing to do, featuring this style game in a series like this — might seem an odd choice.
Just over 25 years ago, as the visual quality of gaming consoles was improving drastically, Myst arrived. It was unusual for games of the time. The image and sound quality was intense but then… nothing really moved.
Myst may not have been the first of its kind… officially. But in terms of popular awareness — it absolutely was. Myst got big. It got cult. And even 25 years later, it is still capable of a nearly $3 million dollar Kick Starter campaign. Rime, Nobodies, and The Frostrune (especially) are all descendants of that first breakthrough game.
These games treat the eye with amazing imagery. What they don’t offer are scores, statistical graphics, or algorithms. So how can they teach us a lesson in analytics?
These games pull an analyst back to the very basics of the discipline. Problem solving. The games feature — no force — iteration, experimentation, ordering, documentation, and changed perspective. These can be frustrating, but if you are one of those people that truly love these sorts of games — you absolutely have an analytic mind and a passion for the core of analytics. (Though you still need to deal with math and coding!)
Each game begins with investigation. You need to examine the scene. Typically, point and click hot spots exist to provide deeper discovery. Nobodies is nice enough to highlight these with little target markers. Other games force the player to think outside the box, touch everything, or resort to hints (or Google searches). Only the former is really much fun. I applaud Nobodies for trying to avoid the latter results.
These games have also inherited the surrealist elements of Myst. When numbers do turn up, they are most often little more than symbols. In some games, they are more there to reinforce the theme, as computer passwords or combinations for digital locks.
In the world of an analyst, many times novices trip over believing that all numbers are truly meaningful as numbers. I have seen machine learning algorithms that total transaction ids. A great example of a number, really just being a symbol.
But while the imagery, the music, and even the numbers are surreal, the structure of these games is hardcore. These games are their structure. There is no getting through a level by “holding down the B button”. That is an old school Nintendo reference for all you millennials. Let’s say — these games don’t include idle mining. Everything is purposeful… mostly.
That means that order and sequence matter, pattern recognition is key, and documentation is required. The latter can be as frustrating as trying to determine something you were supposed to click on but could not see. Some games have innovated ways to make documentation less critical. In Rime Escape Room, you are rarely more than two clicks away from a fixed location clue. Although, the more complicated ones still test your short term memory.
So despite the lack of business intelligence-style graphics, the near perfect lack of numbers, and little to no emphasis on either scores or artificial intelligence — these games still challenge your analytic expertise. Puzzles aren’t algorithms — but they are what came first. These games are about those core principles — logic, creativity, discovery, pattern recognition, and discipline. Enjoy them! And thanks for reading!
This is the 10th article in this series. For more Lessons in Analytics from Mobile Gaming consider:
For those with a fondness for the good ole days:
