What it Means to Design Serious Games
On a quarter of game design and growth.
Designing Serious Games
The title of the class is what got me — serious games? Games that are meaningful? Games that pertain to social justice issues? Games that will address systemic oppression? Considering the work that I’ve done in regards to activism and advocacy, where nothing is treated like a game at all, the idea of a “serious game” was difficult to grasp.
I was a bit skeptical about how games could be made serious. When I think about games, I think about the games that I spent hours upon hours playing in my childhood. From online RPGs like MapleStory to life simulations like The Sims and Harvest Moon, the games I was drawn to were simply enjoyable. To me, there really was no deeper meaning attached to them, other than the fact that I had a lot of fun playing them. However, throughout the quarter, my knowledge of game and game design has grown immensely. Here’s what I learned about creating serious games.
Keep on iteratin’!
A huge lesson I’ve learned is that iteration is key — you’ll never get it right the first time. If you think you did get it right the first time, think again. This was a lesson learned time and time again, especially through the creation of my P1 game, protecc. This was our very first project and so we had to build an understanding of how to iterate effectively such that we could make the most improvements to our game after a given playtest. We truly relied on play testing, going back to the drawing board, figuring out how to improve our rules and game mechanics, then going back to play testing. We went through around 6 play tests before landing on a final game that most resembled our first version of the game. Through all the different changes we were making, we had to play test in order to figure out that we were making things too complicated, or that the new mechanics we were introducing weren’t balanced. This is how we ended up at a cleaner, simpler, and just as fun final version of the game. We even ended up working on P1 futher as our P4, and we went through even more iteration! The constant iterative process that is required of game design shows that you’ll never know what woks until you try it, and that you can always improve upon a game or concept.
Work with what you know!
For me, I went into this class wanting to design games that pertain to topics that truly matter to me. For example, in our protecc, our topic was sexual health, specifically about educating youth and young adults about STDs and STIs and how to treat and prevent them. This made P1 extremely fulfilling for me, seeing as I was able to create something that was both fun and educational.
For P2, I think I lost sight of that feeling. When it came to interactive fiction, I was wrapped up in creating something dramatic and enthralling and relatable. I think I was afraid of the writing process in general, seeing as I’m someone who loves writing but experiences horrible writer’s block, especially because the task is paired with using Twine, which was a tool I was not familiar with. And so, I felt if I didn’t use the first idea that came to mind, I would be stuck or behind. However, trying to stick to my first idea, which was some wonky Trader Joe’s time travel plot, is precisely what made me put off doing most of my interactive fiction until the night prior. After feeling really unmotivated and uninspired by my initial interactive fiction idea, I decided to start from scratch. I thought about what I care about, and what I know well, and it quickly became obvious what my interactive fiction should be about — Pilipinx history and culture! Writing became natural, and I was invested in the story I was creating for my players, regardless of whether or not they would fully understand it. Ultimately, this game was for me, and for people who look like me or feel underrepresented like me, and so I’m extremely proud of what I created.
The interactive fiction project showed me that I can create this intersection between games and the things I care about. By creating a game centered on Pilipinx issues and history, I am able to teach others about the subject matter at hand and perhaps help to fill in a knowledge gap. Being Pilipino is important to me, and that’s reason enough to create a game about this identity of mine!
Leverage game mechanics to shape the player experience.
Going into P3, I was also passionate about the topic we were tackling. In 45 we modeled the system of political corruption. As someone who cares deeply about justice and immensely hates our current president, modeling this system seemed like it would be simple enough. However, it was more complicated than expected. There are many variables at play when it comes to obtaining and losing power, which we discovered through our initial concept mapping and play testing. How can we create a system that effectively balances the loss and gain of power?
Then, we quickly realized that a game about political corruption isn’t really supposed to be balanced. We quickly realized that having the most effective system game is one in which the game play experience enacts a microcosm of the very system we want to model. When players got to be President, and experience the unwieldy power that comes with the role, they became power-hungry themselves. We saw that players formed alliances in an attempt to get the current President out of power. They found it challenging to get the President out of power, which is indicative of the system we wanted to model. When one has a lot of power, whether that be in terms of money, influence, or reputation, they have more control over the system, and so it’s harder to alter those power dynamics. In this way, the players were able to experience the system we were modeling — we were able to effectively create game mechanics that brought the system to life.
Looking Forward…
Ultimately, I learned so much about the technical and not so technical parts of games. From understanding game balance, and arcs and loops, to listening to fun noises, each experience in this class was so new and eye-opening for me. I learned that gamifying serious topics is possible, and it’s not so much gamification as it is experience-building. I feel like gamifying insinuates adding a point system and or half-heartedly presenting something as a game when it truly isn’t. When you build a story, create rules and game mechanics, you can get players invested in a game around a serious topic, on anything from identity politics, to gentrification, to the prison system. Games carry the potential to get players to learn immensely and care deeply.
In the future, I’ll continue to play games! With the recent changes to the school year due to COVID-19, I’m sure I’ll have more time to play games. I can even practice social distancing while playing games, for example, playing a game of Spy Fall or Castle Fall over Zoom with a group of friends. I’m also taking 247G next quarter, so I can’t wait to learn even more about game design and have lots of fun while doing so!
Many thanks to Christina and Ben for a wonderful quarter, and to the game designers and players of 377G for all of the fun :,)
