Game Studies - Task 1

21/4/2025-Ending Week

FENG SHIWEN  /  0374595

Bachelor of Design in Creative Media   / Game Studies

Taylor's University

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

LECTURES

EXERCISE - 1

EXERCISE - 2

REFLECTION

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INSTRUCTIONS

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LECTURE 

--Core Principles of Game Design 

Player Experience: How the game feels to the player
Gameplay Mechanics: The rules and systems that drive interactio
Storytelling: The narrative that unfolds through play

Balance and Challenge: Ensuring a rewarding experience without overwhelming the player

--Gameplay Mechanics 

Primary Mechanics: Core player actions like movement (Monopoly, Risk), dice rolls (D&D), and card play (UNO).
Secondary Mechanics: Features like resource management (Catan), trading, and exploration (Descent).
Feedback Loops:
Positive: Rewards success (Ticket to Ride).
Negative: Penalizes failure (Monopoly).
Dynamic: Adapts to player performance (Pandemic).
Example – RISK:

Move & battle (dice), form alliances, stronger armies = more success.

--Storytelling 

Player Agency: Players shape the story through choices.
Environmental Storytelling: Story shown through visuals and world design.

Narrative Arcs: Conflict, climax, resolution—can be linear or episodic.

--Balance and Challenge

Difficulty Curve: Smooth progression in challenge keeps engagement high without causing frustration.
Skill vs. Luck: Combine player skill and chance to create balanced gameplay.
Player Progression: Reward growth and provide a sense of achievement over time. Key is to challenge without overwhelming, and engage without becoming too predictable.

--Enhance & Refine Game Design

Feedback and Iteration
Playtesting: Crucial for identifying issues and refining game elements.
Feedback Loops: Spot where challenge is too high or story lacks impact.
Fine-Tuning: Use feedback to improve polish and playability. Iteration ensures the game is fun and balanced at all stages.

Immersion and Worldbuilding
Immersion: Makes players feel part of the story and setting.
Contextual Actions: Worldbuilding adds meaning and emotional weight to player choices. Strong immersion leads to higher emotional investment and more memorable gameplay.

Too complex = less fun

Ignoring feedback = loss of interest

Profit vs. fun = needs balance

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EXERCISE

🔎Exercise 1: My favourite video game/table top game & what makes this game playful

Game Introduction :

My favorite video game is "Death Stranding", created by Hideo Kojima and released in 2019. This game blends action, exploration, and social connection elements, presenting a unique "connection philosophy" against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic setting. 

What makes this game playful ?

1. Unique Gameplay: Solitude & Connection

Players act as "delivery workers" in a broken world. Though simple in concept, challenges like rough terrain, cargo balance, and cooperative building add depth. Social features (likes, shared structures) create a sense of being seen and supported.

2. Atmosphere & Immersion

Vast landscapes and minimalist soundtracks (e.g., Low Roar) enhance the emotional journey. Silence and slow pacing serve as storytelling tools, encouraging reflection on isolation and survival.

3. Story & Themes

Set in the wake of "Death Stranding," the game explores death, memory, and human connection. The protagonist not only delivers cargo but rebuilds human bonds—echoing the theme: "Tomorrow is in your hands."

Why do I like this game so much ?

One of the most unforgettable moments was my first encounter with BTs. I had no weapons—just me, holding my breath, crawling through invisible danger. The air was thick with tension. That was also the first time I used the Odradek, linked to a BB to detect threats. I’d never played a game where survival meant depending on a baby. It felt vulnerable, eerie, and profoundly emotional. I kept asking myself: What kind of world am I walking into? What’s really going on beneath the surface?

Another moment that stayed with me happened after surviving a BT encounter. I walked by a player’s music terminal and heard “Ghost” playing. I stopped in my tracks. The line “I’m just a ghost, and you’re just a memory” hit me hard. I realized I wasn’t just delivering cargo—I was connecting people, step by step, across a broken world. During long treks through tundras and snowy peaks, songs like “Ludens” or “Don’t Be So Serious” gave me a strange, quiet hope. That’s the magic of Death Stranding: it turns solitude into connection, and every step into an act of rebuilding.

How to play this game ?

1. Main Story Progression

You play as a porter delivering cargo across a post-apocalyptic America. Completing deliveries connects isolated facilities to a national network, advancing the main story. The game progresses through main delivery missions, cutscenes, and exploration.

2. Core Mechanics

• Cargo Management: Each item has weight and volume—you must carefully stack and balance to avoid falling.
• Terrain Navigation: Players must plan routes to avoid rivers, cliffs, and mountains.
• Stamina & Balance: Running, climbing, or carrying too much drains stamina and affects balance.
• Social Building System: Players can build roads, bridges, ladders, and ziplines that appear in others’ worlds, encouraging indirect cooperation.
• Timefall (Rain): Special rain that rapidly deteriorates cargo and changes environmental conditions.

3. Tools & Vehicles

• Ladders: For climbing cliffs or crossing gaps.
• Ropes: Used for rappelling down steep areas safely.
• Delivery Bots: Help carry items or follow the player (unlocked later).
• Motorbikes & Trucks: Speed up delivery, but have terrain and power limitations.
• Stealth Tools: Advanced gear later on lets you hide or avoid detection.

4. Skills & Progression

Porter Grade System: Performance on deliveries (speed, cargo condition, balance) earns ratings and XP.

Leveling up unlocks:

- Increased carrying capacity

- Better balance and stamina

- Access to improved gear and tools

5. Combat & Threats

• BTs (Beached Things): Ghostly enemies that require stealth and special gear to detect and avoid.
• MULEs: Human enemies who try to steal cargo.
• Combat includes non-lethal weapons like stun guns and blood grenades, but avoiding fights is often preferred.

🔎Exercise 2: Non-digital to digital - Evolution and remediating this game

Identify a non-digital game which has been converted into a digital version. This can differ from the one you played together with your groupmate. 

My groupmates and I experienced the Monopoly series of games. Monopoly is a classic property trading board game that was born in the early 20th century. With the development of technology, this game has gradually shifted from paper boards to digital platforms, giving rise to various visual and interactive forms.

🎮The Basics of Monopoly

Monopoly is a turn-based strategy and negotiation game. Players move around a square board by rolling two dice, purchasing properties, upgrading them with houses/hotels, and charging rent when others land on them. The goal is to bankrupt opponents through strategic property control, negotiation, and luck.

Core mechanics include:

• Dice rolls (random movement)
• Turn-based action
• Property buying & upgrading
• Trading and negotiation
• Resource management (money, assets, mortgaging)

🎮Real Life vs On-Screen: Similarities and Differences

• Physical (Real Life)

Dice rolling :  Manual, tactile, suspenseful

Player presence :  Face-to-face, social negotiation

Money handling :  Physical bills, visible assets

Property cards :  Handheld, managed manually

Game duration :  Often lengthy (1–2+ hours)

• Digital (On-Screen)

Dice rolling :  Randomized animation or auto-roll

Player presence :  AI or online multiplayer, chat/emoji substitutes

Money handling :  Automated banking, balance tracking

Property cards :  On-screen UI, pop-ups, visual tooltips

Game duration :  Can be shortened by automation and fast AI

🎮2D vs 3D Monopoly

• 2D Version :

- Often top-down or flat interface (e.g., early PC games, mobile apps)
- Focused on quick access, readable layout, minimal graphics
- Functional but static

• 3D Version :

- Rotating camera around the board (e.g., Monopoly Plus )

- Fully animated tokens, dynamic buildings, cinematic effects

- Voice-overs, cutscenes (e.g., when landing on jail or winning auctions)

🎮Advantages and Disadvantages of 3D version

• Advantages

For one, it makes the experience feel more immersive—moving game pieces and zoom-in animations bring the board to life. It’s also easier to see who owns what thanks to visual landmarks, so you don’t have to constantly check menus or lists. Plus, 3D allows for creative themed boards, like a cityscape or an amusement park, which adds variety and makes the game feel more engaging.

• Disadvantages 

For experienced players, the longer animations can slow things down and make the game feel a bit draggy. It also tends to require more powerful hardware, which can be an issue on mobile devices or older computers. And if the visual effects are too flashy, they might distract from the core strategy and make it harder to focus on actual gameplay.

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REFLECTION

Experience

During the past few weeks of courses and exercises, I have gained a clearer understanding of the core principles of game design. Through classroom learning, I have mastered the basic elements of game creation, such as core action mechanisms, resource management, reward and punishment systems, etc. These can effectively enhance the challenge and engagement of the game. I also experienced several classic games with my groupmates, such as "Catan", "Monopoly", and "Mario Kart". These games allowed me to personally experience how excellent designers attract players and maintain the fun of the game through intuitive and strategic mechanisms.

Observation

In these gaming experiences, I began to try to think from the perspective of "designer" rather than just that of "player". I noticed the design logic behind every mechanism in the game, such as how the randomness of dice affects the rhythm, how the turn-based system regulates the interaction rhythm among players, and how various balancing mechanisms keep the competition fair yet dynamic. These games are not only concerned with winning or losing, but also involve players' decisions, risk management, and the game of interaction among each other.

Finding

Through this design-oriented analytical perspective, I realized that even seemingly simple games actually contain a large amount of strategies and meticulously designed details, which I had overlooked as a player before. I began to understand that an excellent game is not only "fun", but also fair, easy to learn, and provides sufficient challenges and a sense of achievement throughout the process.