Interaction Design Winter 2011 Ross Reynolds
Drop7 Game for iPhone.
Game Description – Drop7 is a pattern recognition strategy game. Game play occurs on a 7×7 grid. The objective is to score points by blowing up discs.
Game Play- A disc numbered one to seven or a blank disc appears over the grid. The player chooses a column which to drop the disc into. The disc falls down the column until it hits the bottom or another disc.
Discs explode and vanish when their number corresponds to the number of discs in a row or column. A single disc exploding is 7 points. But if a sequence of discs explode the score increases exponentially.
When an explosion takes place next to blank disc, it opens partially. The second time an explosion takes place next to a blank disc its number is revealed.
There are 30 discs that drop during each level. At the end of each level, a new row of blank discs appears under the bottom of the screen. Game play ends when a discs rise above the top row. The grid will be fairly empty the first time a player uses Drop7, but gradually the opening grid becomes more crowded and difficult. When game play ends a screen shows the player the total score and whether it has brought down or raised the player’s average score.
When a player reaches a new high score, the game prompts the player to post the score on Facebook. In the high score area of the scoring section the players sees her high scores, high scores worldwide, and high scores among friend.
Drop7 Strategy – The first level of strategy is to keep the grid as clear as possible to avoid the discs rising above the 7th row and ending game play. The higher the discs rise, the more difficult this becomes. The second level of strategy is constructing a grid that will lend itself to long sequence of discs exploding. Because of the exponential increase in score per disc in a sequence, this builds the score up rapidly.
What’s fun?
1. At first glance the game looks very simple but it’s complexities unfold the longer one pays.
2. Creating sequences of multiple explosions.
3. Growing sense of mastery as score gets higher.
4. Comparing scores to friends and all others playing the game.
What I dislike
1. It’s too engaging and takes up too much time.
2. I’ve feel that my skill level is no longer rising. My high scores have plateaued.
Wii Sports Tennis
Game Description -This is a simulated version of tennis that takes places on a 3 dimensional tennis court. The characters and environment are cartoonish. The goal is to serve and return a tennis ball until the opposing players miss. Scoring follows tennis conventions – 00, 15, 30, 40. The game can be set for one match, best of three of best of five.
Game Play – Game play begins by using the controller, held just as like a tennis racket, to serve. The player needs to swing the controller at the appropriate moment to make contact with the ball for a return. Swinging too soon or too late and you’ll miss entirely. The speed of the swing controls the speed of the return. Contact with ball results in a slight vibration in the controller. Audio includes a crowd cheering. Back hand or fore hand swing did not matter.
I played in the single mode. There were four players on the court, two on each side. My controller worked with both my forecourt and rear court player. When two controllers are available, two opponents can play either side of the court
The player moves automatically from left to right on the court. The player can focus on swinging. Following the play, the point is can be viewed again via an instant replay.
What’s fun?
1. In many ways it reminded my of a souped up version of one of my first video games, Pong, where the goal is also to return a ball across a court, albeit with fewer bells and whistles. It’s not terribly hard and provides consistent positive feedback.
2. Multiple players would add a social element to game play.
What could be better?
Adding a third dimension to allow the player to move forward or backward would provide additional challenges that could keep the game interesting for long time players.
Tiki Towers for iPhone
Game Description – You have a gang of monkeys. They are hungry. There are bananas out of reach. Your job is to construct links with bamboo to help them get to their food.
Game play – This single player games begins with your pulsating box of monkeys on a stone balcony in a forest. On another level is a case where your monkeys will end up. In between are other balconies and bananas dangling in mid air. You have a set number of bamboo sticks with which to create a bridge or swing for the monkeys to cross. If construction is poor, the bamboo will fall apart and the monkeys will plunge to their death (indicated by the faces at the top of the screen turning to skulls). You construct your path, free the monkeys from the box (the Action command) and see if you did a good job. If you failed you can disassemble your bamboo and start again
What’s fun?
1. The simple graphics are humorous.
2. The sense of gravity and wobbliness of the makeshift bamboo bridges creates a realistic feel within the cartoonish look.
3. You feel you’re learning about simple construction.
4. When monkeys are happy, you’re happy.
What could be better?
I got bored after playing through about 10 levels.
How much are the iphone games?
Also, do you find yourself scream-grunting like one of the Williams sisters during a Wii tennis match and, if so, does it help?
Just 99 cents. More time wasted per cent than anything. Must try grunting thing. Psyche!