banner

banner

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Karakuri Mindbender & The 5 Elements of Game Design

I recently started using Gamestar Mechanic to learn the basics of Game Design. I just completed Episode 1 of the introductory quest, Addison Joins the League. There were many types of games demonstrated in Episode 1, from shooting games to platformers to puzzles. The one I would like to focus on in terms of the 5 elements of game design is the Kakuri Mindbender.

The Core Mechanic of this game was all about "solving" and thinking outside of the box. Sometimes, I had to literally do that, in terms of the box on the screen containing the game. The Goal of the game was to find my way to the goal block, most often, and of course avoid being killed by the Samurai-looking dudes that were jetting around. The Rules were not as clear in the Kakuri Mindbender, which made it more interesting. Sometimes (thinking outside of the box), you feel as though you're breaking the rules to win the game, by walking off the screen, for example, and appearing on the other side. Visually, the Game Space was quite Maze-like. The soundtrack of the Kakuri Mindbender levels created a sense of urgency and tension, even when I wasn't on the clock, distracting my thinking and making a simple solution less clear. The Components I had to play this game were my avatar sprite and my wits. I was given no Guns to frag bad guys or health blocks etc.