This is a critical analysis of the mobile game SMASHY ROAD: WANTED, focusing on the MDA (mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics) and Core Mechanics.
In this article, I will discuss
ALL the Mechanics
Core Mechanics
Dynamics (strategies of play), and
Aesthetics (look, feel & emotion)
Initially, Smashy Road: Wanted presented a high barrier to entry, which many first-time players might find discouraging. The cars tended to accelerate quickly, and the controls never felt very precise, this ended up in attempts to steer these cars ending up in car wrecks or an arrest by the police. However, after half an hour of playing, I became used to the controls and began to thoroughly enjoy this impressive and fast-paced game. Visually speaking, the vehicles, roads and terrain that populated this world were far from fancy, but this did not impede my enjoyment of playing Smashy Road: Wanted. The following is my analysis of its mechanics, core mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics.
MECHANICS
• Driving on the road
• Driving on the ramp trucks
• Driving over (Smashing) breakable objects, such as trees, oil tanks, light posts, fences, and cars.
• Diving to grassland, desert, and cities
• Drive through buildings, such as hospitals, schools, pyramids, skyscrapers, and fire stations.
• Flipping cars
• Wrecking cars by hitting unbreakable objects or driving them into rivers
• Avoiding police cars, helicopters, and tanks
• Collecting points
• Collecting money
• Smashing trees, light posts, fences and cars
• Winning new cars from the Gashapon machine
• Scoreboard
• Timer
CORE MECHANICS
1. Driving: The player can simply touch the right or the left screen to control his/her vehicle. The player can use in-game or real-world currency to obtain new cars.
2. Avoiding the police: The goal of this game is to avoid being caught up by police for as long as possible. The police will send various vehicles after you the longer the game goes on, ranging from cars to helicopters. Therefore, the police as well as various objects (buildings, rocks, etc.) is a core mechanics in this game.
3. Crashing/Arresting/Wrecking: Aside from being caught by the police, losing control of one’s car can also result in a fatal wreck, or car crash.
4. Scoring: The longer you survive, the higher your score will be. Extra points are awarded for hitting police cars and various breakable objects.
DYNAMICS
1. Strategic driving: Players can avoid and even destroy the police vehicles by tricking them or using more powerful cars.
2. Unlocking new cars: The introduction of this app shows that there are 90 different vehicles for players to unlock, including four types of cars: Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Their performance varies, and each car requires the player to operate differently. For instance, a legendary car named the Time Machine is able to travel through time, causing all police cars on the screen to fly into the air. Although I have not unlocked any of these more powerful cars, I have heard from various classmates just how incredible they are to play. I feel that this sense of progression strongly motivates me and players alike to continue playing Smashy Road: Wanted (Figure 2).
3. Collecting money: Players can collect in-game currency by driving over the green money blocks on the road, getting free gifts, and watching ads in the app. Watching ads, getting monetary rewards and getting gifts from the vending machine is part of the players’ experience. The player needs to use the money to buy new cars.
The goal of this game is to avoid being caught up by the police. To achieve this, players need better cars and some driving strategies to avoid or destroy police cars. In order to get better cars, players need money to unlock them. Different cars function differently. There are three ways to get money in this game: in-app purchase, driving over the green money blocks on the roads, and watching ads. The player drives his/her selected car, while trying to avoid multiple police cars, and helicopters in hot pursuit. The player can either drive the car on the road, in the desert, or between the buildings to avoid being cornered and arrested by the police (Figure 3). If the player’s car is caught by the police cars, or crashes their car by hitting buildings, rocks, pyramids, or other unbreakable objects, then the player will lose that round, but be able to play the game again.
AESTHETICS
1. Sensation: The visual objects are simple and pleasant, while the audio is exciting. Operating the cars (touch the left and right sides of the screen) is challenging at first, but it becomes intuitive with time. Players can get an exciting experience from this game.
2. Challenge: Although there are no specific levels in this game, to avoid being caught by the police becomes more and more challenging with time. Additionally, the wide variety of cars operate very differently, and consequently, they add more diversities to the gameplay.
3. Discovery: The discovery experience comes from new cars and secret places. Once players unlock a new car, they will find that each car behaves differently. Players have to adapt their in-game strategies to take advantage of each new car’s strengths while minimize their weaknesses. Additionally, the chance to win legendary cars and find secret locations, motivates players to keep trying to unlock new cars and explore the in-game map.
4. Nostalgia: Personally, some of the mechanics and dynamics in Smashy Road: Wanted bring me back to the classic 8-bit games I used to play as a kid. The 8-bit visuals clearly inspired from classic retro games. The camera angle and driving experience are callbacks to genre classics, such as Grand Theft Auto, Drift Max World, and Real Racing. The feel of smashing objects and collecting money on the road brings me back to coin collecting in games like Tower Run. Finally, the gashapon machines (Figure 4) are reminiscent of the Surprise Egg Vending Machine I used to play as a kindergartener.
© Wenyi Gong 2018
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