Space Bar game (minimal viable product) is designed by a group of students in the Centre for Digital Media in 2018. This article talks about the agency and player decisions in the game.
Agency
Agency in this Space Bar game refers to the degree to which the character's actions, based on the player's decisions and the game's mechanics, influence the game's progress.
Agency is achieved by offering the player meaningful choices. In this Space Bar game, players will be able to make several different choices, such as using “w, a, s, d” keys to look around, shooting rocks and wine bottles, and floating or pulling back.
Players need to make short-term decisions when they shoot obstacles and collectable. For instance, when they shoot a rock, they need to decide within three seconds whether to press the spacebar to pull themselves back or just float away. Players also need to make long-term strategic decisions to survive in the space.
The amount of time given to make a decision and the perceived consequences it has, can affect how the player determines whether it was meaningful or not. For instance, players can shoot different obstacles and collectable, wander around, and figure out a path in the space as long as possible, or they can aim at the final goal and finish the game within a few seconds.
© Wenyi Gong 2019
Comments