Exploring the Stories in Games
- Sara Francis
- Jan 30, 2018
- 2 min read
For this first assignment of Week 3 of Gaming and Transmedia Storytelling, I was to find a new game to play to try and understand different game mechanics, story lines, etc. I then wrote a quick reflection on my initial reactions to the game and how its game mechanics could be used in another project. The second task was to research all the different types of games, find examples of each, and create a visually appealing infographic to share my findings.
Task 1
The game I chose to try this week was the Fallout Shelter app. At first, I had no idea what to expect. When I first launched it, I entered a number and a vault door opened. Behind it were a few rooms and little people. After being a little confused, I finally got the concept of putting Dwellers in rooms to make them work and to keep the Vault running. All I had to do was drag and drop the people around and wait for them do their work. A certain amount of time passed before I was able to collect anything. What I could gather were CAPS (currency) and necessities that would fill the three bars at the top of the screen. After building up five rooms and sending some dwellers out to explore, I was finally getting the hang of it. In the end, this game really boils down to having the patience to build up your vault and keep your Dwellers happy.
After playing this game for a while, I started to think of ways certain aspects could be used for other projects or game ideas. One thing would be the “tips” guy that pops up whenever the player seems stuck on something. That way the player isn’t completely lost while first starting out. It would also be helpful if the player can go back to the tips for reference once they are further in the game. Another aspect is that, even though the game is free, there are payable options (more equipment, rush time, etc.). This is a great way for a company to make money on a free, no ad game. Even though there are more aspects, these two are definitely things to consider if someone wants to create an intuitive, profitable free game.
Task 2
Comments