Challenge and Play

We love challenges.

We love playing good challenges too.

So what is it about a game that can produce such a good challenge in the first place? We have to think about the various factors that comes in the player's perspective in their gameplay. They can encounter enemies, tackle puzzles, or even get lost in mazes. Whatever the case, we all have to remember that good challenges makes worth for a good game.

Let's talk about Pith (that game I talked about working on with a team in my semester).

Some challenges in the game can appear as rooms for the player to interact for the puzzle aspect. One of these rooms includes a water level where there are various pools of water and the player has to inspect each one to look for a key to move on to the next room, or be pulled in by enemies or get poisoned by the pool instead. Another room includes a room full of doors, carrying a similar concept from before in checking the doors, but they carry pieces or penalties to assemble a mult-part key instead. Another puzzle room is the player entering into cave where there are four pillars and the walls are arranged together like an octagon. Same concept as before in checking the doors, except the door can shift due to how the player selects certain items, therefore it is up to the player to arrange the items on the pillars to the right places so the true door can be revealed.

Other types of challenges includes the design of the enemies, where we planned of customizing the skeletons to diversify the gameplay for the player. It can be tiny skeletons to annoy the player, large thick skeletons to weigh the player down, or skeletons with blue flames to let the player learn of how to destroy magical-type skeletons.

Another challenge for the player is making sure they keep the torch in their hand still lit, otherwise they would be subjected into total darkness. Another challenge is making sure to keep the torch lit but the light from the flame would attract enemies to hinder the player.

With each of these element in the game, it helps the player energized as well as face dread in the dungeon environment they are immersed in VR. Having virtual reality to enhance the overall experience for the player makes these additions of challenges in the game worthwhile as well as engaged without realizing of how much deeper they are in the inferno.

#challengeandplay