In your opinion what should every game have? Why do you like your favorite game?
I think that every game should offer some sort of ability to strategize. Games based purely on chance, don’t feel like games and aren’t fun to me. My favorite game genre is almost any Pokemon game. You can’t beat a Pokemon game without some semblance of hard work and strategy
List the games you’ve played and currently play.
Currently I have perfected the Legends of Arceus Pokedex (and I mean every single research task attributed to every single pokemon). I have modified my original gameboy color in order to add a backlight and I’ve decided to complete at least one pokemon game from every generation (including the pokedex). I’m also going to replay Zelda BOTW before the sequel is released. I also enjoy Rocket League and the Halo series. On rotation my wife and I enjoy playing Life, Yahtzee, Boggle, Monopoly, Skip-Bo, Fill or Bust, and Pigs.
*In progress is a complete compendium spreadsheet of every game I have ever played*
Can you apply the three act structure to your favorite game? What is it’s pacing and how long do you find yourself in each act?
Yes, generally the first act of a Pokemon game is setting establishing what region you are living in, who the Pokemon Professors/Researchers are, who your friends/rivals are, and what the three starter Pokemon choices are. This choice effects the way that you play through the second act. The second act is your adventure through your Pokemon region in your quest to become the Pokemon Champion. You must level up your pokemon through battles, and catch others to add to your team. Having different types is ideal as it effects the success of your battles. Once you have collected all the gym badges you must face the elite 4 (or some sort of champion) to be a Pokemon master. As a result you also get to automatically catch the Legendary Pokemon associated with the game. The push to become champion would be the third act.
When coming up with ideas where do you find you start, with the metaphor or the mechanic?
I find that I almost always start with a metaphor. Your imagination is your oyster, so finding mechanics to fit my ideas and make them seamless seems like less hassle than fitting my awesome idea into mechanics that I’m not willing to change. Plus it’s easier to manipulate and change a metaphor than a mechanic.
Over the course of this semester, who would you like to collaborate with and why?
One person I’d like to collaborate with is Max. I feel like when it comes to design I often let my “adult brain” get the better of me and I don’t stay as open minded as I would like. I feel like Max let’s his kid brain roam free and I love that and want to learn more about how he develops ideas and thinks. He might be a mad genius like King Bumi in Avatar Last Airbender.