by Annie | Game Design
MotionMaze Holiday Adventure is now out on the App Store! This new version of MotionMaze features over 100 brand new mazes filled with pickups, as well as a Daily Scramble that offers a new maze every single day. So what are you waiting for? Try out MotionMaze Holiday Adventure...
by Annie | Game Design
Interested in learning more about the work we’re doing? Here’s the Geek Speak interview I did for the Georgia Straight, talking about our games and the work we’re doing at Digido...
by Annie | Other
The last time I took an art class was in high school. So when the chance arose for me to take a painting class, I jumped on the opportunity. We’re almost at the end of our 6-week acrylics class, and in that time, we’ve covered the basics of design, caring for supplies, how to fix mistakes, and how to finish a painting. I must admit, after years of digital design, it’s quite different for me to create a piece of art on paper. The first time I started a painting, I began by sketching everything out with a pencil before I realized that acrylics are a very forgiving medium. Make a mistake, and you can just paint right over it. Within five weeks, I’ve created four paintings. I’ve learned a ton, had a blast, and discovered a new hobby I love. Hopefully, these paintings will be the first of many to...
by Annie | Game Design, Psychology of Games
A new version of Pop & Dodge is now available on the App Store. This version includes new powerups, new achievements, and a new tap mode. …wait a second. Tap mode? Aren’t our games supposed to be about physical activity? Exactly. In fact, that’s precisely why we put in Rookie Mode, where you can play the same game by tapping instead of jumping. The hook? The Advanced Mode (jump to play) offers more powerups, more points, and more achievements. Rookie Mode allows you to play Pop & Dodge when you’re on the bus, in the car, or anywhere else where you just can’t jump. Through tapping, you familiarize yourself with the mechanics of the game by using more standard iPhone inputs (i.e., tapping instead of jumping). We know this could be a risky move. Sure, there might be people who only play Rookie Mode and never convert to jumping. But that’s okay. We can’t force people to jump; we can only encourage them to do so through solid game mechanics and motivating rewards. Offering a tap mode allows us to reach players within their comfort zone and gently push them to change their habits, instead of starting out with something completely foreign. So now you’ve got no excuse. Whether you’re sitting, standing, or lying down, you can play Pop & Dodge anywhere, anytime. So grab the latest update...
by Annie | Education, Game Design, Psychology of Games
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by Annie | Game Design
Can’t get enough of Beeker the Penguin? Well we’ve got a treat for you! Beeker is making a guest appearance in the upcoming holiday version of MotionMaze, as the main character of MotionMaze: Holiday Adventure, available in the App Store in early December, so get ready for new features and tons of new mazes!...
by Annie | Game Design
The new Pop & Dodge trailer is out! Check it...
by Annie | Game Design, Psychology of Games
Growing up, I was tasked with practicing the piano a solid hour a day. Didn’t matter what I did within that hour, as long as I sat on that bench for 60 minutes. My parents figured that more practice time would naturally yield greater increases in musical skill. And this is true, to an extent. Experts now recommend that practice sessions, especially for young kids, are broken up into several short sessions a day. Three 10-minute sessions are better than one 30-minute session. Why? Because kids have short attention spans and need breaks. Shorter sessions come with greater focus and more purposeful practice. This is the same realization we’ve come to in our games. Sure, we can get people to try it out, but what’s more valuable is getting those people to come back day after day, several times a day. Retention is key. This is especially important for the types of games we’re making. In order to make any change in people’s physical activity habits, we have to keep them coming back. One play session that gets you out of breath is great, but it’s not a lifestyle change. To get people off the couch time and again, we have to facilitate habit-forming gameplay. How? We dig into our game design toolbox. Help players realize the importance of exercise, create compelling mechanics to get them moving, provide feedback to reinforce specific behaviors, and dole out rewards that matter. Easier said than done, but don’t you worry. We’ve got some ideas that will blow your socks off. Or at the very least, get you off that...
by Annie | Game Design
The purpose of developing MotionMaze and Pop & Dodge within such rapid production cycles (2-3 weeks each) was to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible. And boy, have we learned some valuable lessons. Lesson 1: This is new. One of the most eye-opening experiences came at a playtest session we did with elementary school kids. We handed them the iPod, and most kids immediately sat down, tapping through the screens, then trying swipe and tilt. We realized that our main mechanics consist of unexpected controls, so we must spell e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g out so the player understands this new experience. Lesson 2: Give people a reason to jump. People like to play games sitting down. It’s become the norm, and frankly, after a long day, who wants to have to do physical activity to play a game? The game has to be playable on a basic level without physical controls but provide an added layer of powerful incentives to lure the player to get out of their comfort zone and move around. If you tell a player to jump, they might do it once or twice, quickly getting bored or tired. If you provide motivation to jump, players will stay on their feet and soon forget they’re actually jumping. Lesson 3: Make sure it works. Duh, right? Well, with physical activity, movement detection isn’t always reliable. Everyone moves differently and interacts with iDevices in different ways. After going through rounds of testing full of over- and under-registered movement, we’ve realized the immense value of creating reliable movement detection. Players expect it, so we should be able to deliver....
by Annie | Game Design
We released Pop & Dodge on the App Store about a week ago. No marketing, no launch parties, just put it out there. The result? Pretty much as expected, Pop & Dodge is nowhere to be found on any featured or top 25 lists. In the wake of the release, we’ve been doing a lot of marketing catch up work, submitting the game to different blogs and review sites. A few, including Tech Vibes, have agreed to post reviews. But how much will that help in getting our game out there? According to the lessons learned from other indie app developers, likely not much. It takes high production values, lots of content, and a wickedly good game to sustain the buzz it takes to keep people coming back to your game. And with our 3-week production cycle, we just didn’t quite make it there. However, this is just the beginning. We’ve learned a lot from MotionMaze and Pop & Dodge, about gameplay, tech requirements, and our market. We have a firmer grasp on our goals and limitations and take our lessons with us into our next...
by Annie | Game Design
If you liked MotionMaze, you’re going to love MotionMaze: Trick or Treat. This time, you play as Boo the Ghost, picking up candy corn treats as you make your way through graveyard mazes. This Halloween version of MotionMaze includes new graphics, 96 new mazes, achievements, and GameCenter support. Check it out...
by Annie | Game Design
I’m going to take a wild guess that you like penguins. I know, it’s a bit presumptuous of me, but really. How can you not love flightless waddlers perpetually dressed in tuxes? And while I’m at it, I’m also going to assume that you possess some fondness, however minute, for the game of dodgeball. Add them up and what do you get? Pop & Dodge. Pop & Dodge is a physical activity game in which you stand up and jump to move Beeker the Penguin side to side to avoid getting hit by oncoming dodgeballs. Time your jumps just right, and you can also pick up coins and powerups along the way. Have an iPod, iPad or iPhone? Go try it out now, and let us know what you think!...
by Annie | Game Design
All game designers know how to play their own games. The true test is taking those games to the masses for “fresh eyes” testing, a chance to see if your game will sink or float when it’s out in open waters. We just submitted our second iOS game to the App Store today, but before we had the confidence to do so, we made sure to get in as much playtesting as possible. First, we played the heck out the game during our three weeks of development. And as this is a physical activity game, that meant we were often hopping around the office, soliciting some very curious looks. Next, we had friends and family play it. But most importantly, we made sure the game got into the hands of our target audience: kids ages 6-12. Focus groups and playtesting sessions with kids aren’t always as easy and straightforward as they may seem. Kids are different from adults. Some will tell you right off the bat that they hate your game and will identify all the elements they’d like to see improved. Others are much quieter about their opinions, and many are easily swayed by their peers. Thus, in conducting our playtesting sessions, we made sure to emphasize openness, honesty, and respect. We assured our junior playtesters that they were the experts and that we needed their help in designing the best possible game. We playtested individually to eliminate as much bias as possible, and we asked questions both in person as well as through written/artistic responses to give kids as many different avenues of expression as possible. The...
by Annie | Game Design
It’s been 5 days since our first game, MotionMaze, made it out onto the App Store. And within those few days, we’ve already learned so much about our audience, our capabilities, and ourselves. Clarity vs. Simplicity It’s important to make your interface and overall game experience as streamlined as possible. However, it’s also important to tread carefully between simple and confusing. To keep our main interface simple, we included icon buttons without text. One button was for feedback, the other for options. Though this was clear to us, users found this frustrating. When they needed options, they couldn’t find the button for it. And when they tapped the feedback button that led them away from the game, it was often out of curiosity. Moving forward, we will be sure to include enough text to ensure that the player experience is clear while the interface remains clean. Wait, how does this work? 3…2…1…Go! The time starts ticking, and you start frantically tapping the screen. When that doesn’t work, you try swiping, then tilting. We knew when we started creating this game that it would be different from typical games in the App Store. However, we failed to include enough measures to help ease our players into this new experience. Even though we included instructions and diagrams on the main screen and in the pause menu, they were easy to skip. Few players realized they needed to stand up to play the game, and even after being told to jog in place, many still needed a demonstration before fully grasping what they needed to do. Moving forward, we realize that with...
by Annie | Game Design
Today, our first game, MotionMaze, went live in the App Store. Nothing can quite prepare you for the excitement, pride, and craziness that follows the release of a game. MotionMaze was created within 2 weeks. After spending a significant amount of time designing a larger game with tons of features, we decided that creating a smaller game to prove out the tech and the crazy ideas in our heads might be more useful. And the good thing about working on such a small team is that U-turns and detours can be achieved quite easily. From a game design perspective, working under a strict 2-week deadline is both daunting and helpful. Having to create everything in two weeks forced us to focus on the most crucial features in our game, resulting in a streamlined experience. Sure, there are features I would have added if we had more time, but ultimately, the game is immensely more useful in the hands of players than sitting on our computers here in the office. So check it out for yourself. Head on over to the App Store and download MotionMaze now!...
by Annie | Education, Illustration Station
My memories of elementary and middle school are littered with instances of kids being scolded for doodling in class. By high school, most had learned to resist doodling in front of the teacher or had just gotten better at hiding it. Even though I’d heard bits and pieces here and there about the benefits of doodling in helping with focus and information processing, as a teacher, I still felt compelled to frown upon doodling in my classroom. After all, every teacher I’d ever had discouraged doodling. Even now, when I see people doodling in class or during meetings, my first thought is, “Geez, why can’t that person just pay attention?” But when I stop to think about my own doodling habits, I find that I tend to doodle when I’m trying to concentrate. I almost always doodle when I’m on the phone, especially during those oh-so-lovely phone interviews. Though many are quick to dismiss doodling as a mindless pastime, research finds that doodling actually aids in processing complex information. So if you’re a closet doodler or have ever looked down on someone for doodling during a meeting, take a...
by Annie | Game Design
Many independent developers fall into the trap of taking too long to finish a game. Just…need…to add…this one more thing. What I’ve learned from developing games is that a game is never truly done. You can work on it and polish it forever and never be truly satisfied. I still look at each game I’ve worked on and wish I could have more time to add in more sound effects, some crisper animations, or more character expressions. But ultimately, I’m glad that the games I’ve released are just that – released. They’re out in the world being played. Just as they were intended to be all along. And often, that bug I obsessed over or the sprite I could never get just right are overlooked by players, and instead, they point me in different directions and spark new possibilities. So when is it time to release a game? When someone can play your game from start to finish without needing your help or additional explanations and without the game crashing, it’s time. You can always add in more art, sound effects, and levels in future updates and patches. But until you get the game into players’ hands, it’ll remain a concept, another unrealized vision collecting dust on your “someday” shelf. So go on. Get it out there so we can all play it....
by Annie | Game Design
Finalists Named for 2011 Unity Awards Looks like Blokhead is getting a bit of love from the Unity community. We’re keeping our fingers...
