by Annie | Nov 18, 2011 | 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 | Oct 3, 2011 | 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 | Sep 28, 2011 | 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!...
