CHRISTMAS GYMKHANA

As every year at the family reunion, I organize a gymkhana for the little ones. Truth is, they’re not that little anymore so this year I tried to update the challenges to match their age (an average of 10)

I designed a mix of quiz and treasure hunt, as follows: I divided the kids into 3 teams (lead by the elder ones) and their goal was to answer correctly 5 questions (out of 6). These were particularly complicated, so I hid the answers in papers around the house. The teams could choose to either try to response the questions directly, focus on finding the answers, assign some of their members to spy other teams or simply look for the answers online after failing

Accessing the Quiz was not free: I hid some doubloons which granted access to the questions, made by me. In addition to that, some “wild cards” were also hidden. When used, they will automatically “win” any question

Aside from the game itself, I also invested some time buying more “mature” presents. In the past we gave the kids just some plastic toys but since many of them were 10-15 years they should appreciate “older” gifts

In general, it all went well but some things could have been improved:

• The difficulty of the questions was too much for them. Just trying to answer directly was not an option
• The pool of questions (around 35) was too large. As a consequence finding all answers was almost impossible. Even with teams of 5 kids each they would find only 70% of all responses. I had to help them a lot during the quiz
• The wild cards made the difference. The winning team used 2 of them to achieve the needed 5. Otherwise it’d been impossible
• The new toys (small strategy games, mostly) were not particularly appreciated. Nor disliked, though

In summary, as a “prototype” of the game it was fine but if I do additional iterations it should be better. Every year I try to make a brand new one and it’s never completely satisfactory. Maybe next year I’ll do it again, but improved?

GAME OF THRONES (iOS)

Due to have deleted GTA Vice City, I now have space for other games to be installed in my iPad. Since I'm now working on the interactive drama genre, I think it's time to try some of those games and I started with Telltales' Game of Thrones

The game has fairly good ratings, but it hasn't impressed me much. On the positive side the story is engaging, it fits smoothly into the universe (which is no little feat) and most of the original TV series cast lend their voices for the game

On the minus side, practically there is no other mechanic than selecting dialogue options - Just a couple of times you're allowed to wander around a limited space - and above anything else other problem I already detected on (also Telltales') The Walking Dead; The outcome of the episode is defined no matter what, and aside from some minor decisions the story is a one-direction tunnel you cannot really change

I understand it's not easy to change that design (common to other games in this genre) since other options are too costly, but somehow I'm a little tired of these limitations. Maybe it's time for someone to come up with new approaches?

By the way, I feel a little uneasy listing the game here, where I only include finished games. After all, I've only played the first episode. But since I won't be playing the rest, and the business model allows you to put a stop after the first chapter, I think it's fair

GRAND THEFT AUTO VICE CITY (iOS)

I’ve been fairly focused on WoW lately, but now I hit the 21k achievement points I’m cutting down gradually. So in the last days I pushed for finishing a game I’ve had waiting in the iPad for many months: GTA Vice City

I deeply enjoyed the original PS2 version, and when I learned it was available on iOS I bought it and played it mainly on air trips. I often rank it among the best 10 games I’ve ever played. However at a point I run out of missions and couldn’t unlock the end. Now I’ve done a comprehensive search of missing properties and hidden quests, and I’ve finally completed it

The port itself sucks big time. It often crashes and the FPS drops dramatically very often. Controls are not particularly good (but not different from similar games). I suspect they dropped the difficulty substantially to make it bearable. And furthermore it is the game which occupies more space in the iPad by far of all the ones I’ve played. I don’t think they invested much time on testing, they just pushed the original build into the Apple store without much consideration

Aside from these issues, the game retains its flavor. And being a fan of the 80s and games set on past times I really value the effort. The dialogues and cutscenes are fun, enjoyable and these pals at Rockstar don’t have any shame when depicting a very ironic version of the US society. I don’t recommend it on iOS but if you can play the PS2 version and you’re not a pixel whore you will probably enjoy it

WHAT MAKES AN INDIE HIT

Excellent article on Gamasutra, about the elements you actually control when designing an indie title to make it a hit

Read it here. You're welcome!

MEDAL OF HONOR (PS3)

It´s being difficult lately to finish games since I´m once again “hooked” to WoW. While waiting for the internet connection for my new apartment, I did some pending PS3 trophies and completed the latest Medal of Honor

Not a great game, but not bad either. Remember I´m an advocate of games rated between 6-7 as long as their price is adjusted accordingly. I got my MoH copy very cheap from a friend so it was definitively worth it. Didn´t play the MP, though. Maybe some day

In general terms, it´s another Call of Duty copycat. Yes, they´ve tried to singularize it by going realistic (as opposed to the futuristic path CoD has taken lately) and used real locations from the Afghan war. Still the theme, questionable storylines, the similar combat mechanics plus occasional exotic gameplay with some moneyshots here and there make this product feel like Activision lawyers could make a case at court

Aside from repetitive level design, nothing wrong on it. Visually speaking is a little disappointing and certainly doesn´t have any personality by its own, but it works. With the usual “America fuck yeah” moments, in general is a game that offers pretty much what you expect, but not an inch more

RAMBO THE VIDEOGAME

I haven't posted much lately since I'm back to WoW and that consumes most of my time. Haven't played many games other than killing gnomes and such. Lok'tar Ogar!

That was partially the reason why I gave it a try to Rambo the videogame. It was supposed to be a short experience but I couldn't imagine it'd be so painful. Seriously, the game sucks in almost every possible aspect

Let's back track: Despite the horrible reviews (it currently holds a shameful 34 in metacritics, 1.9 for users!) I'm essentially a kid from the eighties and well, Rambo was part of that. I wouldn't say it was a hero for me, but getting older makes me somehow nostalgic

But I wasn't ready for this: The gameplay mechanics are poorly implemented to the point that it's extremely frustrating. The aiming is uncontrollable (particularly if you use a pad), the level design is extremely predictible, the weapons are limited and not enjoyable, the number of systems is not necessarily low but each of them are sub-par. The difficulty is boolean, either it's too hard or piece of cake. The story doesn't tell you a thing you don't know, the scenarios are the same from the movies... and above all it's a shooter on rails, which doesn't give you much choices. Some times you get to perform a QTE or a turret fight, but that's all

Seriously, don't buy it. I finished it just because I like to put an end to everything I start, but this is easily the worst game I've played in 20 years. The length was the only aspect that didn't disappoint. I finished the game in a little more than 4 hours. A time that I will never get back.

Iteration or laziness?

Here is an interesting Gamasutra article, in which they partially talk about an issue I've noticed on certain designers: How they mask their lack of vision or simply laziness with the Iteration motto

Click here or copypaste the following URL: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JosephKim/20150224/237157/Mobile_Game_Design_Iteration_vs_Planning_MVP__Dangerous.php

Enjoy!