Snowflakes falling, waves breaking on the shore, bubbles floating through the air, spiders weaving webs and birds flocking in the air.
“Natural Attractors” – that’s my term for these events or elements which seem to introduce a natural fascination in people all over the world.
Each is a combination of “order” and “randomness” which naturally captures our mind as we have that innate urge to watch, just for a moment.
Sometimes these natural attractors can be relaxing, like waves crashing on the shore. Other times they are wrapped in fun, like children blowing bubbles in the park.
I think the core of the attraction is the apparent orderly unfolding of similar yet random elements. The net result being that we intently look for “how things turn out”.
“Natural Attractors” are an “easy way in” to the human brain.
Build a game with one or more “Natural Attractors”, and you’ll probably find people playing because “it’s fun”, even when they can’t put their finger on why.
Ever been fascinated by a time lapse movie of a plant growing? How about fish swimming around a fish tank?
I keep a mental list of “Natural Attractors”. Have any new ones you want to share?
When I see a game design or a completed game, it takes me about 30 seconds to know if the game designer is early in his or her career.
The clue?
When I look at the game screen, I see too much going on. Too many things on screen, too many moving parts and pieces, too many things for the player to do at once. To a player it’s overwhelming.
How did I learn this?
I made the mistake when I designed my first full game (NanoTek Warrior, an arcade shooter for the PS1). I was so worried about there being something fun going on that I overloaded each level with enemy ships and structures to dodge.
It was unplayable. Even after I later got a clue and went back and redesigned the levels, it was still too overwhelming for most people.
My mistake is that while I thought I was following an existing “formula” for making a game, I still didn’t really understand what I was doing in terms of “making fun”.
I still needed to learn about how to create the right sense of pacing for the experience I was delivering.
For a different perspective, think of your favorite movie. There are fast parts, slower part, exciting parts and emotional parts all crafted into a singular linear experience.
It’s the pacing and mix of these different “parts” which make your favorite movie interesting and enjoyable.
The same thing holds for games.
If you want to see a great example of pacing in a game, check out any of the levels in Mario Galaxy.
Have a game you love or love to hate?
