I want to create games with user sessions in mind.
Do not defaulting to play-forever.
Work breaks in, give people a breather.
Help them find more balance.
Sword and Sworcery did this very well - a host npc came out, took the record off the player, took a sip of coffee, and told me to go for a walk. Then the app closed in my face, leaving me staring at my busy ios homescreen.
This experience has stuck with me! I want to do the same for my players.
Other games sometimes put similar messaging in their load screens.
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Play Sessions!
I think we can go further - when a player approaches, we can ask what kind of time they want to spend. We can adjust the gameplay and story arc to fit that time, and let them reach a moody peak just in time to take a deep, memorable breath.
Inspired by NaNoWriMo's "magna carta"s, this is a list of things in games that I've liked.
They are here as inspiration, motivation, and as a tribute. I hope to borrow/steal/remix/create with this, to give my own games a bit of the joy these brought me.
These should help step towards the principles I care about in games. What themes are threaded through all these?
See also: