This week in class we saw a small chunk of gameplay of Night In the Woods, and it amazed me that the brief part of the game I saw caught so much attention from me because of the details and thoughtfulness of the game. It was amazing to hear one of the creators discuss the inspirations for the game and how closely they related to real life to the immediately see that afterwards, translated so beautifully into the game. The art style, sound design and mechanics of the game all flowed together extremely well and did a great job of reflecting on many of the themes that the creator was discussing in the lecture beforehand, including depression, dissociation, coming of age, and many other cleverly integrated themes into a seemingly simple game style.
In one section of the chapter this week, Fullerton writes “There is an aesthetic beauty possible with game feel. That is, something beautiful is created at the intersection of player and game. The act of play can create something aesthetically beautiful, aurally, visually, and/ or tactilely” (pg 259). I think this very much relates to what we see in Night in the Woods. While the game’s basics are a side view platformer with limited world possibilities, the careful consideration of every piece (art, sound, style, dialogue, mechanics, etc) create a very special relationship between the player and the game.
Another part of the chapter that related to our discussion of Night in the Woods is when Fullerton wrote about Kinesthetics in game design, specifically when she writes, “The kinesthetics are the ‘feel’ of the game, how the controls feel, how responsive the interface is, etc” (pg 245). This came up in the video before the gameplay, where the creator explained that they put jumping in just because jumping is fun. While on its face, this comment sounded like a silly reason, the jumping mechanic very much added to the light-heartedness of the game, and gave it a more adventurous feel.
Works Cited:
Fullerton, Tracy. Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, 4th Edition. 2019.
I agree that it was definitely cool to see one of the creators’ thought processes on the game right before we jumped into the game itself. It really put things into a different perspective and allowed me to see both viewpoints: that of a beginners and that of a creators. I also agree that the art style, mechanics (like jumping), and dialogue were very well done! It made me want to watch a play-through even more.
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