Smorball Game
Usman Athar
CUNY York College
The game is trying to teach players to read fast, think fast and to respond/type fast. To learn to think fast and react fast is the learning experience the game is attempting to create for the player. The dominant form of interaction the player has wit the game is typing. This supports the learning objective, as it is a part of it. Cognitive process systems are most affected by the game design. It attempts to affect the cognitive process system by making the player process the next word that comes up quickly. There is only one player engaged in the game, versus the other computer-player robots. Players interact with the computer-player and the game by typing the word on the screen and pressing enter, as it releases the player’s team out to destroy the computer-player robots and/or release them to collect items on the screen. It is competitive against the computer-player, as the player has to beat the computer-player down the field before it gets to the player. The primary game objective is to read the words in each lane fast, as they come up, type them quickly, and release the team to destroy the computer-player robots before they get to the player. As the player beats each level, the player progresses to a higher level, which increases in difficulty. The ultimate goal of the game is to get to the championship match, which is the hardest of all of them. The game objective reinforces the learning objective as it gets the player reading, thinking and typing faster. The rules of the game include typing one word at a time, which releases one team member to destroy the computer-player robot. Another rule of the game includes some opponents that must be tackled multiple times before they actually go down. Some opponents will come at the player slow and some will come fast. The player’s score starts at 600. If opponent score on the player, he/she will lose 100 points. These rules ultimately complement the game and learning objective as it causes the player to read, think and type faster. Points are accrued during the game, as the player wins each level and with those points he/she can choose to spend on whichever accessory game-hack the player can afford. How much points the player acquires governs the exchange of resources. The conflict between the players is introduced as a sport competition, where the player’s team has to beat each level of robots to move onto the next round. The conflict is maintained throughout the game by the speed at which the robots come at the player increases and makes it harder for the player. Ultimately if the player beats every round, the player then moves onto the championship round which if he/she wins, the game ends.
The game prevents the player from being bored, as it leaves the player coming back to beat the next round, as it becomes a self-test as to whether the player can beat a simple “game”. The game does this by making each round faster, and harder to win. This limitation of making it easier to lose, as the rounds go by, makes it fun and addicting for the player to come back and win that round. This contributes to the objective as it keeps the player in the game for a longer period of time, which helps train the player to read, think, and respond/type faster. The game ends by winning the “championship” round. The outcome conflicts with the objective as it leaves the player satisfied with beating the game. If the game never ended, the player could ultimately get even better at reading, thinking and responding/typing. The main character is the player, but in terms of the game it is the player’s team, the “Eugene Mellonballers”. The relationship between the characters and the player is basically a coach-player relationship. You guide and dictate the team’s every move, onto the championship round. The challenges presented to the player include losing points when the robots get to the player’s team before letting the team get a chance to be let out to destroy the robots. Other challenges include robots being harder to kill before actually being destroyed, as rounds progress. The ultimate skills the player learns or masters include thinking, reading and reacting/typing faster than they previously did. This game takes place in a futuristic, fictional world. The general premise of the story of the game is to beat the robots, round by round to eventually win the championship round and beat the game. The story uses a linear narrative as the player has a consistent goal and consistent obstacle. Player interactions relate to the narrative, as the player is beating each round, the team in essence also gets better and moves up to the next round. The game is playful as it gets the player intrigued and wanting to win it. Cooperative play is the most prevalent. The achievers in Bartle’s Taxonomy are most likely to enjoy this game. Tension and resolution is controlled by how good the player is at reading, thinking and typing. The story does not create conflict in the game as it aligns with the objectives. Stadiums, robots and bats are all objects used to build the game system. No object properties are required for the game system as it focuses mainly on the field. Object behaviors include buying, selling, obtaining points, destroying robots and running.
The basic relationship between system elements include the team and the robots at it to destroy each other, causing one another to either win or lose the round. The player controls the dynamics of the system. The game system does not exist as an economy as its main goal is not points or money, but is to win the championship round. The only new systems that emerge from gameplay are the new rounds, after beating set rounds. These rounds are indeed procedurally generated systems. The player is exposed to the fact that robots will come out eventually to attack the player’s team. What’s hidden is the when the robots will come out, how fast or which kinds. The players interact with the system by typing as many as possible to keep the lanes filled with team members to destroy the robots. That seems to be the most efficient tactic. If it doesn’t work for the player, the robot will attack the team member as feedback. The game is fully functional, as it’s not missing any parts that hold the player back from winning the championship, i.e. the game. The game is also fully complete. All voices that need to be present within the game are present for the player to successfully win the game. The robots balance the game. If you don’t attack or respond first, the robots will beat you. The dominant strategy as stated before includes typing all words on the screen as fast as possible to allow as many team members out in the lanes as possible, which helps defeat all the robots. The game is not symmetrical, as the robots do not come at the player’s team, with the same intensity as the team puts out towards the robots. The imbalance is intentional throughout the game, as it allows the player a break to slow down and eventually win. The game is so engaging that it keeps the player coming back to beat the round after losing. As addicting as it gets, it also promotes the learning objective by helping you get better at thinking, reading and responding/typing. The choice to choose which word in which lane is meaningful in this game as it controls which lane-robot the player would like to destroy. This relates to the objective as it helps the player read, think and type quickly. No parts of the game are broken, boring or micromanaging as it’s a fun and addictive game with a positive learning objective. Ultimately the game is beatable and so are the rounds, which gives the player a feeling to want to come back and complete the next round. It is very easy to play the game as a player can learn within seconds. It is a common-sense game. Players can read the instructions to play the game or can simply start and figure it out within seconds.
