Devlog 3 - Group Musical Chairs

As stated in the reading by Macklin and Sharp, action "is the most obvious design aspect of a game. Actions are the things players get to do while playing a game." In our game, you quite literally have to walk around, sit in a chair, then scooch to a group. I believe those are the three main actions you will see in our game, as action is the most relevant element in Group Musical chairs. I think the next most relevant would be players, simply because for this game to last a longer period of time and to be more enjoyable, more players are needed. Taking it from a group of 5 to the whole class definitely made a difference. Macklin and Sharp also state “Without players, the ball and nets just sit there on the field, and the rules are just words on a page.” Players make the game function; the argument could be made that players are the most relevant in the game honestly. I think the most relevant tool, which is also an element in chapter one of the Macklin and Sharp book, is Goals. In chapter 2, they state that “…the goal of a game gives shape and purpose to what the players are trying to achieve while playing.” There are two main goals that lead to the end result (which could be seen as a goal I guess). The first being: find a chair. The second being: get in a group that is the same number of people that was just called out by the person that is “it”. Two stressful situation happen directly after each other, instead of having accomplished the main goal of the basic Musical Chairs, the player must now accomplish a second goal in order to survive this round. Succeeding in these two goals round after round will hopefully get you to the end result which is being the last one standing. Thinking about this game a bit more and taking the classes feedback into account, there were definitely some observations made that could improve the game. One big one for me was the amount of time at the beginning it took to ensure that the correct amount of chairs were in play for the amount of players. I bring this up because I would be willing to make the argument that it hinders on the goals of the game because it can mentally mess with players. Taking too much time can frustrate individuals playing and change their mindset towards the game, making them more inclined to maybe steal chairs to get through the goals faster to make up for lost time. I don’t expect anyone to throw a temper tantrum, but I wouldn’t be surprised if little mental changes that the player may not even notice influenced their choices when playing, causing a shift in the game due to a change in the player's goals. Maybe that’s reaching, but I like that idea and want to explore it more.