Week 13 - Usability

To my understanding, ‘usability’ is the extent in which a game can be played to have an enjoyable experience (A definition I researched a bit to gain understanding and merged with the information from the video.) The speaker talks about a goal being knowledge and understanding without the use of google or the manual. To me, this seems impossible, but a good goal to have when it come to developing games. A big thing that is a turn-off for me, that I didn’t even realize was a turn-off before this class, is when there is a manual the size of the Bible. I don’t want to read that, I want to play. I want the components of the game to be simple and non-complex so that it doesn’t hinder my play experience. With that goal set, he gives some pointers to create good usability. I think if we were to express these pointers in one word it would be “Clarity.” This would steam to old and new players; old players would use this clarification as reminders and new players would use it as a teaching method. This would also eliminate any unneeded information in a rule book, making it a little less daunting to read. Overall, it would make the game easier to “pick up and play,” as the speaker says. Board and pieces can hurt or help this if they are too complex. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with a complicated game with many components because once everything makes sense, that game could be more enjoyable than an overly simple one, but if it is hard to use (hehe), then no one will play it. Overall, I think a major component of usability comes from the clarification of gameplay.

Our game is still very much so a rough draft. I don’t exactly know how each component is going to work but I know that cards will be involved. Having instructions on those cards would serve to eliminate the unneeded info in the rule book and allows for the player to learn while playing. I think that’s something I want to implement in the game, the idea of “teach while playing.” The speaker brought it up a bit in the beginning and touched on how the process of learning the game can sometimes be tedious and unenjoyable. I am a person who has NEVER understood game rules on paper and have to see it played out in front of me. Either just by watching a round or playing one and making mistakes to learn. Providing clarity along the way creates a flow of enjoyment even in the learning process. In turn, if I am understanding correctly, this is good usability that renders good player experience.