Top 10 Games I would be playing right now -- if I only had the time :(

Here is the list of video games I would love to have 10+ hours to really dig into.  Which I don't.  So I'll just quickly write about them instead, and get on with my life.

The Top 10 games I would love to play -- if I only had the time :(

In no particular order.

1. Alan Wake

"Psychological Thriller" is a lofty tag.  But if anyone could deliver it would be Remedy.

Why?  Because I LOVED Max Payne.
Max Payne was my first xbox title.  I remember buying a used copy at the dingy little Gamestop on Lower Broadway on a winter night.  It snowed all weekend and I holed up in my walkup apartment on Ludlow street, playing it straight through.  It was like I was living the game and loved every cliche-ridden, bullet time enabled massacring minute.  Who could forget the boss battle in the attic above Club Ragnarok?  Or the nightmare dream sequences? And beyond the super evocative soundtrack, game-changing bullet time, and uber-noir story, Remedy delivered the pitch-perfect M-rated action adventure.  So Alan Wake was the one that got away.  I have never played it, I love Remedy and I love horror survival games.  And that Alan Wake 2 teaser demo really got me excited to go back and correct this oversight.

2. TimeSplitters 2

Remember how the sighting had this elastic bounce to it?  Everything about this game is fun.

Why?  Because this game is FUN.
Disclosure:  I played the hell out of this game.  And man did I love it.  In many ways it's the perfect first person shooter, with a time-jumping framework that provides a range of eras and settings, and a series of game modes that let you revisit them all in amazingly fun ways.  And who has ever made a zombie mode as manic as the one found in TimeSplitters 2???  Free Radical was founded by the guys from Rare who made Golden Eye, and you can tell.  It's bouncy, fast and fun -- I wish I could be playing a round of Capture the Bag right now.

3. Destiny

On second thought, maybe Destiny is trying too damn hard?  Starting with that name.

Why?  Because I am a sucker for squad-based shooters.

Ok, I have been so far out of it I had barely heard of this one until the Gamestop Go Big promotions kicked into gear.  But I am curious to give it a go.

4. Evolve

Big monsters vs. specialty class team = Left4Dead evolved?

Why?  Because this might be the next Left4Dead.

More or less the same criteria as Destiny.  Though I have always loved a squad-based shooter, and the asymmetrical boss vs. team, hunt and be hunted setup sounds like a promising evolution of what made a multiplayer session of Left4Dead great.

5. Day Z Standalone

Roaming bands of survivors engage in small arms fire.

Why? Because this is a big Human Psychology experiment.  With guns.  And Zombies.

Any game that is this unforgiving -- die and you lose everything -- is an intriguing premise.  Not surprising for a game with its origins as a mod of ArmaII, one of the more punishing games I have played.  Oh, and it's set in the Zombie apocalypse, where the zombies are just the beginning of your problems...it's every other survivor on the server and who do you trust?  Talk about a paranoid forcing-function for cohesive squad-based play.   Sold.

6. Dishonored

Ok.  Head on combat against three AT-ST walker things...not very stealthy.

Why?  Because I love me some Stealth.
I still remember the first time I played Manhunt.  The moment of elation mixed with revulsion when I successfully killed a Hunter with a plastic bag (or maybe it was a shard of glass) was a mind-altering experience.  Stealth gaming was an entirely new and nerve wracking game play mechanic that made my palms sweat and my heart rate race and I loved it.  While Tenchu was technically my first foray into the genre, it was the original Splinter Cell that made me a Stealth Fan for Life  (I know, that whole Metal Gear thing...I missed it. And frankly at this point, where would I ever begin?).  So steampunk setting, short and punchy dedicated single player experience?  Dishonored has been on my list since I first saw the concept art.


7. Bioshock Infinite

A world as fully realized as Rapture?  Yes, please.

Why?  Because Bioshock.
Bioshock?  I loved it.  Story, setting, gameplay.  So how can I not want to visit Columbia and spend some time in Irrational's last triple A release?  And given the ink dedicated to Emily as the first NPC that emotionally matter is worth the trip as well.

8.  Eternal Darkness

Um...this screenshot makes me a little uncomfortable

Why? Because it messes with you.  
Disclosure: I never owned my own Gamecube.  So I never got to play Eternal Darkness.  But I loved the idea of the sanity meter and the way it would impact game controls and visuals.  Like the headset / Director voice effects in Manhunt, why do so few games push the envelope and mess with our expectations like this?

9. Fallout 3

This is, like, the very first screenshot released for Fallout 3.  And it still kicks ass.

Why?  Because all my gaming friends spent a year and half of their lives playing it.
I had Fallout.  I escaped the vault.  I got to the outskirts of D.C.  I salvaged some decent ranged weapons and mastered the fundamentals of the V.A.T.S. combat system.  Then I had a kid in the real world.  And that was the end of my Fallout adventures.  But with all that rich post-apocalyptic world to explore and all those amazing DLC packs?  Man, would I love to return.

10. Alien: Isolation

Cat and mouse with H.R. Geiger's Alien?  Methinks you die a lot in this game.

Why?  Because I love survival horror games.  And it's got the xenomorph.  Game over, man.
By now you are seeing some recurring themes: First person and Stealth (I will not bore you with my long standing Resident Evil: Code Veronica obsession).  But has there ever been a longer series of grave #fails when it comes to videogame adaptations of beloved film franchises?  Sega is guilty of many missteps, but no crime is greater than their endless mishandling of the Alien franchise.  And yet every time a colonial space marine shows up in an artist's rendering, or a screenshot shows the motion tracker, I would stupidly hope this time might be different.  And finally with Alien: Isolation, it appears Sega has finally delivered a pure and worthy Alien experience.  You are alone and unarmed, stranded on a labyrinthian space hulk in the deepest depths of space and being hunted by horror defined, all slitherine exoskeleton, omnivorous jaws and  implacable unreasoning killer instincts. Sign me up.

The World has Turned...thoughts on Discovery

I used to work for a traditional Game Publisher.  More specifically, spearheading the marketing bringing Triple AAA Games to Market in a Big Way.  


Pre-sales programs with incentives, Limited Editions, Retail partnerships and co-promotional media spends, end caps and shelf talkers.  PR plans, first look demos, media spends and Front of box designs.   Trailer release plans and media spends on Gametrailers! Window clings! Pre-roll teasers, Outdoor bus-sides and building murals.  All Trying to answer the  demand for the incessant question:

"WHERE IS THE BUZZ!?!?!?" (but in size 64 font, no joke).

All in service of helping customers discover the games.  And to get them to shell out their hard-earned dollars (and Euros and Yen) for brand-new shiny copies wrapped nicely in plastic. 

Well the gaming landscape has seen so many seismic shifts in the past 10+ years...(Playstation 2 rules the world, Playstation 3 collects dust, Playstation 4 Sony returns).  But what I personally notice most is that my discovery process for new games has fundamentally changed.  Sure, I still go to Polygon.com every once in a while to catch up on the latest big releases and dramas.  But the fundamental truth is the good games find me.   They find me through the people who I know and I trust on social media, and more specifically, Twitter. 

Hopalite and First Strike are my current guilty pleasures on iOS.  And when it comes to Steam gaming, how else do you find out about games?  I follow @Nimblebit and @Spryfox and dozens of other indie game makers.  They love games.  And they "talk" about the games that interest them....Luftrausers, The Long Dark, TinyKeep, The Nightmare Cooperative, The Gods Will Be Watching, Day-Z.  I in turn dig deeper, follow their development, watch their live streaming -- and frequently buy them. 

Which seems like a much more efficient system for discovery, don't you?

The Joy of Tactile!

One cup of coffee into the morning and I was playing with my little people in their room.  The activity?  Block play, or, more precisely, Dad builds, Daughter (3) plays Supervisor, Son (1) plays roaming Destructo-Bot that rampages at will, scattering soft foam blocks with joyful abandon. 

The “Game” quickly (de)volved into:

•        Build as many floors as possible before… 
•        The marauding Destructo-bot returns
•        Reset

Top Score?  Five levels.

Everyone enjoyed our little game and it was actually an interesting 3-player exercise in asymmetrical collaborative and competitive play.  I’ll have to cogitate further on that one…

My recollection of the play session

But it really got me thinking about the stark difference between offline and online play, particularly for little people developing gross and fine motor skills.   It would seem that touch as an interface (coupled with the proliferation of devices and free / freemium software) has driven the massive explosion in gaming over the past several years.  And the best – and most profitable – games on mobile devices have used intuitive touch controls that are good proxies for the satisfaction of tactile feedback.

However, when it comes to the joy of feeling the weight of a physical object, the satisfaction of rolling a die, touching a wood block and bringing it into alignment, I wonder if the simulacrum of digital touch can – or should – supplant the simple joy of tactile play.  Certainly convenience plays a massive role – I love Warhammer 40K tabletop gaming, but I will likely never again have the space or the time to play a physical game complete with 40 plus figurines aside.  I will settle for decent iOS version I can take with me and play on the go.  Slitherine, please hurry up!

But there is an inherent reward in tactile play that I suspect digital will never be able to replace.  And when it comes to gaming, that tactile feedback forms another layer – perhaps the most basic and fundamental – that provides a sense of accomplishment with every tumble, smash, crash and roll.

The Power of PvP and Time Sensitivity

So, I had bought some power tools online from PropertyRoom.com last week.  It was my second purchase from the site, and overall I think they do a good job of running an online auction platform.  

It's not terribly sexy -- but it works.

The experience got me thinking about the power of two key game mechanics:  PvP (player vs. player) competition and time sensitivity -- how they can be leveraged across interactive experiences to:

A.) Drive engagement

B.) Raise the stakes for this engagement, resulting better monetization

As every merchant knows, there is nothing better than a competitive bid to jumpstart the limbic brain -- and drive up the price of a given item.  From my perspective, PvP competition in an auction is a series of discreet moments (facilitated by key touch points) that promote a win at all costs, zero-sum mindstate.

Step 1.) Existing bids -- X number of people want it.  I want it too.

Action: Let’s add it to my Watchlist.

Step 2.) New bidding activity -- (currently communicated via email communications, could be improved with push messaging with a native App) – each update creates more visibility for bidding activity. 

Action: Return to site / platform.

Step 3.) Closing moment --  while the site enables proxy bidding, the combination of the countdown clock and the anticipation assures the customer will return to the product page, if they are able.

Action: Return to site / platform / bid or raise bid

Step 4.) Final close -- the cliffhanger.  Did I win?  Did I wager enough?  Suspense (don’t underestimate the importance of this emotional beat…)

Action: Bid or raise bid

Step 5.) Auction won!  Confirmation and endorphine release (& small pang of buyer's remorse).

A quick look at this consumer flow shows several ways it can be optimized and / or improved (better UI to emphasize the key data points necessary to fuel engagement, a native app with push messaging, bid alert settings for frequency, timing and price, etc.)  But it works because the basics of competitive play are upheld.

A larger subject – and one that is beautifully considered by @quinns108 here on kotaku (within the context of games) is how to move beyond zerosum, win / lose mechanics to become more inclusive.  One thought:  the introduction of the random chance?   Incentivized collaboration al la Groupon?  It’s a much larger subject, but one that demands more study.

IKEA: The Game (of assembly)

I unpacked and assembled several pieces of furniture this weekend -- and I as I tackled the "Mydal" bunk bed for my daughter, my first thought was "damn."

(please forgive my bad joke)

But upon completing this project, I had an epiphany: those folks at Ikea are geniuses.  And not just for their incredibly cheap goods, their artful and oh-so effortlessly curated showrooms that make it seem so deceptively easy and fun to decorate one's  home, or their awesome naming conventions.

No.  The good people at Ikea are geniuses (who love games, methinks) have woven the key experiential requirements of any good game into their Product's assembly process. 

Assembling my Mydal bed revealed that inside every flat pack box comes an adult sized puzzle that offers:

• An easy to understand tutorial (the all visual manual filled with diagrams)
• Building blocks of core compulsion loops that are infinitely repeatable and satisfying (locking screw and bolts -- yes! Wood pegs into pre-drilled holes -- creating order from chaos!)
• Medium length goals that provide a sense of progression (Look!  The frame is standing - I can see what it looks like!)
• A reasonable session length (~3 hours from start to finish)
• Macro goal and ultimate achievement (Look -- I made this!  With my own hands!)  

Fundamentally, in a post-industrial society increasingly devoid of handiwork and personal crafting experiences, I think IKEA products fill a vital role.  They provide the illusion of control (another necessary gaming element) to simulate the satisifaction that one feels upon making something.  

It may be pre-cut and pre-scripted down the very last detail (like many single player game experiences) but assembling an Ikea product still delivers that rush of any good boss battle victory.

Nimble Quest: An "Instant" Classic

So after all the anticipation -- and it's worth noting the anticipation, because there are very few titles on iOS I actually take note of prior to release -- I have downloaded Nimble Quest.

I will leave the reviews to the PocketGamer's (yeah!) and the GameInfomer's (negative and surly)...I will simply say that I like it a lot , and think that once again the brothers Nimble have made another great game, perfectly suited for the platform. 

What I am interested in are distilling the elements that qualify it as a.) great and b.) suited for the platform.  AKA - the design decisions anyone working in mobile games and engagement should want to study.

This looks like fun, right?

1.) Familiar, yet different.  As the tutorial boldly asks, you remember how to play Snake, right? 

Game mechanics of Snake + awesome 8-bit Final Fantasy inspired RPG art and music + a simple (autofire) action combat mechanic = Instantly familiar, yet surprising and new gaming.  No explanations necessary, and just enough surprise to form a few new neural pathways.

2.) One hand / one finger swipe controls.

As with all things mobile, it's preferable if you design a game around the thing you do with a touch screen.  I.E. touch it.  So the one finger swipe to steer is the very definition of K.I.S.S.   And satisfying again and again as a tiny building block of core compulsion (see previous posts for additional rants on this subject).

3.) Vertical orientation  

To compliment the one-hand play.  We hold the phone upright.  Games need a really good reason to eschew portrait orientation.  And that reason should have everything to do with the user experience, starting with the user.

4.) Fast paced levels  

I haven't timed it out yet, but it feels like the average level takes about 60 - 90 seconds to complete.  Perfect for bite sized sessions - yet you can also play several levels back-to-back with no diminished sense of accomplishment.

4.) Loads of loot and rewards

To be completely candid, I haven't scratched the surface re: purchasing "buffs"or tackled the ramp in difficulty.  But 2 days in, there is enough loot dropping and jewel / power ups on offer every session to scratch the itch for immediate, Mario coin frenzy-like instant gratification.

5.) The F Factor -- Fun

Hardest to quantify, and easiest to know if you got it or not, Nimble Quest exudes a fresh sense of fun, humor and whims that make you want to keep coming back for more.  Without waxing too rhapsodic, Nimble Bit has honed a "voice" that, in addition to the mechanics, make their games tons o' fun.  You can always tell that there is no committee involved in the inception and creation of NB games.  And for this, we should all be thankful.

Monetization-wise, we will have to see.  Past titles like Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes seemed to climb the grossing charts as well as the DL charts nearly simultaneously, and stay there.  But that's a subject for further research and a different post.

Anyone think I got this all wrong?  I invite dissent.

Re-Engagement Mechanics...and Tamagothchi's

I was recently alerted by 148Apps to the fact that NamcoBandai had released a free app version of the all time classic Tamagotchi for iOS and Android...Tamagotchi L.I.F.E

Ally McBeal, anyone?

Being a child of the 90's, I had to give it a spin and see if it was still as compelling as notsalgia would have me believe.

The game was unchanged, right down the default game view, framed within the 3 buttoned egg shaped key chain bauble that used to dangle from every backpack in middle school.   And it was a small revelation to realize that here was the very core game mechanic that formed the basis of  Zynga's money printing empire, virtual crop maintainence.

But what really piqued my interest -- and ultimately my ire -- was NamcoBandai's insidious exploitation of  push messaging.  I have never been so annoyed so quickly as I have with Tamagotchi L.I.F.E.  You cannot go 5 minutes without that needy little bugger "crying out" for you, pestering you to return to the game and "play" some more.  I deleted the app less than 2 hours after downloading.

Enough already...

Lesson to game designers: resource management games are a lucrative genre, and can be fun in the hands of skilled game designers (Thank you, Nimblebit).  But beware the push / prompt.  Use it judiciously, or forever lose a customer and earn an enemy.