Posts Tagged ‘flash’
SoCho Toy
Role: Designer, Prototyper
Company: Social Chocolate (now SuperBetter Labs)
Site: http://www.superbetterlabs.com
Released: March 2011
Platform: Flash
Concept: There are secrets to discover in this tiny microcosm. Bonds grow and fade, color lances across connections, and nodes wander with the wind. How can you affect it, what does it mean, and what will you leave behind when you find it? This toy was designed to convey science through a purely systemic approach. There’s no overt narrative, no setting, no characters. Meaning is gleaned purely through interaction and mechanics, and the wealth of interpretations players leave behind when they complete the experience is enlightening.
Design Notes: The Social Chocolate puzzle was designed to teach visitors the science behind our company, elegantly and (of course!) through a game. We found that not only did it drastically increase the time visitors stayed on our site, but that it encouraged constructive, positive commenting at a much higher than average rate (because they had to earn the privilege to comment, and the work was – usually – rewarding). We were surprised by the variety of interpretations that players devised, and what intelligence was attributed to the very simple (but emergent) behavior of the nodes. Another example of the power of minimalism and ambiguity.
To What End
Role: Designer / Musician
Team: Chelsea Howe, Michael Molinari
Website: http://www.to-what-end.com
Dev Summary: A browser game created in Flash over 48 hours in Spring 2012
Concept: “To What End” explored player values, evocative ai, and minimal narrative. 5 puzzle pieces each quirky in their own way start the journey together, but the end of the journey is up to the player. With a limited amount of time, players can choose to stick together or sacrifice and move forward.
On The Web:
Design Notes: To What End was created in 48 hours for the Global Game Jam 2012, San Francisco.
The End Of Us
Role: Designer / Musician
Team: Chelsea Howe, Michael Molinari
Website: http://www.the-end-of-us.com
Dev Summary: A browser game created in Flash over 48 hours in Spring 2011
Concept: “The End of Us” was designed to evoke friendship, attachment, and affinity without overt narrative. The orange comet’s behaviors – introducing itself with a walloping hello, then running away can-you-catch-me style, circling around you for attention or chasing after the stars (what do those do, anyway? Do you just want them because Orange does?) – are intended to endear. It might not arise directly from the actions (Orange spends a non-trivial amount of time bashing into you after all) but emerges from the familiarity of friendship, good and bad, and the hollow that arises after one-to-one attention vanishes, permanently, for whatever reason.
As you grow and age and eventually start to fade alongside your friend, you come upon an asteroid belt that chips away at both of you. Your final (only?) choice in the game is who will take the fall, and who will have to suffer a solo existence after.
On The Web:
