Anno 1800 is a real-time city building strategy game developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, released on April 16, 2019. It is the seventh game in the Anno series, taking place during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.

Website link: https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/anno/1800

Lens 2: The Lens of Essential Experience
The essential experience of Anno 1800 is to build sprawling, beautiful and powerful cities. Players settle islands in the game and build production chains to produce goods for their population. Progress is made by advancing citizens to higher social classes by meeting their needs, from Farmers to Workers, Artisans, Engineers and finally Investors. As the player’s population grows larger and more advanced, the player will unlock new and more advanced production chains and buildings.

This sense of progression is what drives the main gameplay of Anno 1800, and players are rewarded as they progress through the different social classes. For example, upon reaching Engineers, new buildings are unlocked such as the Steam Shipyard which can build powerful new steamships, or the Oil Power Plant which provides electricity to boost productivity. Upon reaching Investors, the player unlocks the ability to build a monument known as the World’s Fair, an incredible building that is not only glamorous, but hugely beneficial to the player by giving powerful and game-changing buffs. All of these mechanics serve well to fulfill the greater purpose of allowing the player to build and sustain larger and more productive cities. It really gave me a great impetus to keep working towards progressing to the next tier to keep growing my city larger.

Lens 9: The Lens of the Elemental Tetrad
Mechanics:
The Anno series has always had a unique mechanic where citizens of a social class must have all their needs fulfilled completely before advancing to the next social class. Each need would usually require a different production chain, often with new resources. Players will usually be implored to search for new resources elsewhere on other islands, settling on them and linking trade routes. If there are NPCs or pirates in their game, the player would also have to contend with potential aggressors. These other mechanics all build upon this central mechanic, which results in a very cohesive experience. It also provides a clear direction for the player to head towards.

Story:
The game features both a sandbox mode with no story and also a story campaign. Both however share a common theme of the influences of industrialisation, of how it not only leads us to progress and wealth, but also leads us to pollution and war. There are also self-contained stories in the form of expeditions, where the player sends a ship in search of new lands or rare items to collect. Each expedition plays out like a typical tabletop RPG, with random events where the player is given choices on how to proceed.

Aesthetics:
The buildings, ships and environments are all designed in painstaking detail and with great fidelity. Factories show animations of goods being loaded or unloaded, citizens roam the streets in horse-drawn carriages or Penny Farthings. All these tiny details give a level of authenticity to the world and really immerses the player in the 19th century time period. I definitely feel that Anno 1800’s strongest aspect was its graphics.

Technology:
Anno 1800 was created with the “Anno Engine” with its own terrain system that allowed for massive mountains systems and more detailed environments. Besides graphical capabilities, the Anno Engine also allows for seamless, almost-instantaneous transition between different regions in the game’s world map, which happens very often during play. Even with the addition of more regions in subsequent DLCs, the transition between them is still equally quick.

Lens 7: The Lens of Endogenous Value
In Anno 1800, there is a mechanic known as attractiveness. Attractiveness is a measure of how attractive your city is, and buildings such as the Zoo and the Museum can raise this value. Attractiveness is not just about making your city more aesthetically beautiful however. Tourists will be more likely to visit attractive cities and they provide a significant source of income. Some of these tourists are also specialists, which are powerful buffs for the player’s population or production buildings. Players are therefore encouraged and rewarded for building more beautiful cities.

Lens 8: The Lens of Problem Solving
To eventually reach the final social class of Investors, players have to overcome many problems in satisfying the needs of their population. They will have to make decisions of where certain goods should be made, setting up trade routes, the city layout etc. The player is constantly engaged with finding solutions to new problems and also other hidden problems that may arise. Expeditions also encourage the player to think ahead, anticipate what problems may occur on the voyage and try to prepare accordingly.

Lens 38: The Lens of Challenge
My main criticism with this game was a very jarring difficulty spike that came mid-game trying to progress beyond the Engineer class. Despite the fact that I was expanding slowly and fulfilling my population’s needs (and had experience with previous titles), I was still losing money for about half of my playtime at that point. I am sure that someone with a lower skill level would have likely lost. However, upon reaching Investors, my income had improved drastically and I was coasting along for the rest of the game. I definitely felt that this part was poorly designed challenge-wise and it deserves some balancing to ease the increase in difficulty.

Conclusion:
Despite my criticism above, I do feel that this game is masterfully done and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in city-building games or just looking for a relaxing game to play. This is definitely the best title in the Anno series. From a game design perspective, this game is mostly very well-designed and the developers have done a great job introducing new mechanics to enhance the game’s experience.

Detroit: Become Human is a decision-based adventure video game developed by Quantic Dream and published by Sony Interactive for PlayStation 4 in 2018. It explores what it means to be human in a futuristic world where humans and androids are living together. There are three main characters with different stories that sometimes intertwine, and the player gets to control them and make decisions that’ll shape the story.

Website link: https://www.quanticdream.com/en/detroit-become-human

Story

The story follows three androids: Markus, Kara and Connor. Each of them has a unique story that follows their transformation of becoming a deviant as they acquire consciousness. The game questions whether it is possible for androids to have their own emotions and thoughts, and how the public views them. There are multiple endings to the story that depends on the character’s decisions and skills.

Aesthetics

The game has beautiful 3D graphics that includes detailed environment and character designs. The looks of all characters are based on real-life actors as their facial expressions, motions and voices are captured. The game has an incredible soundtrack that is distinguishable for each character, conveying different emotions for them. Hence, the game aesthetics make the game realistic and immersive.

Mechanics

The game is mainly based on decision-making. Thus, there aren’t many mechanics related to the character’s motions. The characters can walk, run, pick up objects and even scan the environment for clues. The main mechanic is that the story branches as the player makes decisions. The character’s knowledge about an event or a location affects the available choices too, so exploring the environment is a crucial mechanic.

Technology

The studio didn’t reveal the game engine they were using, so it is assumed that they programmed one by themselves for this game. The game was first developed for PS4, but later it was ported to PC and Vulkan API was used for this purpose.

Lens 1: Emotion

Throughout the game, there are various emotions a player can experience: sadness, joy, shock, nervousness as the story unfolds. The dialogues and connections between the characters allow the player to feel empathy towards them. All characters have personal relationships and goals that the player can relate to. Thus, the player is expected to have similar emotions with the characters. For example, there is a scene where Kara and her daughter are trying to get on the bus before the time limit to escape. The player is nervous throughout the scene as he/she wants them to escape without getting caught and is happy or sad depending on whether they accomplish this goal.

Lens 2: Problem Solving

In the game, there are various stages where the player is asked to solve a specific problem, especially with Connor’s story. He is an android detective who is assigned to trace the deviants and find their hideout, so he investigates many crime scenes where deviants have been associated with. These scenes require the player to actively think and come up with solutions to achieve a better ending. However, the game does not generate new problems, so a player who already played the game before does not face a new problem when he/she plays the game again.

Lens 3: Meaningful Choices

Perhaps the most important aspect of the game is choices. As the player makes critical decisions the story takes shape. There are generally 2 to 4 options a player can choose. A short explanation is given for each option and some of the choices have time limitations. Depending on the player’s decisions, the character’s mission might succeed or fail, the relationship between two characters can be love or hatred and even some characters might die. There are also morally questionable options that make the player think about what it means to be human. Another interesting aspect is that the player is not allowed to change his/her decision once he/she makes it. So many times the player might regret his/her choice as he/she sees its consequences.

Lens 4: Character Transformation

Depending on the player’s choice, the character goes through different transformations. Markus becomes the leader of an android revolution that can be either peaceful or violent, Kara can be a distant or a loving mother figure and most importantly Connor can become a deviant or remain as a soulless machine. These changes are portrayed with arrow signals as decisions are made. For example, if an unexpected decision is made for Connor, his software instability increases as shown in picture below. These character transformations are also communicated through the dialogues and actions of the characters.

Lens 5: Time

Reaching one ending of the main story takes around 12 hours, but the player can start over and play as many times as he/she wants. The gameplay duration is sufficient to convey the message of the game as it is not too long or too short. The player can take as much as time he/she wants to explore the areas if there’s no time limit, so each player can play the game at their own pace. The time limitations for some tasks challenge the player to think/act fast, and make the game engaging and not boring.

Conclusion

Detroit: Become Human is an emotional and philosophical journey that questions what defines humanity and how AI challenges this definition. It allows the player to explore the answer to these questions at their own pace. As a story-based game, it serves it purpose of engaging the player with the characters and the story through lenses and provides a unique experience for each player.

Fate/ Grand Order (FGO): a Japanese mobile gacha game where you use different characters based on real life historical figures to clear quests battling against enemy NPCs in a turn-based RPG format. 

By all accounts, its gameplay system is quite frankly outdated, acquiring the newest highest rarity unit is at a rate considered extremely low by modern gacha standards and recent activities and events have been dolled out at an inconsistent pace! And yet, why do I feel so much fun when I play this game?

Gameplay

The gameplay is simple, field 6 different units when entering a quest, every turn choose to either activate the units’ respective abilities or go straight into battle and pick 3 out of 5 cards as shown above.  Watch the units attack the enemies with unique animations, then receive attacks from the enemies and repeat.

When it comes to daily farming quests, I simply happy tap away at the different cards, seeing the different unique attack animations of each unit.  However, when it comes to certain unique boss fights exclusive to the campaign mode, it feels like every step I take, I do not know whether the boss is going to one shot me or let me live for another turn.  I feel nothing but pure uncertainty and danger. 

Link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DmWGvfNOUE)

If I were to view it through the Lens of Action, during these boss battles, I would like to think there is a somewhat fair balance between strategic (skills, special attack usage) and basic (card selection) actions, though the strategic actions acts as more like precautionary measures towards enemies. Having said that, one has to factor in the enemies unique abilities that could also render whatever skills you use use mute, not to mention sill cooldowns.

Events

Gacha games typically have monthly events that run for a few weeks.  The most recent event that happened last year was a raid event where players “cooperate” to beat a raid boss by defeating the boss a cumulative number of times.  I quoted that specific term because it is more of a race against other players to be able to beat boss before the threshold is hit and the boss is gone.  That was the case until 1 boss in particular.

 

Link (https://fategrandorder.fandom.com/f/t/Tunguska%20Sanctuary)

In this case, there are at least 7 enemies to defeat.  You could either defeat the main boss and clear the quest in 1 turn, or you could try to clear it in 3 turns and defeat all the enemies to maximize your loot.  Essentially, if you were to 1 turn, you would be clearing the boss faster but losing out on drops.  This forced players to instead of destroying the boss within a few hours normally, to take a day and half to clear the boss.  Viewing it from the Lens of Competition vs Cooperation, you could say the players were playing both cooperatively (clearing slow enough for everyone to get drops) and competitively (clearing as much as they could before time ran out.

Story

Link(https://www.reddit.com/r/grandorder/comments/pe22qf/some_minor_but_interesting_missable_dialogue_with/)

Story has been one of this game’s strongest points.  Simply put, the story brings together all these fantastical characters in ways where even if the characters were the most vile villains known, you could not quite hate them.  This can be seen in its most recent storyline with the character Fairy King Oberon.  I won’t quite got into the specifics, but through the Lens of Emotion, I’d like to think they managed to bridge some gap between the players’ emotions and what the designers intended..

Gacha

Link(https://fategrandorder.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Marie4Life/How_to_Get_SSR_More_Easily_(maybe,_just_try_it))

Simply put, gacha is a mechanic where players acquire units via chance, essentially gambling.  When using the gacha or “rolling” here, there is no particular way to tell what you will get specifically, aside from the type and rarity.  Above indicates that you will get a unit of the highest rarity, but whether its what you were aiming for is not yet known.  This kind of randomness, can elicit excitement in possibly getting what you want, or sadness or lack of control if you fail to get it.  Aside from that, abiding by the Lens of Chance, this can also be factored in to certain effects that take place in battle that may or may not “proc” when truly needed.  In this case, players would be taking risk to survive.

Conclusion

There is much more to discuss about this game, but I will leave that for you to explore. If I had to sum up its experiences, FGO is a game with simple yet unpredictable battle system, has a deep story and cooperation via competition.  IF I had to relate to the Elemental Tetrad, the game fulfills the Aesthetics, Mechanics and Story components, but not quite that of Technology. I am certain the above 3 aspects are working in harmony with one another to deliver an enjoyable experience, and perhaps the Technology can be improved to further enhance the experience.  Granted the game was made using the Unity engine, and that it has come a long way since its roots, there is still room for some form of technological improvement. Time will tell I suppose.

Game website: https://fate-go.us/

Game is available on IOS and Android

For challenge runs using the bare minimum of units:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR1qqjQs8Fg6vcCLX3btacQ

Basically doable hard mode if you can’t get highest rarity units with the best skills.

Metroid Dread is an award-winning action-adventure game developed by MecurySteam and NintendoEPD for the Nintendo Switch. In this game, the player plays as Samus Aran, an intergalactic bounty hunter, as she explores Planet ZDR upon receiving a mysterious transmission from a source on the planet.

Based on a 2D side-scrolling platformer gameplay, this game features a large interconnected world map that the player can explore. However, many areas of the map are made inaccessible due to locked doors or obstacles which can be passed once the player unlocks certain abilities or upgrades which are acquired throughout the game by defeating challenging bosses or reaching certain locations in the game. At times, the player will be required to retrace their steps to previous locations in order to progress in the game.

Lens 9: Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics

In this game, the Samus is able to move laterally with the ability to jump, crouch and slide. Her primary weapon is her arm cannon which can be aimed freely. Samus’s health and her missiles are the 2 main resources that the player has to maintain, which can be restored by reaching checkpoints or killing enemies. As Samus explores Planet ZDR, she will gain upgrades and additional abilities for her Power Suit, which can be used to interact with the environment to unlock new or hidden areas. These new abilities also help Samus to fight/fend off tougher enemies which usually requires a strategy. One such enemy would be the E.M.M.I., short for Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier, a very powerful enemy which cannot be destroyed by Samus’s normal weapons. As such, Samus can rely on her Phantom Cloak ability to make her invisible to avoid detection by them.

Story

The X Parasites are alien parasitic organisms capable of absorbing the DNAs of their hosts and replicate their forms. While living in their hosts, they could even access their memories, making them extremely dangerous. As a result, their native planet SR388 was destroyed and they are believed to be extinct. Soon after, the Galactic Federation receives a video transmission from an unknown source on Planet ZDR showing a living X Parasite that survived the destruction of SR388, which poses a threat to the entire galaxy. Samus being the only one immune to these parasites, sets out to Planet ZDR to find out if they truly still exist.

Aesthetics

Every major area on Planet ZDR has a different environment, distinct from one another yet connected by a strong sci-fi horror theme. The dark and moody aesthetics of the game, together with the grim background music and sounds, formulate a very hostile and inhospitable Planet ZDR, creating that “dread” for players. If there are moments of peace within the game, they are usually short-lived. The game also does well to quickly change the mood depending on the situation. For example, when the player encounters and gets chased by an E.M.M.I. The gloomy environment is filled with panic by blaring alarms and flashing red lights, and in that moment, the hunter becomes the hunted.

Technology

The game looks visually stunning with high levels of detail in the environment which can be seen throughout the game. Player movement is also extremely fast and fluid with Samus running over and sliding under obstacles with very precise feet and body placement. At the time of this review, the game is only playable on the Nintendo Switch, using button and joystick inputs.

Lens 6: Curiosity

Metroid Dread rewards those who are curious. There are many hidden secrets within the game, such as additional items and shortcuts. Without breaking down hidden walls or performing a series of precise manoeuvres, the player would not be able to access them. While playing this game, I found myself constantly pushing myself to figure out exactly where these secrets may be hiding and which are the actions that I have to perform to get to them.

Lens 79: Freedom

At the beginning, the game might seem linear, giving the player only one path to progress. However, once the player attains more abilities, many paths will be opened. There is no single correct path. The in-game map does not provide guidance on where to go, giving the player the freedom to create their own path. There are even areas that the player can skip entirely and still finish the game. This freedom makes each play-through a unique experience, motivating the player to play this game many times, creating new paths on every attempt.

Lens 34 & 38: Skill & Challenge

This game is challenging. Without any guiding markers in such a huge world, it is easy to see why players who are new to the Metroidvania genre lose their way while trying to progress in the game. To make things worse, even the boss fights are gruelling too. I can’t even begin to count the number of times that I have died to the bosses in the game. Admittedly, a great amount of skill is needed to play this game. However, practice makes perfect. Each time the player challenges a boss and dies, he or she will understand more on how to avoid dying by studying the boss’s moves. And for those who are having problems with navigating the map, the game introduces markers which the player can use to mark out important locations within the game.

Conclusion

Metroid Dread may be a challenging game, especially for newcomers. However, it is a game that brings out our instinctive need to explore. And by encouraging practice and persistence, the player will be able to acquire the skills needed to complete the game and even possibly other games within the Metroidvania genre.

Website Link: https://thewitcher.com/en/witcher3

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an action role-playing game developed by Polish developer CD Projekt Red, and first published in 2015. It is the sequel to the 2011 game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and the third and final main game in The Witcher video game series played in an open world with a third-person perspective. The games are based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels written by Andrzej Sapkowski.

Lens 1: Essential Experience

Essential Experience 1: Storytelling

• 

The immersive storyline. This is one of the reasons why Witcher 3 is always one of the games on my top recommendation list. In this game, every quest and mission felt carefully designed and tells a unique story. Even for some random side quest or a “collect items” contract, there is a story behind it to be discovered and doesn’t feel repetitive. Other than the common dialogue-styled storytelling, there is also a rich amount of artefacts, scriptures, history books and monuments to read and understand how this world was like in the past. In addition, players do not just simply follow the story as it is, they get to make decisions and choices in the game that determines how they want the story to end. This makes the storytelling of the game even more immersive as the players get to “live” the story instead of simply “listening” to it.

Essential Experience 2: Immersive Open-World Exploration

Though the open-world concept is becoming a common staple in the triple-A industry, there is something unique about Witcher 3’s open-world experience that differs from many out there. One of the key differences is the NPCs. In Witcher 3, every NPC carries their unique dialogue with the players (Most of the time 🤡). In addition, if my memory serves me correctly, I seldom met any NPCs with the identical appearance in the same setting before. This makes every interaction with the NPCs truly special and makes the overall impression of the game more engaging.

Besides the NPC design, the overall environmental and audio design has also elevated the game’s immersiveness. For example, when the wind blows, the players could actually hear the leaves rustling. (Sometimes, I will just pause my quest in the game and stop somewhere just to enjoy the syntactic scenery ⛰️)

Lens 2 & Lens 3: Surprise & Fun

Though I’ve been playing this game for more than over 60 hours (mostly during NS 🤡), completing all available main and side quests, I’ve never felt a single sense of boredom. There are so many interesting game mechanics that come into play to provide a unique combat system. Brewing of potions, the enchanting of swords, the preparing of bombs/traps, the use of elemental powers, etc. Each mechanic offers its own sets of excitement and surprises. For example, when upgrading Geralt’s sword mastery, the player gets to unlock more dynamic sword combos that can inflict more damage to the enemy. This happens with Geralt’s elemental power mastery as well, providing him with more tricks up his sleeves. This offers lots of fun and surprises as the game advances with players unlocking more and more cool features of Geralt.

Lens 4: Curiosity

Being an open-world game with its massive map, Witcher 3 does spark the curiosity in me to explore all bits and pieces of the game. For example, secret chests are hidden all around the map. In shipwrecks, dungeons, city sewers, secret rooms, caves, riverbeds and palaces, etc. The harder the place to get to, the rarer the contents in the chests. Very often, I find myself distracted from the main quest, just to explore the “?” marked on the mini-map, wondering what items could be found. In addition, these places are usually filled with some explorable background stories, which further attracts me to explore these places to find out about their history in the game.

Lens 5: Endogenous Value

Crafting mechanics is another feature that brings great satisfaction when I was playing the game. As there are many armour and weapons that can be crafted, it motivates the players to track down the materials required to craft them and finally to unlock and try them out. It is also kind of cool and exciting when players get to see their Geralt being equipped with more and more badass gears, like a token of achievement or a symbol of growth.

Lens 6: Problem Solving

Witcher 3 was one of those games that I actually pay full attention to the dialogues and in-game quest instructions. This is because this game is embedded with so many riddles and puzzles to be solved in the context of the story. In addition, these are not just some simple and repetitive puzzles that require you to perform the same few steps. Some of them are rather hard and require some logic, linguistic and detective skills, which makes the game even more challenging and fun. It also brings more dynamicity to the game such that it is more than just a simple “slash-you-out” type of game.

Speaking of problem-solving, how can the players forget about the famous Gwent! Gwent is definitely one of the features in the game that grinds our brain juice, especially when there are many mechanics involved and tough in-game AIs to defeat. It is truly amazing that CD Projekt Red designed and built a totally independable game within the already super packed Witcher 3 🤩

Lens 7: Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics

A very complex system combined with many interesting game mechanics. Listing a few: House racing, monster hunting, detective vision, solving riddles, equipment crafting, skill trees, elemental powers and dynamic storyline progression, etc.

Story

The game takes place in a fictional fantasy world based on Slavic mythology. Players control Geralt of Rivia, a monster slayer for hire known as a Witcher, and search for his adopted daughter, who is on the run from the otherworldly Wild Hunt. Players battle the game’s many dangers with weapons and magic, interact with non-player characters, and complete quests to acquire experience points and gold, which are used to increase Geralt’s abilities and purchase equipment. The game’s story has three possible endings, determined by the player’s choices at key points in the narrative.

Aesthetics

Breathtaking AAA Open World Graphics, with ultra-detailed character design and immersive sound effects; Unique and impressive architectures and environment styling that brings about a realistic fantasy world;

Technology

• 

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was created with the REDengine 3, CD Projekt Red’s proprietary game engine designed for nonlinear role-playing video games set in open-world environments, aided by the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles and prepared for use in October 2014.

REDengine 3 was designed to run exclusively on a 64-bit software platform. CD Projekt Red created REDengine 3 for the purpose of developing open-world video game environments. It introduces improvements to facial and other animations. Lighting effects no longer suffer from reduced contrast ratio. REDengine 3 also supports volumetric effects enabling advanced rendering of clouds, mist, fog, smoke, and other particle effects. There is also support for high-resolution textures and mapping, as well as dynamic physics and an advanced dialogue lip-syncing system.

REDengine 3 has a flexible renderer prepared for deferred or forward+ rendering pipelines. The result is a wide array of cinematic effects, including bokeh depth-of-view, colour grading and lens flares associated with multiple lighting. The terrain system in REDengine 3 uses tessellation and layers of varying material, which can then be easily blended.

Conclusion

Though this blog post is mostly praising the Witcher 3, drafting this blog post has actually taught me to appreciate a good game through different points of view. It has also taught me what we should look out for in the different lenses when it comes to designing our own games.

Plenty of games by now have implemented some sort of photography mechanic where the player can further immerse themselves in the world by having their character take images of their view of their world. But photography in these games are often hardly the most important feature of the game. At least until Umurangi Generation, a first person photography simulator first released in May 2020. Well received by indie players and critics, the IGF award-winning game is most notable for its ability to make a subjective art form, like photography, an actually rewarding core mechanic in a virtual world.

Set in the “shitty future” [sic], the player is a Māori courier amidst impending civil turmoil and resistance against a United Nations occupation. Armed only with a film camera (and great parkour skills), the player traverses the cityscape and takes pictures for cash. I played the first level of the game, taking place at the roof of Mauao View, with graffiti splattered walls, scratchy chill hop blasting from boomboxes, and a pool with a penguin?

Lens #17: The Toy

Here the toy clearly is the camera. Is the camera fun to play with even though there are no goals? That would depend on how well the virtual camera is adapted from a real life one.

To many photography enthusiasts, it is essential that the camera has enough settings to give them control and autonomy over the outcome of their shots. But to photography beginners, the technical details may be overwhelming. Being neither a replacement of photography, nor a photography tutorial, but a photography game, it is essential that the camera is accessible enough, but also providing the options that real photography provides in terms of color, focus, exposure, etc. The game abstracts away or omits many of the technical details (film types, f-stop, developing), and together with the “photo editing app”-style sliders and limited mechanics (mainly zoom, focus, lens switching), Umurangi Generation really succeeds in maintaining this balance. 

Lens #79: Freedom

Having a good camera doesn’t necessarily make the game fun. A game about art would not make sense if the player doesn’t have artistic freedom. The game makes it clear from the get go that scoring photos by some sort of metric isn’t right; after all…

This translates directly into the game as: you will not be graded/judged/penalised for the aesthetic of your shots. In fact you can either

1. take low effort shots and rush through the game
2. carefully framing and color grading each shot
3. parkouring into the weirdest places and just taking the most extreme angles

and you can complete the game just the same. In fact, the less you feel bounded by the need to play the game properly, the more you go out of the way to explore the world beyond what the rules tell you to, the more you are likely to get out of the game.

Lens #38: Challenge

All that said, this game is not a sandbox game, it doesn’t have enough building/interactive elements to be one. So how can the players feel challenged, and feel progression in a game that doesn’t emphasize extrinsic objectives? 

1. Photo bounties: Take pictures of the items required
2. Constraints: Time limit, Film limit.
3. Unlocking equipment: By fulfilling bonus objectives

Photo bounties give the player some direction and goal in each level by requiring certain subject matter in the photos. While that seems simple enough, the bounties are often accompanied by certain other shot requirements (Must this be a closeup shot? A wide angle one? Taken with telephoto lens?) which adds an additional dimension of challenge e.g. a standard lens may not be able to take a close up shot of a bird far away.

There is also a 10min time limit for timely bounty delivery, and a 24 film limit on how many pictures you can take. By limiting resources, the game imitates the challenges in real-life film photography, making the players value their shots more and put in more thought into each one.

There is one more mechanic: money. But other than being a number on the screen and one of the bonus bounty missions, it doesn’t really seem to have any other incentive or purpose. In that sense it is perhaps redundant, but doesn’t detract from the game.

Quite importantly the game does not punish the player much for failing to meet objectives. If you run out of film or time you can still roam in the level until you want to restart. Taking pictures of the blue-bottle jellyfishes is “not allowed”, but if you happen to take them, you get a minor fine on the photo, and that is all.

Lens #7: Endogenous Value

But that doesn’t solve the question of how the player can feel progress (other than clearing each level). You do so mainly by unlocking gear, after completing all bonus objectives. Not only does this encourage replaying the level (it isn’t easy to complete the bounties AND finish all the objectives within the 10min limit on your first try), it also is a great way to give endogenous value to clearing objectives when they aren’t enforced heavily.

Lens #9: Elemental Tetrad

Aesthetics: Upon playing one can immediately tell the graphics take a leaf out of the early-3D era of game graphics, with the low polygon count and neon saturated colors. This is unsurprising given that the aesthetic of the 80s and 90s are experiencing a resurgence, but the Cyberpunk inspired environment and Jet Set Radio inspired models and set design evokes more than just feelings of nostalgia. It is part of intentional atmosphere design and world building. Which ties in with…

Story: Strong parallels exist between the cyberpunk trope and the zeitgeist of the 80s, as developer Tali Faulkner describes in this slide. 

Inspired by his government’s handling of Australian bushfires and COVID-19, Faulkner wanted to make a social commentary he felt without him having to preach to his audience about it. Further on in the gameplay, the environments get darker, foggier, dingier and heightens the sense of danger and hopelessness than the story embodies, without the story ever having to even introduce a single line of character dialog. After all this is a photography game.

Mechanics: And the simple mechanics (point, shoot, toggle settings) and typical first person movement controls help to drive home that. The way the objectives are designed, almost like a “hidden object game”, encourages you to really observe your surroundings and take in the world he is trying to convey, explore every ledge, nook and cranny for an item or a shot location. Nowhere is off limits, the NPCs don’t even seem to notice you, whereas you are hyper-aware of all of them, allowing you to soak up the world you are living in.

Technology: The game, developed in Unity, has simple controls (since the mechanics don’t require it), low-poly graphics, doesn’t require any complicated AI, and doesn’t require a powerful graphics card to run. The technology is just enough to deliver the game, and the simplicity works out well for the game.

Conclusion

Umurangi Generation is a rare gem in the haystack of indie and AAA games because of how much heart and soul is in it, not a common sight these days. This really shows when you break down the game’s design in terms of the Lenses, and we can learn a lot from Umurangi Generation about effective visual storytelling and immersion with almost minimal technology.

Genshin Impact is an open-world action role-playing game, where the player is a traveller exploring the world of Teyvat, in search for their lost sibling. On their journey, players meet different characters, embark on quests and discover new cities.

Website link: https://genshin.mihoyo.com/en/home

Lens 7: Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics

Players can wander around freely using the normal navigation controls. They can also sprint, jump, climb, glide and swim but with limited stamina. During combat, players can use normal attacks and elemental attacks, with different weapons and elements depending on the chosen playable character.

Story

The stories mostly lie in the quests, which involve meeting certain characters and helping to resolve the conflicts they are facing. It is mostly a linear story-telling method (author control), the interaction (player control) is relatively insignificant — only on a conversational level.

Aesthetics

Genshin Impact has stunning aesthetics, with detailed character design and architecture of vibrant colours, paired with enchanting music, sound effects and character dialogue that gives personality.

Meticulous care is also given to the interactions that players can have with their environment, making the experience very immersive and in line with the theme of exploration.

Technology

The game was developed using Unity. It is available on multiple platforms, such as Android, IOS, Windows, PS4, PS5 and they are planning to release on Nintendo Switch as well.

Lens 1: Essential Experience

I believe that one of Genshin Impact’s key components is their concept of elemental reactions and character switching. Each playable character has a main element (wind, fire, ice, etc). Combat in the game requires players to think about how to use elemental compatibility and reactivity to their advantage, both within their own party and against their opponents. For example, attacking with a water character and then switching to an ice character can freeze enemies that are difficult to beat, or using an electricity character on a rainy day will cause the enemies to be electrocuted, hence dealing more damage.

Understanding more about how the world in the game works and using past knowledge to solve new problems are part of the essential experience of the game.

Lens 5: Endogenous Value

There are various rewards players can receive in Genshin Impact, and I think one of the most significant ones are Primogems. Genshin Impact has a “gacha” (or randomised) mechanic of pulling playable characters, and Primogems are the in-game currency necessary for that. Since the characters have different strengths and weaknesses, players would feel motivated to earn more Primogems to be able to pull more characters to create their ideal team.

Completing certain domains or defeating bosses can also reward players with the required materials for levelling up their weapons or characters, which is also attractive as it makes defeating tough opponents easier.

As someone who does not want to spend money on games, this system works in my favour as I can continue to progress and enjoy the core game experience as long as I work on the right quests and tasks.

Lens 2, 3 & 4: Surprise, Fun & Curiosity

When players are not pursuing any active quests, they can go at their own pace in increasing their world exploration progress. As an open-world game, Genshin Impact provides many opportunities for players to wander around unexplored regions on the map, discovering enemy camps and treasure chests along the way. This is what I usually do when I get bored or stuck at a particularly difficult quest but still want to play the game.

Lens 6: Problem Solving

As mentioned earlier, combat requires strategies, especially when defeating opponents with different weaknesses. Players can use weapons and elemental reactions to their advantage.

One of my favourite parts is how Genshin Impact has puzzles sprinkled all over their map — for example, figuring out the right mechanism to unlock a certain domain. Clues and hints are available in the area, and players can put two and two together, sometimes using different characters’ abilities to solve the puzzle. This gives a great sense of accomplishment.

Conclusion

Overall, Genshin Impact has a good mix of action, problem-solving and aesthetic. I love how it allows players to immerse themselves in a different world, and the way players can slowly explore and progress at their own pace if they choose to.

PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds (PUBG) is an online multiplayer battle royale game developed by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of Krafton. PUBG Mobile was released in 2018, one year after the successful release of the PC version in 2017.

Lens 1: Experience
PUBG Mobile is a battle royale game, which blends last-man standing gameplay with the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game. Such a concept is not one that people often get to face in real life, but players can discover such an experience through the virtual effects of such a game.
In addition, the game is meant to have an extremely immersive experience. Players are recommended to use earpieces when playing the game to value add to their experience. Key sound effects include footsteps, gunshots etc, based on these sound effects, players can gauge where their enemies are without having to see them.

Lens 2 & 3: Surprise & Fun
In a battle royale game like PUBG Mobile, the element of surprise is always present throughout the duration of the game. While navigating through the map, you will not know if there is an enemy camping behind a wall or snaking in the tall grass. These enemies are bound to give you a surprise when you walk past.
PUBG Mobile has many fun aspects, one of it is that it is a social game. While solo mode does exist, most people opt to play squad mode in a squad of four people. The fun and enjoyment gained through playing and winning the game with your friends is pleasurable for the brain.

Lens 4: Curiosity
There are many different weapon types and an even larger number of different weapons available in the game. Different weapon types are suitable for different kinds of combat, and different players are more accustomed to different types of combat. For example, a player may be better at close quarter combat, and would prefer guns like sub machine guns, in comparison to another player who is better at long range combat, and would prefer guns like bolt action sniper rifles. In order to find out what he is most accustomed to, players will always be curious to put themselves in different situations during the game to try out new types of combat.

Lens 5: Endogenous Value
Players who make it to the professional stage have the chance of winning great prize pools, for example the most recent PUBG Mobile Global Championships 2021 has a huge prize pool of USD$6 million. For amateur players, there are also regional competitions they can sign up for to win smaller prize pools, and it also gives them a chance to make it to the professional leagues as well.

Lens 6: Problem Solving
While some may look at the game as a simple shooting game, that is actually far from the case. Within a squad of players, there are different roles, examples are In-Game Leader, Fragger, Flanker, Sniper, Support etc. Based on players’ strengths, they are allocated roles for them to display their strengths, and they all play important parts in winning a team fight or the entire game. Also, there are also a lot of analysis and problem solving when it comes to finding appropriate rotations into the safe zone, not rotating into the safe zone on time will result in the elimination of the team. In general, there are also many other strategies such as the heal strategy, but I will not go into detail here as they involve too many technical details.

In general, analysing such a popular game like PUBG Mobile has thought me that there is a lot more than it meets the eye when it comes to creating a successful game like this. It is important to consider many various perspectives when designing any game in general, and looking at the lenses are a good way to start of with.

DOTA is a strategy video game created by Valve. It is one of the many multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) custom games in the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, The Frozen Throne. The ownership and development of DOTA was passed on multiple times since its initial release, until Valve hired the game’s lead designer IceFrog and after a legal dispute with Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of Warcraft III, secured a deal that allowed for Valve to inherit the trademark to DOTA. DOTA gameplay centres around two teams of five players in which the victory condition is to destroy the opponent team’s “Ancient” building. Each team roles usually comprise of three core players: the carry, mid-lanner, off-lanner and last but not least the two supports. Each player is in control of a character termed “hero” and would be role-playing his or her role during the game. While DOTA players have developed many strategies over the years to achieve the winning condition, the general consensus is that the core players will be trying to get as much gold as possible during the early stages of the game to acquire items that will make them stronger later in the game so that they can kill the opponent heroes whereas supports will help the core players to achieve this goal during the early stages of the game.

A sequel to DOTA, DOTA2, was released by Valve in July 2013. The game retains the same gameplay elements as its predecessor, while introducing new support and mechanics, as well as a setting separate from the Warcraft universe.

Lens 2 & Lens 3: Surprise & Fun

In DOTA2, the element of surprise is evident when teams adopt strategies that are not normally executed in the game itself which will catch their opponents off guard. In the video below, a professional team NoTideHunter baits with one of its team members to die to Roshan, which is one of the neutral spawns in the game to cause the opponent team EG to think that NoTideHunter is attempting to kill Roshan so they start moving to the Roshan pit. EG took the bait and proceeded to the pit but was ambushed by NoTideHunter’s heroes which were stronger in the early stage of the game. This bait gave NoTideHunter two free kills which secured some gold for the team and provide them a slight advantage at the start of the game. Even though the opponent gave away two hero kills, the thrill of discovering this unique and unconventional strategy and being taken by surprise are also what makes the game fun for the opponents as well.

Lens 4: Curiosity

There are more than 100 heroes to choose and more than 120 items to acquire in DOTA and since each hero has at least four skills/abilities. This would mean that there are more than a 100 000 permutations in terms of skills and items that one can obtain during the game itself.

Due to the vast number of combinations that a player can try in each game, players will always be curious to play the next because there will definitely be some combinations that they have not tried. Even in professional teams where players spend hours everyday trying to find a new strategy or combination of items and heroes, there will bound to be some that were still unexplored. This is evident in the main annual DOTA2 competition – The International where new item combinations were displayed or unconventional strategies were brought to light.

Lens 5: Endogenous Value

DOTA2 players could also earn money and gain new character skins from playing the game. There are four major tournaments held annually during the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and each of these typically have prizes worth at least $1 million USD. Among these, the main event is The International and the most recent one has prizes worth of $40 million USD. Apart from competing, players could also stream their gameplay on twitch or create youtube channels to gain income. One of the more popular DOTA2 twitch streamers include AdmiralBulldog and Gorgc and their income average to be around $10 000 USD per month. There are also popular DOTA2-related youtube channels such as Dota Watafak which has around 3 million subscribers. DOTA2 teaching platforms such as Gameleap are also becoming increasingly popular where experienced players can teach the newer players how to become a better player and earn some tuition fees. Nowadays, players also sell their high ranking account that has more character skins. These monetary rewards and greater in-game benefits act as a motivation for players to continue playing DOTA2.

Lens 6: DOTA2 have some form of Problem Solving Activity

DOTA2 has a really complex game mechanism and sometimes when it seems impossible for a team to win, there are instances when they do win eventually in the later stage of the game. For example, DOTA2 has a feature which makes use of AI to determine the probability of a team winning a game based on factors such as team kills, number of infrastructures remaining and team total gold etc. As we can see from the article link below, a team managed to win eventually even though they are far behind in terms of resources and team kills through countering the opponents camping outside their spawn and fighting on higher grounds with vision. It is not uncommon for teams to lack far behind in terms of resources and win the game later on because there are many ways to close the gap like having the carry to farm for gold (gain gold through killing mobs) for extended period of time, buying certain items that counter the opponent teams’ spells or even choosing the right enemy hero to cast your spell on so that the enemy team will be unable to execute the plan they intended. Usually, when I am playing the game, I get frustrated when my team is far behind in terms of team kills but I realized that is also when I start to think carefully about every single item choice and think about whether it is wise to engage the enemy hero. Sometimes I do manage to make a comeback with my team and the thrill that I get from doing so is just really lit.

The analysis of DOTA2 made me realise that there were more to the game than just destroying the opponents’ “Ancient”. It seemed like DOTA2 might have always been a fun game due to the existence of these lenses and from the transition of DOTA to DOTA2, the effects of these lenses have been amplified greatly with the introduction of more new items, heroes etc which seems to explain the wide migration of players from DOTA to DOTA2 and insinuate that DOTA2 might have improved overall as a MOBA game.

Developed exclusively by a single man, Eric Barone (or more commonly referred to by his online alias, ConcernedApe), Stardew Valley is a game that appears rather simple at first glance. To the uninitiated, the $34 million net worth it has brought its sole developer may come as a surprise. Nominated for the 2016 Seumas McNally Grand Prize in the Independent Games Festival, and winning the Breakthrough Award in the Golden Joystick Awards (among others), Stardew Valley is likely a game you have heard of, even if you may not have played it. Premised on the concept of escaping a dull, stressful corporate life in the city, Stardew Valley promises a refreshing countryside change where the player starts their new life on a farm inherited from their late grandfather. At its core, Stardew is about resource-managing, another game in the farming simulator genre alongside other titles like Harvest Moon. Yet, there is something about being a humble farmer in the lively Pelican Town that sets this game apart.

Lens #2 & #3: Surprise & Fun

On its surface, the goal of the game is simple: plant and harvest crops, forage for materials, sell resources for profit, then rinse and repeat. Its mechanics involve an in-game clock, where the player cycles through 4 seasons of 28 days each, and every day, they are granted limited energy to to spend on actions, which gets refreshed when the player goes to bed at night. Yet, under this deceptively straightforward concept lies several key features which have garnered Stardew Valley its many loyal fans. Besides farming, players are free to explore the village, including delving into mines which are arguably almost entertaining enough to be its own game.

In caves, players can mine their way through different levels filled with rocks to pick, enemies to defeat and crystals to discover. These enemies even cause damage, and players are at the mercy of their health bar, which only appears when they enter a cave. Much like your typical dungeon crawler, the player can equip themselves with armour and weapons to boost their combat statistics.

Fishing is also a major activity featured in the game. While fishing serves as a means to gather profitable stock and food, they also pose a challenge for the player to collect different fish at different locations and in-game seasons.

Lens #5: Endogenous Value

With 40 achievements existing in the game, and an estimated 150-200 hours it takes to attain them all, players will be hard pressed to run out of things to do (https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Achievements). Cutscenes featuring the residents of Pelican Town and their lives reward players at various milestones, and the sheer assortment of items and artefacts to collect and use in the game intrigues players to continue making new discoveries through game progression, and the inherent endogenous value of rewards in activities such as mining or fishing compels continuous play. For example, the elusive prismatic shard found in the mines can be transformed into a high-level combat weapon, while rare crops like starfruits and ancient fruits can be harvested and cultivated to make incredibly profitable wine. Adding on to the RPG experience of this game is a skill level system, granting the player additional abilities as they progress.

Lens #25: Goals

Providing a diverse selection of activities allows players to take a break from the monotony of watering plants and harvesting crops, while still serving as alternative means for resource-gathering in the game so that players are able to continue progressing by upgrading their tools and accessing new locations. Essentially, Stardew Valley players are free to curate their own experience and set their own goals, and this freedom is part of the core experience that the game is selling, be it earning the most money, befriending – and even starting a family – with villagers, starting an extensive collection of rare fish or perhaps even challenging themselves to gather resources only by raiding trash cans.

Audio and World-Building

An often underrated element that buttresses the success of Stardew Valley is its aesthetics. While the charming pixelated graphics making up the world of Pelican Town and its inhabitants are endearing, it has to be pointed out that the audio – also developed by ConcernedApe – provides an added dimension which elevates the gameplay experience. Catchy tunes signify the change of each season, cycling through spring, summer, autumn and winter, and upbeat music accompanies players in the mines as they battle their way deeper underground. Overlying the melodies of Stardew Valley are the chirping of birds greeting players at the start of a sunny morning, while the pattering of rain on the windows mark a stormy day even before the player leaves the house. Footsteps crunching on soil contrasts the clicking of shoes on linoleum and hard stone, and in multiplayer mode, the telltale chopping of wood from another player a short distance away renders the map unnecessary as players can tell when the other is near. These aesthetics, while often residing in the background, is invaluable in world-building and serves as reminder that while the sounds of nature may be overpowered by the very real, raucous city noises of a player’s life, there is always respite to be found in the whimsical Pelican Town off the beaten track.

Lens #44: Character

Another critical feature of the game which makes it so appealing is perhaps the relationships which exist between the NPC villagers, beyond the player’s direct relationships with them. With crushes, friendships (and even possibly affairs) depicted through dialogues with the various villagers, the player gets the sense that this virtual village is very much alive, the NPCs going on their way carrying out their daily lives offscreen. While there may not be a strong storyline in the game, the personable interactions and charming dialogue draws the player, and as favourite villagers are befriended, we may find ourselves unexpectedly invested in the lives of these virtual people. This take on world-building in a simple farming simulator is a refreshing change from the often solipsistic perspective adopted by other titles in its genre. The NPCs’ dialogue is often quirky and surprising, encouraging further interaction with them as their relationship with the player develops through gifts and events that take place throughout the game.

Lens #84: Friendship

The most difficult part of this game is perhaps getting started. It is admittedly tough to love the game when one is equipped with poor tools, limited resources and unable to access mining or even fishing. Yet, when one is willing to stick through the initial hours spent on a rather insipid farming simulator, it is not difficult to understand why millions of people have devoted endless hours into this game. There is always something to discover and the love for the game is apparent from its vast community of fans online, with forums sharing play-through guides, less-known tips and even modifications by the more tech-savvy to further customise the gaming experience (many of which can be found on https://www.pcgamesn.com/stardew-valley/best-stardew-valley-mods).

Conclusion and Lens #7: Elemental Tetrad

Though classified under the farming simulator, Stardew Valley is much more than that. It is a farming simulator, life simulator, dungeon crawler, dating simulator all in one, packaged and presented with a wonderfully immersive audio experience and nostalgic visual 16-bit aesthetics. Its simple technical elements and cheerful colours attract children looking for a fun way to pass the time, but the story existing within the rich lives of the onscreen villagers and the surprisingly challenging fishing and mining mechanics continue to draw in more mature audiences time and time again. Allowing players to pet cute cows and fight off monstrous skulls with swords in the same day, Stardew Valley is an indie game that has effectively utilised the elemental tetrad of game design, and has mastered walking the fine line between relaxing and challenging, having a little something for anyone seeking refuge from a hectic life in a quaint pixelated town.