[MUD-Dev2] [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game

[Soyweiser]

On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 7:14 PM, Acius <adamhelps at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> I assume that the answer is mostly to keep the on-screen information
> minimal--lightweight heads-up display, and don't overcomplicate things.
>  Don't require the player to type a novel. Single-key commands are
> preferred.
> Yup, you tend to end up with spatial games, like moving pieces around on a
> board, rather than games that use text or arrays of commands.
> For bed-time? Silence is golden. That, or the sounds need to be very
> relaxing. Lots of ocean waves, waterfall noises, rain drops...
> Make sure you save game state often ^_^. Most of the screens on the small
> devices can't do high-motion graphics anyway, so you're probably going to be
> doing a 2-D game with a lot of still images or sprites.
>
> Since part of the purpose of a bed-time game is to get the player relaxed
> and sleepy, it makes sense to target and reward mental tasks that make you
> tired. In my case, that would be memorization, mental arithmetic, and some
> kinds of puzzle solving. Problems involving quick movement, social
> interaction, and the little 'rush' I get from reaching stated goals are
> going to wake me up a bit. Since we're trying to be multiplayer, perhaps the
> social interaction can be delayed? (more email than IM)
>
> One style of game that seems appropriate is the Ikariam/Travian style of
> web-based empire building. The games run in real time, but moves often take
> several hours to complete. A game that explicitly encourages logging in at
> bed-time, checking yesterday's results, making several moves, and then
> logging off seems appropriate for the design goals. An added benefit is
> that, by limiting the amount you can do at once, there's a cap on how late
> you can stay up playing it. I'm sure there are a lot of other directions you
> can go with the idea, however.
>


Perhaps something like a coffeebreak roguelike. These are supposed to have
low graphic requirements, little sound, fairly low complexity (for a
roguelike, this can still be a bit to much). And they should not take up to
much time.

http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=Coffeebreak_roguelike

--
Soyweiser