Tuesday, September 28, 2010

how can one gameplay mechanic make an addictive game?

Ok, i dont really like watching or playing golf in the real world, nor do i like playing them virtually either.

But why then am i addicted to the web based golf game....World Golf Tour http://www.wgt.com/?
And why is, what is essentially a 1 button game, so addictive?

Golf games are essentially 1 button games. I just never paid attention to this before. The basic premise
goes something like this...

(1) you create a profile and choose an avatar
(2) you select a course you want to play
(3) you select a type of game (matchplay or closest to the hole)
(4) you are shown an avatar of your golfer standing at the tee, an overlay of the course and the
position of the hole relative to the position of your avatar.
(5) a wind indicator gives you an idea of the strength and direction of the wind.
(6) the game even selects, for you, the club most suited to hit the ball the requisite distance from the player

Its time to play....so how does it work?

> You select the strength on the power meter by dragging the mouse up
> click the left mouse to swing........then wait for the power meter to reach the 'straight line' indicator that will give you the perfect shot at which point
> you left click the mouse.... Click it too early on the ball slices to the left, click it too late and the ball hooks right....

then you wait to see where the ball ends up.......after which you repeat the process....

thats it.... thats all there is to it.......

why then do i feel the compulsion to keep playing? Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think....

http://www.wgt.com/

The Enigma Complex - the first final project from the MSC in Digital Games

MSC in Games Get their final project underway.... Its called the Enigma complex
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