Analysis of games styles

Analysis of games styles

For games that rely on audience knowledge, there are a few games that I felt were very helpful in giving me a reference in what makes an educational game both fun and challenging. I've also looked at the platform of the medium of what my game is played on. In this case, I've looked at some mobile phone games as a way to analyse what games I feel really capture the addictive essence of the games that are popular. 

Big Brain Academy

This is one of the most popular games that are considered educational. This game had a very wide audience, which ranged from avid gamers to newcomers who may not play games on a regular basis. I feel like one of the combining factors for its popularity which really identified with most people is the challenging aspect of wanting to get a high enough score. Without any actual physical reward, people are encouraged to come back and play over and over again.

Temple Run

When Temple Run was at the height of its power, a lot of people were playing it both casually and competitively. The game had a system where you had a score depending on how well you played and how far you had gone, which made the game have such an addictive nature.

Super Why!

This is a much smaller game than any of the other games that are on the list, but I feel like it’s a great example of an educational game that can be played with a both a minimalistic design and execution. The game includes interactive storybooks in which kids are instructed to plug in the correct words to complete sentences. Another feature that the game has is that it lays out words which kids can then learn how to trace, as a way to learn how to spell words correctly.

Clash of Clans

In Clash of Clans, the addictive nature comes from the both the co-operative and versus nature of the games. The game encourages players to play against each other to earn resources, items and trophies. The reason why I've included this on the list is because I feel like it’s interesting that one of the most popular games available is a game that stresses both a competitive nature and a co-operative nature in equal measure. The way games are played is changing and I feel that online is becoming an interesting component that should be noted because of its availability in most games that are played. Online play isn't in my game, but I think that a game based on questions could work