My Analysis GAme




Don't Starve Together

Game design analysis products

Magic circle

Wanneer de game opgestart wordt neemt de game de speler mee in een wereld waar in andere regels gelden dan de wereld waar we in leven. In deze wereld bestaan wezens welke een gevaar vormen voor het character waar de speler mee speelt.

Storytelling

Wat betreft verhaal heeft Don’t starve geen focus gelegd hierop. Er is een kort verhaal welke getoond wordt tijdens de intro van de game.

Eight kinds of fun

Tussen de eight kinds of fun heeft Don’t starve together het volgende te bieden:

 Challenge: Het is best een uitdaging om het character in leven te houden.Fellowship: Deze game, voornamelijk de together variant, heeft een focus op het overleven in co-op mode.
Discovery: De game heeft een wereld welke is verborgen op de map. Deze wordt onthuld naar mate de spelers nieuwe gebieden ontdekken.

Narrative and narration

Deze game heeft geen pakkend verhaal en of characters die direct communiceren met elkaar. Ondanks dit wordt de speler toch gepakt door de omgeving en de game en wordt de speler meegesleept in het verhaal dat de speler eigenlijk zelf creëert. Setting

Het is een fantasie wereld waarin wezen bevinden welke geïnspireerd zijn door dieren uit de echte wereld. Echter zijn deze wezens net wat anders dan we ze kennen. Het lijk op een setting van een spooky tekenfilm.

Mood

De mood van deze game is best wel spooky. De speler moet de character in leven weten te houden door te eten, maar tegelijkertijd moet de mentale stand van de character ook op niveau blijven anders gaat de character schaduw monsters waarnemen. Naar mate de mentale stand omlaag gaat kunnen deze schaduw monsters het character ook daadwerkelijk schade aanbrengen.

Genre


Don’t starve is een survival game waarin de speler een character voor zo lang mogelijk in leven moet weten te houden. Naast het verzamelen van eten en het op pijl houden van de mentale stand van de character moet de speler ook nog eens de character genoeg slaap en warmte bieden.

MDA

The core loop for this game is surviving. The Action is walking around and exploring the game world. The reward is that the player explores new things which are essential for surviving. And the expansion is that the player survives which brings the player to the next day without dying so the player can go on exploring.

Flow

The game flow in don't starve starts very hard. The game starts with little info to the player on how to survive. The player probably dies a couple of times before getting the hang of it. After a while when the player has master the game the game starts to become boring.

Level Design

The world of Don't starve is a huge sandbox which is computer generated at the start of the game. There is no actual level design as we now it from other games.

Feedback loops and reward & punishment

The player can craft certain items in the game. These items can be essential to survive, which is the core loop of don't starve. So the player starts exploring to find items that the player needs to craft the items which ensures the survival of the player. Surviving is the main reward the player can achieve in don't starve. To achieve that reward the game gives the player smaller rewards which lead up to the bigger reward. 

 Don't starve is also very good in punishing the player. The player will became weaker and the chance of surviving will became less every second the player doesn't spend his time exploring and /or crafting. Which eventually can lead to the ultimate punishment and that is the death of the main character. This means that the player will lose the entire processes and will need to start over the game.

Balancing

There is a certain balance in the game when we look at player vs npc characters. This balance comes after a while when the player begins mastering the game.In the beginning the heavy side of the balance is on the players side. The player will be punished a lot before understanding the game. But after a while the player can become to powerful against the cpu. so then again the game is unbalanced in my opinion. 

 The balance is just right somewhere in the middle where the player knows enough to survive but yet not enough to master.

Sources

https://dontstarve.fandom.com/wiki/Don%27t_Starve_Wiki
There's a difference between CHALLENGING and BAD GAME DESIGN
Don't Starve: Klei's grand experiment
World Generation

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