- Oct 2024
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scalar.case.edu scalar.case.edu
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The most visible difference between adventure games and walking sims is the removal of puzzles
While I agree there are fewer physical challenges in a walking sim than an adventure game, I think the factor of predetermined choices/option is a big difference. These choices refer to more than typical multiple-choice answers, but also choices to change spaces and to do certain actions. In a walking sim, the player is free to do whatever. There's no need to record one's input in order to build the algorithm and advance in the game. A player can explore as many or as few areas of the game and can still make progress and finish the game.
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- Sep 2024
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scalar.case.edu scalar.case.edu
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But in a narrative experience not structured as a win-lose contest the movement forward has the feeling of enacting a meaningful experience both consciously chosen and surprising.
reminds me of the different experiences that were shared last seminar about "adventures with anxiety." for some, the experience was cut short and left them feeling confused and unsatisfied, while others reached the true ending, completing the objective of the game. i would argue that the complexity and enjoyment of a maze-like game could also rely on the choices of the person who's playing, not just the creator of the game
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This kind of narrative structure need not be limited to such simplistic content or to an explicitly mazelike interface. In the right hands a maze story could be a melodramatic adventure with complex social subtexts.
many games may be based off of the same template
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Minos’s maze was therefore a frightening place, full of danger and bafflement, but successful navigation of it led to great rewards
a good foundation to create a story and/or a game from because there's a plot, an objective, the opportunity to make choices, and a clear win or lose ending
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