Essay

What my essay is going to be about is a game called Temple Run and what I am going to be doing is examining the interaction and structural of this application. Temple Run is an application that runs on most cellular devices that is touch screen based. Touch screen capability is necessary in order for this precise game to function. The app was released on the Aug 4th 2011 by a developer and publisher called iMangi Studios.

My analysis of this game is going to be split into 3 parts. What I am going to do is, I am going to look at how the game starts and what the designer allows the gamer to do at the very beginning. What is shown on the screen when the app is first opened. Are there instructions? Or is it just simply making your own choices? This will then follow up to me examining how the game runs since this is a gestural based game. How does the player interact with the game for it to function? “We use gestures not only to interact with these objects, but we also use them to interact with each other” – Pravnav Mistry. Finally, I will look at what other extras are given within the game. Is it just a simple game or is there any way of making the game better?

As soon as you open the application, the first thing that will appear on the game is the name, which is called Temple Run. Soon after it will be followed by some music and sound effects. There is already a set up as soon as the game starts. After an introduction of the game has been shown, a list of contents will then pop up on the screen, giving the player choices of what they want to do next. The choices are listed as the following; play, objectives, stats, store, options and more games. In bold graphics, the word “play” will stand out the most since the main function of the app should be clearly visible to the player and the font style design, furthermore triggers a mental thought of hitting the play button. As soon as you press play, the default character will emerge from the pyramid with the stolen idol in the structure of an intro cut scene and then the interactive engagement of the player begins. At this point, the player will have no choice as in who they want the character to be, so the audience would not need to go in to any settings to choose a character, since this has all been set up by the designer. You as a player would literally just have to press play and character will start running. The game is set in a temple in the depths of a jungle and so the character begins with running out of the temple from evil monkeys because character has stolen the cursed idol. The designer has created an informational structure so that you don’t have to push a button to make the character run. It’s not a verbal game where you can shout at the device because it would simply not work.

If you have just downloaded this application for the very first time, a set of instructions will appear above the characters head on the very top of the screen as the game is running. Regardless of what is happening at this point in time, instructions will always be given. Commands will appear if the player has not come across a certain obstacle that can cause them to fail if not performed properly. These instructions will be simple commands that the designer had thought about in order for the player to play the game. You will have to follow the commands whilst the game is still at play, is an indication to show the audience what they would have to do. The designer has made this option to consider the fact that if these instructions have not been performed the way that it should be, they will lose the game. When the set of rules are not followed, there will be no game to play. If these gestures are not made by the player, they will not have any idea what to do and this will lead the player into losing the game. “When a player makes a choice in a game, the systems responds in some way. The relationship between the player’s choice and the system’s response is one way of characterising the depth and quality of interaction.” Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, p61. The designer has well-thought-out what the player needs to do in order for the player to avoid the obstacles that lay ahead of the game, these controls that are given is what enables the game to play. When the player has gone past a certain stage in the game, the commands are then taken away which was there at the very beginning. This will enable the player to make their own choices without being told what to do once they are comfortable and aware. “Behavioural design includes visibility, understanding – but also the feel and heft” Don Norman. Learning the gestures by themselves without a set of rules is the only way that the player is going to learn what this game is all about.

Temple Run has many features but one of the main features that runs the program is the way the audience swipes the game on the device. So when the designer was designing this game, he or she had to take into account that this is a game for a person who uses a touch screen device. “Whatever you are doing with your hands, it’s understanding the gestures” -Pravnav Minstry. So what Pravnav is trying to say is, that everything gestural will respond to the way that the game will play. The game itself wouldn’t work without the touch of the fingers since this is the way the app has been designed. In the game there are 2 ways to swipe, you can use one or two fingers to swipe up and down. Not only does the player have the freedom to swipe, they will also have the freedom to tilt the phone in desired direction according to the obstacles. The translation of swiping up is to jump, since some of the platforms on the ground are missing during gameplay. This will allow the player to swipe down and the result of this will be that the character will avoid hazards such as fire and overhead risks head of him. When the device is tilted to the left and to the right the character will move left and right and collect the golden coins whilst running away from the monkey. What the designer has thought about when creating these obstacles, is that if these commands and rules are not met, the game will be over. But if you don’t follow the correct gestures it will be wrong as well. You are out of options at this point. “Rules are, what makes a game a game.” Jesper Juul Half Real, p13. For example, in my tests, if I didn’t swipe down on the screen or I missed to swipe the device, my character would either go into the fire or bump into a tree trunk, the result of this would be that the character would hurt himself or die and the game will be over. Since these obstacles have been placed at certain points of the game, the player should consider the fact that these actions must be taken. Also the designer has taken into account that when these obstacles appear at these certain moment, it will test the player’s reflexes, which will then trigger the player to be more attached to the game.

The last point that I want to talk about is the choices and objectives that the designer has created in this game. As the game carries on, the more advanced it gets. The effect of this will be that the speed of character will change and the pathway that the character is running on will get more complicated (more cracks on the floor, more fire etc.). It is as if the designer has set up different levels without mentioning it. Within this situation, the role of the designer is to set an environment but to also allows you create your own environment by buying items in the store, so at this point of the game (which is more advance because you can only buy items once you have golden coins) there is more freedom for the player. For instance, the only way that the gamer can buy these items is by collecting the golden coins when playing the game. The more coins you collect the more items that you can buy in the store. Since there is more freedom for the gamer to purchase what they want in the store, the designer is still setting up a structure that if an action is taken, there is a higher result of achieving a greater score. This gives the player an objective considering the game is a survival.

When you first ever open the game, the default character is shown, but now this can be changed. Once you’ve collected a reasonable amount of golden coins, you can now purchase a different character. You are given few choices, and this choice could even be in the form of gender, race, clothing design and even celebrities. This gives the player comfortability and freedom to express their preferences in character design. Since this is an app, you do get updates on the game, when the app is updated some special editions of characters can also be within the game. One of the noticeable available players was Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest runner on earth. The designer includes this extra content to engage with the audience and also to capture the player’s attention towards the game since they know that this is a game about speed which is why they would have introduced this certain character.

As well as choosing your own character in the store, you could also upgrade and earn different types of powerups. These power ups are mega coins, coin magnet, invisibility, boost and coin values. Each one of these powerup have a distinctive action. Alongside these powerups are different levels and there are 5 levels within each section. What the designer has enabled the player to do is to create goals and objectives to get all of the 25 levels of powerup upgrades till you maximise your player’s ability. The result of this would be that the person playing the game can follow the rules and achieve the best results that they can get. However, the only way that you can get this is if you play the game multiples times. So, what the designer has done is, he or she is trying to get the player to play the game as many times as possible. If the player didn’t play a substantial amount of times, they wouldn’t be able to buy the powerups since the store is run by a coin’s system (collecting as many coins as possible whilst the character is trying to survive).

Overall, from examining the informational structure and the interaction whilst considering the role of the designer and audience, I have found out also about this particular application. When you look at this game from a players point of view, it is a visual experience. You can see how the game works and the audience wouldn’t really consider the structure of the game straight away unless you examine the game. However, for the designer the visuals is the last thing that they would have to consider because that’s not the first thing that goes through their minds when creating this interaction. Since underneath all of the visual design, there needs to be a structured designed experience that the designer needs to create for the player. I have also thought about where this game can be used, it can be used on the go. For example, a person can be traveling on public transport and they could be using this application etc. It is not a game that you can sit at home and just play. It’s a game that you can take with you on the go, and this is something that the designer has also considered because the more complex the game, the less mobile the game gets. “You can carry your digital world with you wherever you go” – Pravnav Mistry.