Week 06 - Reflection

Since this week’s discussion is more freeform, I apologize in advance if my thoughts don’t exactly make complete sense. With all that being said, this week our group saw the deconstruction of video games into board games. While not taking every mechanic from our choice of a video game, we were tasked with highlighting a specific mechanic that would transition into the board game format. Our group decided to use Oregon Trail as our video game and resource management as our main game mechanic. Coming from a similar video game with resource management such as Resident Evil, our focus point here was to emulate the importance of using resources wisely through tough decisions.

With games like Resident Evil, a game focused on surviving the horrors of the night, you manage multiple resources like ammo or health in addition to horrors tracking you down. The game deliberately gives you less ammo to tackle enemies forcing the player to choose their battles wisely. In addition to a limited inventory space, players have to manage their resources unless they want to restart their playthrough again. Similar to Oregon Trail, we have a group of individuals looking to get from point A to B with a series of events that the player will have to navigate through. That means sometimes losing ammo, finding warm clothing, or even rationing their food. It’s not only an exercise of resource management but an effective decision-making tool that keeps players guessing if they made the right choice.

Coming from Macklin and Sharp’s chapter on design values, Oregon Trail and Resident Evil both rely heavily on generating decision-making design values. Games like this force the player to how and where players make decisions as well as navigating the presentation of the decision. While still drawing on the inspiration of challenge, resource management games thread the balance between being easy and hard. For example, in Oregon Trail, if the player was allowed to purchase an unlimited number of supplies, the game would be too easy. However, if the value of resources is too much, creating an environment in which players can’t purchase resources, the game becomes too difficult.

It’s striking that right balance between giving players just the right among of resources but not enough that they feel comfortable with what they’re given. Our board game simulates this concept by giving players roughly around $1600 dollars to play around with. To mitigate the resources challenge, we placed values on specific resources that will force the player to choose wisely what they buy. Furthermore, based on the resources they buy it’ll make the game easier or hard depending on where they land on the board.

For Oregon Trail, an educational game back in the 1970s, it was surprising to realize how much depth and thought was put into the player experience. Even though it’s pixel graphics and janky animation, the game designers took into account the challenge and decision-making process that still makes the game beloved by many.