Exploring Minimalism in Video Games

Minimalist design is an important heuristic for website user interfaces, but there is some debate over how this concept should be applied to games. There are many ways to approach minimalism in games since games are not purely interfaces, but have many aspects of user interaction that can be minimalized or simplified. The heads-up display can be simple or virtually non-existent. The controls or available actions can be minimized. The graphics and sound design of the game can be very simple and to-the-point. Finally, difficulty can be minimized to simplify the overall game experience. Players and critics of video games often disagree over where minimalism is appropriate and where greater complexity is needed instead.

Simplicity was once practically a necessity in many games, since the technology was so limited. But, for a while, as technology has grown, so has the complexity of games. Generally, more complex games were seen as higher quality, though there was always a limit to this, since obviously cluttered games were never considered to be ideal. Now, many indie games are causing gamers to shift their attitudes and appreciate simplicity again, as these games favour minimalist design in a variety of areas. However, journalist Steven Strom writes that minimalism has been killing games ever since Braid, which showed indie developers that they could cheaply create games “with as little actual substance as possible and pass [them] off as ‘artistic’” (Strom, 2011). In this case, overly minimalist design can come across as pretentious or as an excuse to put less time and effort into development. Using minimalism in many areas as a device to evoke a certain feeling in a game is not bad in itself, but Strom and many others take issue with this technique being repeated again and again with different indie games. This raises the question: which aspects of a game should be minimalized to make an appealing and powerful game?

Heads-Up Display

                The heads-up display, or HUD, is one aspect of a game’s design that can be minimalized for a particular effect. Many games aim to eliminate the need for a HUD, or at least cut down elements of the HUD significantly in order to increase player immersion. Similarly, some games such as Dead Space use a diegetic interface as a HUD. In Dead Space, the player character’s health bar is shown on his back in 3D game space rather than on a 2D overlay. Many game developers believe that less of a HUD (or a more diegetic HUD) makes games more immersive and better as a whole, but this is not always the case. A game’s HUD is most effective when giving the player access to all information they may need at a glance, and many games have a great deal of such information. For instance, World of Warcraft (WoW) gives the player the option to customize the HUD to take up as much or as little of the screen space as they would like by filling it with wanted information and icons. Interestingly enough, more experienced players chose to make the HUD more complex and cluttered in favour of displaying more information (Andrews, 2010), rather than going for the minimalist approach. This shows that while minimalism of the heads-up display may work wonders for some games, the opposite is true for other games. Games that require the player to keep track of large amounts of information at once may benefit from more complex HUD systems, especially if these are customizable like in WoW, but games that have less information for players to track may benefit from HUD minimalism.

The diegetic use of HUD in Deadspace. Electronic Arts. (2008). Deadspace [Video Game].

A complex customized HUD in World of Warcraft. Blizzard Entertainment. (2004). World of Warcraft [Video Game].

Controls

                The controls or available actions in a game can also be simplified for the purpose of minimalism, and this can also be done either positively or negatively. The obvious downfall for simple controls would be if the player is left with fewer options on how to interact with the game, which would then limit their overall experience. A hard-core gamer in particular may not feel challenged or interested by the game if the controls and actions are kept too simple. When done right, however, simple controls can be easy to learn and remember, allowing the player to focus on the game rather than the control system. In addition, limited controls can give a very specific feeling to a game. For instance, Limbo has very minimal controls, allowing the player to only control their character’s movement, make him jump, and push or pull objects. This lack of available actions can make the player feel somewhat helpless, which enhances the creepiness of the game. On the other hand, Journey also uses simple controls, where the player can only choose to move, jump, or “talk” (which serves no real purpose besides aesthetic value), and this simplicity makes the game feel more tranquil, allowing the player to focus on the environment above their own actions.

Screenshot from Journey. Thatgamecompany. (2012). Journey [Video Game].

                When designing control schemes, it is important to consider aiming towards simple controls that allow for complex choices (Debreczeni, 2012). This means that the player should be able to learn how to play the game fairly quickly with very little time spent adapting to controls, but while playing, the player should be able to use those simple controls to make a number of intricate and often difficult decisions that will impact gameplay. In this way, a new player could get the hang of the game quickly, but would have to work hard to master it.

Aesthetics

               

Aesthetics such as graphics and sound can be simplified to strongly influence the feel of a game. This can mean very different things for different games. Minecraft has very little music and uses simple graphics by creating a world out of cubes, which allows the player to mould their world block-by-block, and also makes the game feel like even more of a virtual sandbox. The player understands that the graphics appear simple for a purpose, and the entire world is consistently boxy, so this is not a problem. In contrast, Limbo is a 2D game with simple colourless graphics where the character and objects in the game world are made to look like dark silhouettes. This all makes the game feel eerie, like the player is only seeing shadows rather than the full picture. The music of Limbo is also minimalist, as the “lack of dramatic, mood driving music makes the game more intense than other titles that employ a full orchestra” (Achievos, 2010). Silence makes the game creepier, similar to the effect of the minimalist graphics.

 

Screenshot from Minecraft showing the simple block style of graphics. Mojang. (2011). Minecraft [Video Game].

Screenshot from Limbo showing the eerie colourless visual style. Playdead. (2010). Limbo [Video Game].

On the plus side, minimalist graphics and sound can still be artistic and beautiful in a simplistic way, and can give the game a very defined feeling. Simple aesthetics also typically distract the player less from the actual gameplay, as long as there are enough audio-visual cues to guide the player. The problem with this approach is that there is less of a ‘wow’ factor for players who want to see more complex graphics. In addition, simple graphics and sound make it much more difficult to make a game world feel like a living, breathing world that players could lose themselves in. However, all that this means is that the game developers cannot simply give a game simple graphics and sound without much thought, but they must carefully plan how to make the game world just as rich with simple aesthetics as it could have been with more complexity.

Difficulty

                One aspect of minimalism that is often forgotten about, but which causes a great deal of grief in games, is difficulty level. Simply making games less difficult makes them accessible to a wider audience, but can also bore or frustrate hard-core gamers looking for a challenge. Many developers are choose to ignore this problem, and continue to churn out easy games in hopes of making more sales. The game that most notably rejects the ‘easy’ route is Demon Souls, which is notorious for its extreme and punishing difficulty level. Demon Souls proved that there is an audience for incredibly difficult games, and yet easier games have an even larger demand. So how can this problem be resolved?

                According to Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of Demon Souls and Dark Souls, “gamers do not particularly prefer easy games. What they want is interesting and worthwhile games to play, so… it is natural that hindrance or stress that does not attribute to such interesting and worthwhile elements will be removed in the end” (Gamespot, 2012). So, developers should spend more time making the game into a meaningful experience, and worry about difficulty level afterwards. Even so, unreasonable difficulty (or lack thereof) can hold players back from fully appreciating that experience. One solution could be to implement a dynamic difficulty setting, where the game would adjust certain aspects of gameplay to be more or less difficult dynamically so that the player does not know it is doing so (Gamespot, 2012). For instance, if a player breezes through puzzles in the game but struggles with shooting mechanics, the game may adjust puzzle difficulty to be harder and shooting to be easier over time. This concept of dynamic difficulty adjustment is the opposite of minimalist to the developer, since this would likely be very complex, but if done correctly, the player would not even notice its existence. This would eliminate the need for the player to manually choose a difficulty setting, which would make the difficulty level system appear to be simplified, when it is actually more complicated.

 

Gamespot. (Producer). (2012). Are modern games being dumbed down?. [Web Video]. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://www.gamespot.com/super-meat-boy/videos/are-modern-games-being-dumbed-down-6398401/ 

Conclusion

Minimalist design can be used in many different ways in video games. Minimalism is not a problem or solution for all games, but can be used positively or negatively to enhance or destroy a game experience. The key is to understand where minimalism will be effective and where it will take away from the game experience.

References

Achievos. (2010, July 24). Limbo is Full of Minimalist Fun. Achievos. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://achievos.blogspot.ca/2010/07/limbo-is-full-of-minimalist-fun.html

Andrews, M. (2010, February 23). Game UI discoveries: What players want. Gamasutra. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132674/game_ui_discoveries_what_players_.php

Blizzard Entertainment. (2004). World of Warcraft [Video Game]. 

Debreczeni, A. (2012, September 28). Complex game experience, simple controls. ios Game Designer. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from www.iosgamedesigner.com/?p=65

Electronic Arts. (2008). Deadspace [Video Game]. 

Gamespot. (Producer). (2012). Are modern games being dumbed down?. [Web Video]. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://www.gamespot.com/super-meat-boy/videos/are-modern-games-being-dumbed-down-6398401/

Mojang. (2011). Minecraft [Video Game].

Playdead. (2010). Limbo [Video Game].

 

Strom, S. (2011, April 7). Why minimalism is killing video games. Examiner.com. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://www.examiner.com/article/why-minimalism-is-killing-video-games

Thatgamecompany. (2012). Journey [Video Game].

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Designing Games for the Blind, Deaf, and Colour-Blind

For my first blog of the year, I thought I would explore the idea of Universal Usability in video games, and what can be done to make games playable for people with several types of disabilities. As mentioned in Professor Lennart Nacke’s lecture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRBUoYjn0VA), players with physical disabilities can benefit from simple one-button game design, but there are other disabilities that can affect a gamer’s ability to play video games as well. I was inspired to write this blog entry because of a video I once saw which really opened my eyes to the great capabilities of people with disabilities when it comes to playing video games.

The video is about blind gamer Terry Garrett, who was 23 years old at the time. Garrett managed to play through (and enjoy) a number of video games, particularly two games from the Oddworld series: Abe’s Oddysee and Abe’s Exoddus. The fascinating part of his story is that Garrett was able to expertly play those games using only his hearing and memory. In the video below, Garrett plays Abe’s Exoddus while explaining his process for playing video games as a blind gamer.

To sum it up, Garrett has a number of particular steps he goes through in order to figure out how to play a video game. The first thing he does is ask a sighted person to explain the layout of the menu to him, so that he can memorize how to navigate the menu. He also said he will sometimes find video walkthroughs online that he will listen to in order to get a feel for the game, and to know what to look for and aim towards. However, he just seems to save that step for games that he has difficulty in figuring out, because for Abe’s Exoddus, he never listened to a single walkthrough, but figured it out on his own. While playing the game, Garrett listens for sounds that give any hint to what is going on – footsteps, hitting against a wall, interacting with other characters, sounds that enemies make, and so forth. He also pays attention to sound landmarks, such as the sound of water, or footsteps that will hint at what kind of terrain his character is walking on. Garrett also relies heavily on his memory, as he memorizes sections of the game as he gets through them (including the number of steps to important objects or obstacles), and works his way through the game bit by bit using quick saves. (http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/04/blind-gamer-plays-zelda-by-ear/)

Designing for the Blind

Garrett’s story can show us quite a lot about good game design, especially for blind players such as himself. For one, sophisticated sound design can actually be enough for a blind player to understand a game world. Every major action should make a unique sound, so that the player can decipher what is happening using only their hearing. For instance, walking, running, climbing, hitting a wall, or picking up an item should all make different and easily distinguishable sounds. It would not make sense to give every action the player character can take a different animation and not a different sound. Everything that is conveyed in a game visually should also be conveyed using sound, whenever possible. Characters, enemies, and objects should all make unique sounds. It is understandable to refrain from making all objects emit sound at all times, but at the very least, the player’s interaction with an object should make a sound. There should also be very clear audio feedback for a player’s success or failure, especially in important situations such as if the player character dies or has to restart an area. Without this feedback, a blind player would become very lost in the game very quickly, and would not likely be able to retain interest without any feedback on their actions. There should be different background sounds for different environments so that the player can orient themselves within the game world using sound alone. For instance, a forest may have birds chirping, or a stream may have the sound of flowing water. Even a change in music could be a significant sign that the player has entered a new area. All of these cues help a blind player to navigate through a game world using only their hearing.

Though I stressed using sound wherever possible, there is a limit to this. The game also shouldn’t overload the player with sound information, because this could easily become chaotic and confusing, not to mention stressful. Terry Garrett mentioned that he cannot play first-person shooters like Halo because there are shots and explosions coming from all directions, which makes it very difficult for him to figure out what is going on. Ideally, games for the blind would have plenty of sound information, but spread out rather than all happening at once.

For blind players, game menus should also be very easy to navigate. A simple menu with a few options from top to bottom or left to right is best, and if the menu were sound-based, then the player could figure it out without help from their sighted friends or family. Garrett also stressed that he relies heavily on the quick save feature in games, because it allows him to complete small sections of the game at a time. Without this feature, blind players would experience quite a lot of frustration by having to repeat sections again and again if they fail later on.

Finally, haptic feedback is another way that video games can be more accessible to the blind. Garrett said that he also enjoys playing Wii Sports because the haptic feedback allows him to figure out the game more easily. Though this may not be ideal for some physically challenged players, providing feedback to the player’s sense of touch is a good idea when possible, especially when it is used to supplement audio and visual feedback.

Designing for the Deaf

Since video games usually focus far more on visual cues than audio cues, it does not seem as difficult to design games for the deaf as for the blind. However, there are still a variety of video games that cause a player to rely on sound in order to progress. After some thinking, I came up with an example – the Lost Woods in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In the Lost Woods, the player has to navigate through a number of paths by listening for music, and going down the path where the music is playing the loudest. The core concept of this is poor design for deaf players, since they would not be able to figure out puzzles based entirely on sound. Ideally, there should be some slight visual cues to lead the way as well.

However, the interesting thing about the Lost Woods in Ocarina of Time is that there already are slight visual cues that a deaf player could use to navigate the area, which most players aren’t intended to notice. Each path appears to lead to blackness, but the incorrect path shows a little bit of light in the middle of the blackness, so if the player really pays attention and looks at the paths from the right angle, even a deaf player can figure out which way to go.

On the left, there is a completely black, correct path.  On the right, there is an incorrect path with a light in the middle.

In addition, the path isn’t extremely complicated anyways, so even if the player couldn’t hear and couldn’t see the visual difference between the paths, they could figure out how to navigate using trial and error. Whether or not the Lost Woods was intentionally designed in this way, this is an excellent example on how to deal with making sound-based games, or sections of games, more accessible to the deaf.

Designing for the Colour-Blind

Ideally, in order to make video games more accessible for colour-blind players, colour should not play an important factor in games, but should simply be included for aesthetics. However, if a game requires its player to distinguish between colours as a part of gameplay, this can still be done in an accessible way for colour-blind players. Colour-blind players cannot distinguish between different hues, but can typically distinguish between different shades or intensities of colour. For instance, if a player was required to distinguish between red, blue, and yellow, this could still be done by using a dark blue, bright red, and light yellow, as long as the player would not have to label which of the colours was which, unless the game specifically told them beforehand. (http://jfly.iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp/color/)

Colours as seen by those who see colour, and as seen by those with Protanope or Deuteranope colour-blindness.

At first, I didn’t think that many games severely disadvantaged colour-blind players. However, after reading this article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13054691), I realized that colour is used as a key indicator in a great variety of games, to the point where colour-blind people would certainly struggle with playing those games. For instance, certain first person shooter games distinguish teams by colour, such as the red and green used in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, and so colour-blind players would not easily be able to distinguish between their team mates and enemies. Another example used is racing games such as Formula 1 2010, which uses red to tell the player to brake, and green for the player to accelerate, but colour-blind players would not get these cues.

On the left, Call of Duty Modern Warfare as seen by those with colour sight, and on the right, as seen by those with Deuteranopia, a type of colour blindness.

The best solution I could suggest would be to either give important colours a very different intensity, so that even colour-blind players can distinguish between them, or have other indicators besides colour in the game.

As a whole, there is plenty that could be done to design video games to be more accessible to players with different handicaps. Many of the solutions I have mentioned are good design practices in the first place, and so game designers should really make a conscious effort to keep these points in mind. Other solutions that are only for the benefit of players with a disability are still important to consider, because designing a game that is inclusive to all different types of players should be a key goal for many game developers. Of course, it can be difficult to always design games to be all-inclusive for players, but putting a little extra effort into game design could go a long way.