Case Studies
Works that have Influenced and Inspired my Project
Antichamber is a first-person puzzle-platform game. The puzzles within the game are based on what can happen within 'impossible objects' such as passages that lead the player to different locations depending on which way they face, and structures that would normally seem impossible within a normal three-dimensional space. The game uses elements of psychological exploration mainly through the passing advice given to help the player figure out the solutions to the puzzles along with proverbs for real life.
Antichamber
Case Study from my Contextual Review Summative:
Antichamber is a "mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted"[1] based around the use of non-Euclidean geometry as its core game mechanic. My interest in building my research and project around the unfamiliar and strange stems from the game's design to defamiliarise the game spaces for the player. Antichamber explores the psychological experience successfully through various ways, from "mind-bending challenges" to "lifelike soundscapes", all within an excellent take on a non-Euclidean world.[2] The level design and psychological-emotional reaction explored within Antichamber are vital aspects of my research. The aesthetics used to disorientate and confuse the player are also extremely important in approaching the aesthetics within my research. Alexander Bruce created the game using a labyrinth of white walls that allowed for little familiarity within the space that on occasion would change or disappear, adding to the players feeling of displacement. In my research, I am using colour and contrast to explore the combination of 2D and 3D; having Antichamber as a reference to how I can use the simple aesthetics to create the illusion of 2D within a 3D game space will be advantageous.
[1] Rami Ismail. Antichamber. Presskit. Accessed Date of Access June 2021, http://antichamber-game.com/press/sheet.php?p=Antichamber
[2] Ibid.
Dear Esther is a first-person exploration and adventure game. It uses a minimalistic approach for game-play, focusing on the objective of the game around exploring an island while being narrated a series of letters to the characters deceased wife Esther. Details unravel about her death as the player roams the island. It is a game that causes the player to form their own conclusions of the story.
Dear Esther
Excerpt from my Design Practice :
Dear Esther is a first-person exploration game with minimal gameplay as the only objective is to explore the island while mysteries around his wife's passing. I have always liked to
create games involving minimal gameplay where the player is left to their own devices and must figure out what to do themselves. The type of narrative Dear Esther has and how the game explores it is how I would like to test my ideas around involving 2d and 3d in a 'familiar' environment as it can create its own 'strangeness'. Part of the gameplay within Dear Esther and The Witness revolves around unravelling interactive narrative and it is what
I have started to trial within my game through the walk-in photo frames and the open world replication in a 3d view and more 2d view.
Case Study from my Contextual Review Summative:
Dear Esther takes a different approach to Antichamber. Robert Briscoe designed Dear Esther as an interactive narrative to "see what would happen if you stripped out 'traditional' gameplay from a first-person game space, and instead, used that space to tell a story."[1] The simple concept of leaving the player with just the world and the story[2] is one of the ideas behind my research. The world and environment are the primary focus and interaction within Dear Esther; it focuses on using interactive narrative to build the story for the player, leaving the world open to explore. Within my research, I want to attempt this on a smaller scale to aid in my concepts of altering, combining, and merging the 2D and 3D forms. Alongside the world and level design, I want to explore the emotions of disorientation generated through the interactive narrative created within Dear Esther and how I can utilise this in exploring strangeness and bringing the unfamiliar to the familiar. "Of course, other arts and media can also evoke these concepts of disorientation and thrown-ness, but a game in which we are asked to simultaneously be ourselves and be someone (or something) else engages with this facticity on a direct experiential level."[3]
[1] Robert Briscoe. Dear Esther. Littlelostpoly. accessed Date of Access April 2021. https://littlelostpoly.com/dear-esther
[2] Alexander Muscat et al., First-Person Walkers: Understanding the Walker Experience Through Four Design Themes. (RMIT University, 2016), 2
[3] Oscar Moralde. Haptic Landscapes: Dear Esther and Embodied Video Game Space. n.d.