Happy Summer everyone!

Got some good news here!

Spike’s Time Off is content complete and will be hitting your computer screens soon!
All that remains is to polish this bad boy up before delivery!

But before I get back on that, let’s discuss a concept that makes a game stand out- its theme. Beyond just its purpose in the storyline, a game’s theme can be conveyed through other elements as well. Things such as UI design to gameplay elements can do a great deal in putting the player in the right mindset.

For Spike’s Time Off, the theme is that of the “family vacation”.
We even got a brochure for ya’ll to look at…

Activities for their stay include relaxing on the beach…

Trying new, exotic flavors…

“Chilling” in the hot spring…

and y'know, what usually goes down…

Aside from the aesthetics, gameplay must also take into account user experience and what encounters they’ll most likely trigger. This largely depends on the type of game, but any immersive experience is seldom coincidental as the developer(s) are in charge of accommodating user decisions, should their expectations be set appropriately. An example would be introducing a mechanic one way, but failing to communicate that it can’t be used another way would skew the player’s expectations about that certain mechanic. Proper, but subtle communication can go a long way in establishing player expectations.

Anyway, Spike and company have got some time off, but like in any video game, destiny takes no vacations

Thanks ya’ll