group presentation

1. First Level
Design
The Okapiers

2. Types of Gamers
● “Hobbyists”
o Casual
o Social
● “Passionates”
o Specialist
o Expert

3. Types of First Levels
● “Babying”
● “Non-Babying”
● Hybrid

4. Disclaimer
● These categories do not define games as a
whole
● However, first impressions are becoming
more important

5. “Babying”
● Definition: Any first level that slowly
introduces the player to the basic game
mechanics, usually by way of explicit
explanation of buttons, gestures, and
controls
● These are generally more popular with the
“hobbyists”

6. Plants vs. Zombies

7. Angry Birds

8. Impact of “Babying”
● Larger potential market
● Recent influx of games
like this, including AAA
titles such as
WATCH_DOGS

9. “Non-Babying”
● Definition: Any first level that just drops the
player into the game and forces him or her to
figure out everything alone, and which also
does not scale back the game’s difficulty
● These are generally more popular with the
“passionates”

10. The Legend of Zelda

11. Ghosts and Goblins

12. Impact of “Non-Babying”
● Potentially reduced market size
● Producers may influence designers to stay
away from this type

13. Hybrid
● Definition: Any first level that does not
explicitly state buttons/gestures/controls but
provides gameplay with significantly reduced
difficulty and low risk of failure
● Allows for controls to be “learned”

14. Mega Man x

15. Super Metroid

16. Impact of Hybrid
● Tries to appease as much of the gaming
spectrum as possible (with trade-offs)
● Also has the possibility for a large market

17. What do you think?
● What type of first level did you like the best?
Why?
o Which one did you like the least? Why?
● What type of gamer do you consider yourself
to be?