What do you look for in a game ?

Jel

What is the most important aspect of game for you ?

• Concept behind the game
• Gameplay
• Graphics
• Realism
• Humour
• Characters
• FXs
• Sound / SFXs

I have a feeling that it's going to be all of the above but what are your top 3 ?

Cobra

Moved to Game Design forum and stickied. I heartily endorse this discussion.

Personally I picked "concept behind the game" and "gameplay," which both have to be solid if a game is going to entertain me for any length of time. I also picked "humor," which is not exactly necessary, but can be a huge plus -- I'll forgive poor graphics and even poor sound (a composer's pet peeve) if a game makes me laugh!

Realism is, in my humble opinion, overrated.

Jel

Hi Cobra,

Great to see this post has made it to a sticky. I'm fascinated to see the results...

maniraptor

I might break out "story" as its own category in the poll. (It's different from "concept", which I interpret as the top-level vision for the game.) Story's a double-edged sword, though; I really like well-done stories in games, but I abhor games with trite/stale/craptacular stories.

Ultimately, though, gameplay is what makes a game succeed or fail for me.

That said, I am ridiculously oriented toward visuals. If a game has uninteresting graphics, then I probably won't play it, or I won't play long enough to appreciate the gameplay.

However!!! If a game has a distinctive, novel, or incredibly brilliant-sounding concept, I will overlook any superficial "flaws" and give it a serious go. Sometimes this reveals hidden gems, other times... not so much. (I'm looking at you, Enviro-Bear 2010, and your suck-tacular gameplay!)

ktfright

The game can look like crap, but if it has great sound, gameplay, and the right execution, i'll love it!

JGary321

Graphics - They must be at least decent graphics for me to give a serious consideration. Nothing fancy, just not 8-bit 16-bit is perfectly fine though.

Gameplay - The MOST important. Some of the games on my iPhone I could not even tell you what the story was about, but the gameplay was fun & engaging & kept me hooked.

EDIT: Personally I think music is overated. I usually turn music off. On a console quality game music can be very important, but on the iPhone I don't even care if there is music.

ORBZ

gameplay, for sure.. otherwise, what's the point? movies tell better stories, art has better graphics, and concerts have better sound.

games are about gameplay for me.

quantumsheep

@JGary - we need to have words, sir! See me after school

I think 'uniqueness' is something I look for in a game. Whether that be in graphics, control, concept, gameplay etc.

What I normally find is that this rare quality appears in all genres at some point and then helps redefine the template for that genre. For example:

MDK was the first game to have a sniper rifle in it (just beating out Goldeneye). This is now a staple weapon in FPSs.

Halo's recharging energy and melee attacks.

Braid is a platform game, but has one unique 'gimmick' that defines how the whole game is played, thus redefining what a platformer can be. Also check out VVVVVV for another new take on the platform game here:

Portal - a brilliantly simple idea executed flawlessly

There are countless others. But I do like clever and unique game mechanics. Something like VVVVVV would be overlooked by many because of its presentation - but it offers something different. And I like that!

QS

bgjoanbg

I look for replay ability. This is why I love online console shooters like Modern Warfare 2 or Halo 3. Sure Uncharted 2 won basically all the game of the year awards, but what game will you be playing still next year?

quantumsheep

Give this topic some love - post your thoughts!

scitunes

Game play. It's got to have controls that feel right. And I usually like games to have a sense of humor. This could come from the graphics or the story line or the sound effects, but I like games that make me smile.

Cobra

Random thought: the moment-to-moment gameplay should be inherently fun.

For example, the feel of firing your weapon in a shooter, of jumping in a platformer, etc. can make or break the entire game experience. The look (art/animation), sound, and the mechanic itself can all contribute to this feel.

Sometimes improving the feel of your moment-to-moment gameplay is the most effective way to improve your game. Such was my experience at the Global Game Jam, which I'll be posting about later.

quantumsheep

Look forward to it.

I suppose you're referring in some small part to Halo's much vaunted '30 seconds of fun, over and over and over'?

Completely agree with you there!

On an interesting side note, I played two iPhone games recently, which reinforced the 'gameplay is king' rule by displaying limited gameplay of any kind.

This was very disappointing as both games looked absolutely gorgeous. But within minutes I'd stopped playing!

StormyStudio

Concept, Gameplay and humour for me. Graphics would probably have been the next option.

CONCEPT: To even consider downloading it the concept needs to be original, interesting, (or useful), I saw an extreme stickman shopping cart game made it into the UK's top 25 paid apps, simple looking, funny, original and by the reviews I'd of thought it played well.

Gameplay, it needs to play well So I won't just delete it straight away, also helps get good reviews,

Humour will also get me to download it and spread the word by talking to other iphone lovers with a beer. It also gets the app shown to more people.

eyeofsauron

I picked gameplay and Concept behind a game of course. I also picked FXs. I really love games that you have computer allies in. Like war games. I like to feel I have friends helping me.

alnkhailan

it has to be entertaining my friend ... games are about entertainment ... even if it was a simple "how many times can you push the button" type of game ... as long as it is frickin entertaining with an original idea ... people will play and word of mouth will take its toll

tekkendp

Gameplay - I think it's important that the controls and feel of the game is right. This is the brick wall I'm hitting at the moment. My game plays fine (shump), but there is something missing. It's a little to clinical. There has to be an organic feel. I suck at explaining myself. Okay, the following games have a very natural flow that makes for great gameplay in a shump:-

R-Type (arcade)
Apidya (amiga - underrated gem)
Battle Squadron (amiga)
Ikaruga (dreamcast - as close to perfection as you can get)
Thunder Force 4 (Mega Drive)
Star Force (arcade)
Space Invaders (Orginal arcade)
Einhander (PS1 - poetry in motion)
And my all time fav - Fiying Shark

To me, all these games felt natural, just right.

scorelessmusic

Perhaps one thing not quite covered so far is the 'flow', or fluidity of the game as it moves from one aspect to another. Not a deal-breaker for some genres of gaming, but for a good potion, the transitions can be a real downer if not done properly.

I think I just read a review recently about this aspect, where the opening and game over transitions became tedious after several replays. And for a game that lives (or dies) by the 'try again' replayability, it's a terrible thing to overlook.

When done right, however, moving from one aspect to another can be a tremendous boon in moving the game along and giving a sense of positive progress, motivational even for players to 'sacrifice' just a few more minutes to get to the next point, and then some more...