Outcomes During the game, the player moves between three locations: the entrance to a dungeon, a dungeon in which the puzzle game is played, and the exit from the dungeon. The scenery of the locations is designed to form an implied storyline. In the puzzle section of the game, the user is confronted with a set of five orbs, which light up and make noise in a sequence. To complete the puzzle, the user must repeat the sequence by selecting the orbs in the correct pattern. The user is given visual and audio feedback to help them know when they have selected an orb and whether their selection is correct, including a set of rising or falling floor tiles that form a path to the exit when the puzzle is completed. If unsuccessful, the user may try again any number of times. If successful, the user moves to the ending portion of the game. When the user has completed the dungeon and moved to the exit, they have the option to restart the puzzle if they wish to play again. Puzzler is intended to appeal to and be an easily accessible by anyone who is familiar with using a computer, has played some video games in the past, but is totally new to VR. The typical user will likely be in their twenties or thirties, but the game should be playable by all ages. | Introduction Puzzler is a mobile VR application for new VR users which challenges them to solve a “Simon Says” type puzzle. Story of the Process The focus of this project was on design and testing. Models and most of the scripts were provided by Udacity and Unity’s Asset Store. I started by arranging the models to create the scene, starting with the dungeon itself. Since I was building a dungeon, I used low lighting to maintain an ominous mood. I made the dungeon extra long to create space for the rising/falling floor tiles, a personal twist I wanted to add to this project. Next, I created scenery around the entrance and exit of the dungeon. My design goals were to keep a constant sense of immersion throughout the user’s experience of the application, maintain consistency with the atmosphere of the dungeon, and to suggest a story. Prior to building the dungeon, I created a sketch in Tiltbrush of the entire scene so that I could experiment quickly with different designs and get a sense of how all the parts of the scene would fit together. |
User Testing Outcomes and Iteration
My test user--a woman in her thirties who had minimal experience with video games or VR--found the starting environment to be peaceful, but mysterious, as intended. She described where she was as: “an island in the ocean, far from everything else [and] in a medieval setting”. The start game UI was easy for her to figure out. She pointed out a few details, however, that needed to be changed, such as the color of the beach (it looked like sickly grass rather than sand) and the boat was set too low so the water mesh could be seen through it. Fortunately, these were both easy fixes.
Movement into the game area felt “smooth, fluid, and fun—like flying” and did not generate any motion sickness. The movement out of the game area, however, made her slightly nauseous, but this was fixed by simply slowing down the movement speed. The mood of the playing area was excitement and curiosity, because it was clearly where the game was. Scale felt natural to the user and she could see all of the orbs comfortably.
Figuring out the gameplay was not obvious to my test user. Because of the feedback provided by the game, she could tell that she was supposed to click on the orbs, but it was not clear that the object of the puzzle was to repeat the pattern, although this became clear after a few repetitions. The user described the game as fun, medium difficulty, and satisfying to complete. She did not notice my mechanic of the floor tiles moving up on correct selections until I pointed it out. Adding a sound of turning chains on tile movement might help with this.
My test user--a woman in her thirties who had minimal experience with video games or VR--found the starting environment to be peaceful, but mysterious, as intended. She described where she was as: “an island in the ocean, far from everything else [and] in a medieval setting”. The start game UI was easy for her to figure out. She pointed out a few details, however, that needed to be changed, such as the color of the beach (it looked like sickly grass rather than sand) and the boat was set too low so the water mesh could be seen through it. Fortunately, these were both easy fixes.
Movement into the game area felt “smooth, fluid, and fun—like flying” and did not generate any motion sickness. The movement out of the game area, however, made her slightly nauseous, but this was fixed by simply slowing down the movement speed. The mood of the playing area was excitement and curiosity, because it was clearly where the game was. Scale felt natural to the user and she could see all of the orbs comfortably.
Figuring out the gameplay was not obvious to my test user. Because of the feedback provided by the game, she could tell that she was supposed to click on the orbs, but it was not clear that the object of the puzzle was to repeat the pattern, although this became clear after a few repetitions. The user described the game as fun, medium difficulty, and satisfying to complete. She did not notice my mechanic of the floor tiles moving up on correct selections until I pointed it out. Adding a sound of turning chains on tile movement might help with this.
Breakdown of the Final Piece Prior to starting the game, the user can look around to see a boat washed up on the shore of a beach, which is hidden away in a rocky outcropping in a vast sea. This scene is intended to suggest that the user arrived at the scene by boat and has a reason for wanting to explore the dungeon ahead of them. My rising/falling floor tile mechanic has two purposes. One was to provide an additional source of feedback. Another was to reinforce the implied storyline of the game by giving a logical reason for the user to complete the puzzle. At first, the floor tiles are in a position such that there is no way for the imagined character to simply walk across the dungeon to the exit without bothering with the orbs. When the player completes the puzzle, however, the way out is free and clear. After the player completes the game, they see a house, which is surprising but maintains a consistent aesthetic as the dungeon and suggests further adventures ahead. |
Potential Improvements
I built Puzzler as a learning exercise and have moved on to other projects, so I am not likely to continue developing this application. That said, it has room for improvement. First, the game area needs a short text description explaining the nature of the puzzle to the player (e.g. "Repeat the pattern shown"). In a larger game with lots of puzzles and higher general difficulty, one could leave out such a description and let figuring out what one is supposed to do be a part of the puzzle itself, but for a short and simple game like Puzzler, this sort of meta-difficulty is an artificial challenge and not appropriate. Second, I could improve the feedback on correct orb selection by adding a sound--such as of gears turning, chains clanking, rocks scraping, etc--when the floor tiles move up and down so that players are more likely to notice their movement and appreciate the effect of their progress in solving the puzzle. Third, the game has a design weakness where some puzzles--because of the random nature of their generation--involve the same orb flashing several times in a row, making the game too easy. This could be improved, and the difficulty more consistent, by biasing the random puzzle generation mechanic to avoid flashing the same orb more than twice in a row. Fourth, the player could be able to set the difficulty to their liking by increasing/decreasing the length of the puzzle pattern. And, of course, the game could be extended by adding additional puzzles--such as a second level that takes place in the house.
Conclusion
Puzzler illustrates VR’s potential in creating tremendously immersive user experiences, even with only a simple game mechanic. Given a 360 degree space for visual cues, it can tell a story with almost no verbal communication. Utilizing effective feed-back and feed-forward, it can guide a user through a complex interaction without explicit instruction. Like many current VR applications, Puzzler is a short experience—but like all the best forms of entertainment, it leaves the audience wanting more.
I built Puzzler as a learning exercise and have moved on to other projects, so I am not likely to continue developing this application. That said, it has room for improvement. First, the game area needs a short text description explaining the nature of the puzzle to the player (e.g. "Repeat the pattern shown"). In a larger game with lots of puzzles and higher general difficulty, one could leave out such a description and let figuring out what one is supposed to do be a part of the puzzle itself, but for a short and simple game like Puzzler, this sort of meta-difficulty is an artificial challenge and not appropriate. Second, I could improve the feedback on correct orb selection by adding a sound--such as of gears turning, chains clanking, rocks scraping, etc--when the floor tiles move up and down so that players are more likely to notice their movement and appreciate the effect of their progress in solving the puzzle. Third, the game has a design weakness where some puzzles--because of the random nature of their generation--involve the same orb flashing several times in a row, making the game too easy. This could be improved, and the difficulty more consistent, by biasing the random puzzle generation mechanic to avoid flashing the same orb more than twice in a row. Fourth, the player could be able to set the difficulty to their liking by increasing/decreasing the length of the puzzle pattern. And, of course, the game could be extended by adding additional puzzles--such as a second level that takes place in the house.
Conclusion
Puzzler illustrates VR’s potential in creating tremendously immersive user experiences, even with only a simple game mechanic. Given a 360 degree space for visual cues, it can tell a story with almost no verbal communication. Utilizing effective feed-back and feed-forward, it can guide a user through a complex interaction without explicit instruction. Like many current VR applications, Puzzler is a short experience—but like all the best forms of entertainment, it leaves the audience wanting more.