TBM: Ep 11 script

In an attempt to transition out of hiatus, I will be posting the scripts of my Thinking Beyond Mechanisms segment. I don't plan to edit them, so there may be some differences between the audio and written versions. Take the audio as the correct version.

Perception

Welcome to Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, an in depth look at some of the other aspects of game design, the segment that looks at some of the theory of board game design that goes beyond what typically gets covered when we learn how to design games. My name is Sarah Shipp and today I want to talk about developing perception.

I remember taking my husband to an olive oil and vinegar store when we were dating, If you’ve never been inside one, these types of stores have metal dispensers where you can try different types of oil, some infused with different flavors, some just different types of olive. Plain olive oil can have pretty nuanced flavor differences across olive varieties. My husband could differentiate between infused flavors but could only tell the difference between the most opposite styles of plain olive oil: the more peppery flavored oil and the grassy vegetal flavored oil. If you’re wondering, I thought they all tasted different. 

One thing I’ve learned when reading about food and wine specifically is that a while your senses cannot improve from their base line, your perception of them can. Basically, your brain can get better at interpreting the signals. The fact is that we cannot improve our taste buds, but we can improve our perception of taste by improving our attention to what we are tasting.

On the YouTube channel, How to Drink, the host Greg has mentioned the method he used to get better at describing tasting notes of cocktails. Greg’s method was to listen to classical music. He would listen to a piece and focus on a single instrument throughout the piece. In doing so, he trained his brain to notice individual elements among a whole. And yes, his ability to identify flavors improved. My husband has been developing his perception of taste through learning to cook over the past decade, so I should probably take him back to an olive oil store to see how he’s improved.

Perception is an important skill for game designers, but instead of flavor what we need to perceive is the emotions in our players. Most people have a difficult time articulating why they like or dislike a game, especially if the game in question is made up of a lot of elements. As designers, we often have to interpret if what a player dislikes is a mechanic, the difficulty level, the rules overhead, or any number of other things. We need to be able to interpret the player’s reaction with more nuance than the player can. 

There are a number of ways to develop this skill. There’s an entire industry of advice online around building emotional intelligence or interpreting body language. I think a more targeted approach for game designers is to regularly host a game night. Select and teach games you already know how to play. If you already know the game and ARE NOT TESTING IT, you will have more attention for the other players. 

Play or observe with a goal of perceiving the reaction of the other players. Discover if your games fall outside someone’s comfort zone. Some people simply will not play a game involving lying, which I have discovered while trying to introduce friends to Sheriff of Nottingham. Other people will be bad at math-y games or spatial puzzle games. But some people will love games for those exact traits. 

Discovering all the ways players can like or dislike a published game will expand your internal encyclopedia of player reactions. You will be better able to ask questions of those who don’t know why a game left them unsatisfied. You can also watch live plays online to observe player reactions. For awhile, I took up the hobby of watching people play Untitled Goose Game, a relatively short puzzle-y video game. It was remarkable how differently various streamers approached and solved each level. I didn’t even know it was possible to go over the garden wall until I saw someone do it. 

And yet, it was equally remarkable how many of the player reactions were the same from game to game. Put a bow on your goose and every player suddenly exclaims “I’m a fancy goose!”  I find that while play testing my games, players do tend to all have different issues with what they don’t like but sometimes you will stumble across something that just resonates with nearly all of your players. Try to lean into those elements. 

When I started drinking wine in my mid twenties, I didn’t know the full scope of what wine could taste like. Is this wine sweet or fruity? Compared to what? The more different wines I tried, the better I could contextualize the flavor of an individual wine. My perception of wine’s taste expanded as my experience with wine grew. But that experience only grew because of my focus on flavor while drinking. By focusing on player experience while playing games, you will develop a better sense for how players react to games and can more easily identify those nuances when play testing your own games. 

So, play games with lots of people. And if you want, listen to classical music and go olive oil tasting. For more ways of thinking beyond mechanisms, you can visit my blog at shipp board games dot blog spot dot com or catch future episodes of thinking beyond mechanisms on ludology.