Gameplay Journal #9: Journey
This week, I decided to play Thatgamecompany’s Journey. I’ve played the entirety of Journey, which took me about about an hour and some change, and I can safely say that this game is art. It is literally an interactive piece of art and much like art, it’s open to interpretation.
Booting up the game on PS5, I was a little taken back with the overly simplistic main menu, which my only option was to start a “New Journey”. After playing and completing the game, it makes sense. Journey is a game about the journey of life and the people you meet along the way. Upon completion of Journey, I began to think that the designers at Thatgamecompany designed this game to be played in one sitting every single time you boot it up, kinda like starting a new life in every playthrough. Here’s how I see it: In life, you meet people; Some nice and some not-so-nice. In Journey, you’re able to play the game through online co-op with another person, helping each other figure out the objective and solve some light puzzles. In my playthrough, I matched up with another player online but that person didn’t stick around for long. Now it could be that their internet connection wasn’t super stable or maybe they were needed IRL and had to log off, but according to Journey, in life you’ll always meet someone that won’t stick around for long.
Regarding the game’s design, I thought it was incredibly simple especially with it’s mechanics. You don’t get to do a lot of things but you can jump / glide / fly (when you’re charged up), walk, and surf on sand when you have enough speed which felt incredible on top of the beautiful music. Every time a new mechanic is introduced, an minimalistic image of the controller appears by fading in to the screen and highlights the button presses for said new mechanic. I feel like the developers chose a simple control scheme to allow as many people as possible with different playstyles to enjoy the game, as Mary Flanagan explains that “there is a growing need for designers to approach the creative process with increased awareness and responsibility to be inclusive, fair, and cater to a variety of play styles” (Flanagan, page 252).
Journey through Mary Flanagan’s concept of “critical play”
Set a design goal/mission statement and values goals: The designer’s goal was to have a accessible control scheme in order to have different kinds of players enjoy the experience regardless of their playstyles. Along with that, they set to have a minimalistic main menu with only one option as well as pause menu that only comes up when you stand idle for an extended period of time. On top of that, a minimalistic image of the controller appears highlighting how to perform new mechanics coming into play. For the game’s length, they designed the game to be played and completed in one sitting in under 2 hours.
Develop rules and constraints that support values: Journey’s overly simplistic aesthetic means that what you do in the game is simplistic as well. There’s no traditional jump button but rather you float / glide / fly when you are charged by collecting / reviving flags & ribbons by holding the “O” button. You can still however climb stairs and other objects only if there short enough of your reach without having to press a button, you simply keep walking and it does it for you. There are no traditional pickups, instead there are floating ribbons and flags that recharge your flight abilities.
Design for many different play styles: Journey can be played in multiple different ways. A player who enjoys exploring can take their time exploring the environments of the game and appreciate the art that went into the game while another player, who enjoys speeding through their games, are able to partake in speed run competitions by playing and completing the game under a certain amount of time or clocking in their own time.
Develop a playable prototype: I would imagine this was a fairly easy game to draw up the concept using a paper prototype. All they would have to design the levels and puzzles which, if level design was finalized, can be easily played through in minutes.
Play test with diverse audiences: A really crucial step. Having playtests with different kinds of player with different playstyles is important because the designers can go back and tweak certain areas with the feedback they receive, especially if their goal is to have a game that can be played by everyone.
Verify values and revise goals: This is where the designers at Thatgamecompany takes the feedback and adjusts their goals to better fit the game with the feedback in mind. It very well could be the final, if not the closest the game will feel like when playing.
Repeat: This is where the designers go back and repeat the process to make sure the game is up to snuff with the feedback in mind.
Link to game:
Works Cited
Flanagan, Mary. Critical Play: Radical Game Design. The MIT Press, 2009.
