This is an overview of my experience developing Cogshel. I have broken it down into four sections:
Initially, I started the second semester with a plan to develop a pet simulator that had five pets representing different emotions. Each pet was also supposed to have its own mini-game and mindfulness activity. However, as the gameplay walkthrough demonstrates, I had to narrow down my scope significantly, so there is only one pet.
I chose the tiger because, based on my semester one research, I understood that tigers often represent bursts of strong emotions, which links well with the core idea of providing an means of calming those overwhelming feelings, which is metaphorically what players will be doing in the gameplay.
Despite reducing my scope size, I still believe I captured the essential experience of having the player leave the game with more positive thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, as every feature in the game has been carefully developed and implemented with this in mind.
Below is a table of the proposed game features, actual outcome, and reason ↓
Game idea proposed in first semester.
| Proposed: | Actual outcome: | Reason: |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Pets | 1 Pet | Too much work |
| 5 Mini games | 1 Mini game | Too much work |
| 5 mindfulness activities | 1 mindfulness activities | Too much work |
| Pet is adopted at level 3 | Adoption feature removed | Playtesting demonstrated that this was more effective (further detail can be found https://charismaliu.notion.site/v1-Prototype-40674fdbf245443383c7acd44aa509fe) |
| Player has to complete mindfulness activities to progress | Player has to complete mindfulness activities to progress | Essential to the game genre and gameplay loop |
| Player has to complete mini-games to progress | Player has to complete mini-games to progress | Essential to the game genre and gameplay loop |
| Player has to feed, pet, rest pet to progress | Player has to feed, pet, rest pet to progress | Essential to the game genre and gameplay loop |
| Players level up by playing mini-game and mindfulness activities for a certain amount of times | Players are rewarded with coins based on how long they complete the mindfulness activity and their score in the mini-game | More satisfaction and encouragement to continue playing, initial idea felt like a chore (further detail can be found https://charismaliu.notion.site/v1-Prototype-40674fdbf245443383c7acd44aa509fe) |
| 1 activities for each pet | Pet has 2 activities | Boosts the CBT/mindfulness experience, which is a core part of the game |
I was also trying to force an ending to my game as I felt as if that would make a ‘complete game’. To achieve this, I planned to have the pets leave the shelter once they reached level 3, with the aim being to send off all five pets for adoption. However, after playtesting and feedback, I removed this feature from the game. Instead, the players are given the freedom to continue looking after the tiger for as long as they’d like as they could develop a stronger connection to their pet. Additionally, many players found that the idea of them leaving the shelter made them feel lonely and preferred if they were always there as it was like developing a relationship with a companion (more about this decision can be found here).
I felt like the initial game proposal lacked the CBT element that Cogshel has been based on, so I also added a CBT activity which I believe strongly integrates my semester one research and focus on this theme.