Autor: Bruno Filipe Cruz Carreira

Core Gameplay Loop(s)

This week I focused on defining the Core Gameplay Loops, namely:

  • Main Gameplay Loop – The player must explore the environment, collect food and water to assure the maintenance of his health and find or build shelter to spend the night.
  • Specific Gameplay Loops – Such as the fight with a wild animal, eating an animal and solving a puzzle.

Player Personas

My focus these last couple days was to define our game’s Player Personas. Defining a game audience is also about getting a clear image of whom you are creating a game for. Player personas help to get our audience clear and allows us to check if our choices are right. Therefore, based on the knowledge gathered from the potential players and the target audience, the following personas were defined and represent the players of our game.

Persona 1
Name: Sebastião Ribeiro             
Gender: Male  
Age: 26
Background: Lives in Sintra and played games all his life.             
Profession: Student, works part-time in a restaurant.    
Favorite Games: Last of US, Don’t Starve, Skyrim, Journey.         
Currently Playing: Witcher 3, The Forest              
Player type: Seeker, Survivor    
Interests: Books and TV Shows (his favorite is Game of Thrones).            
Context of play: Plays every week and likes to play solo games at his own pace.
Goals: Gets involved in the storyline of the game and wants to see it through.  
Activities: Reading, playing guitar and playing games     
Knowledge: Knows some games, mostly finds new games by a friend’s recommendation.           
Skills: Good at writing and swears he is a great singer in the shower.     
Limitations: Has trouble remembering a lot of details.

Persona 2
Name: Joana Ferro         
Gender: Female              
Age: 23
Background: Born in Espinho and lives in Lisboa.             
Profession: Student and part-time worker at the Human Resources department of her university.
Favorite Games: Shadow of the Colossus, Zelda
Currently Playing: Skyrim            
Player type: Seeker       
Interests: Travelling and watching movies.         
The context of play: Plays alone at home, mostly at the weekends.        
Goals: Plays to relax.     
Activities: Studying and play sports.       
Knowledge: Doesn’t keep up with the gaming world.     
Skills: Has a good memory.        
Limitations: Has a poor sense of orientation.

Persona 3
Name: António Verde
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Background: Born in Lisboa and played games since he was young.
Profession: High school student
Favorite Games: Resident Evil, Outlast, Rust
Currently Playing: The Forest
Player type: Survivor
Interests: Music and gaming.
Context of play: Plays almost every day at home, either with his friends or alone.
Goals:  Likes the adrenaline and tenseness of survival games.
Activities: Gaming
Knowledge: Is always on top of the latest gaming news.
Skills: Patience and good decision-making.
Limitations: Depends on his parents to buy games.

Persona 4
Name: Jorge Caldeira    
Gender: Male  
Age: 43
Background: Lives in Lisbon       
Profession: Mathematics professor       
Favorite Games: The Talos Principle, Braid, Chess           
Currently Playing: Candy Crush 
Player type: Mastermind            
Interests: Travelling, swimming and drinking wine.         
Context of play: Plays daily, mostly in public transportation or after dinner.       
Goals: Plays mostly to unwind and for the fun of solving problems.        
Activities: Solve problems, volunteer at the local hospital.           
Knowledge: Doesn’t have a wide knowledge of the gaming area and finds games by recommendation of colleagues or by web searches.           
Skills: Good at problem-solving, logical reasoning and devising strategies.           
Limitations: Has difficulties playing fast pace games.