Week4

Once again, we started the week off by meeting with our clients.  This time we had two ideas for them, each of which was now based around a cause.  The first we referred to as “Clean the City”.  The idea was that it would be a relaxing, artistic game based around swiping to clean a city of pollution.  As the city got cleaner, color and other activity would slowly start returning to it.  Players could extend their play time by walking in the real world, or they could pay to buy an in-game tree, which would not only extend their playing time, but also plant a tree in the real world.

The other idea was called “Survive!”  The idea was that it would be a survival game a la Don’t Starve or Minecraft.  The player would be tasked with collecting resources and other tools to help them survive.  The twist would be that any in-game items they purchased would be purchased in the real world for someone in need.  The thought was the game would put them in the mindset of someone who has to struggle to survive, while also giving them the ability to help someone for whom that’s a reality.

Generally, the reaction was quite positive.  They liked both the ideas, especially how they used some of the ideas we’d pitched previously, but in a much more concrete fashion now that they were integrated with a cause.  We were concerned that they might not think the ideas were “lottery” enough for their purposes, but they seemed to appreciate the fact that the lottery was “baked in” to the mechanics, and not an additional thing slapped on to the game.