Journal Journal: More Userland Design Lessons 1
As I've mentioned before, gaming with my wife is an enlightening experience. As a gamer, she is easily frustrated, but incredibly tenacious, meaning that an accumulation of small annoyances will prove mildly fit-inducing, but will not actually stop her from playing.
The lessons I've learned are as follows, taken from playing through Lego Star Wars 2:
For cooperative play, a single fixed camera is a bad idea. It should zoom in and out with the players, giving them the best possible view of themselves, their surroundings, and their objectives. This design flaw manifests in a few different ways. Firstly, a fixed camera requires the two players to stay within a set maximum distance of one another. If they attempt to move beyond that distance, the one character can and will drag the other. This is sometimes ok. However, if the dragged character mis-feature results in character death and loss of points, that's Bad and Wrong.
Also, there is a frustration threshold on puzzles and challenges. Game designers should be mindful of it and of how it varies with the age and situation of those playing and then tailor the challenges to come in right under that. If the puzzles from Hell are a near show-stopper for two grown adults, they are probably worse on young children.
If the puzzle can only be "solved" by sheer dumb luck, it's not clever, but torture. If the little-bitty-rock-in-the-middle-of-the-deadly-swamp-which-you-must-land-safely-on-to-cross-the-water-without-dying can only be reached by dying very close to it, it's too small and too far away. Also, I've come to the conclusion that the most diabolical puzzles are always in the 4th chapter of any given episode.