Klink & Klank

My group and I worked with Viro, a social enterprise that supports people with disabilities and psychological vulnerabilities. They sought out an engaging game that can balance accessibility and challenge to engage and empower those in their case.

As the lead designer this posed a challenge to how we approached mechanics and items. We created a design framework that would allow us to design while adhering to the constraints.

• Frustration / Agency: As the primary goal of the game is for the players to spend an enjoyable time with each other, we wanted our items to cause as little frustration as possible. For us, this meant making sure that negative effects applied to a player were always a direct result of their own actions. This always gives the players a degree of agency over the bad things that happen to them. Examples of this are: grabbing a bee, wrong coin, or getting stunned during a storm. 

• Fun vs Challenge: Because of the varied capabilities of our target audience, we had to create a game that provides fun to everyone, but still poses a challenge to some of the more experienced players. Each design choice supports this system. Our mechanics and items should be challenging for those willing to engage deeply with the game, but still fun even for those who struggle more with the medium.

• Clarity: New items and mechanics have to be easy to understand. The functionality is given away by the design, or its effect is immediately visible once activated. We’ve been consistently gathering feedback on clarity in order to make the game as accessible as possible. We either scrap some of the more complex designs or simplify them until they become clear.

• Screen Space: Because of the limited screen space, we were limited in visuals while having to display many different elements to the players to ensure every action and their reaction was clear. Leading to multi-functioning mechanics such as the player’s beam’s visuals displaying both items and stamina. Another example is the button having many visual states to indicate what the player is able to do.

• Individuality: Each player, item and state should be individually appealing without having to rely on another mechanic. An item should not only work while another item is active. 

• Multiplayer: Players should be able to enjoy the game with any amount of players, with a maximum of four. The focus of the game is to play with others, but each item and mechanic should be able to handle any kind of multiplayer, or even singleplayer.