Hey everyone, how’s it going?
I’m feeling pretty confident in Glow now and I think I’ve got enough prototyped to start putting it out there and testing the water. I’m going to knock up a gif or two and put out for #screenshotsaturday and see what type of response I get.
I feel like I have a decent hook to the game and I feel like it’s something that hasn’t been explored too much. The exciting part though is that as I’ve been developing the mechanics I’ve started to notice the main hook itself has started to bring about some “sub” hooks. Things I hadn’t really planned but have organically come out of the mechanics I’m using. That really excites as it shows how certain ideas can naturally start to add layers of depth. I know I’m being very enigmatic but I think it’s better to talk about the specific mechanics of the game and its hooks once there is some media to put it into context.
I’ve been thinking about hooks quite a lot recently after reading a Gamasutra article by Ryan Clark. He makes some really good points about how a game needs to have many hooks from an interesting title to unique mechanics. His very own Crypt of the Necrodancer is a great example of that in action. It’s definitely something that needs to be thought about if you want your game to be as successful as possible. It is entirely possible that your game is full of hooks without you even realising. The important part is to analyse it and figure out what they are so that you can use them to your advantage. At the end of the day if you haven’t figured out the hooks in your own game then why would anyone else? It also may reveal that there are no obvious hooks in your game, at which point you should assess whether if it is possible to add some or maybe it’s an indication that the game idea overall is not a very strong one. Either way taking a step back and analysing your game is crucial if you want it to have its greatest chance of success.
Now let’s see what people think of my hook tomorrow…
Have a great weekend everyone.
Stav