It’s Boxing day and I’m playing Super Mario bros on the DS with my brood of kids. My Christmas day hangover goes unnoticed as does the leftover turkey as we feverishly drive our little avatar. We are lost in the flow of movement, reaction, reward and encounter. We are constantly testing, experimenting, questioning and refining….and we are dying. We are being squashed, burnt, frozen, shot, electrocuted, eaten and thrown into infinity. We make error after error, mistake upon mistake and we love it. We fight each other for the little machine for the chance to die again. We strike up Zelda and it’s the same.
Invincible
In games, catastrophic failure and errors are often fundamental design mechanics. They provide real time essential feedback to the player. They are fun, motivating, challenging and engender the replay, reflection and experimentation that leads to progress.
Posted by thinkingworlds 