The Front Door

My screenwriting professor talked about the “front door” when writing. When you start a scene with a character entering through the front door, it’s a choice. Your brain defaults to that choice because it’s what it knows - and you’re probably concerning yourself with bigger elements in the scene. But what more would it say about the character and the scene if they’re going through the side window, or simply take a wide step over the entryway when they enter? Basically - recognize when you’ve chosen a predictable direction and try to evaluate if you’re missing an opportunity. 

In game design it’s the same. We have to make hundreds of decisions in a week, and inevitably - for many of them - we’ll choose to walk through the front door. This is sometimes necessary to simply get the bigger ideas in the game. Other times we want to give the player something familiar - especially if we’re innovating in other areas. But it’s good to go back and revisit our “front door” decisions and ensure they’re intentional.

Originally, in Duskers you used a mouse interface to pilot drones around derelict spaceships. This was an example of an almost unconscious “front door” decision - seeing as it’s a standard to use the mouse when playing a game. A friend played an early version of it and tossed out the idea of controlling the drones with a command line interface (typing commands with a keyboard). This suggestion seemed ridiculous at first, but the more I thought about it - the more I liked the idea, and just had to try it.

I was really frightened to go though that side window because who plays a game with a command line interface? But after I did, I was suddenly seeing lots of side windows we could go through. I revisited something as simple as having a soundtrack in the game, and chose to go through the side window of not having one - because a soundtrack felt non-diegetic and would hurt the immersion of listening to a lone drone steer down an abandoned corridor. These side windows all contributed to create a unique experience - and that’s what resonated with our players and garnered the game so many awards (ironically including Best Interface of the year from Rock Paper Shotgun).

Keep in mind this applies to every aspect of your game: audio, art, UI, etc. In each decision try to recognize if you’ve defaulted to the “front door” and if that’s what’s best. Even small details can make a game feel unique and more cohesive. Your uniqueness as a developer is what will make your game resonate with players, so just be aware of when you’re going through the front door, and occasionally slide down the chimney.