Scratch Game

I made a game! Wheeee. Pretty much my first computer game, it’s always exciting to do a first like this. Some basic computer science stuff going on, but it’s definitely made things clearer for me, filling in some low level js holes I’ve had forever.

Doughnut Catcher is a simple game I composed for the first problem set of the CS50 Harvard run edx course. I’m not going for the certificate, but doing all the assignments is going to be the best way to learn, so I figured I’d post them here, too.

Game design is a fascinating exercise in user experience and interface design. In addition to the programming and logic portion of the game, there needs to be some real story and compelling reason to even play the game. There are instructions and onboarding to consider, plus each effect needs to be timed and… ‘scored’? appropriately. Scored as in the sounds and timing associated with each action. There a lot of fun elements to play with that make the experience more meaningful and seamless. Just choosing the right sound for the capture is a big experience piece. If it’s not the right kind of satisfying sound or right kind of indication, then the user is not clued into what they’ve done.

Equally, if the sound is off, there needs to be visual cues that are obvious enough (my game probably doesn’t have enough of this yet). And as far as story goes, I’m still working on a way to have a person fully win/lose. Swapping out the speeds of the animations or including other backgrounds have yet to be explored (I mean, I have to move on to learning C as the course is heading that way), but I’m definitely interested in the design process around games. It’s great for exercising the user-centered side of the brain.