APD Play and Abstraction - Activity Generator (The Anything Generator)

Theme: Play and Abstraction

Context: 
I was thinking earlier in the week about where aesthetics of play come from, as an example, what makes a colour playful? I was thinking it probably has a lot to do with novelty. The world is very novel for young children as they are having new experiences at all times. I felt perhaps the idea of a playful colour comes from the fact that these colours are rarely seen in nature. Bright, primary colours are more novel than the tertiary, earthy colours that have become our familiar surroundings. The playful aesthetic seems to be influenced by this concept, yet perhaps unaware that novelty is what matters over any particular colour or shape. In any case, abstract art falls victim to a similar trend so I wanted to reflect on what led to the aesthetic. My sense is that when we try to abstract visuals through more limited means, it results in the simple shape and colour aesthetic we have come to associate with abstract art. However, similar to novelty, it is not about the shapes but the process of abstraction. What we choose to keep and what we leave behind in the effort of representing a concept in a new form. Video games are almost all abstract by nature, in the sense that they attempt to abstract real life ideas into the new form of a digital interactive media. This can be mostly plainly observed in early game development with games like pong that abstract the concept of tennis/ping pong. I had a discussion with Maggie and I asked her what she might do if she were to represent pong in real life. Would it simply convert back to tennis or would it take a totally new form through the process of abstraction. The real world has certain affordances and limitations that the game does not. For example, the world is experienced in 3D and has gravity.

I would like to build a game that houses a few simple shapes and interactions and challenges players to abstract various real life activities. These could range from tennis to music concerts to driving a car. The challenge would be to find a way to represent various activities through interactivity and play. I am inspired by the Magnavox Odyssey overlays that would infer themes to the otherwise unstructured forms of interactivity. The overlays themselves do not enforce boundaries but none the less help the player to intuit the otherwise abstract forms of interactivity.

Method:
I created a simple game that gives players the building blocks to generate an infinite number of activities. Players can toggle their shape, collision, gravity, size and spawn copies of themselves. The game has the option to generate words as prompts for activities to recreate as well. I then created a video showcasing various activities recreated within the game itself. I also created some overlays that are featured in the video as well.

Response:
I created a game about creating your own games and a video showcasing some of the possibilities.
Video Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sd-tbWAi0E

Reflection:
This week I wanted to stay well clear from stereotypical aesthetics associated with abstraction. I wanted to engage with the theme beyond just visuals. The process of contextualising mechanics in game design often boils down to a question of abstraction. How much should this mechanic resemble the real life concept? What things can be left out? What are the recognisable elements that will help players intuit a particular interaction? Playing video games then stands as an interesting example of abstraction too. We are abstracting real life concepts into face buttons, digital media and imagined rules. That is what I am trying to get across with Activity Generator (The Anything Generator), that we are engaging in the process of abstraction anytime we make games and even when we play them. Incidentally, I ended up with simple shapes that match the abstract aesthetic. I guess it makes sense as these shapes are non-detailed enough to represent almost anything. I am really proud of this response, I feel it perfectly marries the concept of play and abstraction. If I were to develop it further I’d want to add an option for 2-player, I think that’d increase the possibilities dramatically.