DevLog #1: Game genre analysis

A few weeks ago we announced that we had started the development of our first project, and we have set ourselves the goal of documenting the steps we are taking during the process in our DevLogs.

When you decide to embark on a project, and not just the creation of a video game, you need to study many different areas before starting to work on it.

In the case of video games, some of the areas that are usually worked on at the beginning are the setting, environments, characters, story...

However, there are other areas that require a lot of attention in the development of a video game and are crucial to bring it to a successful conclusion.

In this DevLog we are going to talk about the initial study of the project, and we will delve into other areas that we will study as we progress in the development.

Genre Study

The first thing we must do, once we have chosen the type of game we want to make, is to study the genre in which our game is framed in order to understand what characteristics define it and what players expect from a game of this genre.

In this case, our project falls under the genres of interactive fiction, visual novel, "point'n click" adventure, and in another classification, it would fall under mystery and horror games, but not terror.

We make this distinction because we do not want to make a jumpscare game. Instead, as a game related to H.P. Lovecraft, we want to evoke that sense of cosmic horror, in which the player uncovers a mystery that makes them feel completely powerless in the face of the reality and horror they have discovered through their investigations.

That being said, we got to work and searched for visual novels and games with similar mechanics, some horror, some terror, some mystery games... and then analyzed them to create a list of common elements that define the genre and the player experience: that is, what every player expects to be in the game to feel like they are playing a game of that genre.

After analyzing several games, we have drawn the following conclusions about the genre:

• The story is the most important: In these types of games, the most important thing of all is the story and its setting. Lines and lines of text tell a story that, combined with the audiovisual support and interactivity provided by video games, make this entertainment experience highly appreciated by players of the genre.
• First person view or spectator view: Depending on the story being told, the player is either the protagonist of the story and interacts with the characters or is a spectator who watches the story unfold like a movie. Either way, the player still takes control of the events through choices they can make during the game.
• Static backgrounds: The backgrounds of the scenes are usually static images that represent the places where the story takes place. In some cases, in games where more resources have been allocated to backgrounds, these can be animated with special effects techniques or even in some high-level productions they can be fully 3D backgrounds. Normally there is no interaction with the backgrounds. They are a visual resource to set the scene of the story.
• Static characters: The characters are usually static illustrations with some changes in their poses and expressions. Depending on the quality and resources dedicated to the design of the characters in the game, there may be animated characters, but it is more common to see static characters that slightly change their expression at specific moments in the dialogues.
• Decision making: In dialogues and some key moments in the story, the player makes decisions that, depending on the game, result in slight modifications to the story or induce dramatic changes in its development. Normally these options are presented as dialogue choices or may represent the different possibilities for the player to advance in the story. This way, the player has some control over the direction the narrative will take and can reach different endings depending on what they have chosen.
• Minigames and puzzles: In some games, the story is complemented by a minigame (such as sports visual novels in which there is a game or sport around which the story revolves and certain matches or confrontations must be played) or puzzles that must be solved to advance in the story. This is usually done to add more hours of gameplay but, depending on the game design, winning or losing in these minigames can vary from being completely harmless to tangibly affecting the development of the story.
• Variety of endings: Depending on the choices made during the game, the minigames solved/won, and other factors depending on the game design, the story will unfold in different ways, leading to different endings. Normally, only one of the endings is considered "good" and the rest are endings of varying nature, both good and bad. This allows players to replay the story to access all endings, increasing the hours of entertainment that the game offers.

Now that we have identified the most important characteristics of the genre of the game we want to make, we can decide what to include and what not in the design of our game. It will also allow us to identify possible opportunities to innovate in our project by seeking ways to enrich the design through new mechanics, audiovisual improvements, or storytelling techniques.

Additionally, by seeing other games, many ideas have come to us during the analysis process (but we are keeping them to write about them in future articles once we have tested them).