To start creating some initial ideas, I need to define the type of experience that I want each game to present. Some of these ideas come from feedback I received from my peers at the end of my Phase 2 presentation.

What is an Essential Experience

The ‘Essential Experience’ is something that we covered in our second year; in short, it is the core game that every feature of a game should enhance. The essential experience is what the player should feel or direct what the player does in a game.

I believe it’s crucial to emphasise the essential experience when considering game concepts, so that the idea doesn’t become too murky or convoluted. This doesn’t mean that a game concept cannot change, but it helps support and keep game concepts cohesive.

1. What experience do I want a player to have?
2. What creates that experience?
3. How can I recreate that experience?
4. What restricts that experience?

Initial Experience

Experience 1

The first experience that I think would be interesting for players to explore is the core of Sea Monsters. The Monster. The fear and infatuation with a giant beast such as Cthulu or The Kraken.

Going back to the ‘Essential Experience’, what would create this experience?
I believe that to create this experience, I would first need to scale the game around the player’s perspective appropriately. Similarly, the game would need some stakes to motivate the player to seek out these monsters. Finally, I feel it is essential to keep the beast itself shrouded in mystery. The intrigue into what monster the player is seeking would add to that infatuation and need to discover what sea monsters lurk in the shadows.

Experience 2

Another Experience that I think would be fun to explore is the sea-faring aspect of the sea. The joy of sailing and discovering something new. It’s something we see at the release of every game: players learning of the secrets in the game and the small details that make the game world breathe.

A game that highlights the reality of these sea monsters in the world and accurately shows how these monsters would live and the environments that we could find them in. This game would hinge on exploring the world, seeing these creatures, and learning about them.

Experience 3

Another experience that I think could be interesting is the idea of Man vs Sea. Exploring the impact that people have on the environment in the ocean, and how exactly we interact with these animals, alive or not. This experience would be powered by environmental awareness and consolation.

The game could feature a mix of man and monster characters that don’t fit in either society, mutated by man’s machines and our lack of care for our blue neighbours. This semi-fantasy setting would be an ideal platform to convey the exact message I want to send: ‘We need to save the sea.’

Experience 4

For this experience, I think it would be beneficial to have players be curious and investigate the sea monsters they find.

Playing as a news reporter, players have to uncover why these sea monsters are appearing around the world, and if they are truly as evil as we are used to seeing them in normal media. This idea originated from a workshop I attended in October, where we created a newspaper headline about the game world.

I didn’t create a single headline, but instead made a collage of headlines that you might find in the world: the conflict of new species being found, preservation vs protection, and how we would actually live in a world filled with Sea Monsters.