GDC 12: The art of Folk Game Design

As the hall slowly fills up, Doug Wilson of Die Gute Fabrik takes center stage. Wilson discusses the philosophy of folk game design, the art of imagining applications and fundamentals that are conceived through simple rules that apply some sort of deputized restriction that can be applied by the allowance that modern day tech that motion gaming has given us. The excitement in the crowd is especially thick, a very thick, almost tangible sensation that hangs on every word he speaks as we bear witness to the propositions and theories that folk game design can provide to help motion gaming shake the stigma of being a gimmicky fad.

Folk game design -- the philosophy that Wilson begins to explain -- is showcased in the back story behind their current game in development, Johann Sebastian Joust. Reminiscing about a seesaw within a playground, Douglas goes on to explain how applying the physics behind certain actions are applied (given the proper restriction). Douglas and his comrade stood at opposite ends of the seesaw, and what started out as casual horseplay became an idea that could be slightly developed. The goal of knocking each other off the seesaw by simply advancing forward and horizontally swinging at one another in the efforts to knock the other off the seesaw became an intuitive dynamic that retained an interest, regardless of its shallow premise. In any game you play, be it the video or board variety, there are set list of rules that demand to be observed in order to play the game to its fullest intent. Acknowledging this element, Wilson explains how you apply this mindset towards motion gaming. By centering the objective on a concept that involves little depth, the accessibility is widely expanded if the idea has minimal input, as opposed to a variety of actions.

This is where Johann Sebastian Joust comes in -- by adding an element of music as a point of direction, players are given a very small field of movement that must be slowly moved within. In order to advance, once the music stops playing, a window of opportunity presents itself to where the player must thrust towards their opponent’s controller, in order to knock it out of reach of the aforementioned field the controller must remain within. The design behind this simple mechanic was derived from innocent rough housing, something that had little objective was adapted into fundamental that was able to be applied to something only slightly more developed than the premise of its humble inspiration. Douglas goes on to explain that this philosophy is not directly influenced by the still young technology of motion gaming, which inherently possess its own limitations that need to be taken into account in order to create an engaging game. No, derived this simply from the application of what the body is capable of in terms registering the motion mechanic involved and transitioning into seamless play in order to create appeal.

The camaraderie is another large supporting factor behind folk game design. If you come across someone who looked like an asshole as they tried to “push it” in Dance Central, or the frantic fumbling of trying to get that one pose right within Warioware Wii then you’ve honestly participated in the silliness of motion gaming. Wilson encourages this dynamic, stating that it draws attention to what exactly causes all of the questionable visuals a mechanic can prompt towards completing the game objective. B.U.T.T.O.N. (Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now) is a prime example,  twister-esque goals that involve physically sabotaging other players or Wag The Dog which has you wagging the motion controller with butt cheeks up high. Wilson is primarily developing these idea for the PlayStation Move since it meets his needs, but where there an emphasis towards disavowing an reliance towards the tech involves begs the question how one would successfully be able to develop the ideal folk game concept. Other alternatives, like the Wii or Kinect, demand you develop within their capabilities, so in sense there is still is a demand towards the dependency a developer faces when working a certain platform. Also, being as all of the current motion controls available are wildly different from one another, Folk game design is again limited to its platform of choice, and eliminate any attempts at cross-platform ports, which -- in a sense -- contradicts the idea of accessibility that folk games concepts endorse.

Still, the science behind the mindset has amazing potential and in the hands of Die Grute Fabrik, the experimental risks only pave the way towards evolving how we play motion gaming while retaining a minimalist approach that everyone can enjoy.