Theory & Design of Games: Reflection Journal 2: Oasis

I’m going to talk about the Matrix and Majestic online in a separate post. This one is just about Oasis…

I wanted to remind everyone that in the advanced game design course, this game was the inspiration for my proposal – “Deep Field” Here is the origional blog post:

Deepfield was supposed to be a 3D version of Oasis, something like “Homeworld” but we realized pretty soon that this was a huge undertaking and had to drastically change the game concept…If you want to see some funny youtube clips of playtesting go here.

I think part of the reason our idea failed is because the Oasis game mechanics are well optimized to suit the 2D field. I imagine LeBlanc and team prototyped to find a balance in the game. Extending into 3D is like playing minesweep in 3D which is a very different kind of game.

Now for my reflection…Oasis is a mix of Minesweep (mindsweep?), Civilization, and instant gratification. There is something about the sound of barbarians attacking and pillaging that makes this game so additive…”i can do better next time, I will do better”…

It is a single player casual game and each game lasts only a couple minutes (or 85 clicks). Contrast this to multilayer Settlers of Catan where hours of many peoples lives are needed.

What else can I say – quickly glancing at the readings. In Doug Churches Formal Abstract Design Tools, intention, perceivable consequence, and Story are all well represented in Oasis. Also LeBlanc’s Fog of War is definitely at strategic element in this game. Not knowing where the barbarians will attack from is the difference between total civilization devastation or successful defense.

I think we put in a good 20 minutes in class, I would be curious to know how this game retains interest in the 1-2 hour range…at 20 minutes we were forming alliances, receiving weapons and armor from mining, getting extra points with oasis symbols…and what else? When am I crowned King Tut, or am I that dude on the left hand side of the screen?

·