The Unfinished Swan: Keeping it Exciting

A while back, I wrote about how some games are unintentionally artistic. The example was how expert players of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 could be so fluid and exciting, that what was happening on screen became a work of art.

The Unfinished Swan is not unintentional. Full disclaimer here, I haven't finished this game, but I've played enough to have not only an impression, but a great takeaway I'd like to share.

Not only does The Unfinished Swan put you in the role of an artist, it makes you feel like you're really good at it. But you're not. In no way after playing this game do I believe I have become better at drawing something and making someone feel something other than pity or shame, but when I throw paint blobs around in this game, and they splatter against walls and objects previously invisible to me, and I look back on all my random splashes, by God, I feel like I'm freakin Picasso. That's the most famous artist I can think of.

That, however, is not the takeaway for the blog, it's just something incredibly satisfying that should convince you all to pick up this game. The takeaway is about not getting bored.

There are only so many blobs of paint that you can throw at a wall before throwing blobs is just not quite as exciting as it was in the beginning. It must have taken a lot of iteration, but The Unfinished Swan does an amazing job of switching it up at just the right time. Just when I was about to say, "Eh, I think I'm done throwing paint at invisible walls" they change up the game play so not everything is invisible. And just when I was about to say, "Eh, I think I'm done throwing paint in general," I'm not throwing paint anymore, I'm throwing water, and that water interacts with the world in new and inventive ways. They keep things exciting by changing the theme and purpose of what you are doing.

But the impressive thing is how they do it. They don't change the gameplay mechanic. This is so important in gaming, and I feel like a lot of games miss the mark. Indie games do this exceptionally well. It's about working with what you have. It's all well and good for AAA games to have a million different mechanics with which the player can interact, but a game that only needs your attention for several hours, it doesn't want you having to learn how to do something new a few hours in. 

So they innovate. They find ways for you to keep playing with what you know, but in new ways. The environment and puzzles adapt to keep things interesting. You're still just throwing blobs at the world, but the world is now reacting in different ways. 

The lesson here is to find ways to keep your player's attention and excitement level throughout the experience by switching things up, giving them new things to experience, while not breaking the bank on mechanics.