Spirit of New Year
Keyword: HCI; Game Design; Nature User Interface; Interactive narrative; Play engagement.
Category: Visual Novel; Experimental.
Role: Researcher, Mechanic Designer.
The technologies of Nature User Interface (NUI) have been widely used in interactive media and virtual museums, but their application in games is not well explored. A physical NUI-based interaction was developed to enhance physical embodiment of control gestures in games. This interaction mimics the activity of blowing on the fire during cooking in a cultural context of celebration of a specific holiday. Players who used the NUI blowing interface showed significantly higher levels of play engagement compared to the non-NUI group using mouse-clicks to control the fire, and this effect is not due to ethnic background. Qualitatively, video recordings showed greater engagement in the NUI-condition as participants actively looked around the game environment.
Game Devlog:
Concept
Mechanic & Core Loop
In this game, the player must maintain the fire level at the assigned level and progress to the next level once they surpass the current level. The game ends when the player completes all three levels. The challenge of the game is that the player not only has to control the fire by "blowing" but also has to maintain the level of "blowing" corresponding to the three fire levels in the game.
Audience & Look-and-feel
The game is suitable for people who seek novelty or wish to experience traditional Chinese or cultural activities. It can also be utilized for educational purposes, such as teaching topics like global culture or Asian perspectives in the classroom. The art style of the game will be similar to that of the storyboard, featuring bright colors and simple hand-drawn lines to create a warm and leisurely atmosphere for the Lunar New Year. Games with similar art styles, like Neko Navy, can be used as a reference. Following are some in-game screenshots.
