Lauryn Dorne

Video games are often designed to be addictive and sometimes players will continue an un-fun game out of a sense of obligation rather than because they genuinely enjoy it. My project is an exploration of how game design could be used to inform players about addictive game mechanics so that they may avoid them. Unbirden is a concept for a satirical puzzle platformer in which the player starts off at 100% completion and "wins" by finding homes for all of their items and getting back to 0%. I hope that this game might encourage players to find happiness in their journey instead of searching for it in the form of trophies or rankings. Through doing this project Ive learnt a lot about how design can be used both to help and harm others and I think this understanding has helped me to create in a more caring and empathetic way.