Almighty Game Designer

For the game "Famine", there are a lot of points that are attracting players, but in the end, its most original driving force is "survival."

In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, demand is divided into five broad categories: physiological needs, security needs, love and belonging, respect, and self-realization.

These five requirements constitute a pyramidal structure, the bottom is the physiological needs, and the highest is the self-realization needs.

The more primary the requirements are, the easier it is to achieve, but the most urgent and urgent.

That is to say, if a person lacks food, safety and respect at the same time, then his demand for food should be the strongest. In contrast, safety and respect are not that important.

Therefore, people will take risks when they are extremely hungry, fight against large beasts (abandon safety), or bend their knees to power (abandon dignity).

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is widely used in various fields, and the game field is no exception.

Many game designers use this theory to build a complete level of Maslow's needs in the game, which is used to drive players to chase those illusory data in the game, and indulge in this.

To give a simple example, some games with "selling power" as the core selling point highlight the need for security and respect.

For a weaker player, he is always at risk of being killed by a stronger player in this game, so he feels a strong sense of insecurity, which will drive him to spend more money. Or time in the game, become stronger to maintain your own safety.

And those more powerful players have the security attribute, they will turn to the pursuit of respect and self-realization, such as to compete for the king, set up a great guild, lead the younger brothers to participate in the national war, for these virtual sense of honor And arrogant.

In general, very few games can use the level of "physiological needs" because this gameplay is relatively cumbersome to do, especially since many game mechanics do not.

In fact, people's physiological needs are simple, nothing more than food, water, health, reproduction and so on. However, in a normal game, the character is generally not allowed to go for food, water, or the concept of hunger, because the game content is limited, and there are many more worthy players to experience.

"Famine" is a good grasp of this blind spot, showing the theme of "survival".

Moreover, "Famine" is not just a simple game. If you dig into its spiritual connotation, you will find that it has some depth that is not available in masterpieces.

Unlike many protagonists with great missions, Wilson's existence is the existence itself. He does not need to save the world, nor does he need to save others. His only goal is to live well in the world of famine. Everything you do is for a basic goal: to live better.

Famine is a highly stylized game with a very mature core of thought.

The world of famine is not any known historical background, and even the world is full of settings that are completely out of touch with reality. Its entire style and music are full of black humor, but in the face of death, it is extremely real.

This feeling of absurdity and reality coexists throughout the game of "Famine", including the combination of technology and magic in the game, which greatly enhances this feeling.

The machinery of the activity, the pigs inhabited, the tombstones in the forest, the widows of the predecessors, the horrible monsters... all kinds of meticulous settings, at first glance, do not affect each other, but there are inextricably linked behind them.

The entire world background is highly unified, forming a unique world of magical realism.

The playability of "Famine" stems from its rich set of settings. It looks like a simple 2D game, but the actual playability is far more abundant than some masterpieces.

Monsters are very complex, and each monster can provide unique food and resources. The protagonist can use a rich construction system to create fires, barbecues, pots, traps, and more.

Moreover, the protagonist also has a wealth of interactive actions, such as empty hand collection, felling, digging, lighting, planting, etc. All props, including the surface itself, can interact, and those precious props can be used directly as fuel at critical moments.

The way to get resources is also different. If you want to get pigskin, you can go to the pigs with a positive front, or you can look for abandoned pig houses, altar search materials, or plant spider eggs next to the pig village. Waiting for the spider and the pig to tear, and take the profit.

When the player has achieved something, lost interest in the survival mode, and the need for survival is not enough to stimulate the player to continue the game, the player will also find the adventure mode and open up new challenges.

Moreover, this is also an extremely ruthless game. In the face of survival, any negligence can have irreversible consequences.

But because of this, the meaning of survival itself is more and more precious. When I was hungry, I found a pig village filled with carrots and berries. The feeling of this moment will be very good.

After playing "Famine", many players will understand how happy it is to "eat".

It is for these reasons that "Famine" can attract both novice players who are interested in survival games, and can retain those **** players for a long time. Even many people insist on playing this game for several years, and they don't feel bored at all. .

Because every trip to the famine will be different.

And, like many sandbox games, mod is the eternal charm of the game Famine.

Aside from the officially developed DLC, the mods created by the players themselves have brought a lot of fun to the game.

Like the character mod, there are Sauron (with knives, you can cut trees, road idiots, all maps are always black), Ace (with fireballs, fire back to the spirit value) and other One Piece characters; Display numerical values, architectural geometry; functional mods, permanent tents, extended backpacks...

In addition, there are super large mods, such as dark heroes. A mod is enough for many players to play for half a year. This super mod is almost equivalent to a new game.

Of course, Chen Mo just picked a few mods that are more common and didn't affect the balance. As for the other mods, they will give the players their own development.

That's the case with sandbox games. Only when players are fully engaged, the potential of this game will be really developed.