The Crossing
February 4th, 2008 mguida
This game reminded me of a game I used to play on my phone – Blockbreaker. The Crossing was a game of emergence. The rules are simple: make sure the deer gets safely across the stream. The skill of the player determines how many deer can be successfully be saved by the player’s efforts. The point of the game, although it is very simple, made me feel like I, the player, was doing something very important because I was determining whether the deer was going to live or whether it was going to die. I feel that I liked the idea of the game because I was not forced to shoot anything or to blow anything up in order to survive. I found the artistic background of the game very intriguing. The background was very beautiful and, in some ways, distracted from the game play itself. To add to the scene depicted in the background, the pastoral music was very calm and soothing. The music was very fitting and added to the overall peaceful theme of the game. However, the game had no other sounds. I would have liked to hear a sound when I missed a deer or when I caught a falling leaf to gain extra points. If I had not been looking at the screen, I would have never known that I missed the deer. I feel that sounds that accompany loss of life, in this case the deer, add to the gaming experience and are necessary for the player to become involved in the game. When noises are present, the player is forced to use another one of the five senses further enhancing the possibility of flow. The deer were also very artistic, but became very monotonous. They never changed; they were always in the same position with the same facial expressions. I quickly lost in interest in this game. It consisted of few movements, no sounds aside from soft music that could easily put the player to sleep, and no changing artistic appeal that could capture the player’s attention in place of the sound.
Entry Filed under: Game Log
2 Comments
1. Laramitt | February 9th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I agree that music and sound effects make quite a great deal of difference in a game and the players’ ability to get the sense of flow. The mood or tone of the game, how the game is played, the audience, and what messages the game is sending out are all affected by sound. In the Crossing, there are very little sound effects and the music is serene, almost sad. This tranquil yet gloomy tone matches a sort of Bambi theme and makes the game more serious rather than exciting and fun. I think the music and lack of sound effects takes most of the fun out of the game, but if there was a splat sound when a deer fell, the impact of the game would change drastically. The falling deer would be fun and hilarious instead of serious. Even just a change in the music from slow to more fast-paced would make the game more fun, however it would also make the tone lighter. The way the game is now, the music and the ‘cute’ deer make me think that the game is targeting mostly females. If the music changed and/or sound effects added the audience would become broader and open up to more people who would think the falling deer a joke. They might even play just to see the deer fall and hear the sound effects.
2. jbodholdt | February 12th, 2008 at 12:27 am
When games lack important elements that solicit player engagement (such as a variation in music and sound effects), it becomes obvious that the creators of the game had a specific agenda in mind. In The Crossing, the fact that the gameplay does not require much action on the part of the player, nor does it change screens, vary in pace, or offer a variety of sounds, leads me to assume that this seemingly simple game has a much deeper and profound meaning to it.
When I first played The Crossing, I thought it was a bit eerie. I asked myself, why would you pair beautiful images and elegant music with death? I could only reason that by not drawing attention to the deer death, the creators were implying that this ‘insignificance’ is exactly the message they are trying to get across.
The Crossing is talking about environmental issues that our globe is facing. In my interpretation, the deer represent nature. Throughout the game, the player, is constantly distracted by the pristine background, soothing colors, and tranquil music. His only real job is to prevent the deer from falling. If he misses one or two, it’s no big deal. The game just keeps gliding on. However, if he misses a bunch, then the game is over. I believe that this situation is illustrating the reality of the way in which humans treat our environment. We neglect to protect our natural world, resources, animals, etc. Most the the actions we carry out hurt our planet. Unfortunately, we do not always see direct consequences, nor do we understand their implications. In the game, the player knows that being able to help the deer across is his primary objective. But if he lets a few fall, no worries, things still proceed smoothly. In real life, our society has a good understanding of what we shouldn’t do to our planet. The problem is that we don’t always see firsthand the results of our actions. On the surface, they may seem like no big deal, but in the end, we are only damaging ourselves, and the world in which we live.