Philosophy lecture

Today our lecture was about philosophy and the use of philosophy in games through narrative and mechanics.

Philosophy is defined as an academic discipline that exercises logic and reason to understand reality and answer questions about reality. Philosophy can be used in design as a source of stimuli, for game mechanics and to create a deeper experience for the player. 

We looked at 2 games as examples of this, both from the game studio That Game Company.

That Game Company created Flow, Flower and Journey. Flower and Journey were the two games we looked at for study as they are renowned for utilizing philosophical subject matter in their games game play and narrative.

Flower is a game where the player embodies a natural force that carries along petals like the wind. The game is difficult to describe, event the creator finds it difficult in the interviews we watched in class. 

Flower starts off in a room with flowers in pots on a windowsill overlooking a city, the levels are said to be dreams of the flowers that seek freedom in nature and away from the cities.

Journey is the other game we looked at and is one of the two i have actually played. Journey is an enchanting experience that pairs random players together in an adventure allowing them to co-operate freely without any requirements to do so, without the pressure to perform forced cooperative tasks the players do not feel compelled to fight against the rules. 

We watched a video interview of creator Jenova Chen about  Journey as well, though the interviewer is somewhat of a moron. 

This lecture relates to an Extra Credits episode where they talk about mechanics as metaphors, in other words it is them using mechanics to showcase underlying themes. This is what i will need to do for the next project when creating a game concept from my report subject.