Spark is a king-of-the-hill type of game in which players must either remain the last one standing, or be the first to deplete their bar. The game is played with the Makey Makey, where all players stand on a conductive pad which represents a key. Players interact with the game by touching another conductive object on a table. This closes the loop and counts as a button press.
Players can deplete their bar by being the only player pressing the button. If another player is also pressing a button, a circle grows from the middle and will eliminate players as it grows beyond them. Touching another person’s skin while they are touching the button will also count as 2 button presses.
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I really liked your game! It was quite fun to play! I think your game could definitely benefit from different game modes to mix things up and keep it fresh.
My thoughts for game modes would be:
–Cooperative – Players are in teams & teams want to have one of their members be the last person alive
–Inverse – You want to avoid touching the can! (Touching the can at the same time as another player builds up health)
–King of the Hill – Players want to hold on to the can for a certain period of time.
–Paddy-Cake – Players try to tap the can the most. [They have to hit the can the most, holding the can doesn’t add to your score] (Holding at the same time as another player disables tapping)
–Team Paddy-Cake – Players are split up into teams. Teams try to tap the can the most. Team members must alternate tapping of the can. Could create an almost hot potato situation.
Definitely implement some feedback when two or more players are touching the can (the class talked about vibration). It can even just be auditory (like a siren).
I think this game is really well presented. I was wondering about the growing-gray-circle elimination mechanic: I think it could be interesting if the circle only had the potential to knock out the players that were currently in contact (if it’s possible to make that distinction). If I understand correctly, it seems like there would be little motivation to shrink your circle because any skirmish could knock you out, even if you aren’t involved. Other than that, it looked like a lot of fun.