Developing Pleasing Instructions

Instructions that are clear is crucial to game success. And utilizing infographics can make them clear to even the youngest of viewers. But, there is a challenge in that. You need the art to create the graphics, or at least enough of it. So it can put designers in a difficult bind, if they are planning any type of crowdfunding or outside testing. We want the ease of an infographic, for the players/readers. But, we initiate extra work for the legible versions to be completed. So we slowly develop the art while the rest of the project runs the gauntlet, with the aim of getting the fun out to our fans asap. That way, we all can enjoy the process/prototypes sooner.

For those of you with a desire to join Gaia’s Gurus (bottom of link), you will now get a nice pretty instruction sheet to share with your group, rather than a huge block of text to read. Yes it is taking a bit longer to develop, but if we don’t place fun as the number one priority, who will?

 

 

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The infographics

As you can see it is still a bit rough around the edges, with some different looks and approaches. Now, some may say, that it is a waste of time, or misdirected effort. But would you rather look at the images above or a page of type? We can see not only the setup and placement in a more colorful way, but we can also test how the design works. More importantly, we can see how design functions when applied to other aspects of development, the instructions, in this case. With this practice, the entire system can grow as one. It’s all about enjoying the process along the way, so what you end up with is a game that embodies fun.

A little extra work upfront is always worth more fun down the line. So if you have the opportunity to create infographics with your project, instead of block text, do it. More people will have fun exploring them. And the more eyes you can get to sit on your project the better.