Author: Andrew

Fiasco Reflection


Photo credit: Peaches&Cream

Our game of Fiasco was interesting because we thought that each person needed an object and need with each other and not just one between all of us for the story. Our play set was located in main street and our overall narrative was in general very immoral for each character. My relations with the person to my right was that we were old friends and my relations with the person on my left was that we were friendly rivals. As I said, each person had a need between both the people on the left and right. This made the game very chaotic. We decided to focus mainly on the situation where someone needed to kill an elderly person and someone needed to get laid from and older person (this is how we interpreted it, not an old lover). The item in question was a shotgun, and the location was at a chicken hut. However in our scenario the older lover somehow took the shotgun from the potential murderer and killed him. The other scenarios we had were similarly strange and had very insidious plots or needs. In the end nobody one because everyone was either dead or had dead-like rolls of the dice.

Playing this tabletop RPG was certainly an interesting experience. It was similar to writing because it used creativity with very little outside information to make the story. Except with Fiasco there are four “authors” creating a plot using the general information, which was randomly generated by rolling dice. It is somewhat similar to playing video game RPGs because it gives you an environment and things to make the plot with such as people and objects, but in a video game, the plot is very limited compared to that of Fiasco, where the plots can be almost anything.

During our gameplay, some people pretended that they themselves were their character. The way that I played was that I imagined what this person would do in this particular situation given their relationships and needs. I didn’t pretend I was my character but that they were like a puppet. This is Usually how I play most games so this wasn’t a special case for tabletop RPGs. Fiasco was different from other games we have played this semester because it made you use more of your imagination and creativity. The videogames we’ve played were pretty linear and didn’t need much imagination. Playing Fiasco also made me realize that in certain situations, I am not a very imaginative person. I would usually say that I need to improve in this, but I am actually quite content being a logic and realistic based thinker. The learning outcome for the course that we used the most was definitely collaboration. We were forced to make the story of the game together, which is the part that made it fun. It was really interesting to find out what people could imagine for our characters. It was a group effort to create and play the game.

Bloons Tower Defense and Habituation Podcast Reflection

Before my co-producer and I started the podcast, we discussed both of our personal experiences about the game. We also decided to not include live gameplay in our podcast because it really doesn’t add anything to our discussion. All you would hear are balloons popping and maybe us saying what towers we put down. The listener wouldn’t understand what is happening. This is how our podcast differed from the others in this series. We kept the format for the rest though. We started by saying what the game is about and then incorporated the Bogost term afterwards. However, instead of gameplay, we discussed our personal experiences with the game and how it made for a social interaction between people.

The goal of our podcast was to explain how Bloons Tower Defense exemplifies habituation and also creates a social opportunity for all the people who play it together. We did have to discuss the negative effect of habituation of these games as well. They are very addictive and distract mostly students from their work. We talked about the positives of the game in that it is ideal for completionists and it is a good way to ease your mind if you are really stressed.

The learning outcome we used the most on this projects was collaboration because we had to discuss with each other what to do and how to do it.

Click here to view the podcast

Wolf in White Van Essay Reflection

In this essay, I talk about how games help people to cope with something in their lives, whether it’s stress, trauma, or anything else really. Games let you become someone completely new, which allows you to take your mind off of the weight of life and let you be free for a moment or longer.
The learning outcome for the class that I used the most was writing as a process. I made a draft of the essay, revised it, and kept tweaking it until I saw fit.

Skyrim and Transit Podcast Reflection

My co-producer and I first read the Bogost chapter on Transit before we started anything in the podcast. Since I was the only one who had actually played the game, we decided that he would ask most of the questions about the game and I would describe it in detail. He would lead the incorporation of the Bogost term, and then we would have him play the game on a live feed. We kept our format similar to previous podcasts because we split it into introducing the game, how it relates to the bogost term, and finished with gameplay.

The goal of our podcast was to show that Skyrim uses transit in a way that allows the player to explore as much as they want. It is a very large game and there are thousands of places to travel to and things to see in the world. It was difficult to talk about what you can see while exploring, but the gameplay enlightened it a little. If we had more time, we would have included more gameplay so that the listener could experience more of the world than just the three minutes that we included.

The learning outcome that was utilized most for us in this assignment was collaboration. I collaborated with a partner for the entirety of this project until it was finished. We bounced idea off of each other until we could get information and ideas to fit withing the podcast.

I learned form this assignment that I need to be well prepared for when I have to speak, even if it’s just into a mic and not a classroom. I also learned that it is more efficient to do a project from start to finish without taking long periods of time to take a break in between. However, I would not recommend procrastinating to do it though.

Podcast on Skyrim with Transit

Kentucky Route Zero Magical Realist work?

Kentucky Route Zero incorporates the use of fantastical elements throughout the game to provide a sense of mystery for the player. There are subtle little things in the game that the player would notice and wonder why that’s there or what does this have to do with anything. Then there are huge things the player would see such as Julian the giant eagle that flies you to a forest. There were no questions asked about the eagle. It was just accepted that he was Ezra’s brother. Another example of fantastical elements in the game is when they are in the forest and you are Ezra. You keep running forwards and see different times or scenes of Conway and Shannon as they travel through the woods. It’s almost as if you are running along their timeline. Then, at the end of the woods, Shannon asks you where you’ve been and you say that you got lost in the woods. In the beginning when Conway goes in the basement of the gas station, he finds the three people playing a game at the table. They were there but they didn’t acknowledge him and when he finds their missing dice, they disappear.

Manuel’s Reflection

I believe that the custom Budweiser “When Friends Agree” sign in Manuel’s Tavern represents equality without judgement or restriction. Everyone is equal when they walk through those doors. Initially I had a few examples to support my claim, but it wasn’t many. I mostly described the poster and the alterations made to it when they put up the new sign on the wall. In my final draft, I added a few more examples to support me and I elaborated more on the political aspect because it is in fact a political cartoon. I added that switching the word gentlemen to the word friends made the sign gender neutral. It also eliminated the effect of classes by replacing a word correlated to the upper class with a word fitting to any class. My initial draft was slightly bland as well because there was only one picture, and it was the sign after it had been changed from the original poster. In my final I included the picture of the original poster so that readers could see the changes for themselves. Writing this assignment was different from other essays I’ve written in the past. I would usually sound very informative and professional to where reading it bored me and anyone who read it. With this, I feel like I was actually talking to the reader and made it easy and intriguing to read. Working on this assignment helped me reach the Writing as Process learning outcome for this course. At the beginning, I mapped out what I was going to write about. Then, I wrote the rough draft. One of my classmates read the draft and gave opinions of it. I had a one on one conversation with my professor, who helped me with ideas to make a stronger essay. Then, I merged those ideas into my writing and edited them to fit with what I already had. This produced my final draft. This was a textbook writing process.

If you don’t see it in the menus tab, then here’s a link to the essay.

Manuel’s Tavern-The Wall


Photo Credit to Brian 104
Attached to this post are links that let you read about a thrilling piece of art! On the wall of the world renowned Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta Georgia, there hangs a historical political cartoon of friendship and rejoice. It has been made into a neon sign for Budweiser and looks down upon one of the many rooms of the Tavern. Click on the following links to learn more!

What is the assignment?

Budweiser’s “When Friends Agree”

Firewatch Intro & liveblog

This post is going to be my live-blog play-through of the game Firewatch. The beginning of Firewatch starts out with you, Henry, in a bar, and you meet a woman named Julia. I got stuck for about a minute because I didn’t realize that you had to click some of the dialogue. So I just kinda sat there staring at a screen wondering when it would change. I quickly went through the dialogues and Henry ends up marrying Julia. However, Julia develops dementia at age 41 and, she barely recognizes you when you visit her in her nursing home. Then, you take a job in a solitary “firewatch” tower in the woods where your only communication is over the radio with a woman named delilah. I believe that Henry is depressed and needs solitude, which is why he took this job in the woods. I’ll figure that out later.

Dear Esther

Dear Esther and Gone Home are similar games in that both of them are relatable to our current lives. Gone Home depicts the troubles a modern family could have, and Dear Esther colorfully describes a car crash where a mans wife is killed. They use similar literary techniques that slowly reveal hints at what the main plot or message is. Both games use the dialogue of a narrator to narrate the story, but they also use imagery. Gone Home has clues about the family that you can find throughout the house, and Dear Esther uses the landscape of the island to depict small events or hints of the car crash.

Gone Home Review

Gone Home, at first, seemed like a horror game to me due to the eerie setting. Its nighttime, raining, and all the lights in the house are turned off. Its a perfect setup for a horror game, but it wasn’t. I went through the game in the beginning and learned that it wasn’t very scary, but you do walk around and learn more about your, Katie’s family. You quickly find out from the beginning dialogue that Katie has a mother, father, and a sister named Sam. There are other characters like Oscar, Katie’s great uncle, and Lonnie.

Even though there is only one “real” character in the game, the game creates personalities for the other people mentioned throughout it. The only other character to actually talk through messages and notes is Sam. The game makes Sams persona up as a sort of tomboy. She likes boyish things and activities, but she is also confused about her sexuality because of Lonnie. The checkpoints throughout the game all lead to how and why Sam left home to run away with Lonnie. Even though Sam isnt present, the player can still feel emotional when reaching the end of the game due to the crisp emotional messages read by Sams voice.

Gone home did an excellent job creating character without characters. It is beautifully designed with an almost realistic art scheme, and has several in-depth stories to uncover throughout the house. Though it could be frustrating sometimes to pickup or read everything, Gone Home was a pleasure to play.

1 2