Hello everyone and welcome back to the Machine: Made Rebirth blog, today I'd like to talk to you just a little bit about linearity versus the sandbox and what are the implications of both? As a player who is accustomed to game environments where there is an immediate challenge present that has to be dealt with — as well as with ones that are moreso dependent on slow immersion and the idea that there is a great challenge ahead with a great result to be gained and it's going to be worth the wait but it is not going to happen for a while.
I think that both of these methods have to be included to successfully tell the story of an RPG game. I'm a big fan of the feeling that comes from just walking into an RPG world and seeing that it's fully populated with ideas and activities to explore. The idea that these things are already fully balanced and fully discovered or realized is an added asset that has to be encountered to be understood. What activities are we talking about specifically? Is the populated region of the game directing us towards linear, problem solving type thinking, or is it directing us towards the feeling of being in a sandbox, free to create our own dimensions of play and reward.
There should be some aspect of each of these — although balancing your play to be dynamic and interesting is always a challenge. Don't forget — there are already movies… and world of warcraft! What is the angle of approach that you can use to create an interesting flow to the story and make the rewards feel appropriate and enticing.
Do you have a problem with games that are too linear or too sandboxy? Where does your fun come from, leave a comment below and let us know.
I hope you enjoyed the blog today as always,
Cheers
Allsvin
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