Dev Blog Entry 1

Of the games we’ve played so far in class I think 140 exhibits the most elegance in its design. I think all of the elements (sound, color, shape, mechanics, etc.) of the game, as well as the developers attention to detail, come together really nicely to form a well-designed and interesting gameplay experience. One example of this is how cleanly the player "character" changes shapes for different actions:

The smoothness of the animation as the character changes from shape to shape as well as the little trail that follows the character as it moves really add to the game's overall aesthetic. Having different shapes correspond to different types of movement (or lack thereof) is also an interesting gameplay mechanic. I also really like that the music provides a rhythm that you can follow to progress through the levels rather than just simply being background music, as can be seen in this excerpt from the game's trailer:

You'll notice that the each time the player lands on a platform there's a corresponding beat in the music and the music also corresponds to the movement of certain obstacles. The game also uses color very well. For example the game's main obstacle is static. Even without any formal instruction, the player can tell that the static is bad because it is aesthetically different from the rest of the game's vibrant colors and is often placed at the bottom of pits which from previous game experience players know to avoid. Thus, overall 140 is an elegantly designed game.