Many of the games I’ve played for this class have strong themes. Aside from SET and Cranium, Werewolf, Toon Town, Puzzle Pirates, and Club Penguin all seemed to have themes as a central part of the game. SET didn’t appear to have a particular theme, as it was very basic and composed primarily of color, pattern and number groupings. While Cranium did adhere to a particular style, it did not seem to have a theme, especially when compared to the other games.
Werewolf was the only themed game that was not online. The theme was not tangible; if someone heard the conversation in the game it could be mistaken for a detective game. The theme mainly was used to add fun to the game and make it unique, since it’s more interesting to tease a friend about being a werewolf (meaning their character wouldn’t have a choice to murder) as opposed to a cold-blooded killer.
The online games seemed to use their themes to bind together a serious of games and activities. Toon Town was more about having a themed hangout and serious of activities, while Club Penguin and Puzzle Pirates used their themes more to support their mini-games. While all seem to use themes quite effectively, the online games (more than Werewolf) have the advantage of an over world to set the atmosphere. Themes in online hangouts like Club Penguin are almost expected, as people need to choose this world over their own.
There was quite a range in mechanics for these games. SET’s mechanics were very simple and were less tangible. Although your progress could be measured through the number of cards you held, the actual process of finding a set takes place entirely in the mind. Werewolf also had an usual set of mechanics that largely depended on social dynamics to function. While the process of choosing someone to eliminate could in many places happen in seconds, the debate that sprung out of the choice is what made the game interesting. The mechanics themselves didn’t seem to make the game fun; it was the fact that people disagreed.
Cranium was set up to use mechanics that would help loosen inhibitions and make it a fun experience. Unlike Werewolf, the mechanics themselves were meant to make the game fun. While this game would also be dead without a good social dynamic (laughing makes it fun), the process of humming, drawing, and pantomiming all helped to create a fun experience. Also, the tangibility of the pieces moving across the board adds in a race element that makes Cranium a real game.
The online games had many different sets of mechanics within their worlds. Toon Town had a combat system and multiple simple mini-games. The combat system was engineered to keep up relationships, as you can call in friends for help. Unlike Toon Town, Club Penguin can be a much more private experience. While you can have your penguin waddle around town, showing off all the new clothes you bought after playing many games, there are few multiplayer games. The friendship aspect is more of an element in the over world and much less important in the simple flash-based mini-games.
Also, Puzzle Pirates is structured much like Club Penguin, in that the games are simple. However, as the name implies, the games in Puzzle Pirates are largely dependent on puzzle-based mechanics. Many of the games are simply puzzles with extra rules or strong themes. As a fan of puzzles, I find the puzzle mechanic to be very engaging. It is probably one of the largest contributors to my long-standing interest in the DS version of Puzzle Quest.