Summary
I decided to analyze brawl stars which is a mobile game made by the company supercell, who are renowned for creating high quality, long living, and overall fun mobile games such as; clash of clans, clash royale, hayday, boom beach, and brawl stars.
Game Play Analysis
| Formal Elements | |
| The Basics | ____________________ |
| Name of the game | Brawl Stars |
| The platform | Mobile (phones) |
| Time played (should be at least 30 minutes) | at least 50 hours |
| If you could work on this game (change it), what would you change and why? | I would create a more realiable way to earn new fighters (brawlers) |
| Players | NOTES |
| How many players are supported? | depending on the gamemode you play it could be either 3 or 6 or even 10 |
| Does it need to be an exact number? | yes, to start a match the server needs the exact amount of players to be connecting relative to that game mode |
| How does this affect play? | it just determines how long you have to wait before matches, and also increases the difficulty in certain gamemodes |
| Some types of player frameworks:Single Player – like Solitare.Head-to-head – 1 vs. 1, Chess.PvE – Player vs. Environment, or multiple players vs. the game. Common in MMOs like World of Warcraft.One against Many – Single-player vs. multiple (obvy).Free-for-all – Every man for himself (1 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1..). Most common for multiplayer games, from Monopoly to Modern Warfare.Individuals Against the System – Like Blackjack, where the Dealer is playing against multiple players, but those players have no effect on each other.Team Competition – Multiple vs. multiple, i.e. sports.Predator-prey – Players form a circle and everyone’s goal is to attack the player on their left and defend themselves from the player on their right.Five-pointed Star – Eliminate both players who are not on either side of you. | Brawls stars really has 2 different gameplay frameworks, in most gamemodes it is a 3v3 team competition game but the is a showdown mode where it is free for all |
| Objectives/Goals | NOTES |
| What are the players trying to do? | in some game modes such as gem grab or bounty the main goal is collection of an item, but in hot zone its territorial accquisition, etc. |
| Some common objectives include:Capture/Destroy – Eliminate all your opponents pieces (Chess).Territorial Acquisition – Control as much territory as you can, not necessarily harming other players (RISK).Collection – Collect a certain number of objects throughout the game (Pokemon).Solve – Solve a puzzle or crime (Clue).Chase/race/escape – Anything where you are running towards or away from something (playground game Tag).Spatial Alignment – Anything involving the positioning of elements (Tetris or Tic-Tac-Toe or that game at Cracker Barrel).Build – Advance your characters or build your resources to a certain point (The Sims).Negation of another goal – The game ends if you perform an act that is forbidden by the rules (Jenga or Twister). | |
| Rules/Mechanics | |
| There are three categories of (what the book Rules of Play calls) operational rules:Setup – the things you do at the beginning of a game.Progression of Play – what happens during the game.Resolution – How an outcome is determined based on the game state. | there is really no way to divide brawl stars game play as its a beat’em up strategy game. |
| Controls | NOTES |
| What controls are used? | you have 3 on-screen joysticks one for movement, another for aiming your basic attacks, and one more for aiming your super. |
| Was there a clear introductory tutorial? | yes, when you first download the game and open it the game will take you through an introductory battle that explains the game controls |
| Were they easy to understand or did you find yourself spamming the controller? | no I found the controls to be quite easy to use and understand |
| Resources & Resource Management | NOTES |
| What kinds of resources do players control? | players control their health and ammo |
| How are they maintained during play? | if your health reaches 0 you die and if you run out of ammo you have to wait before shooting again |
| What is their role? | to keep everything fun, if every match had a bunch of immortal beings running around endlessly shooting that wouldn’t be much fun |
| A resource is everything under the control of a single player. Could be the money in Monopoly or health in WoW. Other examples are:Territory in RISK The number of questions remaining in 20 Questions Objects picked up during videogames (guns, health packs, etc.)Time (game time, real-time, or both)Known information (like suspects in Clue) | |
| Game State | NOTES |
| How much information in the game state is visible to the player? | you are able to see how much ammo you have left, how charged your super is, and what all players health is friend and foe alike |
| A snapshot of the game at a single point is the game state. The resources you have, the un-owned properties in Monopoly, your opponent’s Archery skill all count towards the game state. Some example information structures are:Total Information – Nothing is hidden, like Chess.Info per player – Your hand of cards is only visible to you.One player has privileged info – Like a Dungeon Master.The game hides info from all players – Like Clue, where no one knows the victory condition.Fog of War – In video games, where certain sections of the map are concealed if you do not have a unit in sight range of that area. You also cannot see other players’ screens, so each player is unaware of the other’s information. | |
| Sequencing | NOTES |
| In what order do players take their actions? | brawls stars is a real time game meaning if you stand still your gonna die because nothing is stopping the enemy from killing you |
| How does play flow from one action to another? | its a real time game every one moves at the same time |
| Some structures include:Turn-based – Standard board game technique.Turn-based with simultaneous play – where everyone takes their turn at the same time (like writing something down or putting a card down in War).Real-time – Actions happen as fast as players can make them. Action-based video games.Turn-based and time limits – You have this long to take your turn. | |
| Player Interaction | brawl stars is all direct conflict |
| Some examples:Direct Conflict – I attack you.Negotiation – If you support me here, I’ll help you there.Trading – I’ll give you this for that.Information Sharing – If you go there, I’m warning you, a trap will go off. | |
| Theme & Narrative | NOTES |
| Does it have an actual story structure? | well its complicated the game technically does have a story but that story does not affect gameplay or the game itself besides determining the theme for the next season |
| Is it based on a historical event (or similar)? | no |
| Does the theme or narrative help you know how to play? | no because while there is a story it doesn’t affect the game |
| Does it have emotional impacts? | no |
| Also, look for en media res (does it start in the middle of the game)? | no |
| The Elements in Motion | NOTES |
| How do the different elements interact? | well players don’t like getting shot, and there are certain abilitys that allow you to shape the playing field |
| What is the gameplay like? | if you were playing gem grab it would go like this, you spawn in and you and your teammates head for the gem spawner in the middle of the map and have an intial 3v3 fight from there it would be just collecting gems, killing the other players to collect their gems and once your team collectively reaches 10 gems you need to hide so that the enemys can’t take all your gems |
| Is it effective? | yes |
| Are there any points where the design choices break down? | no not really |
| Design Critique | NOTES |
| Why did the designer make these particular choices? | because they wanted to make a game that would last awhile |
| Why this set of resources? | because it makes for interesting gameplay |
| What if they made different decisions? | the game may have fallen off soon after realease |
| Does the design break down at any point? | nope |
| Graphics & Sound | NOTES |
| Does the game art pair well with the mechanics? | yes for instance when you activate your gadget that affects your next attack a blue halo appears above your head warning the enemys if they are paying attention |
| Did you find any bugs or glitches? | no me personally but there used to be a way to teleport outside the maps |
| What about sound? | yes the game has a great main soundtrack |
| Can you spot any technical shortcuts? | no |
| Various Stages of the Game | NOTES |
| To wrap up, some things to keep in mind (as if there aren’t enough already) as you play: | look for bugs or glitches |
| What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them? | you overcome the enemy using guerilla warfare |
| Is the game fair? | yes |
| Is it replayable? Are there multiple paths to victory or optional rules that can change the experience? | the game was designed to be replayable over and over again |
| What is the intended audience? | all ages |
| What is the core, the one thing you do over and over, and is it fun? |