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Game Design Analysis – Brawl Stars

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Brawl Stars: No Time to Explain - YouTube
Brawl Stars

Description

Brawl Stars is a freemium multiplayer online game and 3rd person hero shooter where players from around the world can battle against one another in various game modes. Players can select from a pool of characters (known as Brawlers) unlocked through boxes, brawl passes, the objective path (known as Trophy Road), or purchased via the Shop with in-game currency.

Lens #9: The lens of the Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics

  • Mostly team-based, solo options available, MOBA
  • Simple characters and skillsets, including super-powers and upgrades called gadgets
  • Limited and simple gameplay (movement, firing), with advanced strategies in a competitive setting

Brawl Stars has a low barrier to entry for beginners (even with simple brawlers/characters) to play. It is rather interesting to note that a higher amount of strategy and teamwork mechanics/dynamics is needed for more competitive gameplay across various maps and characters. Overall, it seems that the game is kept minimal and simple (limited buttons, super powers, restricted movement) to level the playing field as well as offer realistic dynamics for a mobile game MOBA as such.

Story

It is rather apt to note that Supercell (owner of a couple of top mobile games) started off Brawl Stars after a series of successful launches – including Clash of Clans and Clash Royale. The story is similar and in-line with the lore of the past games, again with a minimal approach (not as complicated as League of Legends, Dota etc) of certain renowned characters such as the Barbarian, Archer). Similar characters were showcased but with noticeable differences in storylines.

Aesthetics

The game is relatively well-lit, also with cartoon-like characters which introduce high levels of comfort across all level of players (beginner to advanced). Their attacks and animations are well thought, including special ones for selected skins, increasing the reactivity of players to their aesthetics and pleasure/satisfaction in well-crafted graphics and design.

Technology

Brawl Stars does not require intensive hardware which makes this mobile game easily accessible to many devices. In fact, playing online against other people across the world does not require much data usage which is a strong factor for players to increase their usage without worrying about incurring additional cost.

It is clear that the 4 elements are well integrated to cater to players of the different spectrum.

Lens #34: The lens of skill

As the game has the potential to be mechanically intensive, players with better skills will outperform and play better at different maps and game modes. Skills include map awareness, champion mastery, team communication and map/mode strategy all play a significant role in the victory of each game. Players who spend and invest more time in analyzing and learning game strategies will perform better and win more games in such a setting.

Together with their ranking system (offering trophies for each win, and losing trophies for each lost), this helps to matchmake better players together and vice versa which allows for a better levelling field of learning and improvement for all parties.

Lens #55: Visible Progress

Progress is one of the keys in Brawl Stars in maximizing retention of players while ensuring accomplishment through the games. As a beginner, one would only have access to a small pool of (basic) characters with limited upgrading options to allow beginners to practice and learn more. However, this is strongly supported with trophies and levels which correlate to how well you play the character or game as a whole. This is always listed on the homepage whenever you started the mobile game on the top left. Brawler trophies are also listed on the top of the character.

Brawl stars account, Toys & Games, Video Gaming, Video Games on Carousell

Upgrading a character essentially means your character does more damage, has more health, and has more access to better special powers (such as gadgets and supers). Hence, the process of upgrading a character signifies a gradual journey to groom one’s skills and abilities and provide a strong sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when a certain level is obtained. Ultimately, this serves as a metric for social comparison, allowing you to check out leaderboard across social groups or clans to compete for standing and position in their skillsets.

Lens #98: Community

Finally, the community may be the strongest aspect for Brawl Stars. One reason why Brawl Stars shot to fame was because of the multiplayer MOBA that attracted friends to team up and play with one another, raising the level of fun from just individual to a communal one across classmates, colleagues, and family. Players are mostly expected to team up and join clans which promotes group inclusive effort and maximizing together-time across many games played in Brawl Stars.

Unsurprisingly, Brawl Stars is one of the most successful games of Supercell yet, having a strong audience due to its prior successes, yet not neglecting innovation and trend towards MOBA games while leveling the playing field for both experienced and inexperienced, young and old.

VR/MR Devices Analysis

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VR Technologies

I personally have not experienced many VR/MR devices firsthand, hence I will be taking a look at some of their specifications and making a comparison across some of the interesting technologies I found.

My personal choice would be the Occulus Quest 2 as it is one of the most affordable models out there starting at $299 for the 64GB Model. Apart from the reasonable pricing, there are several interesting specifications to take note of. Oculus improved the frame rate of the Quest 2 from 72Hz to 90Hz, which provides an even more immersive experience as games and content can take advantage of a higher refresh rate to deliver better quality. The battery live is rather significant at about 2 hours of gameplay (or 3 hours video), and the screen resolution reaches up to 1832 x 1920 per eye which is rather impressive for a VR headset. Furthermore, the Quest 2 rather light weighing about 503g, a great improvement from the original Oculus Quest weighing about 571g.

The design and user experience are also important, since a headset may not necessarily be the most comfortable experience for all. The Quest 2 uses fabric strips that are more comfortable and easier to adjust. Additionally, the Quest 2 does offer an extra battery pack that attaches to the Pro Strap, which doubles the battery life of the Quest 2 for longer and better experiences.

More practically, the lower starting price of the Quest 2 compared to other headsets seem to be the strongest attraction in onboarding newer users (like myself) into VR with a reasonably lower investment. Games that are more tech-savvy would definitely note the Facebook-centric platform of the Oculus environment. The Quest 2 is a great personal choice as it has a lower barrier to entry, along with the comfort and performance it provides to the everyday user.

MR Technologies

Although I haven’t tried this physically, the Microsoft Hololens seems to be the industry-leading and most popular choice for many B2B companies. Their expansion and development into their product are well thought and well-integrated amongst various use cases.

Let’s begin with some ergonomics analysis. Fit and comfort is key for the Hololens 2. Although the initial Hololens already came a long way from the early prototypes, it was clearly highlighted by many that comfort wasn’t the best for extended periods of use. One needs to make adjustments to ensure that the best field of view is obtained while maximizing comfort in wearing. In the Hololens 2, there is a more comfortable fit with a dial-in system specifically designed for extended use. The built is designed in a way that the main processor and battery are located modularly at the back of the headset, with the wires running towards the front, improving the weight distribution of the Hololens 2.

The Hololens 2 is capable of tracking up to 25 points of articulation with both hands in space, allowing natural touch and grasping to move holograms. Their impressive eye-tracking technology also finetunes the interaction with holograms. It can detect what you’re looking at and use that data to further improve the user interface which ultimately results in a better field of view. The Hololens 2 has a field of view to about 52 degrees diagonally, which Microsoft claims to have doubled the effective viewing area. There is also an increase in the vertical viewing area, making it taller when looking at tabletop holograms. This impressive improvement in the field of view is a large differentiator across many MR headsets, which puts the Hololens 2 as one of the pioneers in ensuring a better experience. Unfortunately, the Hololens 2 is priced very high, possibly because of the intricate and complex technologies that it incorporates and may not be ready for the everyday user today. A more expensive price point does limit the audience that is able to use it, hence more applications are centred around businesses currently.

Ultimately, the Hololens 2 is successful in maximizing both performance and comfort, while optimizing current technologies such as having more cameras and better sensors around the headset. This is particularly important for headset wearables as it hopefully seeps into the near future where everyday users can harness MR in their daily lives without the hassle of discomfort or performance-related issues.