Posting on Behalf of Joey Yeo – A0127127L

Overcooked! is a cooking simulation game developed by Ghost Town games. In either single-player or local cooperative or competitive mode, players control a number of chefs in various hazard-filled kitchen levels and aim to fulfil food orders as rapidly as possible.

The Lens of the Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics

Players must cooperate to complete recipes and earn points within a set amount of time in one of numerous kitchen levels. Players must pick up ingredients, put them down on chopping boards to chop them, then place them into cooking devices such as pots or ovens before serving them. Each level has its own set of obstacles that requires players to devise strategies to complete the orders as efficiently as possible. In competitive mode, players play against each other in side-by-side kitchen levels to earn the most points.

Aesthetics

The game is rendered colourfully in stylized low-polygon 3D, with cute character designs and simple, responsive animations that make the hectic gameplay feel more immersive and exciting. The user interface is pared-down and usually absent, using only icons and graphics to instruct users on the steps needed to complete new recipes.

Story

The story of the game is simplistic and has little bearing on game mechanics: the players are transported back in time by the Onion King to learn how to cooperate well as chefs in order to defeat a giant, apocalypse-causing spaghetti monster.

Technology

Overcooked was made in the Unity game engine and can support up to four controllers, and most interestingly, Shared Controller Mode where a single controller can be used for two players.

The Lens of Fun

The game’s fun factor largely stems from the chaotic cooperation between players, who in local co-op, are likely sitting near each other and can interact both in real life and within the game. Playing the game becomes a bonding and socializing experience with their friends.

The Lens of Skill

The skill tested most in this game is in single-player mode, the ability to multi-task, and in co-operative mode, the ability to cooperate with their fellow player. The basic actions in the game such as assembling the recipes are all done with a single button push, but completing the recipes with the other players requires a modicum of skill in communicating effectively and collaboration. After replaying certain levels, players will devise strategies and become more skilled in navigating them.

The Lens of Challenge

Levels get more challenging as play goes on. Earlier levels only introduce one type of obstacle at a time, for example, rats which will steal ingredients or earthquakes that cause parts of the map to become inaccessible. Later levels ramp up difficulty by combining these obstacles, causing players to have to restrategize.

The Lens of Cooperation

As the game only allows local co-op, players must communicate by talking to each other and can do so at all times. All players have the same abilities, but in some levels, players may be split up and only have access to certain kitchen equipment, requiring them to co-operate by passing each other items on conveyor belts or opening doors by standing on a button.

The Lens of Parallelism

Completion of each level earns players 0 to 3 stars depending on their performance. The next level can only be unlocked if players have obtained 1 star for the previous one, but later levels require also an additional number of stars for players to proceed. This is a rather frustrating way to gate later levels from players who may just be bad at dealing with a certain map’s obstacles and are not keen on replaying earlier levels to obtain more stars.

Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle platform game developed and released by Valve in 2011 as a sequel to the original Portal released in 2007.

The setting of the game happens in the test lab of Aperture Science, where the super AI GLaDOS controls everything in the company and conducts ‘experiments’ on test subjects like Chell – the main protagonist of the game. You play as Chell to solve different kinds of puzzles presented by GLaDOS using the portal gun given to you.

Game play video:

Elemental Tetrad:

1. Mechanics: The main goal of the game is to solve puzzles using the portal gun and other actions. In the first half of the game the player solves the puzzles presented by GLaDOS, in the second half of the game, the player tries to escape from the test lab by completing puzzles as well. The game is designed into multiple chapters and maps, some of them being huge both in horizontal and vertical scales, making common maneuvers in video games insufficient to complete the levels in this game and the use of portals a necessary part of the game.
2. Story: The main conflict of the game is between Chell and GLaDOS. This conflict unfolds the background behind the company Aperture Science and hints the story behind Chell’s parents. The story also justifies the purpose of GLaDOS and the reveals the technology that empowers the portal guns and other supernatural phenomenon happening in the test lab.
3. Aesthetics: Portal 2 is a first-person 3D game and looks like just like every other first-person 3D game if you have not actually played it. After playing the game, you can tell the designers really put a lot of effort into the aesthetics. The aesthetics really helped the players to better understand the mechanics and follow the story of the game. For example: Surfaces that can be put a portal on and surfaces that cannot be put a portal on have different textures.
4. Technology: Portal 2 was developed using the Source engine and made available on Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStaion and Xbox. So there are a lot of ways to interact with the game including mouse, keyboard, gamepad. The game also has a multiplier co-op mode, so internet connection is required to be able to play in this mode.

The Lens of Obstacle

The obvious goal is to complete the puzzles presented by GLaDOS and escape the test lab, and it is motivated by Chell’s survival instinct. The obvious obstacles are GLaDOS’s attempts to stop and kill you. However, the obstacles are also puzzles and they can be very interesting to solve. In a way, the obstacles improve the player’s ability to better at the game.  Both Chell and GLaDOS are transforming subtly during the process as they realize they might have a deeper relationship than just normal test conductor and test subjects. This transformation made the game more engaging and drives the player to finish the game to find out more about their relationship.

The Lens of Fatasy

I think this game fulfills the fantasies of many people – teleport through portals. Many people have fantasied about having the ability of teleport through space to accomplish things that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Portal 2 just gives the player this ability and let the them complete goals using the power to gain a sense of accomplishment.

The Lens of Character

GLaDOS, despite being the ‘bad guy(girl)’ in this game, has a very fascinating personality. She is evil, sadistic, but as you play you would realize GLaDOS is the only one in the game that truly matters or cares for you. She always expects you to be better at what you do, in a way just like parents always hope their kids to be better. Actually, this is very possible GLaDOS is Chell’s mother according to many highly convincing theories online. Plus the fact that GLaDOS is also very funny, often cracking jokes in a trying-to-be-funny monotonous robotic tone, it makes the character seem very rich and realistic.

The Lens of Time

Portal 2 does not have a ticking clock in most part of the game, as it is mostly a puzzle game. Having a time constraint would not be a good idea as the time which different players need to figure out how to solve them can vary. However the boss fight finale has a literal ticking clock to create a sense of tension and emergency for the player, making the ending after completing the fight especially relieving and touching.

Game Description

A strategy / god game that let player play as a dungeon keeper. It involves building and managing a dungeon in order to attack or defend against the “good guy” or other dungeon keeper.

Lens 1: The lens of the element tetrad (7)

Mechanics

Core mechanics of this game is to create a dungeon to attract different kind creatures into living in your dungeon. These creatures will work and fight for you.

There are different kind of gameplay in dungeon keeper. Sometimes, there are specific hero that you will need to kill. Occasionally, you will just have to defend your dungeon.

Defend the dungeon heart

Every dungeon will have its own dungeon heart.

The enemies will try to seek their way into the dungeon heart to destroy it. The player must do whatever he can from preventing the enemies from reaching and destroying this dungeon heart. Once it is destroyed, the game is over.

Create your own dungeon

Different type of room or fascilities attracts different kind of creatures into your dungeon.

For example, a library will attract wizards, while a torture chamber will attract succubus into the dungeon.

Besides, attracting the creatures into your dungeon, it is also very important to keep them happy so that they do not just leave your dungeon.

For example, instead of a chickens farm (used for feeding the creatures), a tavern can be built to better feed the creatures and make them happier.

Play as the “god”

One interesting thing about dungeon keeper is that, you can pick up any creature in the dungeon and drop them anywhere you want.

Besides that, you can play direcly as the creature (by posessing them) in first person mode. This sometimes offer a totally different game play mode as you can attack and cast spell as the creature.

See video: https://youtu.be/Pe8GF3lugjc?t=10m47s

Aesthetics

A 3D dungeon style + medieval art style.

Story

In the story of this game, the player will play as the dungeon keeper, who will need to seek and collects 20 Portal Gems in order to break through the confinement in the underworld. More detailed plot can be found in Wikipedia:

The kingdom of Harmonia, ruled by King Reginald, has been under siege from dungeon keepers for a while, and his wizards have devised a device known as a Portal Gem to confine evil creatures to the underworld, while still allowing good forces access. Reginald has twenty Portal Gems, each assigned to a realm and safeguarded by its guardian. These devices have forced even serious dungeon keepers into retreat. An evil warrior known as the Horned Reaper (or “Horny”) believes he has the ability to remove Portal Gems from Harmonia, and has enlisted the player’s assistance in conquering its realms so he can claim the Portal Gems. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Keeper_2#Plot

Technology

Unlike it predecessor (the first Dungeon Keeper game) that is developed in 2D graphics, Dungeon Keeper 2 is developed in 3D with hardware acceleration. All models of the creatures and room are now in 3D. It also uses Direct X to enhance the lighting effects in the game.

Lens 2: The lens of imagination (45)

I like the part where you can possess different creature inside your dungeon. Apart from playing as the dungeon keeper, managing the dungeon in a higher level, I can play as any creature in the dungeon. It entice me to imagine myself as the creature in the game.

Lens 3: The lens of freedom (71)

Player are given the flexibility to design their dungeon to their desire. Player can dug out the dungeon anyway they want in order to place different rooms and trap.

They are also given the flexibility to plan how they want to execute their attack.

Best of all, the game allow you to play as a “god” by allowing you to freely pick up any of your creatures or possess them to do whatever you desire.

Lens 4: The Lens of Unification (9)

Dungeon Keeper 2 emphasise on a dark sense of humour. Their narrative, theme and game mechanics geared towards that.

In their narrative, besides constantly mocking the “good guy” in the games, they will also mock the player with humorous pharses. e.g. “your dungeon is emptier than your head”.

In terms of their game mechanics, one of the special element is that you can “slap” your creature to make them work harder for you. Or if you desire, you can even torture one of your creature, by picking them up and throwing them onto a torture chamber!

Lens 5: The lens of surprise (4)

Player is only able to see area that they have preiously discovered. All other area will be pitch black to the player. This game mechanics is perfect for creating element of suprise for the player. Sometimes, the player may find area filled with golds. Sometimes, the player may accidentally digging into enemy territory, triggering a fight earlier than expected.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative first person shooting game that takes place in a zombie apocalypse setting. The player plays as one of the four human survivors, who needs to fight through a horde of zombies in order to get to safety.

Game website: http://www.l4d.com/blog/

Gameplay demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaXl7DKG86U

Lens #7 – The Lens of the Element Tetrad

Mechanics

There are 5 modes of gameplay, all with single player or multiplayer options, each with a different set of rules and goals.

The standard mode is the Campaign mode which pits you against the director. Simply survive five stages of zombie attacks and you will be successfully rescued.

My personal favourite and the most popular mode would be the Versus mode which involves a maximum of eight players split into two teams. What I really like about the Versus mode is that you may either choose to play as one of the four survivors, or as one of the eight special infected zombies which presents a whole new point of view of the game.

There is also the Scavenge mode which requires your team to search for and return gas cans to a generator in order to escape the scene, the Survival mode which pits you against wave after wave of zombies to see how long you can last and the Realism mode which takes you another step further by removing all assistance and hints in the game, so that you can experience the situation in the most realistic way possible.

You may also select a difficulty level based on your gaming skills, which scales the health and damage of the zombies and the frequency of replenishment points.

Story

The main story of the game revolves around the four surviving protagonists, who are fighting their way through a bunch of zombies, each with a unique character and personality. There are 13 maps in the game, with a range of settings and activities in which you have to complete in order for you get rescued. The storyline of Left 4 Dead 2 may be simple, but it has captured the hearts of players by portraying them as the heroes of the story amidst crisis.

Aesthetics

Left 4 Dead 2 is a lot more detailed in terms of graphics compared to Left 4 Dead, which can be seen from the zombies’ reactions and environmental effects such as dirt and blood splattering. It generally introduces more gore and tension via visual and sound, which are important components that gamers look out for when playing zombie shooter games.

In terms of player experience, one great selling point of Left 4 Dead 2 maps lies in its diversity. Instead of hunting zombies on the streets in broad daylight, you have the opportunity to fight against them in swamps, riverfronts, plantations, hotels, malls, abandoned highways, amusement parks and more, presenting you a movie-like experience. The weather condition in the game is ever-changing as well, leading you through clear night skies and heavy thunderstorms, constantly challenging you adapt to your surroundings.

Technology

Left 4 Dead 2 was first released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. It was subsequently released for OS X in 2010 and Linux in 2013.

I believe that the mechanics aspect is a huge part of Left 4 Dead 2, seeing how it caters to different players based on their skillsets and preferences. It also allows the players to view the game from various perspectives. The aesthetic aspect acts as a strong value add-on and the story, along with the technology, makes the game complete.

Lens #3 – The Lens of Fun

Whilst on the quest of staying alive, you may equip yourself with two weapons of your choice: a primary weapon and a sidearm. The primary weapons range from submachine guns to grenade launchers and have varying ammo capacities and abilities for you to experiment. The sidearm, on the other hand, is far more interesting. You may find yourself holding onto a pistol, slicing through the infected with your katana, whacking the zombies using a frying pan or even smashing them with a bright red electric guitar. It really surprises me whenever I get my hands onto a new-found weapon, because who would have guessed that you can kill a zombie in so many different ways?

Furthermore, grenades such as molotovs, pipe bombs and bile bottles are provided which adds on to the element of fun and the list of dumb ways to die for the zombies.

Lens #27 – The Lens of Skill

Alike most first person shooting games, playing Left 4 Dead 2 trains you to be alert and adaptive to your environment. You will learn to react quickly to attacks and listen closely for sounds made by the special infected in order to avoid them. Teamplay is an important part of the game as well and it requires you to communicate and strategise with your team in order to survive and complete the final quest. A progress report will be displayed at the end of the game which gives you a breakdown of the number of zombies you have killed and your headshot accuracy rate compared to your teammates, so that you can track your improvement over time.

Lens #38 – The Lens of Cooperation

Cooperation is essential during the multiplayer game modes. Left 4 Dead 2 allows communication between players through text and voice. It highly encourages player-to-player interaction by allowing you to heal your teammates using a medical pack and transfer healing items to them so as to give them a temporary health boost. If your ally has met with an unfortunate mishap, you may also revive him from the dead using a defibrillator.

This game also puts you in situations where you will definitely require your allies’ help. There are several special infected which are set for this purpose, including the smoker who abducts you using its tongue and the jockey who rides on your back and controls your movement. And trust me, there is nothing more comforting than being rescued by your teammates from the hands of these zombies.

Extracted from wikipedia, the Dark Souls series is a trilogy of action role-playing games played in the third-person perspective. You explore a harsh world and meet various objectives by slaying your enemies. A core mechanic of the game is the use of death and repetition to teach players about survival in a hostile environment. You can find gameplay videos for all three games here, here and here.

You Died: The Game

To provide some form of structure for the analysis, here’s how it will proceed. For each of the 4 components in the Lens of Elemental Tetrad, an appropriate lens will be selected to expound the component. The lenses are as follows.

Lens of The Elemental Tetrad

• Mechanics: Lens of Control 
• Story: Lens of Character function 
• Aesthetics: Lens of Atmosphere 
• Technology: Lens of Physical Interface

Note that the lenses used to exemplify the components are not exhaustive and I merely selected the ones that best express my experience of playing and watching the games.

Lucky for us, my elements live together in harmony

Lens of The Elemental Tetrad: Prologue

A key question asked by the lens is whether the 4 elements of Mechanics, Story, Aesthetics and Technology are present and do they meld well with each other to deliver a common theme. To answer this, let me first reveal a major theme of the Dark Souls series.

The struggle for survival

Keep this theme in mind as the following lenses explain how the theme is derived and kept consistent throughout the games. We begin with Mechanics.

Don’t stop, never give up

Lens of Control: Soul of Mechanics

The rules of the Souls series are straightforward. You live in a world where combat is necessary for survival. Kill your enemies, don’t be killed and move forward towards the endgame. The catch is, killing is a massive challenge.

In typical action RPGs, controls are tight and responsive because it feels good to the player. Feeling good translates to feeling in control and so, feeling powerful. Many power fantasy brawlers such as God of War approach controls with snappy and quick attacks but the Souls series takes an alternative approach.

To fit the game’s theme, many weapons are designed to have windup time. Combined with fantastic animations, this brings weight to the weapon yet remaining intuitive to the player. The result is twofold. You struggle to learn the weapon’s timing and then, you struggle to use it against the enemies in the game. The component of mechanics therefore, stays consistent with the theme.

HOME RUN!

Lens of Character function: Heart of the Story

In every Souls game, you don’t start out special. What you set out to do, many have tried but failed. The NPCs on the same quest as you therefore, serve to share their own insights and wisdom on this seemingly impossible journey.

Meet  your new friends, Solaire, Crestfallen and Ludleth

But not all the characters carry the burden of this mission. In this medieval rendition of an apocalyptic world, each of these characters tells their own stories of struggle. They each carry their own agendas and may choose to aid or hinder your progress.

Regardless of whom, every character is forged on the basis of striving to achieve their goals in this harsh environment. Their roles and actions however, vary depending on their perspective on this struggle. These characters are pivotal in constructing a mental image of the world and how people in it operate, forming a coherent story.

Lens of Atmosphere: Core of the Aesthetics

The world of Souls began with a sea of grey. With the end of the world at hand, the cycle will soon complete and everything will return to how it once was.

You know something is wrong when an Eye of Sauron sits in the middle of the sky

The visuals are meant to evoke hopelessness, to imply that all your struggles could be for naught. But you struggle anyway, because you fight to see that breathtaking sun at the end once more.

The decision of having mostly environmental sounds only while travelling highlights the severe state of the world. During boss battles, orchestral music plays in the back, reinforcing that it’s an epic endeavour.

Together, both the visuals and sounds build the atmosphere of the game, supplementing the core experience of struggle and overcoming it.

Praise the sun indeed

Lens of Physical Interface: Basis of Technology

Similar to its predecessor Demon’s Souls, the Dark Souls series is primarily designed to be played with the game pad. In a game where every swing matters, all buttons must be easily accessible and the form factor of a controller fits that requirement.

At the same time, with every battle a struggle to overcome, it is a natural reflex to clutch the controller tight or hold down the buttons hard as he or she plays the game.

Therefore, the physical interface was designed to be wieldy and accommodating to reflect the player’s physical reactions of struggle in the game, harkening back to the theme.

Pretty much my experience with the keyboard and mouse

Lens of The Elemental Tetrad: Epilogue

The Souls games have always “felt right to me”. What that meant, I never truly considered until this idea of “elements in harmony”. All four elements gelled well, built upon one another, and ended up with an emergent experience.

Looking back, there are many things that I might have missed in the analysis. So for now, I think I will take the time and finally revisit an old flame.

TL;DR (I kid, please read my post ;_;)

The last of us

The last of us is an action-adventure survival horror game from a third-person perspective. Players traverse post-apocalyptic environment such as towns, buildings, forest and sewers to advance the story. During the game, players can use firearms, improvised weapons like bricks and sticks, as well as stealth to defend against hostile humans and infected cannibalistic creatures. Most of the time, players can control Joel, a man tasked with escorting a young girl, Ellie, across the United States, Ellie and other companions are controlled by the artificial intelligence. Players can also control Ellie in dlc of the game.

Webpage : http://www.thelastofus.playstation.com/

Game trailer: http://www.bilibili.com/video/av1614362/index_10.html

(start from 57:15)

Story

The story happens under the background when people was infected by virus and became cannibalistic creatures, Joel, whom player controls, the main character of the game, a smuggler, tasked with escorting a teenage girl named Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. During the process of the adventure, relationship between Joel and Ellie changes from hostile to intimate. Players can learn more about Joel and Ellie, about their characteristic, their pasts, and unconsciously regard themselves as the character, they will value in the way of the character but not themselves as a player, which I think the story of the last of us is successful.

Mechanics:

The game has multiple characters. Players can control Joel and Ellie in the main game and control all characters in the multiplayer game. I am impressed by the various way of battle against both human and monster enemy. Not only players can choose to use weapon, stealth and combat, the way of each kind of battle is various. Players can choose anything as weapon, and when combat and stealth, players can make use of the environment to hide themselves, which make the battle system has many possibilities. At the same time, players can collect items by discovering the corner of the environment, which they can use these items to make other weapons.

Aesthetics:

The last of us delivers a realistic 3D scene which makes players feel like they are truly in the end of the world.  Not only the environment, the game also masters in modeling human beings, I feel like the character are exactly real. The most amazing part is where Ellie touch the giraffe.

Technology:

The game is playable on PS3, PS4. Controls are simple. Players can even feel vibration of the controller when there has crash and collision in the game.

The lens of emotion:

When playing the game, people first feel scary, then they will feel sad for what Joel has experienced. Then they are happy to see Joel and Ellie become friends, even like father and daughter, at last, an indefinite feeling towards what Joel has done, an also indefinite feeling towards what Ellie reflects. Players regard themselves as the character the controls, and for me, I started to think of the deep meaning after the game after I played it.

The lens of essential experience:

The game not only gives an excellent story but also gives an amazing game experience. I am surprised by the flowing action and the free of combat. The game also combines the scene with music to make people feel like they are in the end of the world, to face the scare that the monster is right beside you. At the same time, to give players a tenser battle experience, the game also applies QTE system.

At the same time, when you discovering the game, Ellie (which controlled by artificial intelligence) will interact with you. Players can also control character during the story part.

The lens of curiosity:

During the game process, there are many riddles during the game, like players need to come up with a way to go through the barrier by making use of the items in the environment. Besides the riddles, I think the main question in the game is, it wants players to think about life and choice, which choice is correct, which is not, or even, is there any choice that definitely right and wrong? The game makes me think a lot towards the character and my own life.

The lens of competition

The game makes player be able to choose different levels of difficulty, and the trophy system will reward players of each difficulty level they complete. If people just want to enjoy the game and story, they can choose the simplest level. If they want to challenge themselves and get sense of achievement, they can choose the hardest one and play to achieve all trophy.

PS: recommend one very very special game to you, “I wanna” series, simplest and hardest operation, hope you can enjoy HHH

Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform with its core mechanic being the ability to join two separate spaces together. Solving a test chamber requires the player to get to the exit with clever uses of portals to move things around or to get to hard to reach places.

Store page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/620/
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeVmSEvhzQU

Aesthetics

• Clean and simple look.
• Highly expressive characters.
• Use of body language and eye movement to express emotions.

Mechanics

• Solving 3D puzzles to get from the start point to the end point.
• Portals to join two spaces together.
• Paint mechanics that allow a painted surface to bounce or accelerate objects.

Story

• The player is attempting to escape by going through the test chambers.
• Character focused. There’s only 3 core characters in the single player storyline, Chell(Player), GlaDOS, Wheatley.
• Throughout the playthrough, the two NPC will continuously speak to the player or to each other, allowing for an immersive experience.
• The choice of 2 core NPC allows for the players to better know these characters and their personality, as opposed to having more characters but with less time to know them.

Technology

• Joining of game spaces that have seamless transition when moving between the two separate spaces. (Portals).
• Liquid blobs that can interact with surfaces for the paint.

Lens of The Pyramid
At the start, the puzzle introduces the portal concept to the player by allowing the usage of 1 side of the portal while the other side is fixed. This then helps the player grasps the portal and space bending mechanic before allowing the player free reign over both side of the portal. Every time a new mechanic is introduced to the player, the puzzle will primary require use of the new mechanic in a basic manner to reach the exit. This allows the player to understand how the mechanic works and what results he can obtain with it. This also prevents overwhelming the player with a puzzle requiring multiple mechanics in addition to a new mechanic.

Lens of Character Transformation
At the start, the player has a helper and an antagonist, Wheatley and GlaDOS. At the mid point, their roles swapped as the result of an attempt to defeat the antagonist. Wheatley grows more power-crazed and his change is progressively expressed in the new test chambers he designed and his tone of voice as he attempted to kill the player.

Lens of Simplicity / Complexity
The way the game is simple is that the player only has 1 equipment, the portal gun. This helps the primary interaction with the world to be consistent and simple. The complexity elements come from the ability to join spaces with the portals, allowing for some complicated movements. This balance helps the player from being overwhelming as well as getting used to and better at the portal mechanics. Additional mechanics are then utilized through the use of portals, which is sufficient to make complex puzzles.

Lens of Physical Interface
There’s an energy field acting a barrier that the player can pass through but will destroy objects that pass through it. When the player holds an item close to it, a region of the field near to the item will glow and brighten, hinting that the item will be affected and destroyed. Passing through the field also resets the portal gun, closing all open portals. This effect is showed from the portal gun shaking the moment the player passes through the field. When the player shoots at the field, the field flashes, indicating that the shot has been blocked.

Leagues of Legends (LoL) is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, developed by riots games. Two teams of maximum 5 players each, battle and challenge each other to overcome the opposing team’s base. Players need to use real time strategy and cooperate with teammates in order to defeat the opponent.

Before the match begins, each player chooses a character, also known as Champion, which has their own strengths, weakness, and skills. The game ends when one team loses the heart of their base, the nexus, or when one team surrenders. There are different modes in this game, the most popular being Classic, a normal 5 vs 5 in the summoner’s rift map. My favorite mode would be Aram (all random all mid), where the Champions are chosen for you at random.

Official website: lol.garena.com

Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-157HBpPZ24

Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics:

• Controls:
  • Uses keyboard for activation of skills, ping, and screen control.
  • Uses mouse for targeting and champion movement.
• Map:
  • Sets of different maps.
  • There is limited vision that can only be seen by your team. If you lose a turrent (tower), surrounding area of visions are lost.
  • Minions (soldiers) also provide a small range of vision
  • Mini map at the bottom right which shows location of teammates, wards, and minions.
  • Enemies within our vision are also shown on minimap.
• Champion:
  • Champions are unlocked using game money, or a set of free to play champions are rotated every week.
  • Each champion have their own levels, health, mana and stats.
  • When a champion reach 0 hp, they are killed off, and must wait for a period of time before they are respawned.
• Champions skills and abilities:
  • Each champion have their own unique passive.
  • Click-on skills, which require vision of the enemy.
  • Skill shots which are projectiles-base that only the first target it collides with.
  • Area of Effect (AOE) which affects a wider range and multiple targets.
  • When champions level up, they can choose to increase the abilities skill.

Aesthetics:

• The maps are 3D and more colorful as opposed to DOTA 2.
• Each champion has their own splashart, and skin (a different character theme different from the default).
• Their skills each have their own special animation and may change depending on skin.
• There are mild cartoon blood animation.

Technology:

• In Singapore, LoL is hosted Garena, a social and game platform, and can only be played using Windows. In some countries, it is also playable on mac OS.

Story:

• The game does not have main story which affects the progression of the game.
• Each champions comes with their own lore, their own background story of how they came into Leagues of Legend.
• Some lore are tied in with others which brings about secondary quest, for example, Ashe, Lissandra and Sejuani are all princesses of Freljord. If either two champions are in opposing teams, they must kill or assist in the kill of the other.

Lenses

The Lens of Competition vs Cooperation

• You need to work with your teammates to win the other team. Without cooperation from the team, there wouldn’t be much of a competition, it will be a one sided massacre.
• Competition in this game is used to encourage cooperation as a team to defeat the other.

The Lens of Chance

• In the Aram mode of LoL, champions are selected at random from the current champions that you own, and those on free to play for the week.
  • When one gets a character that they know how to play well, they usually get very excited. While on the other hand, if the champion rolled is one that you cannot play well.
  • You can choose to reroll the champion, or swap with someone who also have that champion. Some people are lucky, while others can be quite sore about it, and dodge the game (leaving when the game has yet to start).
  • This makes the experience to be both joyful and frustrating at the same time.

The Lens of Surprise

• As mention above, there is limited vision, allowing opponents to hide in bushes and ambush you.
• To prevent this, one can use wards which allows for vision within the single bush for a limited period of time.
• Certain champions can be invisible to opponent players. For example, Teemo and Twitch.
• Some skill can created by certain champions such as traps are invisible to the opponent as well. For example: Teemo’s mushroom (Noxious Trap).

The Len of Skill

• LoL will need players to come up with strategies to land a killing combo. The more one plays the game, the familiar they would be.
• They will be able to know in what order to use the skills to get the best damage, how to escape, when to escape, when to go in, or run.
• Hidden ‘elo’ system which determines how well a player plays and match them with other similarly skilled players.
• Usage of Runes and Masteries, which gives your champion additional benefits and stats. This allows for different customization of playing style.