Hey everyone!
In today’s Dev Friday we’ll be once again covering a game called ‘Hug the World’. It is available for purchase here: https://gamesforfunds.itch.io/hug-the-world. If you don’t know what is it about, check it out now!
Today we’ll cover more details about the game’s inner mechanics. This is the last part, part three of the articles with insights of the game.
In the first part we’ve covered how statistics are tracked and how are different mechanics applied on various level types. Then, we’ve loocked into the types of the levels themselves, mentioning two most popular types in ‘Hug the World’: “Click to do something” and “Tap enough times to do something”. There is, however, more to it.
CHOICE MECHANICS
It’s a very simple one that is also directly tied with a single tap interaction. Player has two options to choose from in a set of various things. What the sets are, you might asked? They are themed items, such as food categories, type of a bag or a cup. In the displayed items, player can choose between two options, one of which is more environmentally friendly. If you pick the correct one, a blue background will appear and what you’ve saved on the right choice will be added to gas emission statistics!
HOLD TO DO SOMETHING
Probably my favourite interaction in the game. The player has to hold something for a given amount of time to complete an action that counts towards the statistics and level completion. It’s simple, yet beautiful! It is the most commonly used for trees planting (and watering). However, you might recognize it from another level that is a mix of the hold mechanics and choice mechanics..
COMMUTE METHOD
In commute level, you have to make the right choice and hold it! This mix of things is an interesting mix of the above, that works in an interesting way, creating a set of choices for the player. Like in standard choice mechanics, there are two options to choose from and one is more environmentally friendly. However, additionally, the player has to hold the chosen commute method. The time needed for holding depends on how fast a given commute method is – so often the more envrionmentally friendly solutions are slower and player takes longer to finish the task! This trade off forces player into taking consequences from their own actions – are you more environmentally friendly or less patient?
That is it for today’s ‘Dev Friday’! It’s also the end of ‘Hug the World’ series of articles.
Iguana Mercenary 