Stranded Deep Overall Rating: 17/20
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Stranded Deep is marketed to those interested in survival and crafting games without the high-stress situations of other similar games that are out right now (i.e. 7 Days to Die, Minecraft). Whether new to the gaming scene or a veteran gamer, this Beam Team Games’ game is universally appealing. With a Swiss Family Robinson-esque take on island survival, Stranded Deep flaunts a style of gaming that is quickly growing in popularity.
Appeal Rating: 5/5
Stranded Deep is a first-person, survival-crafting video game that relies on the player’s cognitive skills to successfully keep the character alive. Naturally, this makes the clarity and effectiveness of the gameplay introduction indispensable. The player must monitor the character's hunger, thirst, and orchestrate ways to sustain the character's life in a deserted island scenario. After the character's personal jet crashed in the ocean, you - the sole survivor of the crash - procure a lifeboat and row yourself to safety. There are a string of desert islands that you can travel to, each with a limited amount of supplies. The game graphics are simply stunning, which greatly enhances the appeal. Half of the time, I play the game just so I can see the glorious sunset on the ocean (who doesn't wish they were on a tropical island every once and while).
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Visual Design Rating: 4/5
The visual design of Stranded Deep’s gameplay introduction was adequate, though not groundbreaking. The instructions were delivered in two dimensional boxes against a three dimensional background; the contrast between the 2-D and 3-D, the instructions maintained an emphasis that was supposed to draw the eye of the player. Being interactive, the game supplied information about controls in textboxes while the player was allowed to move around a small game map and test out the controls. The player was limited to the map until the tasks – which ensured that the instructions were understood and followed – were completed. The 2-D black boxes that delivered these instructions were located in the left corner of the screen and were relatively small compared to the rest of the screen. Its diminutive size made it easy to miss if the player is using a screen with small dimensions, though for the standard laptop screen (15” to 17” width) the textbox size is sufficient. The value of the text was white with stressed words in a mustard-yellow color, which worked well contrasting with the black textboxes.
Instructional Clarity Rating: 3/5
The instructions themselves left quite a bit to be desired. At one point, the abbreviations “RMB” and “LMB” were used to describe the right mouse button and the left mouse button, respectively. For players who are unfamiliar with gaming terms, these abbreviations may cause unnecessary confusion. This is almost a type of localization communication, since the globalized version would take into consideration those who are not familiar with typical gaming terms or abbreviations. In fact, one could argue that the gaming world is almost a culture unto itself. An icon with a highlighted right or left mouse button would have created a universally understood meaning, as well as keeping instructional blurbs eye-friendly. However, since the game forces the player to complete a number of tasks that ensure the player understands the game controls before allowing him/her to move forward with the game play, the players inevitably master the controls before moving on to the open map. Though this may remedy the ambiguous instructions, the initial confusion is a pain that could be easily remedied with the introduction of icons. Due to this, the learnability of the introduction suffers mildly.
The visual design of Stranded Deep’s gameplay introduction was adequate, though not groundbreaking. The instructions were delivered in two dimensional boxes against a three dimensional background; the contrast between the 2-D and 3-D, the instructions maintained an emphasis that was supposed to draw the eye of the player. Being interactive, the game supplied information about controls in textboxes while the player was allowed to move around a small game map and test out the controls. The player was limited to the map until the tasks – which ensured that the instructions were understood and followed – were completed. The 2-D black boxes that delivered these instructions were located in the left corner of the screen and were relatively small compared to the rest of the screen. Its diminutive size made it easy to miss if the player is using a screen with small dimensions, though for the standard laptop screen (15” to 17” width) the textbox size is sufficient. The value of the text was white with stressed words in a mustard-yellow color, which worked well contrasting with the black textboxes.
Instructional Clarity Rating: 3/5
The instructions themselves left quite a bit to be desired. At one point, the abbreviations “RMB” and “LMB” were used to describe the right mouse button and the left mouse button, respectively. For players who are unfamiliar with gaming terms, these abbreviations may cause unnecessary confusion. This is almost a type of localization communication, since the globalized version would take into consideration those who are not familiar with typical gaming terms or abbreviations. In fact, one could argue that the gaming world is almost a culture unto itself. An icon with a highlighted right or left mouse button would have created a universally understood meaning, as well as keeping instructional blurbs eye-friendly. However, since the game forces the player to complete a number of tasks that ensure the player understands the game controls before allowing him/her to move forward with the game play, the players inevitably master the controls before moving on to the open map. Though this may remedy the ambiguous instructions, the initial confusion is a pain that could be easily remedied with the introduction of icons. Due to this, the learnability of the introduction suffers mildly.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/3/6/49361479/2991603.jpg?451)
Length Rating: 5/5
However, the speed of the introduction cannot be disputed. While other games have given meandering introductions that ensure understanding, but leave the user bleary-eyed with boredom, Stranded Deep favored the short and sweet approach. While the margin for error avoidance shrinks with the increase of speed (for example: skipping the entire introduction by a careless and very unlucky keystroke and being unable to return), the user is traded an introduction that is easy on the attention span for a slightly less efficient model of introduction.
Conclusion
Stranded Deep’s gameplay introduction has all the trappings of a good introduction. It possessed good contrast between background and textboxes, as well as emphasized words separated from basal text. The rapidity of the introduction, too, set the player up for a painless learning process. However, it lost some of its efficiency with the lack of icons, which will doubtlessly cause confusion among those who are less savvy with prevalent gaming lingo. Overall, the introduction was a good one; it imparted the information in a way the player could interact with – literally. With a few tweaks, its status could swing from just good to excellent.
However, the speed of the introduction cannot be disputed. While other games have given meandering introductions that ensure understanding, but leave the user bleary-eyed with boredom, Stranded Deep favored the short and sweet approach. While the margin for error avoidance shrinks with the increase of speed (for example: skipping the entire introduction by a careless and very unlucky keystroke and being unable to return), the user is traded an introduction that is easy on the attention span for a slightly less efficient model of introduction.
Conclusion
Stranded Deep’s gameplay introduction has all the trappings of a good introduction. It possessed good contrast between background and textboxes, as well as emphasized words separated from basal text. The rapidity of the introduction, too, set the player up for a painless learning process. However, it lost some of its efficiency with the lack of icons, which will doubtlessly cause confusion among those who are less savvy with prevalent gaming lingo. Overall, the introduction was a good one; it imparted the information in a way the player could interact with – literally. With a few tweaks, its status could swing from just good to excellent.
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