I wrote this on my white board the other day, and have gotten more questions about this single phrase than anything else I’ve done
In gaming, sometimes rules interact to create a negative scenario you cannot influence, which makes you ‘Feel Bad’. Your lovingly created character gets wiped before it can do anything. Your super powered combo is completely denied. You look across the table before the game even starts and realize you have no chance to win.
Collectively these are ‘Feel Bads’.
A great game creates tension, frustration, swings of emotion – but avoids ‘Feel Bads’.
Since day 1 designing Play18More I have kept a list of Feel Bads, and through playtesting have been trying to knock them off one by one. Now that I’m starting a company, I’m trying to use the same mentality to ensure customers never have a Feel Bad when interacting with he company.
So far the list includes: Surprise costs added at checkout. Broken links. Late delivery without communication. Customer service questions without a timely response.
Let me know what else you can think of, so when this thing launches it can avoid the Feel Bads – both in the game, and the real world!