LO1 Game Analysis of Sneak - 6/10

Sneak - Tested on the iOS Platform

It’s a game built for young children. It’s a motion sensor game with a sound sensor, to alert when you get close. It’s a game where the participant has to sneak up on the phone without being alerted.  The genre of the game is Strategy/ Interactive Movie. As the game has elements of strategy to get around the obstacle and sneak up on the target and it also has elements of being interactive as the game can sense and hear you using the microphone and camera. It’s a very unique title compared to other games in the genre as a game like this hasn’t been done before, it’s a very diverse and original concept. It also has a definite end goal; where as other games of the genre are more varied.  This game doesn’t include cut scenes like a normal game of that genre would. It represents the genres very well, but some aspects aren’t included.

The narrative of the story is that you are trying to sneak up on a monster and trying to take a picture without being noticed by sound or touch. The first aspect of the story is to bait on the cuddly characters. The ultimate goal is to photograph all 5 beasties. This makes the child very sneaky and resort to stealth. The story definitely effects how you approach the characters, as you are taught to sneak up on the characters therefore it makes you act cautious. Since the target audience is children, it’s very easy to connect with them through an interesting game concept; Sneak has a unique games concept. The story informs the gameplay heavily as the story is exactly what the gameplay is. With each “Super Sneak” performed the player unlocks more cuddly characters and bait.

Sneak was created by Made in Me, the London based studio making children’s games, apps, books and toys using only thee finest of pixels. In the production process, the main aspects that were developed were; the graphics, the hearing capability and the sight of the app. As these are the key aspects of the game. Because these specific aspects were developed upon, it makes interesting game mechanics and game physics. As it uses the sights and hearing, it adds to the games overall presentation. These specific mechanics make the game what it is, original and diverse.

The characters are relevant to the target audience, as the target audience is young children and they react to anything brightly coloured and iconic characters. The characters created in this game, are cuddly monsters which would heavily appeal to children, and the fun approach to the game gives them a healthy attitude towards the characters.  I think the characterisation matches the conventions of the genre very well, as the characters are made very approachable and that’s why it’s very easy to interact with them hence the interactive movie genre. I feel like the characters are quite strong, but they are very simplistic and don’t stand out against iconic characters such as Mario and Sonic.

The challenge in the game is to photograph all five beasties, this makes the child resort to stealth and to stay very quiet and move very carefully. This is a challenge because depending on the different levels and intensities, it can be very difficult to sneak up to take a picture. The type of challenge engages the player heavily as you have to be much focused to actually finish the game, also the fact that the goal is to photograph all five makes you want to succeed.  Elements such as movement and hearing are vital to games success as you’ve got to think about these aspects thoroughly to finish the game. The narrative of the story is to photograph all the beasties this directly links to the gameplay as that is your end goal, through careful concentration and planning. The gameplay evolves to keep the players attention through the use of the different levels and intensities, the higher the level the harder the game and therefore the player has to be more alert and focus their attention on the game more.

The target audience is Family and young children, aimed at children 4 and 5 years younger. One of the indicators that the game is produced for children is the bright colours and iconic cuddly character, also the simple commands. The game appeal directly to family’s and young children as it is a game that involves the whole family and the bright colours and iconic characters add to the association with kids.  This game is a lot different to other games of the genre as it physically involves the participant and doesn’t just involve the screen. It also has lots of different senses, which also diversifies it from different games. Even though the target audience is children it can also appeal to everyone else as well as it has a fun interaction part and the end goal makes you keep want to play.

This game is available on iOS only. I’d say that it is very suitable to the platform it is available on as the app is easily accessible from the App Store and iOS is one of the more interactive platforms which suit the interactive side of the game. I think it could be suited towards PlayStation or X Box using the camera and microphone, I’d say its best suited to handheld consoles, because it’s easier to manoeuvre and place the phone down to sneak up on. It also suits the touch part of it when you have to take a picture. It is also available on Apple TV which I feel isn’t as suited as iOS hand held consoles.