Problems/changes needed

1) The background is boring. Aesthetics of game has to be improved to make the game more attractive.

Solution:

The background was redesigned. Accents such as the swirls and leaves were added, making the background look more appealing.

2) It is a single level game and that is not enough to keep the player's interest going; especially since the maze is too difficult to complete.

Solution:

Proposed number of levels is 10. But to first test the idea, only 3 levels would be incorporated into the game design of the Hi-fidelity prototype.
The level of difficulty increases with each level. Different pieces of music were used as the accompaniment for the 3 different levels.

3) The maze is too complicated. Use different shapes.

Solution:

The original maze from the low fidelity prototype was kept but due to the complexity and difficulty of the maze, it was used for the 3rd level of the game. As shown on the right, a hexagon maze was used for the 2nd level while a simple square one was used in the 1st.

4) Instructions are not detailed enough.

Solution:

The instructions were split into 2 pages.

The instructions "Click on the red dot" has been changed to "Click on the animal once to start the game".

A demonstration was included and it gives the player a clearer idea as to how the game is played.

To make the game more interesting, the player has to collect food for the animals which would give them bonus points. They could earn more bonus points if they complete the game in the fastest time possible. For instance, completing the game within 1 minute would give you 2000; taking 2 minutes would give you 1500 and so on.

To push the challenge up even further half of their points gained from previous levels are lost whenever they hit the walls of the maze in the following levels.

5) Interface is not interesting enough.

Although the underlying concept is still there, dressing it up with little scenarios makes the game slightly more interesting.

Using the simple "ball through maze" idea might not be able to hold their interest for as long.

The overall theme adopted involves helping animals find their way through the maze and collecting food along the way.

6) Not rewarding. Players are not encouraged to continue playing because they don't get a sense of achievement.

Merely completing the maze is not enough so a points system was added into the game. Players are in control and given the choice as to how much points they want to earn. These additions make the game more challenging and extend the level of engagement.
As mentioned earlier, an experience must have an ending or a conclusion. The last scene that displays the words "Game Over" and the final score is able to give the game a proper ending.

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• Reflections

Being an amatuer at Flash, I encountered numerous problems with the action script.