Journey just came out this week, and there has been nothing but praise for the game. I, of course, loved it and I’m sure all those other people that journeyed with me loved it too. Thatgamecompany’s games are always able to come up with game experiences that have never been done before.
After GDC, I was fortunate enough to attend a Q&A session with Jenova Chen and other game designers in San Francisco at an event called The Play Salon held by the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). Here, I’ve transcribed the event, specifically what Jenova Chen said in light of Journey’s release. With the game finished, Chen was ready to answer questions about game design with what he learned during the development of Journey as well as all of his other games. Many of the questions asked were fairly unclear, but Chen was able to answer them clearly and concisely. That said, I replaced the questions with simple subject lines and paraphrases.
There are a lot of insightful thoughts on design and fans of thatgamecompany’s works should have a lot of fun reading about them. I was always curious about how thatgamecompany is always able to communicate the game mechanics and objectives without beating the player over the head with tutorials and guides. Guiding a player through the vast desert was no small task, and Chen and his team at thatgamecompany really mastered the level design in the game. Some other interesting insights include his method of game design, his take on the current innovation of games, and his perception of the different platforms from console to mobile and PC.
