Schell Games

[{"content":{"text":" Schell Games' commitment to education is something we live every day; in the products we create, the work environment in the office and the ways we share that knowledge with others. Each month, we'll be dissecting a different Lens from The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by our CEO Jesse Schell and applying it to a noteworthy title. It's our hope that you use these as you develop your game or are looking to critically analyze what makes someone else's game successful. "},"id":"b672735e-540e-4dde-b9d2-f61a277d4275","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/mRolJSKDafvlozHA"],"src":"","alt":"The Lens of Presence showing a person using a mirror to cheat at a poker game","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"71eec1d7-8f65-4542-9210-a6968cfca5a8","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"The Lens of Presence","customid":""},"id":"279fe410-e550-4f12-a690-1c05d145c226","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" How This Works: Use this Lens (full text below as well) and picture your game at the same time. See how you answer each question and how difficult it is to arrive at these conclusions. Repeat and refine until complete - how much different does your potential game look than when you started? Full Text: Presence is invisible, ephemeral, fragile, and central to human experience. To remember where your player really is, ask yourself these questions "},"id":"9b307f1f-f5b4-469c-8c52-0aa55592571f","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"text":" Is my player experiencing a sense of presence? Could it be stronger? What in my game is diminishing or breaking presence? What in my game is building or strengthening presence? "},"id":"714409d1-7e94-4e55-94ba-9b7b89849660","isHidden":false,"type":"listBlock"},{"content":{"text":" In The Art of Game Design , Jesse Schell further breaks this down into six presence builders: Hand presence, social presence, familiarity, realistic audio, proprioceptive alignment (alignment of your virtual and real body), and comedy. We'll be using all of this for this month's example title. "},"id":"dce8095e-1ed6-4ebe-bc0e-999759427da5","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"web","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NJxKVz8mhaY","video":[],"poster":[],"caption":"","autoplay":"false","muted":"true","loop":"false","controls":"true","preload":"auto"},"id":"a237d431-cb72-4792-a05f-de86cde9edf7","isHidden":false,"type":"videoBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"Example - Innkeeper VR ","customid":""},"id":"99b646d6-8218-4cb2-a381-81fb85f84b1e","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" Simulation games like Job Simulator are a standard application of VR, a huge reason why these games have been near the top of the charts for nearly a decade. The best in this genre excel at creating presence, keeping the player fully immersed in the experience without overloading them or breaking the immersion. As a huge fan of Travis Baldree's cozy high fantasy novels (he also is responsible for Torchlight , one of my favorite games), one thing I have always wanted to do is run my own inn or tavern. There's some wonderful titles like Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale and the co-op fun of Potion Party , but the top down perspective kept me from my true player fantasy of wanting to physically occupy the space and serve the patrons. "},"id":"a092870c-3c32-41c5-8218-b148b0704d11","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/25dprD18oV2Y3Id6"],"src":"","alt":"Screenshot of Innkeeper VR","caption":"Get out of here!","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"71c79fc2-c9f7-4ac1-8135-95fb159ac64d","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"text":" Enter Moon Haven's Innkeeper VR (still in early access as of the time of this publication), a Meta Quest experience that lets you be the tavern owner and masters the idea of presence set forth in the Deck of Lenses. Being in first person with motion controls puts me in control, allowing me to do every menial task from pouring drinks and collecting cash to the more sandbox-y elements of breaking up fights and throwing drunk patrons straight out the door. The audio (especially when you hire a bard and get a full tavern of people) heightens the immersion. The proprioceptive alignment also works great, and physically walking around my tavern feels natural with tasks from chopping wood to gathering water all feels right and keeps me from snapping back to reality. Like many games of this ilk (see also New Folder Games ' I am Cat\/Security) a huge appeal here is the comedy. Your player fantasy can be running the most ship-shape tavern in all the realm with top notch customer service. Or, you can run things as poorly as possible, chucking patrons out arbitrarily, leaving filth all over the tables, and encouraging raucous brawls. This not only keeps players engaged, it also makes for extremely meme-able moments and sharable gameplay, like A Wolf in VR's hilarious series on this game. Still an early access title, Innkeeper VR could perhaps excel even more by adding some social presence, which I felt to be the only omission. I'd love to visit my friends' taverns and cause chaos in the spaces they created, or invite them to do the same in my own. Then, I might never truly leave my virtual tavern I've grown so attached to over the last few weeks. "},"id":"36a102d8-a537-4cfb-94af-4d961fb9be62","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"web","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gjux1zRj3IA","video":[],"poster":[],"caption":"","autoplay":"false","muted":"true","loop":"false","controls":"true","preload":"auto"},"id":"886f28aa-231f-499d-96a8-b2c979edaffa","isHidden":false,"type":"videoBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"The Art of Game Design","customid":""},"id":"0d883239-9628-4b2a-b02c-f851cbd51cb9","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" This is just one quick example of all of the knowledge and expertise contained within The Art of Game Design . Learn more about the book, the 110+ Lenses that come with it and more about CEO Jesse Schell on The Art of Game Design website. "},"id":"d20c64ba-e079-4341-b8c7-b86c6101df96","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"link":"https:\/\/schellgames.com\/art-of-game-design","text":"Read More","class":"","id":""},"id":"d83375af-b2e5-4f35-a026-239ad00239cc","isHidden":false,"type":"buttonBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/hxonirhhjVdS96jM"],"src":"","alt":"The Art of Game Design and Deck of Lenses","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"28d92694-0e36-4bf5-b855-ead2013bde3f","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"View More Lenses","customid":""},"id":"f067b7d2-afdb-46cb-8f86-afad4e5398bd","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" All Lenses can also be accessed digitally for no cost. Use the Deck of Lenses for inspiration when developing an experience, playtesting, brainstorming, and anything in between. "},"id":"937bdf5d-63a6-43a4-9ae3-3856f93d036a","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"link":"https:\/\/deck.artofgamedesign.com\/#\/","text":"Deck of Lenses","class":"","id":""},"id":"2a31427e-1455-4ff5-ac51-1b0289e9add8","isHidden":false,"type":"buttonBlock"}]

The Lens of Presence

June 2, 2025 · insights

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