Time: October 2022 - March 2023
Role: UX/UI Artist
How might we create player menus that are simplistic yet intuitive?
Overview
Try Again is a 2.5D fast paced platformer where you play as Benny, a test character trapped in an unfinished game by a figure called The Designer. The Designer is up against a deadline for her publisher which means it's your last day as a test character. Navigate the facility, dodge game-dev chaos and defy expectations to become the main character.
Try Again stars Nolan North, was featured on Good Morning LA + PBS, and reviewed by Tim Sweeney at Rockstar Games!
Note: This case study is a continued approach to the current menu in the game.
The Problem
The main menu and pause menu needed to be intuitive for players–they bridge the player between game and reality.
Research
After reading the game brief, I jumped right into examining existing games that are within the same genre as Try Again as a truly gameplay-focused experience.
Player Inputs
The game is controller supported, and I found it important to analyze how the player interacts with the game itself to figure out how the player should interact with its menus. There are only three main controls in the game, which would later inform me on the potential structures the menu could have.
Existing Games and Research
Games like Stanley Parable, Mario Odyssey, and Inside share the same features in terms of genre, progression, and player goals. I explored each as a precursor, and as a result, I was able to gather specific details that were beneficial + detrimental to a seamless user experience.
Key Insights from Informal Interviews
In addition to the existing games research, I also felt it was imperative to gain insight from players of our target audience demographic (a few of my friends). I asked them each about their experiences playing adventure platformers, their motivations towards liking certain ones over others, as well as any frustrations they find themselves coming across more often than none. This provided the puzzle pieces that I found were missing from the previous research.
High-level Goals
By combining the insights I gathered from research and informal player interviews, I managed to distill my focus and goals to the following:
Seamless Menu Entry: Design menus that effortlessly guide players into the heart of the game, allowing them to swiftly begin their adventure or continue their journey.
Rationale: By providing clear and intuitive options for starting a new game or resuming gameplay, we ensure that players can dive into the action without any confusion or unnecessary steps.
Intuitive Access to Gameplay Settings: Create menus that grant players easy access to game settings and options, allowing them to personalize their gaming experience without disrupting the flow.
Rationale: Offering a well-organized and user-friendly settings menu ensures that players can fine-tune audio, graphics, controls, and other preferences while maintaining a sense of immersion in the game world.
Engaging and Unobtrusive Design: Craft menus that maintain consistency with the game's visual aesthetics while providing smooth transitions between gameplay and menu interactions.
Rationale: By seamlessly integrating menu elements with the game's art style and incorporating subtle animations, we enhance the overall player experience, making menu interactions an enjoyable part of the gaming journey.
Player Experience
Following Jakob’s law, I aimed to preserve and present as much familiarity with existing games as possible to players. This led me to divide the game’s user flow into three major phases: onboarding, playing, and pausing.
Onboarding (Main Menu)
Since the game was aimed to be a short experience (around 10-15 minutes of playtime), most players would be new players rather than returning. And, based on interviews, if the player was returning, most likely they would want a chapter select option. Thus, the potential choices necessary in the main menu screen for new players would be Play, Chapter Select, Settings, and Quit.
Playing (Actual Game Experience)
Here, the player would be… playing the game. This portion of the flow is the only connector between main menu and pause menu, so it was important to communicate with other team members to coordinate the most seamless flow.
Pausing
A well-designed pause menu is essential to maintain player engagement, ensuring that interruptions are seamless and informative, while also offering quick access to settings and options that enhance their individual gaming experience.
Ideal User Journey Map
I took all of the data and information gathered from my research to compile an ideal user journey map.
Most importantly, playing the game is where we wanted players to spend the majority of their time. Thus, throughout this process, I thought of ways to draw the audience back in the game, by sparking interest in the main menu or continuing dialogue in the pause menu.
Wireframes
To maximize time for prototyping, I wanted to be quick and efficient with iterating our wireframes.
Main Menu Wireframes
I distilled two options for how the main menu would look. The first was a simplistic layout, adopting a minimalist approach and focusing on functionality. The second was an “immersive” layout, with the menu pushed to the right + background showcasing the first scene from the game
I also had to keep in mind the controls used for the game. Since it’s controller supported, the options have to be aligned so players could simply use the left stick to toggle between them.
After careful consideration and discussions with the development team, I decided to embrace the "Immersive" main menu layout. This choice aligns seamlessly with the ethos of Try Again, where players are invited to embark on a captivating journey right from the start. I knew aiming to ignite players' curiosity and anticipation would serve best to set the tone for the adventure ahead.
Ultimately, the choice to adopt the first option and push the menu to the right enabled me to dedicate more screen real-estate to the game’s content itself.
Pause Menu Wireframes
I approached the wireframe for the pause menu in the same manner as the main menu, with the game still visible in the back. Both menus would also be consistent with each other in this manner. I learned that there would be specific pause menu dialogue from The Designer, and so I made sure to leave enough area on the bottom for captions.
Branding and Visuals
My focus on Try Again’s branding was in many ways a pursuit of the game’s mission to make player death unavoidable–in fact, a pivotal, necessary point of the game.
Logo
The goal with the logo was to make things simple through the incorporation of a refresh button as the main visual motif.
Final Designs
Impact
The game was featured on PBS and Good Morning LA. It was also reviewed by Tim Sweeney at Rockstar Games. Currently rated Very Positive on Steam with 495 reviews!
Reflections
What I could’ve done better:
Heavy research: More player interviews could have been conducted to cross reference pain points and motivations.
Increased Player Validation: More time should have been allocated towards testing iterations. I’d like to do so in the future!
Lessons Learned
Balance visual curiosity with functionality: The menus needed to spark curiosity without overwhelming the player. Finding this balance is important!
Good designs are backed with research: Every design decision needs to have a logical reasoning behind it.
Thriving Together Leads to the Best Solutions: I harnessed diverse perspectives from collaborating with others, leading to thriving solutions like audio captions in the menus!
Notable Highlights
Constant communication: Our team was constantly sharing unique ideas, providing feedback, and learning from each other. We could always bounce off each others’ thoughts and come up with new ideas.
Reflecting game identity with design: Choosing the “Immersive” layout for the main menu set an inviting tone, immersing players into the game’s narrative from the outset.
Thanks to the Try Again team for making this one of the best experiences possible! <3
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