TWISTER INTERFACE: MOCK-UPS

         Replicate the classic party game Twister on a games console - the task of the 9th assignment of the year. When handed this assignment, I instantly thought of Kinect. Although I'm not a massive fan of the device, it seems only suitable that a party game that requires free hands, uses a platform that gives you freedom of movement with your limbs. So, rather than the Wii Controller, the Move Controller or the Xbox Controller, Kienct seems the perfect choice. Especially when it can recognise depth, augment reality, distinguish between limbs, and provide accessible voice controls.

     To me, simplicity, decoration and being faithful with the classic game is important. I want to embrace the nature of a party to facilitate laughs and therefore entertainment value - exactly the reason Twister is so popular. I shall justify these aspects at a further stage when I discuss the mechanics and feedback systems, the below designs are purely basic mock-ups.

    So, I've chosen three modes - Party Mode (in the room), Online Mode and Endurance Mode (Single Player). This was in hopes to cater for all audiences whilst retaining twister's physical spirit central to the games mechanic (again, I shall justify this at a later point). I want to take a handful of mechanics, and re-use them in different contexts to change up the game-play. Anyway, have a look at the mock-ups drawn over my ancient television.

TWISTER: KINECT - INTERFACE MOCK UPS
by Christian Whelan

TWISTER: KINECT - MAIN MENU MOCK UP
by Christian Whelan

TWISTER: KINECT - DIAGETIC MOCK UP
by Christian Whelan

TWISTER: KINECT - NONDIAGETIC MOCK UP
by Christian Whelan

TWISTER: KINECT - ENDURANCE MODE MOCK UP
by Christian Whelan

MAIN MENU - Simplistic, thematic, functional. Players won't be spending too much time on the menu, the chances are, they would play the game at an event or party to get straight to the instantaneous physical fun.

PARTY MODE - The classic and most popular family fun mode, so therefore the first choice on the Main Menu. Here, two or three players would go head to head on screen using an augmented reality twister mat. Maybe they have lives, or lives for each limb? At the moment, I am brainstorming the possibilities of the lives mechanic and what it can bring to the game.

ONLINE MODE - The same as the Party Mode, only players will compete online, taking advantage of Kinect's ability to augment reality. The players are augmented onto each others screens using collision detection, visual effects and feedback to restrict movement (like in the classic mode).

ENDURANCE MODE - To cater for those who want exercise and fun alone, Endurance Mode is the Single Player mode of Twister: Kinect. The Spinner is AI controlled and random, but its speed and difficulty begin to increase as the game times how long you last in this berserk, limb twisting endurance mode.

        I feel I have a good foundation for an Xbox 360 Twister clone. Its the same classic game, but it also adds features to generate new laughs, thus increase the replay-ability value. Hopefully, once the feedback systems are in place and the pretty visuals are overlaid to "Juice" the game up, it should be a realised and successful concept. My fiancée already said "Oh my god! I want to play it now", so that a good sign I guess (unless she was being sarcastic to shut me up... as she usually does).

NEXT POST: TWISTER INTERFACE: INTERFACE DESIGN AND JUSTIFICATIONS