Games UX

👋 Hi there! Welcome to the latest edition of SUPERJUMP Weekly. This week, we're exploring user experience design and its relationship with video games. These stories are crafted by UX professionals; either folks who are working on UX design within the games industry or who are working in UX across other industries. You'll enjoy these stories if you're a game designer - as some in our community are - but you'll also find these insights fascinating if you're interested in UX design or game design in general. In this issue, we also showcase the works of Anselmo Jason and feature Phonopolis in our latest On the Radar update.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Please consider becoming a Backer if you would like to support our unique brand of independent games journalism. Thank you.

IN THIS ISSUE

✍️ Story Showcase: Games UX
⭐ Author Showcase: Anselmo Jason
📡 On the Radar: Phonopolis
📅 This Week on SJP
🏆 Backers

Not long ago, we looked at a game called Barraka which aims for a distinctive visual style by using an actual physical medium - plasticine. Phonopolis is taking a similar approach to its own dystopian tale, this time using cardboard and paint for an avant-garde look.

The city of Phonopolis is ruled in a very literal way by sound. Loudspeakers throughout the city issue a constant stream of commands - commands which the citizens are powerless to resist. One day, an insignificant young man named Felix finds himself not only immune to the loudspeakers, but aware of their effects. Now a threat to the prevailing order, he must elude capture while seeking a way to end the tyranny of sound before the Leader's secret plan can go into effect.

The player's task is to manipulate objects in order to help Felix navigate Phonopolis and avoid the city guard. Many puzzle solutions will take advantage of the nature of the cardboard world. This may mean peeling a layer off of an object to reveal secrets underneath or moving chunks of the city around. The player can also gain control of the loudspeakers, using them to direct the actions of the citizens.

But once again, it is the visual aesthetic that is the central feature. In contrast to the dim and dismal style usually associated with dystopian fiction, Phonopolis is colorful and surreal. The game draws upon interwar and Soviet-era art styles for inspiration, particularly those associated with the Russian avant-garde. Combined with the use of stop motion, this gives Phonopolis a look that's caught between realistic and surrealistic.

Phonopolis is pending a release date.

💻 Created by Amanita Design
✍️ Andrew Johnston

Thank you to Berke, Brandon, CT, Cathie, Claire, Geena, Lexi, Nick, Oren, Peter, Troy, Radha, and Wes for supporting independent, cynicism-free games publishing.