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on game design and safety: working notes
Mar. 2nd, 2024 04:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yhleeA discussion of design and safety in a WIP.
So, I normally don't spend a ton of time on safety notes/rules for micro solo journaling games. If the game is one page long then having a full page of safety might be disproportionate unless the game is about cannibal were-hyena atrocities or whatever. And a solo game by its nature can be backbuttoned out of, or you can tag it with content notes.
The one game I authored that had serious business safety concerns was Ninefox Gambit RPG, due to the nature of the setting it's based on (torture, genocide, rape, brainwashing, pretty much everything), and I do remember, after consultation withyeloson especially, giving some thought on how to address those in the text of the game.
Normally, I prefer "content notes" to "content warnings" or "trigger warnings" in the context of entertainment games, although opinions vary, and my opinion on this (which may not be yours!) is informed by fanfic tagging practices, where "content note: noncon" could serve BOTH as a "stay away if you don't want to read rapefic" AND "oh yay, noncon smut!" "Content note" feels nonjudgmental to me, as someone who enjoys and actively seeks out "trigger" content in fiction (e.g. horror) or games sometimes.
That said, sometimes I do a game design where safety considerations really need to be highlighted. These are some notes in a WIP solo journaling sketch I've been noodling at, for instance: ( cut for length )
What have your experiences been around gameplay and safety, or game design and safety?
NOTE: if your discussion involves content note/trigger material either in narrative or real life, that's fine; please mark it in some fashion at the beginning of your comment, e.g. "Content note: real-world sexism" or "Content note: fictional murder."
So, I normally don't spend a ton of time on safety notes/rules for micro solo journaling games. If the game is one page long then having a full page of safety might be disproportionate unless the game is about cannibal were-hyena atrocities or whatever. And a solo game by its nature can be backbuttoned out of, or you can tag it with content notes.
The one game I authored that had serious business safety concerns was Ninefox Gambit RPG, due to the nature of the setting it's based on (torture, genocide, rape, brainwashing, pretty much everything), and I do remember, after consultation with
yeloson especially, giving some thought on how to address those in the text of the game.Normally, I prefer "content notes" to "content warnings" or "trigger warnings" in the context of entertainment games, although opinions vary, and my opinion on this (which may not be yours!) is informed by fanfic tagging practices, where "content note: noncon" could serve BOTH as a "stay away if you don't want to read rapefic" AND "oh yay, noncon smut!" "Content note" feels nonjudgmental to me, as someone who enjoys and actively seeks out "trigger" content in fiction (e.g. horror) or games sometimes.
That said, sometimes I do a game design where safety considerations really need to be highlighted. These are some notes in a WIP solo journaling sketch I've been noodling at, for instance: ( cut for length )
What have your experiences been around gameplay and safety, or game design and safety?
NOTE: if your discussion involves content note/trigger material either in narrative or real life, that's fine; please mark it in some fashion at the beginning of your comment, e.g. "Content note: real-world sexism" or "Content note: fictional murder."
