Aesthetic Impact

What are Aesthetics?

The aesthetics are the subjective element to design, however there is always an area for discern and the view of the output often varies.

Indie Game FEZ which received much credit and acclaim for it's creative use
of pixel art  and innovative gameplay.

The actual aesthetics of a game are not limited to just the graphics, but rather the whole visual experience of the game. Although in this context, I am referring to the visual experience or simply put, the graphics. The sound, story display, interaction and the whole output of what the user experiences are all part of the aesthetic outcome.



Recently, I re-watched 'The Indie Game Movie', the movie really instigated a lot of inspiration in my mind about the concept of designing an aesthetic experience which incorporates some of myself within the game. That it is something more than just a game, but an overall experience which defines who I am and that the audience can connect with that. The video above shows the trailer of the Indie Game Movie, it opens up the movie and delves into the lives of those who create such unique aesthetic experiences for their audience.

Aesthetics in a literal sense also heavily influences a games outcome. This is evident in many titles being released with little aesthetic polish and doing badly in terms of audience rating and sales, whereas a similar game concept with more polished assets does exceedingly well.

Left: WaveSpark, Right: Tiny Wings

As stated by NorthWayGames, a good example of this is within the game 'WaveSpark' made by Nathan McCoy as part of his make a different game every week project.

As it was only a week length game, McCoy could not spend a large amount of time polishing the game. Subsequently, a year later, the top-selling iPhone game 'Tiny Wings' was released selling over 7 million copies using the exact same game mechanic and concept as WaveSpark. This goes to show that strong aesthetics count.

Left: Crush the Castle, Right: Angry Birds 

Another example of this importance is with the two games 'Crush the Castle' and the popular 'Angry Birds'. Angry Birds has been in the App Store top 3 for over a year and gifted Rovio with over 70 million dollars which has grown more since then. Apple choose to feature it on their top 10 list as it is in their own interest to keep it high up there so that people who hear of the game will be interested in buying an apple product just to play the game.

Angry Birds had copied the flash game called Crush The Castle. Crush The Castle had used a very different look, using armored soldiers and canon balls instead of Green Pigs and flying angry birds as projectiles. The amount of polish and the comical cartoon look could reach out to a much wider audience, young and old.

Overall, the aesthetic experience is a very important aspect which creates a game. It is a lot more than just the graphics, but also what those aesthetics represent to the viewer which can really make the difference.