The verbs at the core of this game seem to include slide, whether it is sliding the paddle up or down. With these verbs the player can control the way in which the ball moves between the paddles, though this is an extremely difficult part of the game. Sliding the paddles forwards the game, which is deflecting the ball back and forth between two paddles, but the motion of the ball relies on the position of the paddle and its movement, whether it is sliding up or down before hitting the ball. This makes it difficult for the player to guess what the different reactions are, and it also makes it difficult for the player to anticipate the way the ball will move. While this difficulty may become reduced the more the player becomes used to the game, it is one that requires players to think more quickly, rather than strategizing several moves in advance. The game’s verb that requires movement from players is bounce, which is why players must slide in order to return a reaction to the game’s action. While the player cannot prevent that verb as this is the main action of the ball (and the motion that keeps the game going), players can at least try to anticipate where exactly the ball will land. Players can also slide both paddles to make the ball’s movements more predictable, which in turn makes the motion of the ball more manageable. This action and reaction seems to be the main level of interplay within “Hot Potato”.
The first challenge that was presented to me in this game was getting oriented to the controls of the paddles. I'm glad that the instructions were clearly written, otherwise it may have taken me a bit to figure them out. You need to coordinate the movements of the paddles, and the physical movements of your fingers on the both the keyboard and the mouse. The ball, or potato rather, was moving very quickly as soon as you got into the game. I scored very low in the first couple tries because I had to spend some time orienting myself to moving the paddles. Once I had that part figured out, the next challenge presented itself. It was not only the different controls of the two paddles, but the way in which they each moved, that presented a challenge. The right paddle simply moved where the mouse went, and you could stop it at a specific point if you stopped moving your mouse. But, the left paddle would continue to move up or down until it reached the edge of the window when you pressed the W or S key. As either of these challenges makes the player lose, the counter displayed in the window incentivizes the player to continue to reach a higher amount of bounces each time. It is simple to restart the game, so it's very easy to just continue trying to get more and more bounces. However, there's not necessarily a real downside to losing-- you simply have to try again. This game also keeps players in it and engaged for a long time (possibly as long as they're able to go?) because there are no "levels" or winning.
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The verbs at the core of this game seem to include slide, whether it is sliding the paddle up or down. With these verbs the player can control the way in which the ball moves between the paddles, though this is an extremely difficult part of the game. Sliding the paddles forwards the game, which is deflecting the ball back and forth between two paddles, but the motion of the ball relies on the position of the paddle and its movement, whether it is sliding up or down before hitting the ball. This makes it difficult for the player to guess what the different reactions are, and it also makes it difficult for the player to anticipate the way the ball will move. While this difficulty may become reduced the more the player becomes used to the game, it is one that requires players to think more quickly, rather than strategizing several moves in advance. The game’s verb that requires movement from players is bounce, which is why players must slide in order to return a reaction to the game’s action. While the player cannot prevent that verb as this is the main action of the ball (and the motion that keeps the game going), players can at least try to anticipate where exactly the ball will land. Players can also slide both paddles to make the ball’s movements more predictable, which in turn makes the motion of the ball more manageable. This action and reaction seems to be the main level of interplay within “Hot Potato”.
The first challenge that was presented to me in this game was getting oriented to the controls of the paddles. I'm glad that the instructions were clearly written, otherwise it may have taken me a bit to figure them out. You need to coordinate the movements of the paddles, and the physical movements of your fingers on the both the keyboard and the mouse. The ball, or potato rather, was moving very quickly as soon as you got into the game. I scored very low in the first couple tries because I had to spend some time orienting myself to moving the paddles. Once I had that part figured out, the next challenge presented itself. It was not only the different controls of the two paddles, but the way in which they each moved, that presented a challenge. The right paddle simply moved where the mouse went, and you could stop it at a specific point if you stopped moving your mouse. But, the left paddle would continue to move up or down until it reached the edge of the window when you pressed the W or S key. As either of these challenges makes the player lose, the counter displayed in the window incentivizes the player to continue to reach a higher amount of bounces each time. It is simple to restart the game, so it's very easy to just continue trying to get more and more bounces. However, there's not necessarily a real downside to losing-- you simply have to try again. This game also keeps players in it and engaged for a long time (possibly as long as they're able to go?) because there are no "levels" or winning.