Life Choices: College Edition

Submitted by spbr90 on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 00:31

This is a sims-like video game where you create a character and control his or her actions.

The character you create is a college freshman that is beginning his or her journey for the next four (or more or less) years.

It is a computer game where you click around the screen and control where your character goes and what he or she does throughout the game.

It is a one-player game but people can switch of playing if they choose to do so.

You can click on items to use them, on locations on the map to move around, on people to talk to them/interact with them in some way, etc.

Throughout the entire gameplay, you will be presented with many choices throughout the day. Some of these choices include:
Choosing your class schedule
Talking to people or isolating yourself in your room
Wake up to go to class or sleep in
What to eat for meals
Do homework or not
Party or not party
Etc.

As the game progresses, more specific decisions will need to be made including (but not limited to):
Choosing a major
Staying with/Breaking up with significant other
Deciding whether or not to experiment with drugs
Choosing where to live/who to live with
Getting a job
Joining a club
Etc.

Throughout the game there will be challenges thrown at you that can change depending on previous choices made or that might just be randomized parts of the game. Some of these challenges might include:
Roommate problems
Health issues
Family issues
Etc.

All of the decisions made throughout the game interact and add up and lead to certain consequences. Some of these consequences include:
Gaining weight because of food choices
Lowering grades because of life choices (doing homework/partying)
Getting in trouble with the law
Getting in trouble with the school
Getting good grades/getting on the dean’s list
Getting a scholarship or award
Winning or losing at extracurricular events
Etc.

All of the choices made throughout the game lead to a certain eventual outcome at the end of the game. These outcomes include:
In jail
Moved back in with mom and dad
Homeless
Rich and successful
Dead (from alcohol poising, drug over-dose, etc)
In rehab
In graduate school
At your dream job
Married/With a family
Etc.

There is no real winning or losing in this game. You make decisions throughout and then you must deal with the consequences that result. You make goals in the beginning of the game, but you have no obligation to stick to these goals. You are essentially controlling a human being and making decisions about their lives based on the challenges and opportunities put forth in front of you. It is intended to be mostly realistic and to depict the daily life of a stereotypical college student.

Analysis:

When students finally reach college, they bask in the freedom and independence that comes along with it. What a lot of people do not consider, however, are the responsibilities and decisions that accompany this new step in life. All of the choices that are made throughout the college years come with consequences. Some of these consequences can be seen shortly after the decision is made, however, most of the time the results of our choices and actions only appear a while later, which then makes learning from mistakes or wrong decisions much more difficult. There are choices that we have to make on a daily basis, such as what to eat for lunch or for dinner or what time to go to bed at night. There are other choices that only occur once in a while when some sort of opportunity or challenge is presented in our lives. It is often hard to choose between what we feel is the right thing to do and what we truly want to do. There are also often gray areas in the decisions we are forced to make, which make choosing the right action that much harder. Throughout our lifetime, these choices and decisions will constantly be thrown at us and we must learn to choose the right path.

With this interactive game, I wanted to portray how certain choices and decisions affect one’s life in the long run. I chose the college years because I feel that these are the times when we are first left to make decisions on our own. In high school and earlier, our parents are often either making our decisions for us or have a big influence in the choices we make. In college, however, we must learn to do this on our own and learn the lessons and take on the responsibilities that come along with our actions. I wanted to make a realistic projection of what college life is about, with unexpected events and opportunities popping up throughout gameplay. I was hoping to portray in an enjoyable and somewhat humorous manner through this game that although the college years are full of extremely fun times and often the best years of our lives, a lot of responsibility is involved. I wanted to make the argument that it takes plenty of self-discipline on an almost daily basis to make the choices that will benefit you the most in life. I would hope that as a result of this game, real college students would consider more seriously the consequences that could result for each of the choices they make.

*NOTE: since game is still in production, screenshot is just a rough sketch of what the game will look like*

**NOTE: The second image shows possible choices and the consequences that may result from these choices that are made on an almost daily basis. The red bubbles show the possible consequences and the other bubbles show options and choices that might need to be made.**

Mockup: