Have you ever eaten an old orange that was a little dried up?

It might have been just as healthy for you as a fresh orange off the tree but it wasn’t all that tasty. You didn’t enjoy it as much as you would have a sweet, juicy, fresh orange.

Well, it’s kind of the same with juice in games. It’s the extra stuff that makes a game look better and, even if it is not part of actual game play, it makes the game more fun.

Juicing is about taking a game that works and adding layers of satisfying bits of animation and audio to improve its feel. It is every visual and auditory improvement you can add to your core game to make it more believable.

Nathan Lovato, Gamasutra

Here is an example from our game, Crossroads: Options

You don’t really need a basketball hoop on the house, piles of snow or snow on the trees. The girl doesn’t need to be frowning and she doesn’t have to have ear warmers on. As she walks back and forth in front of her house, you can hear the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow.

However, this game is designed for teaching decision-making to players in rural areas. A lot of these states have snow in the winter and basketball is really popular in all of them.

Theme Parks are Experts at Juice

When everything wasn’t closed for social distancing, I spent a lot of my time at theme parks like Disneyland, Universal Studios and Legoland. Theme parks are experts at bringing the juice.

Day of the Dead Exhibit is one example

First of all, the whole Day of the Dead exhibit itself is an example of juice. It’s not a ride. It’s not a gift shop. It’s not a restaurant. So, you could say it’s not essential to a theme park. I would argue, though, that touches like this are what make a theme park more than just a bunch of rides. It’s an experience that Disney is trying to build, trying to make you feel like you stepped into another world.

Juice is in the details

Look at this one picture from the exhibit. Notice the incredible level of detail, the number of characters, the stained glass that you see in a lot of the older train stations. Now, granted, this is probably a cel from the movie, Coco, but still, my point is the same. All of the added detailed touches makes a game environment feel more real.

Your assignment for today:

1. Read the article “Squeezing more juice out of your game design.”
2. Think about the game levels you are proposing. Add at least one visual enhancement and one audio enhancement.
3. Watch “How NOT to build an indie game” Take notes because we’ll discuss it next class.