GCG: Game Design Challenge - Rickroll's Surprising Results And iPad's Arrival

Author: by Staff

Gamasutra's education-oriented sister site GameCareerGuide has posted the results of its Rickroll Game Design Challenge, and started a new one that asks its readers to come up with iPad game designs. Results: Rickroll From the challenge: "Remember Rickrolling? The basic idea, if you don't, was to send someone to a camouflaged link to the video for Rick Astley's '80s hit Never Gonna Give You Up. It became a phenomenon because it was based around tricking someone -- a harmless and humorous joke. Can a game be devised around the concept of tricking someone? And who will you trick? Will you trick the player, or will the player trick the other characters in the game? The field is wide open to come up with a totally original concept based around fooling or tricking someone. GameCareerGuide challenged its readers to come up with a game design in which pranks play a large role. Bonus points for adding Rick Astley in. (Note: that's not true. We don't even have a point system.) What follows are the best and most original entries we received. Here are our top picks: Best Entries Ignacio Pintos, UOC Post-Degree Student, Battlefield Middle East Pintos subverts the testosterone-fueled first-person shooter genre with Battlefield Middle East, an unassuming wartime action game that takes a sudden, drastic turn at its halfway point. Andrew Putra Jaya, student of Binus International University, Mindemo Jaya's entry recalls infamous player-abusing classics like The Tower of Druaga and Takeshi no Chousenjou, using misdirection and questionable logic to create a unique challenge. Will Armstrong, Rick Role Rick Role casts Astley himself as a central character, challenging players to ruin key historical events with a well-timed performance of "Never Gonna Give You Up." You can read the full results, including several runners-up, by clicking here. New Challenge On the other hand, GCG's new challenge, for iPad games is a little more serious. It's also very wide open -- celebrating the interest in the new platform and its tremendous success so far. If you have an interest in entering this challenge, head over to the link above, which has the full instructions. Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, April 28 and results will be posted on GameCareerGuide on Tuesday, May 4.