settlers of catan game modification design document

Design Document for:

Shopping Spree

Can you get the right gift in time?

All work Copyright ©2010 by Suzie Rose

Written by Suzie Rose

Version # 1.00

Monday, May 10, 2010

Copyright (C) 2010 Suzie Rose

Confidential Page 5/10/2010

Table of Contents SHOPPING SPREE ___________________________________________________________________ 1

DESIGN HISTORY _________________________________________________ 3

VERSION 1.10 ___________________________________________________________________ 3

GAME OVERVIEW ________________________________________________ 4

VISION STATEMENT ____________________________________________________________ 4 Shopping Spree is a Flash-based one-player video game where players assume the role of a customer to help them appreciate customers’ wants and needs. ______________________________________ 4

MARKET ANALYSIS _____________________________________________ 4

AUDIENCE PROFILE ___________________________________________________________________ 4 DISTRIBUTION ______________________________________________________________________ 4

SYNOPSIS __________________________________________________________________________ 4

GAME DESCRIPTION _______________________________________________________________ 4 Game Purpose __________________________________________________________________ 5

DETAILED GAME DESCRIPTION _____________________ 6

THE CORE IDEA _____________________________________________________________________ 6 BACKGROUND STORY _________________________________________________________________ 6 GAME OBJECTIVE ____________________________________________________________________ 6 GAME WORLD _______________________________________________________________________ 6 GAME PLAY ________________________________________________________________________ 6 SET UP ____________________________________________________________________________ 6 RULE/MECHANICS ___________________________________________________________________ 7 ASSESSING OUTCOMES ________________________________________________________________ 7 OTHER ASPECTS _____________________________________________________________________ 7

PROTOTYPE/PLAYTEST _____________________________________ 8

PROTOTYPE #1: DATE _________________________________________________________________ 8 PROTOTYPE #2: DATE _________________________________________________________________ 8 PLAYSESSION #1: DATE _______________________________________________________________ 8



Design History Shopping Spree is a flash-based one-player video game. The player assumes the role of a customer to help them appreciate customers’ wants and needs.

Version 1.10 Initial documentation of the concept and mechanics of the game



Game Overview

Vision Statement Shopping Spree is a Flash-based one-player video game where players assume the role of a customer to help them appreciate customers’ wants and needs.

Market Analysis Audience profile My target audience is new customer service personnel with a demographic between 18-28 years old. They will be in retail or call center positions. Employees who start in these positions are typically new to the workforce and have not spent time observing and evaluating the service they receive or the service they are capable of delivering. Many new employees may be reluctant to learn skills that are considered “work,” so a game will envelop them in a more comfortable and familiar atmosphere and increase the fun-factor. The age group of this demographic defines that the game type should be highly interactive and technologically delivered. Due to the demographics of a relatively young group of employees, the game strives to compete with the increase of media in social environments. Regarding pre-existing skills, knowledge, or abilities, players will need basic computer knowledge. All members of the audience will have these skills because they are a requirement of the job. Ideally, participants will pass a computer knowledge test to determine hiring eligibility. Trainers will not need any skills beyond that of the players. If there is a technical problem, they will rely on their IT department for resolution. Distribution The game will be distributed on the first day of employment/training through their professional organization. The game as a stand-alone concept is fun and exciting; it will have similar mechanics and aesthetics to Diner Dash, which has proven to be a fun and popular commercial product. However, the educational success of this game lies largely with the trainer. The trainer must be proficient in introducing the game with the learning objectives in mind. They must also perform a clear and detailed debrief of the activity to relate each element in the game to a component of the participants’ new job. This information is included in the trainer’s edition prototype. Synopsis “You’re searching for the latest and greatest gift-set on the market for your BFF. It’s Black Friday, and you have to find the gift set before all the stores sell out. However, you’re a very picky customer. You refuse to purchase from a store that doesn’t meet your needs. You’re looking for accurate information, fast responses, and courtesy. Go to each store in the mall and search for this particular set; do not accept substitutions, variations, or lower quality.” Game Description The game is a Flash-based one-player video game. The avatar is a basic cartoon character who starts on a street with a mini-mall. Players have the choice to navigate towards any shop they like. I imagine this to look similar to the interface of Shopping Street (image in Appendix A). Once inside a store, the player will meet a customer service representative (CSR). The CSR’s actions will be favorable or unfavorable in the areas of accuracy, speed, and courtesy. The products will also be favorable or unfavorable in the areas of inventory and quality. Players will be timed for each shopping experience. They are challenged to find the correct store and the correct product. Strategy will be subtly built into the game in the sense that store names and store front appearances will have small hints to tell players that a store is of lower or higher quality. For example,


Confidential /10/2010

lower quality stores may have litter in front of the entrance. The appearance inside each store will also differ based on quality, so players can choose to leave the store before speaking to a CSR if they wish. Each level will increase in difficulty. There will be more store fronts, more CSRs to choose from, more shoppers, and harder-to-find items. Expectations will also be raised. What may have been acceptable customer service in level one will not necessarily be acceptable customer service in level five. This will draw a link to the fact that customers’ expectations are continually rising; therefore the quality of customer service must rise as well. As a player continues through the game, they will see pop-ups with beneficial and educational questions on them. Some examples include.

• “He was slightly gruff. Do you really think he is the best CSR to purchase from?” • “All the employees are in the backroom talking. What does this say to you?”

There will be no right or wrong answers to these questions and players will not have to answer them. However, their purpose is to get players thinking about what is acceptable or unacceptable in terms of quality customer service. Game Purpose This game will open avenues to help explain and define quality customer service. It will not address all items a newly-hired employee needs to learn. Rather, it will explore basic concepts, values, and ideals of employee behaviors. It will also draw a parallel for players and allow the trainer to refer back to the game in conversations that explore how experience improves performance. It will provide a trainer with a foundation on which to build upon, and a structure to refer back to throughout the training course. Will it give players all the tools they need to answer customer questions and provide accurate and timely information? No. Instead, the goals of this game are to encourage participants to:

• Foster excellent customer relations • Consider the importance of delivering timely and accurate information • Value courtesy and ethics in all customer interactions

This is a foundational activity to help establish values in the training environment. The game meets these objectives by placing value on the significance of customer service. Because of the unique and interesting twist in roles, players have the opportunity to truly contemplate what matters to them as a customer. During a debrief of the game, trainers have the opportunity to relate that new comprehension to the participants’ new role. Although the act of role reversal seems simple, it is a very powerful tool that is rarely used, which in turn, makes this game unique and powerful. This game is an extraordinary evolutionary step in the way corporations conduct training. Most corporate training environments focus on building skills and knowledge only. Skills and knowledge are of course important, but I argue that values are more important. If a participant does not know why their role matters, they will have less commitment to their position and their performance. Although this game does not specifically outline techniques of a particular company’s culture and code of ethics, it can. In this version, the focus lies on universal customer service skills such as accuracy, speed, and courtesy. Building a foundation on values will lead to higher performance because participants will know why their role is significant; they’ll know why they matter. From a corporation’s perspective, employees who know the significance of their performance will perform better, provide higher quality customer service, and stay at their place of employment for longer periods of time.



Detailed Game Description The Core Idea Players must navigate through a shopping center to find a particular product. Their experiences with CSRs will vary, and they will earn points by selecting the correct product from the best CSR in the least amount of time. Background Story “You’re searching for the latest and greatest gift-set on the market for your BFF. It’s Black Friday, and you have to find the gift set before all the stores sell out. However, you’re a very picky customer. You refuse to purchase from a store that doesn’t meet your needs. You’re looking for accurate information, fast responses, and courtesy. Go to each store in the mall and search for this particular set; do not accept substitutions, variations, or lower quality.” Game Objective Like many games, players can win, but are not likely to (example: Pac Man). There will be an extremely large number of levels that increase in difficulty. In each level, the product will be more difficult to find, the CSRs will provide lower-quality service (making it more difficult to find the best one), and the number of stores will increase. Just as in call center or retail environments, players can achieve high scores; this relates directly to best call handle time or highest sales. There are always more sales to make, but you rarely “win,” you simply attain a goal. Players will receive points for each success and will receive bonus points for the time remaining on the clock or for shopping sales. However, if they exceed the maximum time allowed for the level, they will see a message that reads, “The mall is closing for the day. Better luck tomorrow!” or “The mall is closing. Wow – service really isn’t what it used to be!” Players will learn things through the pop-ups that display throughout the game. These pop-ups will ask questions such as:

• “He was slightly gruff. Do you really think he is the best CSR to purchase from?” • “All the employees are in the backroom talking. What does this say to you?”

Although the player will not have to answer these questions because it is not a quiz, their purpose is to get players thinking about what is acceptable or unacceptable in terms of quality customer service. Game world The game may be available from the Internet, or it may require a download. Either way, the game world exists on a computer. Game Play The game is a flash-based one-player video game. Players control an avatar who starts on a street with a mini-mall. Players have the choice to navigate towards any shop they like to find the correct product and purchase it from the best CSR. Set up To play, participants need:

• Computer • Mouse • Keyboard • Speakers or headset (optional) • Internet access • The game downloaded to their computer or an unblocked connection to the website • A trainer to facilitate the set-up and debrief

o Note: The trainer needs a manual (comes with the game) to explain how to successfully set-up and debrief the game



Participants will access the game. They may need a login or need to register for a site (details still in work). They will read directions telling them what to do and how to use their controls. The games interface will take care of the remaining details in regard to setup, avatar placement, score keeping, level designation, etc. Rule/Mechanics The rules, as presented to the players, are loosely defined because players cannot complete tasks that are not programmed within the game. The game will only allow tasks that are necessary to accomplish the goal of the level. (Example: the game will not let a player leave a store without paying – even though that would be funny.) The interface will be a static image like that in Shopping Street (see Appendix A). The player will use the arrow keys on the keyboard to navigate through the interface. They will click on the door of a store they want to enter. The interface will then change to inside the store. To select a product, they will click on it. To speak to the CSR, they will click on him or her. To purchase the item, they will double-click on the CSR. Assessing outcomes The game’s goal is to increase the proficiency of quality customer service. Although this is a subjective measurement, it is possible to assess results. To assess the outcomes of this game, a control group must be developed. This will be any class that experienced the training without the addition of the game. The groups who did play the game will be expected to have higher quality assurance scores (criteria for quality monitoring already established), higher retention rates/numbers, and less customer complaints. These numbers can be pulled through an internal company database and compared to the control group(s). Other aspects The game will use quirky sound effects to signify entering a store (an old fashioned bell attached to the top of a door), selecting a product, and making a purchase (a cash register sound). CSRs will speak audibly when a player approaches one. There will be background music similar to old-fashioned Musak.



Prototype/Playtest Did you prototype or playtest your game? Use this section to detail your findings. Prototype #1: Date Using the basic rule set we built a sample game using sticky notes. We found that certain mechanics slowed the game down, so we need to go back to the drawing board on these Prototype #2: Date Working on the advanced rules. Built a second prototype with feedback from the original prototype session Playsession #1: Date Put together a complete version of the game and printed up rules for the participants. Everyone liked the graphical play board. But we need to add color to make it easier to follow.

Appendix A http://www.123-games.net/games/shopping-street

http://www.123-games.net/games/shopping-street

settlers of catan game modification design document

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