Today, a great number of the most popular video games base their mechanics, dynamics and narratives on stereotypes. Erin is a video game that seeks to break this idea through experimentation and the use of personalities. For this purpose, decision making and the Myers-Briggs indicator, which yields 16 different personalities, are used as resources.

1. Identifying the problem

When looking for videogames there is a bast majority of them assigning attributes to their characters based on stereotypes. This stereotypical model of creation is seen in the most popular games where for example the main character is a white, male, stong man, the evil one is a black or brown man, and the supporting role is played by a girl.

In that sense, the player is left with no chance but to follow a linear narrative and act based on the characteristics the game assigns the player since the beggining without having the chance to reflect its own way of being.

2. Identifying the opportunity

What if considering that video games have become such an important phenomenon worldwide we tackle the stereotypical model of creation with a digital product design approach?

In a nutshell, I will try to apply concepts such as: challenging the user, creating and thinking about meaningful choices, keeping users hooked in engagement loops, and letting them master the product quickly to create a meaningful experience.

The one concept this game tries to explore the most and the one I will put more enfasis on is creating meaningful choices.

3. Identifying the users

The game can be used by everyone +10 but is encouraged to be used by teenagers or young adults because there is a sense of awarness of the self.

4. Thinking about the walkthrough

The game is composed of different chapters and scenes. In each scene, the player will have to make a decision, that decision is related to one of the Myers-Briggs indicators.

The Myers-Briggs indicator is a self report that shows how people perceive the world and make decisions. It has four categories and one letter from each category produces a four letter test result.

5. Organizing the game

5. Creating the game

With the map of the game in mind I satarted thinking of the type of game I wanted to create. I considered different possible games but I decided to go for a platformer one in 8bits in order to skip any kind of stereotypes that can be perceived at first sight.

I also gave the character an androgynous name (Erin) and look.

And going from the sprites to Unity I made sure the mechanics of the game were learned with an in-game tutorial. I also made sure the game had the right level of difficulty and required the right level of skills in order for it not to be abandoned easily.

I finally came up with a fully functional game with different mini games and decisions that yield 16 different personalities at the end of the first chapter.