Aztec Mining Game UX

Aztec Mining Game

One of my favourite game features in a Role Playing Game (RPG) is the mining system. I enjoy these particularly for the powerful and straight forward satisfaction game loop. The player walks up to a rock, breaking it, a potential item is discovered, repeat.

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In my initial concept for the game I decided to make the levels randomised to each other and unique. This created a sense of excitement and adventure when exploring a floor. Another feature added was weighted spawning of rocks and reward items. It would challenge the player decisions on what rocks to hit and whether to progress to a different floor for more rewarding finds. To strengthen this a stamina bar will be introduced. For each action it will cost energy depending on the rock value. This is like other RPG games like Song of the Prairie and Stardew Valley.

Linked with this, one consideration after feedback is to create a cosy mode version. This would remove barriers from stamina and allow players to their heart content. It would allow for a new experience in the style of a more relaxed, peaceful, cosy game.

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One accessibility feature introduced to the game is an automatic interaction setting. This would equip and unequip the required tools to perform an action. It would reduce the amount button pressing needed and for the player to focus more on the map. Through this it would benefit those who struggle with dexterity. One challenge to this powerful feature is that it bypasses the need to equip and unequip the correct tool. One solution is to put an extra energy cost on automated actions. This would encourage players decision making to not be reliant on this feature. One inspiration of this is the automatic braking mechanic in Mario Kart. It enables more people to play yet benefits those who decided to make it harder by manually braking for a speed boost.