Importance of designing games around a character or a protagonist

Games have always been a quintessential part of everyone’s life. Seldom, would be there any person who doesn’t enjoy playing games. Be it playing cricket in the open fields, or running to save the princess, in character-based game design on a computer, games have always been the favourite. With the onset of the digital era, the usage and demand of computer games have increased, to a point where it has skyrocketed, empowering gaming as a whole commercial industry in itself. Let alone the expanse and scope for game development companies; there are organisations which focus on just managing game duals for the users, giving it the thrill and adrenaline it needs. 

With users demanding for games that are more engaging, having a storyline in place, has forced the game designers to wear their creative hats, directing their focus around character based game design. The very first game everyone from the early 90s would for sure relate to would be Dave or a little before that would be Mario, striving to save her princess. These games had not only children but also adults glued their computers. Few of the major reasons why a character is important in a game can be listed below:

• Anchor Point: The character in the game acts as an anchor point for the gamer, engrossing them in the game to a deeper level. The bond hence built, gets the user to develop an emotional connection with the game, in turn, ending up spending more time playing the game.
• Strong storyline: Having a character based game design, allows one to build a strong storyline, and at the same time, it enables the user to connect better with the games overall flow and timeline.
• Engagement: With the ever-increasing need for realism and hence increase in complexity in the development process, engagement and appeal of a game have become a direct function of storyline and character’s persona.
• Reflection: The prime reason that characters are such a crucial part of the game development process is that the gamers reflect themselves as the game’s lead character/protagonist. The gamer relates himself to the game’s character and the storyline. They try to find instances that they can reverberate with their life instances.

Game characters are more than just a character for the gamer; they are a symbol, a representation of strength, love, and a plethora of numerous other emotions. They leave a strong impact on the minds of gamers, to an extent where the gamers have started deriving inspiration from the game characters for real-life scenarios. Building a plot, and more importantly, a character that can hold onto the ever declining interest quotients of the gamer has become a tough job, now more than ever.

It is true that the era, of one-dimensional characters or simplistic slot machines, is soon nearing its end. 3D games, with more realism, world-class graphics and more depth, are what’s in vogue today, as the market trend sees a revolutionary shift. With upcoming technologies, like augmented reality, or virtual reality, the need for a better character game design is just waiting to hit the sky.