StatusReleased
PlatformsHTML5
AuthorJohn Wirth
Made withbitsy

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The colors of the game were quite interesting. Not only did they stand out because of their extremely high contrast, but the colors had very unsaturated tones with the main colors being indigo, salmon, and light beige. Beige always seems to represent a neutral and balanced feeling which makes sense as to why the designer used it to build the foundation of the world. However, Indigo is so rarely used but invokes a calming feeling while the same can be said about the salmon coloring. The salmon could also be seen as a color that is almost opposite of indigo on the color spectrum which not only makes it easier for the player to tell things apart, but it also is quite pleasing to the eye. Nonetheless, these colors are not used that often and it makes the game feel almost refreshing. Now, if the walls and floor were instead a darker color it would feel as though the game would have an almost sinister tone to it and the floor would melt into the background which could make the player instead focus much more on the items and npc's in the game instead of splitting their attention between layout and interactable objects. On another note, the colors in the game can really easily relate back to almost any older supermarket that I have been to where the floor is tiled between a light gray/white/beige to an off tone primary color or even black which makes the player feel as though they may be in an older/abandoned supermarket.

An interesting design choice in the game Shopping for a Gift is the layout of the rooms.  Rather than have a single continuous pathway for the player to follow, the designer offers players multiple options of where to go off of the first room. Each different room offers the player a different experience. 3 of the rooms give the player an item, (toilet paper, Mountain Dew and a picture frame) while the  last room allows you to continue through the game. All of the exits go both ways, so no matter where the player chooses to go first, they can still collect all of the items and enter all of the rooms. The only possible exception to this would be if the player went all the way to the exit without exploring any of the three pathways. 

The most notable design choice made about the room organization for me is the way that exits are signaled. The first three rooms have simple pathways, and the other choice off of the first room is a specially designed block. This signals to the player that this exit is different from the previous three, and could progress you through the game rather than just take you to a room with only one door. This influences them to explore the other three rooms before using the fourth exit. Then, after using the fourth exit, the next door is shaped like stairs, signaling to the user that the subsequent room is downstairs. This choice allows players to visualize the space that the rooms take up.