Seamless Interaction With the Player: A Good Example

In one of the latest sessions of my "Rapid Prototyping in Game Development" course, we spoke about interaction, and how important it is for a game to interact with the user, so that he/she could feel totally immersed in the action. Moreover, a good game must do that seamlessly. Recently, I saw a very good idea in this direction.

First, some background. Everyone who's played strategy games, be that RTS, or turn-based, knows that before being able to build a complex construction, or produce an advanced unit, the player has to produce several essential buildings or units, or has to fulfill a quest. Before doing that, the player can see all the buildings, units, or whatever, but cannot select them.

I saw a bit different, and personally, a better idea recently. Sprouts Adventure is a small casual game that turns the player into a deity who controls the lives and activities of a bunch of small unit creatures. The idea is to care for them so that they are always motivated, lively, and fed. As a result, usually, one of them says "I have an idea", a small bulb-like icon appears above its head, and when the player clicks on it, the unit starts turning the idea into a building or a construction (a bridge or something else). In this way the hierarchical development is completely hidden from the player.

This gives a bunch of ideas in the same direction...