Games Analysis

Case Study – Tomb Raider

Technology

Tomb Raider is a 3D action-adventure game released in 1996 and developed by Core Design. The game was developed for DOS, Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation. Around this time, the industry was moving rapidly into 3D Polygonal games, with consoles such as the PlayStation making it not only the way forward but making it appealing at the same time. Development on Tomb Raider began in 1994, with the aim to create a fully 3D adventure game for the upcoming PlayStation. Due to the limited 3D capabilities of the Saturn, the console it had a short exclusivity deal with, the levels were based on a grid of quads, as the Saturn couldn’t do tris. This meant a focus was now on precision platforming, as Lara’s moveset had set jump lengths and heights, meaning players could guess if they could make a jump by seeing how many grids were present. As this was one of the first 3D games with huge levels and exploration, the game sold incredibly well, making it 7 million copies.

Demographic

The main demographic of the game was teenagers, who were becoming increasingly drawn to Video Games and especially the PlayStation at this time, with games like WipEout being found in the ministry of sound nightclub. However, the marketing especially was drawn towards teen boys, as Lara herself has exaggerated proportions so the marketing sexualised her greatly. It was this sex appeal that propelled the character to heights never seen before, with Lara appearing in many magazines, most famously the Face had her as the front cover. Because of this multi-media attention on the character, the game sold more and solidified Lara as a video gaming icon. However, this had its downsides, as a mod for the game called Nude Raider was soon circling the early internet, which changed Lara to appear naked in game. Eidos, the publisher, did eventually put a stop to this in 1999 when they sent a cease and desist to the domain, eventually acquiring it.

Market

At the time, there were very few games like Tomb Raider, but one of the major comparisons was that of Super Mario 64. Although the 2 games are very different, there platformer roots were often compared, with some reviews at the time stating it to be “the closest thing to a Super Mario 64 killer to date”. The two games had unique and free-form movement, although Tomb Raider uses tank controls rather than the control stick on the N64, making Mario feel more fluent and easy to control. Tomb Raider was greatly inspired by the Prince of Persia games, taking both the methodical nature of the game and its crushing difficulty. However, turning the concept into 3D helped alleviate especially annoying parts from the original Prince of Persia, making it a better game in my opinion.

Evaluation – Garden Game

The game would be released for PC, PS4/5 and Switch, with PC being the easiest to do, PS4/5 has more of a casual audience than Xbox, and Switch because these kinds of games often perform well on the system (Animal Crossing and Slime Rancher come to mind). However, I am aware these extra platforms increase costs, the PlayStation version especially.

The main demographic for the game would be a more casual/sim audience as this is a relaxing game without competitivity. These kind of games often garner small but substantial communities, which means we can listen closely to player feedback. I could use ads on YouTube and post on Indie Game subreddits to gain attention on the game.

There are quite a few similar games, such as Slime Rancher 2, but I feel as though the apocalypse and climate change message make this game stand out enough to draw success from people who enjoy those games. These games have already impacted the game design of Garden Game, with the growing mechanics being highly inspired by Minecraft’s plant growing system. I would also need to add an element of discovery to the game, as in its current state it becomes stale quickly.