Usability Breakdown of Snow Way in Hell

(Using Jakob Nielson’s 10 Heuristics)

Daniel Cox, Sebastian Elmes, Nate Gurian, Brandon Hackett, and Thomas Hoffman

Assignment 1

Full Sail University

Abstract

This presentation will cover the usability of the game Snow Way in Hell. Jakob Neilson’s 10 Heuristics will be used to identify usability problems within the game. Descriptions of the problems, solutions, ratings, and screenshots for reference will be offered to further explain the issues of Snow Way in Hell.

Game Summary

Snow Way in Hell is a side-scrolling platformer where the player controls an enchanted snowball trying to escape from the depths of hell. The player will need to traverse various environmental obstacles like fire, spike pits, wide gaps, and lava in order to progress through the game. The player will also need to fight off Satan and his minions with his trusty snowballs in order to escape. Life will deplete over time, causing the player to race to checkpoints or find other ways to get more time giving a more intense theme of struggling to escape and survival while still not effecting it’s humorous look. Snow Way in Hell also incorporates puzzles involving size changing, throwing snowballs at fire pits, buttons, and much more to further challenge the players in each of its 9 levels. The game’s intense yet humorous theme has been set in order to target the teenage gamers of today.

Problem No visible status change.

Rating High

Description No information is provided to inform the player what is occurring. The player is unaware if they have just died, if the game is paused, or if a glitch occurred.

Solution A solution would be to add text in the top center of the screen that would display what status the game is when whether the game paused, loading, the player is dead, player reached a checkpoint, etc…

Reference Shot

Visibility of System Status

Problem Steam being used as an elevator.

Rating Medium

Description Snow Way in Hell’s premise seems set up specifically to avoid questions involving this heuristic, through absurdity. Still, it hampers use when the player might not see the logic behind steam causing a powerful upward draft, and therefore neglect to try activating the fire with snowballs.

Solution Researching what things could realistically interact with snow or water to create an upward force would provide a better idea for what to make these platforms. As it stands, unless the player is lucky and catches onto this by mistake, they aren’t going to progress.

Reference Shot

Match Between System and Real World

Problem User can not access the options menu while playing the game.

Rating High

Description The player is limited to resuming the game, and exiting to the main menu when paused. The player should be able to have freedom to adjust options to affect gameplay and settings.

Solution The solution for this problem is to add an options section in the pause menu. This will give the player more control and freedom, allowing them to have their optimal settings for a more enjoyable experience when playing Snow Way in Hell.

Reference Shot

User Control and Freedom

Problem Player can control token with Up and Down arrows.

Rating Low

Description The up and down arrow buttons move the character forward and backward. This may cause some players to become confused with the movement functionality in the game.

Solution Setting up the character movement to be consistent with the arrows. Left arrow button moves the character to the left, and Right arrow button moves the character to the right.

Reference Shot

Consistency and Standards

Problem There is not extra confirmation when trying to quit the game.

Rating Medium

Description When quitting the game, there’s no warning about losing all progress. This could cause the player to unintentionally quit the game.

Solution There should be a question that pops up asking “Are you sure you want to quit?”

Reference Shot

Error Prevention

Problem No information is provided to inform the player what needs to be accomplished in game.

Rating Medium

Description There is no description as to how to proceed through the level. The player is left in the dark as to what they are supposed to accomplish throughout the level.

Solution A simple solution to this problem is to add an “Objective Tab” in the GUI and place it in the top right hand corner opposite of the “Frozenness Meter”. The “Objective Tab” would assist the player by giving them information on what they are currently needing to accomplish in order to minimize confusion, while also being an effective reminder.

Reference Shot

Recognition Rather than Recall

Problem Options section is limited to audio.

Rating Low

Description Player is not given the ability to customize the layout of the action buttons.

Solution There could be a menu that allows the player to customize button layout to better fit their play style and comfortability.

Reference Shot

Flexibility and Efficiency of Use

Problem Low Contrast Text

Rating Medium

Description It’s difficult to read the 2 buttons available in the pause menu due to their low contrast. It is also difficult to sometimes read the label and timer as well due to their low contrast.

Solution To solve this problem, the designer could would have to make one simple change. There could be a background box behind the text that would stop the text from disappearing into the background.

Reference Shots

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

Problem No indication as to what is attacking or killing the player.

Rating Medium

Description When the flame bats approach the player, there is nothing which indicates the bats are harming the player, and that the player should avoid them.

Solution When the player is being attacked by an enemy, a display could warn the player. Also if the player dies in the game, the box could display what has killed them.

Reference Shot

Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover Errors

Problem No explanation of how to play the game.

Rating High

Description The game doesn’t have any means of informing the player what is going on and how to play the game, leaving the player clueless.

Solution Adding a tutorial at the beginning of the first level of the game would be most beneficial to the player.

Reference Shot

Help and Documentation

References

Isbister, K. & Schaffer, N. (2008). Game Usability: Advice from the Experts for Advancing the Player Experience. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Nielsen, J. (1995, January 1). 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design. Retrieved from: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/

Whildin, J., West, K., Patterson, L., Mangold, M., & Gill, T. (2012, May 6). Game Design Document: Snow Way in Hell. Winter Park, FL: Full Sail University.