Abstract

Throughout the video games on the market today, games that focus on traditionally masculine interests like warfare or industrialization have seen significantly more respect and attention than games centered around traditionally feminine interests like relaxation or art. Even when both interests inhabit one game, it is common for the masculine features to "drown out" the feminine ones. Gameplay systems that focus around masculine interests often receive more attention from audiences and more development resources from designers than feminine ones. Two of these such gameplay systems, combat and crafting, are reviewed for this study, examining their core system attributes and common implementations, as well as design theories on how to make such systems coexist with equal importance in one game. The result is an in-depth design for a combat and crafting video game called Roots of Magic and a software prototype for its basic mechanics and systems.

Advisor

Nord, Alex

Second Advisor

Palmer, Daniel

Department

Computer Science

Disciplines

Game Design | Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces | Software Engineering | Systems Architecture

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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