Meg Villanueva - Journal Entries

[Meg Villanueva]

Journal 15

Name of Game
Meatboy

Game author (If known)
Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes

Game Studio
Team Meat

Original Platform & control mechanism

Computer / PC, keyboard; The control mechanism feels great, though I don’t think keyboard is the intended control. The game outright asks you to use a controller instead. In general, controller feels better, so I assume I’d have a better time playing using that. However, the keyboard still works and feels VERY well.



Describe game play and mechanics

Meatboy, our protagonist, is in love with Bandage Girl. However, the antagonist Dr. Fetus hates us because we’re in love. As a result, he kidnaps Bandage Girl and the game follows as we go to retrieve her. Meatboy travels through a multitude of levels to rescue his beloved, and does so by platforming through different areas. The main mechanics involve moving left, right, and jumping. Secondary but necessary mechanics include the ability to wall jump and slide down the wall if you’re not jumping. As the levels progress, they get much harder and include obstacles such as holes to fall in, saws, and scrolling levels where if you can’t keep up you die. At the end of the level sequence, there’s a boss where you run to the end of the level to succeed. These bits also provide more integral story information / progression.


Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

A huge strength is in the simplicity! The camera is frequently zoomed out to show the whole level we’re platforming through, but Meatboy still reads really well and it’s always easy to tell where you’re located within the screen. This also includes things like the story where it’s easy to comprehend and isn’t cliche. The main enemy steals your girlfriend just because he hates YOU, not because he wants her (like in the typical mario fashion where bowser wants peach). The design of this is refreshing and a bit more engaging than the typical way it’d go. A weakness is that some levels, as you progress, get harder to see Meatboy. He gets a bit lost within the dark reds, blacks, and browns of certain levels, but overall it isn’t too bad.



What made it fun?
The way the physics / controls operate add a ton of fun to the game. Although the game is simple, the way the physics feel create a ton of excitement. Whenever you jump, it ends up being a bit floaty unless you press down. In this floaty state, you’re able to move a considerable amount of space across the level / screen. This allows for a wide range of movement while also giving the player lots of yummy hangtime to consider what their next move is. The controls feel extremely responsive which makes it a lot nicer and feels as though I’m REALLY controlling the character which is huge. A lot of games have delays in their controller, which maybe creates a smoother character animation, but it generally feels floaty in a way where I’m not entirely in control. Meatboy prioritizes movement and does so where the animations are on the backburner and already simple due to the aesthetic of the game. This way, physics are put at the forefront and considered much more which was an excellent decision gameplay wise.



Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
I'm pretty sure the whole point of playing the game / being provided this game as a choice is because of it’s influence on what types of teams it takes to create a game. From what I’ve found online, this is an instance where a game company is composed of few people (2-3 in this case), and is still incredibly successful for an indie game. We’ve seen a ton of examples of success within bigger companies, but not much smaller ones with teams of a few people. It kind of reminds me of the indie atmosphere now where even Nintendo supports and highlights it’s indie games, proving that these are just as successful.

This fits into the evolution of games by providing proof that games don’t have to come out of AAA studios to be successful. Although much, much harder, smaller studios have the opportunity to succeed. I feel as though this helps pave the way to the creation of smaller studios / helps drive smaller companies to create games they want without the restraint of needing to listen to a manager within a bigger group. Seeing as now in 2025 we have a lot of successful indie titles and indie games are generally just as popular if not more than regular games, Meatboy fits within the evolution by being the evidence that these sort of groups have a chance.





How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
4 stars!! Fun, simple, and an example of how to properly do a platformer game.

[Meg Villanueva]

Journal 16

Name of Game
Cookie Run: Kingdom

Game author (If known)
Ji-Hoon Lee

Game Studio
Devsisters

Original Platform & control mechanism

Touch Screen Mobile Phone / Mobile Device

Describe game play and mechanics

Cookie Run Kingdom operates almost identically to the older Clash of Clans. It follows you, the player, beginning their kingdom and creating it. Instead of humans, the characters in this case are cookie people. The point of the game is to collect as many cookies as you can, and utilize them to build your kingdom and battle within the arena for resources. Each cookie has it’s own gimmick and has it’s own design (ex: There’s a cookie person called “Pure Vanilla Cookie” that has a vanilla ice cream motif with a waffle cone hat). They all have their own special powers, and by figuring out which skills synergize with each other, you’re able to utilize them in the area and gain more resources to build your kingdom.


Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

A huge strength is the various amounts of designs provided by the company and the variety in cookie designs! I feel like this game heavily caters towards artists or creatives, especially because of the unique designs each character has. There’s tons of different characters, and all of them are usable in some way (even for pvp), so people can pick and choose which characters they like aesthetically without many repercussions (and people really like that). Additionally, since the game is within your own kingdom, a strength is that the kingdom is really customizable. You can adjust the sky color, whether your land is grass or ice, and so on.
A lot of the weakness lays in the complexity of the designs. Because of how over designed some of the characters are, most systems can’t handle it and the game ends up becoming really unstable at times.



What made it fun?
Collecting all the different characters is really fun! A lot of what makes it addicting is the gatcha system, saving up your resources to do random pulls for characters. It’s definitely similar to gambling where you get a rush after retrieving a character you’ve been aiming to get for the longest time. It makes me feel more motivated to keep going and collecting the ones I’ve yet to get.
Additionally, once you pull the good characters that are skilled at PvP, you can use those to climb the ranks within the arena, which also provides more incentive to keep playing. Higher rewards, better stuff for your kingdom, more resources to gatcha pull. It’s an endless cycle of reward that’s blatantly created to be addicting, but I love it.
Another function I’ve yet to mention is that the company releases stories for these cookies / characters every month. Each month a new character is released, and along with that, they release the story / lore of the character. I’m not as interested in this aspect of the game, but other people I’ve talked to REALLY like the worldbuilding and relationships the game builds within these characters.



Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
Oh my gosh. This game is considered influential because of the way it handles lootboxes / pay to win systems. I doubt this is the first game that introduces the concept, but it definitely has influenced other gatcha games to double down and follow the format. Cookie Run provides a ton of paid options for their users to buy, and these packages range from being able to instantly buy a cookie of your choice or to get infinite resources of your choice. However, these packages are EXTREMELY pricey, ranging from $25-$40 for just ONE package at a time. Despite this, people will give in a buy these products. A huge part of the game is the arena / battle area, and by winning you gain loads of resources to make your cookies and kingdom better. However, part of winning within these arenas require you to have cookies that are “meta”, or the newer harder to get ones that are much stronger. Because there’s so much demand for them since they’re required to win in the arena, people are inclined to spend tons of money on the packages to win. This is a HUGE influence on pay to win games and pretty much proves that the format can be successful.




How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
3 stars. Good time waster / money spender (ill always buy something when i get my paycheck….)

[Meg Villanueva]

Journal 17

Name of Game
Super Mario Galaxy

Game author (If known)
Shigeru Miyamoto, Yoshiaki Koizumi

Game Studio
Nintendo

Original Platform & control mechanism

Wii system, Wiimote + Nunchuck

Describe game play and mechanics

Mario Galaxy follows the typical Mario formula where his ultimate goal is to rescue Princess Peach. However, this time around she gets kidnapped and brought into space so the game takes place in a much different environment. As a result, the game operates as a 3D platformer usually would, but utilizes a lot more mechanics that warp gravity within the different levels. The levels are chunked out into different galaxies, and as a result, all have different ways of handling gravity. Some are what we’d expect the physics to normally be, while others allow you to jump much higher and reach areas you usually wouldn’t be able to. The game also allows you to build your own momentum and utilize the physics provided. If you long jump, you can build momentum and keep flying around the planet.


Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

A lot of the appeal, for me, is making space into something that feels alive. Typically, whenever games take place in space, it’s conveyed as dead and unsettling. Galaxy aims to present it differently, acknowledging that it’s lonely, but creates worlds and planets that are full of life and make the environment feel more dense and loving.
A lot of the weakness lies in the controls, especially the swimming controls. Although the controls feel good, there’s a bit of delay and sometimes it becomes a bit frustrating to operate Mario. Additionally, when you go underwater and start swimming, the controls become inverted???? Why would they even do that???? I assume it’s because it creates distinction between the dry land and water, but it sucks making the adjustment and just feels awkward.



What made it fun?
Although the game is contained and not open world, there’s a lot of options to work with. In total, there are 42 galaxies you’re able to visit and collect stars in. A lot of the appeal comes from visiting these separate galaxies, figuring out the gimmick, and then utilizing it while collecting all the available stars from the world. For example, there’s a galaxy based on bees and honey that allows you to have a flying bee power. The power allows you to access more spots you usually wouldn’t be able to, and is utilized in pretty much every level within the galaxy. All of the worlds have something similar, and a lot of the fun is being able to figure it out plus get to see nintendos takes on the themes presented. A world made of water? Nintendo interprets it as a raceway for penguins who race on stingrays. It feels like a breath of fresh air, especially because a lot of games will stick to real life logic and create worlds based on our principles and what’s expected of real life. Nintendo bumps it up and thinks beyond what one typically would, and getting to see their different interpretations of different worlds is extremely fun.



Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
I think this is one of the first games that utilizes the nunchuck in a major way? A few wii games had required it, but never really did it right and the controls always felt weird. Galaxy succeeds in utilizing it, effectively making the wii control a lot more complicated in a good way (almost like it’s own console, like how the playstation and other technologies utilized two joysticks). I feel as though this is influential because the nunchuck is an addon for the system and not required, but it’s integrated beautifully and fits nicely next to the system. Additionally, it’s influential because it shows that game ips can be successful within environments they typically wouldn’t be in. Mario has almost never been associated with space, but Galaxy successfully merges these two concepts into something magnificent and impactful. Instead of forcing the characters to fit the new environment, they intentionally place enemies in ways that feel natural or create new characters to fit the new places. For example, the goombas are almost ALWAYS placed within levels that are dry or contain grass, but are usually left out in levels that are more space heavy or colder / hotter environments you wouldn’t see them in. This allows them to exist within the new environment, but are placed in a way that feels natural. However, the luma characters (the star ones) were created to fill in more gaps while adhering to the mario style of characters. I feel as though a lot of game series become stale because instead of trying out new environments or interesting concepts, games will continue to take place within the same story and environment and just slap a new number on it. Mario, however, tries to do something different and proves it can be effective.






How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
Probably my favorite game ever. Whole senior thesis pitch inspired. 5 stars