My previous roommate Jerry pitched an interesting idea to me one day. What if exploration was the game? This got my hamsters spinning. It is usually an aspect of gaming that receives little thought beyond a few inside jokes and "we bribed the programmers to do this" decisions. Many games have little trinkets, doodads, and generally helpful objects thrown around in corners. Still, even games with lots of hidden elements like Donkey Kong Country 2 (which had great music) aren't primarily about exploring or even necessarily properly reward explorers.
This links us into game playing styles. Many people hit those buttons for different reasons (shocker I know). Some people play to win, some people play to have fun with their buddies, some people play to get away from the fact they have no money and nothing to do, they can play to act, to see what happens , or even to explore. None of these are mutually exclusive, by the way. So, why does an explorer play games? I had to think a lot about this, but I believe I've narrowed it down to two main reasons: to see what they find and because the journey is interesting.
What they find can, of course, be generally useful items, but, to the explorer, finding the best gear isn't nearly as interesting as finding Easter Eggs like: pop culture references, a bit of writing, back story, a hidden place/route, or a gag item. This is because explorers are drawn into the world of your game (exactly why I explored every inch of the Deus Ex games) and nothing breaks up a casual stroll like a good joke. They also like knowing information that not everyone would know. Then they can whip out this "secret" information out in casual conversation with their gamer friends and feel awesome (I know I do >_<).
When it comes to secret rooms and routes, the tougher the better. Where you meander off to needn't actually be too impressive, it's really getting there that's the fun part (and then showing your friends when they don't believe you and being like, "Oh yeah, you owe me a Mudkip now, homes.").
Any game can be spiced up with a few easter eggs to give the explorers something to look for, but what would a game only about exploration look like? There are many ways to thread that needle, but I will share with you mine. In an exploration game, I would have you be an ordinary dude, no magic wands, stretchy limbs, or pyrokinesis. Travelling across a strange and foreign land. There would be many mechanics not present in many of the romanticized overly heroic games of our time: disease, injury, climbing, river crossing (so swimming), gliding, befriending cute animals/pacifying scary beasts, hunting/foraging/crafting, stealth, creating fires, and trap avoidance. Getting around would really be the game and you would have a lot to see, do, and experience. The game would be sparsely populated (you know by actual people), but everything would be placed with purpose. Purpose the player could figure out by exploring.
A town might have strange and alien tribesmen who don't speak your language. They seem to live in an impossible environment and have, uh, unique customs. You could learn about their people and, even, find a "Rosetta Stone" like item to allow you to now speak with them (and not be pumped full of poisonous darts on sight). Or there may be an abandoned cave on the top of a mountain that is full of skeletons (the non-moving kind). By looking at the placement of their bones you can find out that this was once the home of a grouping of ingenious Kobolds (whose traps are still around... watch out!) who defended their home to the last man woman and child by what appears to be a band of giant bears (who you can incidentally find). You may even find a hastily written note by the Kobold King (who is actually no Kobold) just before he was slain defending his throne.
The exploration itself might even be a game mechanic as it is in World of Warcraft (yay, bonus experience!) and Desktop Dungeons. If you haven't played Desktop Dungeons, I suggest you give it a try. In that game, exploration is the only way to regenerate your health/mana creating an excellent dilemma for the player. Do I use up most of my health and mana now taking on a tough monster I can barely beat? Or look for easier prey (I've lost many a game by taking a boss in a challenge dungeon on too soon). The known contrasts with the tantalizing possibilities of the unknown.
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