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Pitch Facelook is a narrative based role-playing game which is based in the near future setting of the year 2031 where the world has advanced into the digital age where social media and technology are at their peak. Our character is an above-average student at a high school, where every student has the freedom to dress and look how they want along with looking at everything from the lens of their phones. There’s a new app on the radar called FaceLook that’s been released recently. It is similar to Instagram and Facebook but with the added ability to rate the people you interact with on the application. Our character is not the most popular figure at school but aspires to be one. The new application is all the talk in the school, students are rating each other on it and our character finds themselves to be lowly rated as compared to other popular students who are rated highly. This activity of rating each other has led to the creation of groups in the school where highly rated students stick together and lowly rated students are bullied and made fun of. After one such incident our character is determined to increase their rating on the app, and in turn, become a popular figure in the school. They change their appearance and the way they behave to try to fit in, it works at first and their rating starts to rise and people start noticing them and complimenting them but soon our character becomes obsessed with their looks, appearance and social standing.
Even a small blip in the way they look or behave starts to stress them, which slowly starts messing up with their mental health. Along with that our character feels that they have changed themselves too much and feel that they are not the same person they were before and feel frustrated due to this identity crisis. They get irritable and start to act unpredictably with people which puts people off and they start giving our character a bad rating and their rating falls again which stresses our character even further. Eventually, they start realizing that now they look and appear good but their behaviour and who they were as a person is not the same and that it’s not important to look good, it’s also important to have good mental health. There needs to be a balance between the two and one shouldn’t get stressed about what someone else thinks of them because people’s opinions change all the time. The only person that needs to really like us is ourselves and our close ones.
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The game uses an attribute-based system to differentiate various aspects of the characters life ●
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Appearance - The appearance attribute relates to the characters physical appearance, the more the attribute the better they’ll look to the outside world and the higher they’ll be rated. Health - The health attribute relates to the physical health of the character, it is governed by the amount of physical work the character is doing or how well they are eating or not eating or if they are getting adequate rest and sleep. Happiness - The happiness attribute relates to the mental health of the character, it is governed by how our character’s mood is, being too stressed about their appearance and social standing can lead to agitated mental health and reduce the happiness attribute. Money - The money attribute relates to the finance our character holds and how they spend or earn them. If the character changes their appearance to get new clothes or look the money will get depleted. If they work they can earn more money but in turn their health attribute will fall.
PART 1
The attributes are co-related to each other and every attribute affects each other as the character does various activities in-game. Appearance attribute can be increased by buying new clothes or changing how you look, but to do so the character needs money which can be gained by working in the cafeteria or do assignments for students but that affects the health attribute which would go down and as the health attribute goes down the happiness attribute would fall. The game tries to teach the player to strike a balance between all the 4 attributes which are related to real-life scenarios like work-life balance and happiness. Focusing on only one aspect can lead to negative effects especially if the player is too focused on their appearance, the other 3 attributes would get negatively affected. The Storyboards, Attribute concept art and Game Flow chart depict the narrative of the story and how the player will experience various elements of the game during their playthrough -
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Background The game draws inspiration from Nosedive, an episode from the Netflix Series Black Mirror which tells the story of Lacie Pound who is a part of a society in the near future where everything needs to be perfect and based on one’s ranking in society. Your social ranking decides your employment, where you live, your friends, and can provide you big advantages in life. You can advance in your job if you are well-liked by everyone and have a good social score. If you don't get a decent score, it's the exact reverse. You are shunned by society, and may even lose your job. According to Erika M. Thomas and Romin Rajan's passage, "Trapped in Dystopian Techno Reality," everything appears wonderful on the outside, but everything is artificial and dreary on the inside. The society is depicted as utopian from the start, but the episode “produces an insidious underlying dystopia that is supposed to warn people of this type of future” (pg. 226). Everyone is familiar with the adage that not everything they physically see is true. Thomas and Rajan's writing supports the idea that outward appearance is really a diversion. In truth, everyone judges others and is shaped into what society considers to be right or favourable.
Despite her best attempts, she eventually breaks down and frees herself from the shackles that society has placed on her. We are already being ranked on our popularity on social media based on the number of followers and likes we receive. Those with a small number of followers appear to be misfits, while those with a large number are regarded as popular. We have this misperception that folks with a high number are more pleasant or trustworthy. The key message Nosedive tried to impart was that we shouldn’t worry about what others think of us and change our nature to meet what is considered to be right. The idea is to be comfortable in your own skin even if that means that you stand out from the rest of the crowd. This is the message that FaceLook would try to convey to players through the narrative of the story and the gameplay, that how stressful it can be to constantly try to appease others only to be accepted. The game tries to teach players to give equal attention to other intangible aspects of life like mental health and individual personality.
Throughout the episode, Lacie is seen trying hard to boost her numbers so that she can finally be among those with high 4 ranks. She doesn't speak up and just goes along with what everyone else says and does.
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Audience Generation Z, aged from 15 (high school begin) to 25 (before marriage), especially those who are anxious about their appearance. They are familiar with social media, seeing more beautiful faces on the Internet than any other generation: the older ones tend to bury themselves making their living and taking care of family, the younger ones too young to understand makeup and surgery stuff. Generation Z is more likely to suffer from social appearance anxiety, and this is why they are chosen as the main audience in this social appearance anxiety game which is intended to resonate and release social appearance anxiety.
Technological Feasibility FaceLook is only accessible on the computer, considering that the main behaviour in the game is to click and view the plot, which cannot be provided by tabletop games. Also, as the nature of a “serious” game, it is believed that basing on the computer will offer a more immersive and focused experience as the mobile game cannot provide. While mobile devices are more convenient than the computer in terms of jumping to other internet services, there are more distractions than those on the computer. Another reason making computer games more immersive is that computers have a bigger screen than mobile devices such as phones. Finally, as computer games are more accessible and cheaper than console games and the game does not
necessarily need the complicated operation in the console, we choose the computer over the console.
Significance and Innovation While the problem of social appearance anxiety is getting severe when young people are increasingly influenced by social media, few games have been found to be concerned with social appearance anxiety. FaceLook is believed to fill the insufficiency of this area in gameplay. The game tries to illustrate the cause of social appearance anxiety by procedural rhetoric. There are two main innovations. One is that people with social anxiety tend to use magnifying glasses to check their appearance; another one is that people care about their appearance because they care about the judgement of others too much. When players hear the alarm sound triggered by appearance anxiety, they go to the appearance fixing page and find no ”bug” here (represented as black points on the body and face). Then the game will prompt the player to use a magnifying function to examine the appearance. The higher the appearance point they get, the higher magnification the magnifying glass will have and thus the more imperfections will be found. The metaphor of magnifying glass represents that people are too intensely harsh on their appearance to reach a satisfactory status.
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Technological Feasibility A comparison was created on different aspects of gameplay to select the platform for the game as computer as compared to other mediums -
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PART 2 - Analysis
Facelook, a PC role-playing game, focuses on the subject of social appearance anxiety, or people's dread of receiving unwanted feedback about their physical appearance (Hart, Flora, Palyo, Freso, Holle & Heimberg, 2008, p. 48). It seeks to externalise the invisible grading system in people's minds, as well as their fear of being rated adversely by others. The game gets its name from a created programme within the game called "Facelook", which is a variation of Facebook. It alludes to the increased strain and anxiety caused by social media, and it represents an "image first" world in which people primarily prioritise looks when judging and perceiving someone. The main mechanics, the core rules, the basic logic, and the graphic style of a game constitute an expressive system that creates a unique play experience for players, and through which process all embedded elements in this game are persuasive and convey a specific meaning through players' practice of playing. The use of the game process to convince and persuade players of opinions is defined as procedural rhetoric by Bogost (2008). Facelook's game procedure stresses people's compulsive activities in improving their appearances in order to get a higher score from others. It centres on a typical student's efforts to be liked and favourably assessed by classmates via an app called Facelook, which supports the societal functioning mechanism in this game. The app determines a student's popularity and how others regard them. Facelook's grading system
is straightforward—the only criterion for evaluation is one's looks. More points in appearance equal a higher rating from others and indicate that the character will be well-treated. As a result, players must improve their appearance using the magnifying glass, which detects present flaws, by spending money in order to receive good ratings and satisfactory treatment. By applying the Facelook-based mechanism, the game identifies and amplifies the social appearance anxiety issue, creating an extreme virtual society. Bogost (2008) highlighted the capability of video games in setting basic rules and then creating "possibility spaces'' (p. 122) for players to explore and understand pre-settled notions throughout the process of gameplay. Facelook's procedures underline the main rule of the game—the more harsh demands on appearance players impose on themselves, the higher rating and better treatment they will receive. It prompts players to reconsider the excessive attention they paid to their appearance in pursuit of a higher evaluation from others, which will gradually wear them down both mentally and physically, and eventually cause overwhelming anxiety. Facelook is an endeavour to reflect social appearance anxiety by procedurally representing the unease of being judged and the pressure of being pushed to present a better appearance to cater to external evaluation standards. As LeBlanc (2005) stated, game designers need to consider and 10
PART 2 - Analysis
determine what kind of emotional responses are expected from players. Based on the main issue Facelook hopes to focus on and represent, the main aesthetic Facelook intends to create is emotional, as a sense of powerlessness. Every small gain in one attribute implies losses in others, and there’s no perfect balance in this game. In Facelook, people's rating on the app Facelook directly determines how they will be treated in school. The game's main mechanic is the dominating rating system, and the dynamic is that players have no choice but to be evaluated by others and receive corresponding treatments, therefore creating an aesthetic that is a feeling of being forced. The rating system invisibly forces players to obey its intentional order—to upgrade their appearances. At the beginning of the game, players can customize their characters by choosing the gender identity, allocating initial points strategically to four attributes, naming their characters, and deciding the initial appearance. The customization function can create an aesthetic of expression. During the process of setting up avatars, players can project their traits to their characters. The mechanic of customization indirectly contributes to the main aesthetic by establishing the emotional bond between players and their characters, which may provoke emotional responses more effectively. Owing to the extensive use of Facelook and its appearance-judging-based rating system, players are requested to increase their appearance points. As
Nesi and Prinstein (2015) put it, technological affordances may generate problematic interpersonal behaviours like seeking external feedback and comparing with others, which will also urge people to examine themselves based on others' feedback. Facelook offers limited points at the beginning of the game, and the initial appearance points will not be enough for a strong score. The inadequate score can be an incentive to nudge players to gain more points. In Facelook, there's a tool called magnifying glass for increasing appearance points. This paid tool can discover and define the parts that need to be improved and upgrade these parts, and then generate an emotional response of temporary relief. The temporary relief will soon disappear since the rating system will demand a higher score. Characters will be trapped in a dead loop—continuously earn money to use the magnifying glass for higher scores and lose control of their own life. Social appearance anxiety is highly relevant to an eagerness to present a favourable image in front of others and motivated by constantly examining the current insufficiencies (Boursier, Gioia & Griffiths, 2020). The mechanic of magnifying glass embodies the insecurity about one's appearance and the consequent behaviour of overly appearance-check. Facelook also requires players to balance between four attributes of Appearance, Health, Happiness, and Money. When any of these attribute points drop to zero, the game will be over. 11
PART 2 - Analysis However, players will find it hard to maintain the balance since the intrinsic contradiction between the four attributes. To level up appearance, characters need to spend money to use the magnifying glass, and the source of money is either from a part-time job in the cafeteria or doing assignments for others. In pursuing a higher rating, characters will have no time for entertainment and do things against their will, which will cause a decrease in both health and happiness. But if they do not earn money, they would not be able to upgrade their appearance and fail in rating. Whenever the rating drops, there will be a disturbing alarm sound to warn players, and it creates an emotion of distress. Characters' personal life is completely dominated and destroyed by the rating system. The mechanic of balance achieving and alarm warning reinforces the sense of powerlessness. As suggested by Belman (2014), games convey values and meanings through the collaboration of different game elements. The main game elements utilized by Facelook hope to evoke empathy from players by creating an immersive experience of forced compromise. Facelook's narrative is subtly embedded in the mechanic of rating while its goal is straightforward. It clarifies the hierarchy in the game and points out that a higher rating is the only thing our characters desire. Players first compromise with the social norms based on appearance evaluation. To fit in the social rules, players need to conduct the game's core action—upgrading appearance.
The action is the practice of compromising with the rating system's norm. Players also need to make difficult choices. If they choose to upgrade their appearance, they must bear the burden of earning money and the harm to their health. Players are bound to make choices with sacrifice, and every choice will immediately cause corresponding results. The only interaction players will have with non-playable characters is to rate or being rated, creating a sense of solitude and implies an indifferent game world where warmth is absent. Facelook designs a ruthless rating system based on the very essence of social appearance anxiety—the fear of being negatively judged, exaggerating external evaluations' influence on people's life. It places players in a specific situation which is part reality, part virtual. It represents an existing dilemma faced by many people through creating a possible prophetic future society in the game. Modern people more or less pay attention to their appearances and how they might be judged. Facelook escalates the issue and displays an extreme case that brings the inner insecurity to the forefront and prompts players to reconsider the social appearance anxiety issue and its origins and possible harms. Although Facelook tries to represent the challenges and tortures confronted by an average student, the designed situations may not be complete or accurate enough to recall resonance from all players.
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PART 2 - Analysis
Flanagan, Belman, Nissenbaum & Diamond (2007) proposed that games can be seen as designed experiences that are artificially produced by developers based on their ideologies and personal experiences (p. 757). In reality, people of different genders or identities may face a distinct situation regarding their appearances. However, Facelook designs the same plot directions for each player regardless of their gender, cultural background, identity, living environment, etc. The designed elements could be subjective and inadequate to reach all players effectively and may be perceived differently.
Facelook is designed to be a thought-provoking game. It aims to encourage players to ponder what is the meaning of all the efforts we paid for others’ recognition and to question what is the so-called standard of appearance-judging and who set it. We hope it can motivate players to unshackle themselves from the enduring pressure and fear of being negatively judged and start to love themselves. Among all the meaningless rules set by others and futile attempts to satisfy them, we wish players to listen to their inner voice and find peace. The annoying game process will be over eventually, but our life is right ahead.
Facelook does not intend to encourage players to pursue a high rating or to win. Paul (2018) revealed the meritocracy embedded in contemporary game design which highlights players' skills and talents and is relatively victory-oriented. However, Facelook's ultimate purpose is quite the opposite—to make players experience the struggle and failure and then create a feeling of being powerless. The game mechanics require not only a high rating but also the proper balance between different attributes. And the player will eventually discover the deeply-rooted incompatibility between standard appearance, good health, good mood, and a considerable amount of money. Players gain by losing. The educational purpose is to reveal and make players realize the possible negative results caused by appearance anxiety and how an external judging system may destroy people's mental and physical worlds. 13
References
Bogost, I. (2008). The Rhetoric of Video Games. In K. Salen (Ed.), The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning (pp. 117-139). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Belman, J. (2014). Game Elements: The Language of Values. In M. Flanagan & H. Nissenbaum (Ed.), Values at Play in Digital Games (pp. 33-71). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Boursier, V., Gioia, F., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). Do selfie-expectancies and social appearance anxiety predict adolescents’ problematic social media use? Computers in Human Behavior, 110, 106395. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2020.106395 Flanagan, M., Belman, J., Nissenbaum, H., & Diamond, J. (2007). A method for discovering values in digital games. DiGRA Conference 2007: Tokyo, Japan. 752-760. Retrieved from http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/a-method-for-discovering-values-in-digital-ga mes/ Hart, T. A., Flora, D. B., Palyo, S. A., Fresco, D. M., Holle, C., & Heimberg, R. G. (2008). Development and Examination of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale. Assessment (Odessa, Fla.), 15(1), 48–59. doi: 10.1177/1073191107306673 LeBlanc, M. (2005). Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Dynamics. In K. Salen & E, Zimmerman (Ed.), The Game Design Reader: a rules of play anthology (pp. 438-459). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2015). Using Social Media for Social Comparison and Feedback-Seeking: Gender and Popularity Moderate Associations with Depressive Symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(8), 1427–1438. doi: 10.1007/s10802-015-0020-0 Paul, C. A. (2018). Coding Meritocracy: Norms of Game Design and Narrative. In The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games (pp. 91–110). University of Minnesota Press. doi: 10.5749/j.ctt2204rbz.6 Rajan, R. (2020). Trapped in dystopian techno realities: Nosediving into simulation through consumptive viewing. In E. M. Thomas (Ed.), Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory (pp. 223–234). Lexington Books. Icons source - www.flaticon.com Images source - www.shutterstock.com Software used for art creation and editing - Adobe Illustrator 2021
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