I got no end of grief from Peter Smith when I started playing Pokémon Diamond a couple of months back. Pete’s no stranger to mindless grinds; the man’s confessed his many replays of the NES Final Fantasy games. No, he was opposed to Pokémon because, “It’s for f$?!ing babies, man.” The argument confused me. After all, Pete, like me and the rest of 61 FPS’ team of outlaw journalists, was raised on the 8-bit era’s simple designs as conceived by Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. Though Pokémon’s billion-dollar audience is mostly made up of the Trapper-Keeper and Lunchables set, the game itself is in the age-and-gender-neutral mode that’s made Nintendo the corporate success they are today. “Family Friendly” is the accepted term but it’s just a media savvy way of saying that games like Pokémon, Mario, Brain Age, and Animal Crossing can be played and loved by very young players, but they aren’t games explicitly for children. He did get me thinking, though: Have I ever actually played a game designed specifically with very young players in mind? Not the Reader Rabbit-style edutainment so many kids have been subjected to since the early-80s. Just regular, old, played-for-fun videogames.
My first exposure to Viva Piñata was marked by cynicism. Microsoft’s monumentally expensive acquisition of Rare was just under four years old when it was announced and the partnership had yielded dubious results; bad sequels, middling remakes, one atrocious new IP, and another that had been years in development on three separate consoles before it was finally released. Between the animated series and the variety of brightly colored critters to gather in the game, Piñata seemed like a soulless and pointed marketing machine built for no other reason than to make Microsoft some of that proverbial Pokémon money. So it came as a surprise when the game turned out to be both a commercial flop (relatively speaking) and a critical success, praised for its peaceful, eccentric presentation while being ignored by gamers and parents alike. I never got around to playing the first, but its reputation brought me to Viva Piñata’s sequel, Trouble In Paradise, free of cynicism and curious about what I’d find. Turns out it’s a reputation well-earned. Even though Piñata is a brazen fusion of Nintendo’s Animal Crossing and Pokémon – surrounded by strange, brightly colored characters, you are given free reign to alter a seemingly mundane plot of land to your gardener-heart’s content but are tasked with gathering hordes of diverse fantasy creatures in order to level up and expand your domain – it is impeccably made, its charms difficult to resist.
What’s most impressive about Viva Piñata, though, is that it is explicitly designed for children. Where family friendly fare like Pokémon relies on tried-and-true game design tropes to remain accessible (simple but abundant text explanations, limited buttons, menus comprised mostly of lists, etc,) Viva Piñata relies on the language of children’s media to invite players in. When beginning a game, or garden if you prefer, you’re introduced to Leafos, a masked, soft-voiced woman who guides you through your first tasks. Rather than burden you with sheaves of instruction, Leafos points you to a small red and white symbol that will appear over your next action on the screen. The target can point to things as simple as your menu button or one of the first piñatas to enter your garden. She’ll leave you to find your own path, but when you succeed in any task in the game, she praises you for the achievement and briefly explains why what you’ve done progresses the game. You’re also scolded for bad behavior. Hit someone with a gardening tool, you get a warning. Do it again, and you’re punished by having your tool taken away. Over the game’s first two hours, you’re introduced to the other colorful characters who live around your garden and aid you in your endeavors, a cast whose similarity to Fred Rogers and Jim Henson’s compatriots is hard to ignore. After those initial hours though, you’re set free to explore and play. The game teaches and encourages the player through positive reinforcement in a secure environment rather than through text-based instruction and trial-and-error. Its hand-holding is never condescending or frustrating, merely helpful.
There’s the difference between a game made for children and any other. Viva Piñata, like Pokémon, can be enjoyed by everybody, but its design is built around how a child learns. It isn’t the toys surrounding it, just how it’s made.
Related links:
To Be a Pokémon Master
Going Back in There: My Very First Hour With Pokémon
The B.Beard All-Stars: Hour Eight of Pokémon
Common: Rare Makes Bad Games
Raised on the Stuff