Review Fix chats with Game Designer and Public Relations Director at Phoenix Online Studios Katie Hallahan, who discusses the multifaceted iOS game, “Cognition.”
Review Fix: What makes this game different from other games on the iOS?
Katie Hallahan: I’d say it’s bigger and more complex than a lot of iOS games. Being an adventure game, there’s a lot of story in Cognition, and a lot of interactions and puzzles–Episode 1 is about 5 hours of gameplay, and that’s just the first episode out of four. It’s something that you can play in chunks over time as you continue to find more clues and figure out what’s going on. Also, while the interface is based on tapping like any iOS interface, there are different options for what to do–looking at things, picking them up, manipulating them, or using Erica’s powers to learn more.
Review Fix: What has the development team learned during the creation process and how will it affect the game moving forward?
Hallahan: From development in general, we’ve learned to keep things focused on the story–make sure what you’re asking the player to do fits and supports the story’s progression. We never made any puzzles that were out of nowhere or completely unrelated, but on some we got feedback that they felt out of place, so we’ve taken that into consideration as we’ve moved forward. Also some more technical things, like improving load times, which we’ve put effort into fixing as well in later episodes.
Review Fix: What’s your favorite aspect of the game?
Hallahan: Well, I love the story and I love Erica as a character, but since I’m one of the designers, that’s no surprise. I really like how the implementation of her powers works in the game, and I love the artwork, especially in the cutscenes. They look fantastic and the graphic novel effect is perfect for the game.
Review Fix: What has the feedback for the game been so far?
Hallahan: Overall, very good and positive. Players are really enjoying the story, the characters, the art and music, all of it! We have gotten some feedback about things that can be improved, as I mentioned earlier, and we’ve taken that into account both for the later episodes and for future games.
Review Fix: Are you expecting any changes moving forward?
Hallahan: For Cognition, no drastic changes–improvements, as I’ve said, but we haven’t made any major changes. Some of the things we’d like to work on we can’t really implement in the middle of this game, they either wouldn’t work or it’s just not something we can do when we’re in the middle of an episodic game. In regards to iOS development, we’re aiming to, in the future, have that interface more in our minds when we make other games. Point & click can port over to iPad very well, but there are ways we could make it work even better and more intuitively.
Review Fix: What are your goals and/or expectations for the title?
Hallahan: Our goal with Cognition was to really show what we can do and make a strong start as a company. We worked on The Silver Lining for years and learned a lot, and it’s always been given credit for being good “for a fan-made game.” While we’re very proud of that, we wanted to show we can do even better. We expect that it’ll be the kind of title that has more long-term success than short-term, since it is our first commercial game, but having a strong opening with Cognition was a big goal of ours. Both on PC & Mac as well on iOS.
Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?
Hallahan: Personally, I hope it becomes known as a must-play modern adventure game. Adventure games are getting a renaissance, comeback swing right now, and we want Cognition to be remembered as being a part of that. I think we’ve done well taking steps towards that, so time will tell.
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