The Affordances of Katamari Damacy
Using the lens of intuitive design, I aim to understand why a little Japanese game named Katamari Damacy (PS2, Namco) captivated the world. Katamari Damacy basically means ball or clump in Japanese. The purpose of the game is to collect as many items as can while rolling a giant sticky ball through buildings, down busy streets and around the world. Katamari Damacy’s design was so out of the norm of the “bigger weapons, better graphics” trend, that it just simply and quietly gained momentum with gamers of all genders and ages. Winning prizes for innovation and selling out nationwide, this game has achieved a coveted status in history. As proof of the popularity of its design, the sequel “We Love Katamari” released September 16, 2005 has few if any changes in the graphics or gameplay. Despite being a puzzle game, the sequel was among the Top 10 sales. It beat out established sports and action titles such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 (XBOX, EA) and Ultimate Spiderman (XBOX, Activision) released the same month. So why does everyone love Katamari Damacy? Katamari is successful because it leverages design principles like affordances, visibility, and constraints to make the design intuitive.

Games are supposed to be difficult to play, but they should be easy to use (Norman 205). In his book, Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman describes how to make products so easy to use, they are intuitive. Computers are prime for flawed design because they: mask information, may not provide appropriate feedback, and may not constrain users from errors (178). Gamers should spend their energy solving puzzles and not battling the interface.

Three Design Principles Katamari Damacy gets right:

• Affordances – affordances enable designers to create gameplay that leverages the natural limitations and features of an object. One of the clear affordances of a ball is that it rolls. Everyone, regardless of age, recognizes a ball and can easily conceive it’s primary function. Many popular games like World of Warcraft (PC Blizzard) can deter some demographics because they may lack an existing conceptual model for how to manipulate the complex interface used in those games (85). The act of rolling a ball however suffers no gap in evaluation or execution. Users can quickly get immersed because the rolling action is consistent with the simple affordances of a ball.

• Visibility – gamers need awareness of the mechanics of gameplay through visuals and audio feedback. Two feedback mechanisms built in the game include a progress icon and sounds. The player is given a simple icon on the corner of her screen that shows the size of the katamari. Sound is used to give the player explicit feedback on which object she picked up (103). Most objects make a specific natural sound related to the function of the object. If the player rolls over a cow, it will say “moo.” Gamers need lots of information. Integrating visibility principles allows designers to keep pumping the right information when they need it.

• Constraints – constraints prevent gamers from making errors that could decrease enjoyment of the game. Katamari Damacy centers around a single rule – players can’t roll up something that is bigger than their ball. If the player got lost in an area with many big objects, she could get frustrated. So the game blocks the paths to larger objects until her Katamari is large enough to roll over the barrier. It makes the game easier to explore and less overwhelming by essentially modularizing the levels (174). Failure is a critical aspect of gameplay, however good designers know how to constrain the environment so players stay immersed in the game.

An important success factor in the enjoyment of a game is its immersiveness. Bad interfaces disrupt immersion. Design principles such as affordances, visibility and constraints contribute to make Katamari Damacy a popular game. The unique combination of weirdness and usability make this title a cult favorite that people will continue to play and buy.

Sources:
• Weekly Game Sales [Obtained from http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=15220&page=4]
• Norman, Donald. (1990). The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Currency/Doubleday