Play and Learn

There is a saying “Work hard, play hard”, and this is known among college students as a motivation and inspiration for them to thrive from the heavy workload, and I also believe in it, and that’s why people always can catch me on different games platforms. And while I’m playing, I always notice things that can link with our field — landscape architecture.

Almost every game starts with a background, a setting, which involves a place for things to happen. And this is something where landscape architects can step in. I have played several games in different categories, and I want to use this week’s reflection to introduce some of the games.

· PUBG

As a battle royale game, this is rarely been connected with the landscape design, but the creative team is still trying to play with the terrain, vegetation, and settlement in this game. The last time when I play, there are three different kinds of maps, one on an island, one in the desert, and one in the rainforest. And each of them will have different terrains so the players can choose among them and practice their gaming skills. The trees, dense shrubs, and rocks are often been used as a shelter to hide, while the open area is where all the players are trying to get out of.

While I play this game, I’m too focused on the game itself instead of reading the landscape… if I have to name one thing I learned from this game, I will say the design intention will always be different from how people actually going to use it.

· Animal Crossing: New Horizon

This game is released in 2020’s spring, and all the players will be assigned with an island where we can live with a few cute animals. The players are required to find and use the resources from the island and build our dream town. And this game also allows the player to do little planning within the boundary of the map, like creating terrain and river, build stairs and bridges, creating pathways, and also the building layout.

If I can only one thing I learn from this game, that will be I finally understand the costs and efforts behind the construction, it’s boring and time-confusing, not only in the game but also in the reality, which will be takeaway from this game.

· The legend of Zelda: the breath of the wild

This game is just like its name, it’s a legend. This is an Action-adventure game, but at this time, the story background can be described as huge. All kinds of terrains fit within the same map. And within the map, you can the contour line, which will help you learn how to read topo maps. In this game, you can just feel the landscape within this setting, explore the rendering, and find some inspirations for future design.