Dom's Rules of Charm (or lack thereof)

I've taken to looking at how games can have the word "Charm" pinned to them, you know, those 'quirky' games that have a certain something about them that makes you really enjoy the experience as a whole. I've noticed that these games have a habit of cropping up on the iOS and Android App Stores so that might be something to note for the time being.

"Royal Revolt" from Flare Games has some really nice stylistic designs which really stand out to me as quite 'charming'. The co-ordiantion of the flat colours and the simple models make it look visually appealing without making it look boring and simple.

On the other hand with "Wide Sky" from Marcus Eckert, simplicity is exactly what's needed to make the game work. Simple graphics combine with subtle colours and a light interface to create a scene necessary to make the game graphically appetising (and yes I tried so hard not to turn that into a pun).

Sure there are those iOS games that we can relate to as being charming but what about those other platforms that have games that could fall into the category? I know the above image isn't strictly Blizzard's handiwork, it was however, one of the winners from the student design competition they run every year. Coming from an imaginative lady called Ashleigh Mills (you can check her out at http://www.ashleighmills.com) this 'Mage' coffee shop ticks all the right boxes for me in the 'charm' category. The vibrant textures combine nicely with the low poly models to give a really nice 'cosy' atmosphere to the scene.

Like I mentioned in another post, I'd like to head down the environment route so taking a look at how art styles, models and textures could aid to the 'feel' of the games should put me on track to cracking the code. Back to the internet I suppose...