UX Design research

Binding of Isaac

The entire UX system for Binding of Isaac is themed around scraps of paper that have loose sketches on. The logo is visually dominant throughout, being the only strongly coloured element on the page. As the player navigates, the papers are shifted around or added to the pile. 

The user is encouraged to pick from a range of characters before starting the game. Locked players are displayed as being tied up until they are available. 

Submenus are handled by a popup which maintains the handrawn feel and actually feels strange to navigate because of this. None of your choices seem fixed or official because of the loose, sketched style. However, the drawings are fun and feature motifs from the full game, introducing the player to elements of the game even at this early stage.

Runner 2: Future of Rhythm Alien

I have included this becuause of just how unusual their UI is compared to other games. While I do not think the typography is particularly effective, I the surreal illustration and introduction of characters, settings and colours right from the start is a really effective approach that makes the menus fun to navigate. 

Super Meat Boy

I am not a huge fan of the overal visual approach Team Meat have used for their UI system, particularly the dullness of the popups (below). However, I really like the structure of the home screen, which contains just the logo, a blown up and stylised image of the main character and a list of options. The slick animation can't really be shown in screenshots but it is definitely satisfying. 

Illustration is consistently applied

Fez

Fez has the simplest menu of all. Featuring only the most essential options and settings:

This is the best example of a title screen I have come across in this research. The isometric fez logo rotates around slowly and sucks you into a black, space-like background. It gives the game an epic feeling right from the offset. 

in a nod to classic games of the 90s such as zelda and pokemon, which had limited save memory, the game gives you the option of selecting which slot to save to. I like this touch and the way it is presented makes the process really clear to the player. The menu is almost completely devoid of the fun visuals that the game is known for, as if the menu exists outside of the game world.