Case Study
Mystery Game Design System – Box list
The box list allows players to select the game box they’re getting ready to play, see which boxes they’ve completed, and buy ones they missed.
Component objective:
Help players track which boxes they’ve received and played, and allow them to easily buy mystery boxes they might have missed out on. Complements the functionality on the Deadbolt Mystery Society store, while also nudging buying behavior by providing a set-collection mentality for completionists.
Design challenges:
As with any mobile-first design, one of the biggest challenges is always about making the best use of minimal space. And this deceptively complex list of mystery boxes was no exception. I leaned into my information design background to surface relevant decision-making criteria with details like box difficulty, completion status, and release date.
Also, supporting the player objective of tracking existing mystery boxes, then locating and diving down to play of them, all without overwhelming them with ones they either don’t own or already completed, requires some finesse. Some simple-yet-robust filters will help players hide information not relevant to their current task at hand, whether playing a box they own or restocking their mystery queue with new purchases.
Other components:
- Introduction: Project overview
- Screenflow: Tracking mystery boxes and buying new ones (THIS PAGE)
- Screenflow: Mystery box home screen and component list
- Component: Maps + annotation functionality
- Component: Locks (2 variants)
- Component: Cipher solver
- Component: Image puzzles (2 variants – PENDING)
- Component: Logic puzzle grid (PENDING)
- Component: QR Code scanner (PENDING)