Overall Project
99rooms.com is a flash adventure game that was created in Germany by Kim Koester, Richard Shumann, Johnannes Buenemann, and Stephen Shulz. It uses point-and-click interactivity to journey through its many rooms. The main goal of this game is to be able to make your way through until the last room. This game has visually stunning artworks and rather creepy background music and sound effects. Although certain rooms require more interactivity, such as drag-and-drop and double-clicking, I found it fairly easy to navigate my way through until the last room.
First Run Impressions
When I first ran this website, I got a feeling that this is an interactive game website considering its domain name and informal web layout. Though, I was not aware that the icons just below the “Enter Normal” link were actually instructions on how to play the game. In my opinion, it would be better if those instructions were included in a pop-up upon entering the game as it gives better clarity to users. The main page has a neat centre composition; however, the displayed text could have been better if they were made bigger to ease readability.
However, upon entering the game, I was impressed with the haunting background music and visually stunning photos of each room, taken from abandoned buildings. Its crystal-clear background music and sound effects gave a dark, creepy atmosphere throughout the game play. Though, it would have been better if the mouse cursor was made bigger as it was hard to detect it during game play. At times, it was also hard to find where the interactive objects are in the room due to the colour and size of the cursor.
Overall Structure
The overall structure of this website is non-linear since you are able to go back and forth rooms in different sequences without altering the game outcome. There are not too many steps involved in getting where you want to go since each room is clearly displayed in thumbnails.
Clarity of Communication
Although I was not aware of the game’s instructions on the main page during my first-run through the website, I was able to identify and understand the various cursor symbol meanings fairly quickly. Nonetheless, I would have been able to grasp those symbol meanings better if the game instructions were displayed bigger and clearer.
Other than that, the photos displayed, depicting each room manages to convey a creepy, haunting atmosphere to the website, which are the exact feelings that the creators planned to convey.
Visual Metaphors
This website is all about conveying emotions and feelings through photography and sound. I found that this website has succeeded in such aspects. Its photos manage to convey a sense of loneliness and creepiness of each room. Such is also the case for the background music and sound, for giving the website a creepy, mysterious atmosphere. With such similar connections between the photos and background music, these visual metaphors are indeed consistent throughout the site.
Organization of Visual Elements
The website is organized in a form of a slideshow. I feel that such method of organization is suitable as it allows the user to explore each room more freely and is able to observe its elements clearly. Its stunning photos also contribute to this method as it enhances the look and feel of the website. There is also a hierarchy of importance in the arrangement of these visual elements. This can be seen starting from the first room where the user needs to click on the door to open it and flip the switch on to light up the room before proceeding to the next room. Such hierarchy can also be seen until the last room where it displays the credits and photos of the creators. The things that are used to group photos together are often through animation and colours. More often than not, the animation in each room is activated by clicking on buttons of the same style or colour. The important elements on the website are often made to stand out by using contrasting colours or movement. For example, all switch buttons in Room 68 is black in colour except one, which gives a clue to ther user to click it instead. When using this website, the element that often grabs my attention is either movement or sound. With regards to the website’s negative space, the screens are uniformly covered with images. The navigation aids (such as the different cursor symbols), however, is too small to my liking and makes it hard for me to browse or identify a clue in each room.
Surprise Elements and Thrill Factor
No doubt that you will get a sense of thrill and surprise if this is the first time you are visiting this website. However, each room’s interactive elements remain the same every time you visit the page. Hence, I feel that this website is only exciting to explore if it is your first time visiting it and not really in subsequent basis. Will I visit the site again? Maybe, if I really have nothing better to do...
Download Time
Before the game begins, this website requires you to wait for a few seconds (depending on your internet connection speed, though) to load its elements. I did not find this downloading part to be slow. The only part of the website that requires longer downloading time is when you select the navigation map link at the bottom-right corner of the website since it will begin loading navigation links to all the rooms.
Targeted Audience
With its creepy background music and thrilling atmosphere, I feel that this website is mainly targeted for age groups 14 years old and above, both males and females alike. This is because certain photos contain elements which are rather scary and disturbing.
Comparisons with the Week 5 Course Reader on Navigation
After exploring the website, I agree with Wurman1 that navigation maps are very useful guides for websites since it provides information on what to expect from a site. I also agree with him that despite having a navigation map, the best way to learn about the features of a website is to explore it by oneself, which is similar to that of 99rooms.com. During my subsequent visits to the website, I was more familiar with the website’s layout and links. Besides that, O’Connell’s statement regarding web information on cyberspace maps is without a doubt true; however, such statement is a contrast for 99rooms.com since its navigation map consists of only small thumbnail images depicting each room, which is hard to see what is in the next room by just observing the thumbnails. All in all, the navigation map is useful for the website if you want to jump from one room to another and also to identify the room that you are in at the moment.
Besides that, according to Rao2, point-and-click websites often consists of seven principles to be successful. Firstly, graphics are prioritized in such websites and more often than not, allows the user to expect where they will be going before clicking into links. This criterion matches that of 99rooms.com where each room’s environment is presented in a form of an interactive slideshow. Its site map also consist thumbnails.
Secondly, Rao also states that a point-and-click website should have an inherent structure that functions as a spine to organize information. Even though each room seems random, the creators made sure that Room 1 contains an interactive door that opens and leads to the subsequent rooms. They also made sure that the last room, Room 99 contains a photo of a group of shadows, which when clicked links to the website credits. This shows that 99rooms.com does have a hierarchical structure even though it is not that obvious.
Thirdly, Rao also states that the website should provide focus and context information. This means that a website should cater to the user needs by providing overview information of the website contents and only detailed information if the user clicks into the links. Such can also be seen in 99rooms.com where its site map gives an overview on the websites content and the photo of each room being presented in a slideshow gives a detailed page view.
Next, a website should animate its transitions to enhance the user’s understanding of the following pages. Although 99rooms.com is meant to be sort of a mystery game where one is required to explore the area for clues, certain rooms such as Room 7 contains animations that draw the user’s attention towards the animated object to search for the clues.
Rao also states that a website should create stable and consistent spaces by arranging information enabling users to improve their performance over time since knowledge about the consistent website layout can speed navigation. This is particularly true for 99rooms.com since I became more familiar with the layout, navigation links and volume adjustments during my second visit to this website. Moreover, its navigation links are placed at the bottom of the layout, which eases the user’s navigation around the website. However, there are no “back” buttons on this website. This means that to access the previous rooms, you will need to go to the site map and click on the desired room, which can be quite inconvenient sometimes.
In conclusion, 99rooms.com is an interactive point-and-click adventure game that requires the user to explore each room for clues before going to the next room. With its rather creepy sound effects and animation, this site is best recommended for people ages 12 and above. While its thrill and surprise factor is low during subsequent visits, one would not mind going back to admire such beautiful artworks.
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Bibliography
1. Richard Wurman. “Finding Things.” Information Anxiety 2. Indianapolis: Que, 2001. Pp. 155-169.
2. Rao, R. (2001). See & Go Manifesto. In: Wurman, R Information Anxiety 2. Indianapolis: Que. p166-169.
