Gameplay Loop

The core gameplay loop is an essential part of every developmental title and is the focal point of the vertical slice. The gameplay loop is a set of features that the player performs which is continually repeated throughout the game. By following the gameplay loop, the player progresses through the game and unlocks new features that encourage continual retention.

The loop begins when the player personalizes their character and enters the virtual world. Upon entering, the player will encounter a loading screen (the only loading screen of the entire game), after which they will take control of their character who will spawn* in front of their starter house. The player will receive tasks that, while optional, are intended to speed up the learning curve for players and make it easier for them to understand the game loop and its core features. By completing simple tasks, players will quickly discover that their well-being gauges, which represent the real-life daily needs of a human being, gradually decrease over time. Wellbeing gauges include health, hunger, thirst, happiness, comfort, hygiene, and energy. Most of them can be maintained by interacting with various objects in the player’s starting house, such as the shower, toilet, bed, personal computer, and kitchen sink. These starting tasks are designed to help the player learn how to interact with these objects and understand their purposes.

Successfully maintaining the character’s wellbeing gauges by interacting with the aforementioned objects, the character is given another task which is to find a job. To do so, the character must walk up to the personal computer, sit on the chair and interact with the option to find one. This process takes a short amount of time, after which the player is displayed with several job offers. After a period of time, a pop-up window will appear and present the player with several job options in different fields, including athletics, culinary arts, science, and journalism.

At first, these jobs have a low entry barrier, requiring almost no interest feature skills (more in later sections). By accepting a job, the player character is given a time tracker interface to notify them when their job is about to start. To successfully complete the job, the player-character must walk up to one of the many bus stations that are spread across Fata Morgana, select the option to sit at the bus stop, and wait for the designated vehicle to arrive and take them to work. This marks one of the cornerstones of the simulation genre - the ability to have a career, progress through it and have the ability to earn higher incomes over time.

When the character finishes work, they receive a daily salary as well as interest points that match the career. The bus then returns them to the station where they previously left off, giving the player control over their character once more. The wellbeing gauge will deplete depending on the type of work that the player has chosen.

The primary use of income is the ability to purchase items, much like in the real world, ranging from a variety of household items intended to improve the character’s wellbeing to cosmetic items, as well as subscriptions to level up their interest skills further. To use many of the purchased items, the character must walk back to their house from little Morgana’s shops and unpack them there. Purchased furniture and decorations can only be placed using the build mode, which when enabled, allows the player to reshape the house to their liking.

Beyond careers, the player may use their spare time to level up their character’s interests or focus on finding a date, which may prove useful by providing additional motivation to improve their character as well as their interest levels. By following this loop the player-character will progress through the game, gradually gaining more finances and interest points. Over a short amount of time, the player character will unlock more content and for this reason, the game will become exponentially more interesting over time. In Metamorph, the gameplay loop is designed to closely replicate the life of a modern city but is significantly accelerated in order to help the player create the life they want.