ToonTown Research Questions

The ToonTown HUD is a good example of a generic HUD. Each button leads to an off-screen menu except for the laff meter. It actively displays the users health and determines a players "happiness." The chat buttons bring up pre-made phrases and a text entry box to communicate with other players. The friends icon shows which of your friends are online and allows you to go to them. The book button brings the user into their own personal storage and game control. The text that appears on screen shows where nearby people and buildings are around the character. Names that appear towards the top of the screen are further in front and names at the bottom are further behind while they go left and right respectively.

In order to fight the evil cogs in ToonTown, the user must follow a set of predetermined battle rules. First, you must initiate battle with the cog by running up to it. After his witty banter, the player is informed of any bonuses caused by surrounding items. These can be increases in power for any gag type. Then the player must choose the gag they would like to use against the cog. The player has his turn then the cog attacks. For higher power cogs, this process may need to be repeated several times. Also cogs and toons alike can team up to make battles even larger. Up to four people per side are allowed to take turns as a team battering each other with gags.

Agency, in terms of games, denotes the ability of the user to control the choices of the characters in the game. In ToonTown, the physical navigation of the character represents agency. The user is free to move the character through space wherever they so choose. These choices of where to walk can initiate cog battles or open doors, so the toon’s story can change with each movement. The physical shape of the map also allows for a certain amount of agency as well. The type of map used in ToonTown is described as like a rhizome root. Rather than a labyrinth of straight pathways, the user is able to be lost in the confusing maze of streets. This goes perfectly with the fact that there is no definite way to win ToonTown. The more complex web of streets allows the user to be comforted, even when lost, because life in ToonTown will never end. Ultimately, in ToonTown the interactor is the author of the character’s story. This is the truest, best way to understand the use of agency in games. By being able to control the character’s story, we not only are immersed into an alternate reality, we are able to become agents of storytelling.