Side Game Loop - Carb Counting

In order to keep your child’s blood sugar within range, you need to precisely dose insulin based on the amount of carbohydrates she will eat. Injected insulin absorbs and activates more slowly than digestion, so it’s important to dose at the right interval before eating (usually at least 10 minutes) to avoid high blood sugars.

Now you try to predict what hungry 5 year old is going to eat.

Me: “Hey kiddo, how hungry are you?”

5-year-old: “I’m starving!”

Me: “How much pizza do you want?”

5-year-old: “Two whole pizzas!”

(Half a slice later)

5-year-old: “I’m full!”

She now has enough insulin on board to put her in a coma…. great….

Game Design Background: NPC Dialog

Often you can talk to Non-Player Characters in a game. You can select from a fixed set of responses and questions to have a virtual conversation with the NPC and learn crucial information to unlock missions and play the game. We call these conversational interfaces “Dialog Mechanics”

This NPC is @#*$% useless. It’s a futile dialogue mechanic that doesn’t actually help you with gameplay. You’d be better off not asking at all.