Casual Games Analysis Assignment: Nanaca Crash!

The 7 Elements of Nanaca Crash:

1. Main objective: Keep the pedestrian (Taichi) farthest in the air.
2. Players involved: 10 (including Nanaca who is only controlled by the user).
3. Procedures:
1. Simply click and hold the mouse when the meter shows the preferred angle.
2. Release it at the chosen power (i.e. If you chose 90% power, the victim will fly at an extreme high angle, whereas, if you chose a lower angle, like 20%, he will fly at a linear fashion).
3. Nanaca (that would be you) will come crashing into the victim, Taichi and send him flying into the air.
4. Well, as Newton's Law of Gravity puts it, "whatever goes up must come down" - once Taichi comes back to Earth, his destination will be greatly influenced by any of the 9 characters (their roles will be discussed later on in the analysis) when contact occurs. Depending on which character he collides into, the effect can benefit or hinder your progress.
5. While Taichi is up in the air, instead of waiting for him to come down, it is a good idea to keep your eye on the "AERIAL" icon located in the top left panel. Once Taichi gradually comes in contact to the ground, the Aerial icon will either highlight in RED or BLUE. RED Aerials indicate a boost increase (Nanaca will teleport and give Taichi a "helpful push"). BLUE Aerials indicate a downward boost.
6. Ultimately, the game ends when Taichi falls into the arms of Misato (the girl with glasses) who forces Taichi to stop (thus, it is best to avoid this character, unless if she is equipped with the SPECIAL feature, she will provide the highest power boost of all). Other ways of losing the game varies depending on what angle you started, and the unfortunate encounters of characters you come across (the two male characters do not contribute favourably with the collision).

4. Rules: Each of the 10 characters comprise the rules for this game...

Nanaca: This is you! You have the ability to teleport and provide an extra Aerial crash to boost Taichi upwards or downwards.


Touko: She will offer a boost, however, it is not a very high altitude.

Kiri: Her boost is directed at a 45 degree angle.


Misato: She will cause Taichi's flight to a complete halt (thus, ending the game).


Sakuraba Hiroshi: No boost given, but he will change your angle direction or slow you down.

Youko: This character is bad news. She does nothing to benefit your goal. The next time you hit a female character, she will block you from having the power effects. Stay clear!

Tomoki: He slows you down.


Miki: She will give you a launch-type boost. (My personal favourite character!)


5. Resources: Depending on the situation, when you come in contact with a character, the word SPECIAL (you will know this if a beeping sound occurs) will reveal. If you click your mouse immediately, a powerful boosting effect will ensue (2 or 3 characters will combine their powers which will skyrocket Taichi into the air!). Only 5 characters (all females) can make this happen: Miki, Kiri, Touko, Misato, and Nanaca.
In terms of Nanaca's Aerial crashes, there are only 3 RED Aerials, so use them strategically and wisely. The BLUE Aerials are unlimited but takes some time to recover.

6. Conflict: As you browsed through and tried to get to know each character's role in the RULES section, some characters serve as negative obstacles to prevent you from reaching your goal. Misato stops you from flying, Youko blocks you from gaining any boost effects, and the male characters slows you down or changes your angle.

7. Outcome: I played this game for over 2 years now and for what I know, this game does not have an ending. Nanaca Crash is a self-competing game where you are determined to beat your own highscore (and the scores of your opponents, depending on where you play NC, some sites provide a chatbox where online players boast their highscores to each other). The outcome varies depending on what angle you choose to position your target, the random encounters of the 9 characters and how you use your Aerial arrows wisely. As you start to gain familiarity with the game, you will begin to generate your own strategies.
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*Applying Nanaca Crash to Mia Consalvo's Game analysis: Developing a methodological toolkit for the qualitative study of games article:

In her article, Consalvo discussed four fundamental elements as a way of approaching a critical mind to approaching games.

A) Object Inventory: the author defined this category when "the player is often encouraged to collect various objects that are used to enhance the avatar or gameplay, to help in solving puzzles, or to aid in ultimately 'winning' the game" (Consalvo, 4). Although objects are not being collected or earned in NC, the user is already been given the objects (i.e. the red and blue Aerials), and it is up to him or her to decide when these objects should be applied throughout the game. This makes the game a bit more complex compared to other games where possible bonuses or incentives are available.

B) Interface Study: Consalvo interpreted this as "any on-screen information that provides the player with information concerning the life, health, location or status of the character, as well as battle or action menus..." (Consalvo, 5). In NC, there are apparent displays of on-screen information that gives the user a good idea of his or her current status while playing the game. A good example that illustrates this is the active running score. If the user is playing the game against other users (in other sites, chatboxes are offered), the highscore becomes the prime motivating factor. There are two scores displayed: The best record and new record. In one incident, I managed to beat another person's record, which caused my score to blink and was now transferred as the "best record". Not only this became a positive reinforcement to my self-esteem as an amateur casual gamer, but I became hooked to the game! Thus, interface features such as the active highscore can help users "see what information is privileged" (Consalvo, 6).

C) Interaction Map: This "involves examining the choices that the player is offered in regards to interaction-not with objects, but with other player characters..." according to Consalvo (6). This is readily apparent in NC when Taichi comes into contact with either of the 9 characters involved in the game. The collision of each character can indicate a positive or negative effect, which ultimately can result in either progressing farther in the game or falling behind. As well, the interaction in NC is also high when the "Special" icon is activated, which consists of combining the powers of 2 or 3 characters.

D) Gameplay Log: The overall environment of NC revolves around a fun, simplistic game catered for everyone's amusement. The "look and feel" features of the game are fairly plain and easy to read. Although the instructions are written in Japanese, the creators also made visually-animated instructions which are very easy to comprehend and are self-explanatory. The theme song is very light and playful, signifying Nanaca's mischief (although colliding into a stranger would be considered quite extreme, haha). The strengths of NC is its simplistic goal (to keep Taichi up in the air while maintaining the longest distance). Although it might sound easy at first, however, the user quickly finds out that it would require a lot of patience, timing, and concentration in order to sustain his or her objective. I also enjoyed the different characters and their distinct powers and effects that they have on the target - it just throws unexpected, random curveballs for the users to juggle. As for the game's weakness, NC does not have a save point nor the option for its user to save his or her highscore (unless if the user beats the top score then their new score is automatically replaced). This can be very frustrating, especially with the amount of time dedicated to having an impressive score that you worked for! Other than that, NC is a great stress-relieving casual game! I highly recommend it!

-Reviewed by Alice Kim