Video: Designing games about tricky emotions like longing, or love

The spectrum of feelings and emotions evoked by video game designers is typically limited to things like joy, fear, frustration and satisfaction.

Rarely do we see a game designed to inspire feelings of affection, or longing, or that peculiar sensation of having butterflies in your stomach.

Funomena's Robin Hunicke believes developers should try to tackle those tricky feelings more often, and during the GDC 2014 Indie Soapbox she took the stage to make her case.

It was a short but sweet presentation that showcased a rare and unique perspective on game design. Now you can watch Hunicke's talk -- a roughly six-minute segment of the full panel -- completely free via the GDC Vault's official YouTube channel.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vaultand its new YouTube channeloffers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech