Skip to main content
View expanded cover

New Media Spectacles and Multimodal Creativity in a Globalised Asia pp 171–189Cite as

Creative Base Design: A New Form of Self-Expression in Competitive Games

  • 207 Accesses

Part of the Digital Culture and Humanities book series (DICUHU,volume 3)

Abstract

As part of everyday life, mobile phones allow gamers to play online games wherever and whenever they wish. Since the first generation of smartphones, many of the most popular applications have been mobile games, with base defence games among the favourites, particularly with the implementation of real-time Player vs. Player (PvP) features. To protect their bases, gamers must not only strategically place their defence weapons in the base to guard against unpredictable attack and looting, but also launch attacks to loot others’ bases for upgrades. Each base houses necessities collected from lootings and upgrades, and also provides a personal space for the individual gamer’s creative expression and visual statement. Although strategic base creation is part of the core gameplay, the creative design of the base is not. Between 2013 and 2018, the game Clash of Clans (COC) has inspired many creative designs shared on social media by creators and fans, on both official and unofficial game forums. This mobile game has not only stood the test of time commercially as one of the most popular mobile games in the global market, but has also created an unprecedented participatory phenomenon of personal digital art, including designs specifically meant to celebrate Chinese culture, in mobile gaming and social media. This chapter examines this participatory phenomenon, focusing on the visual styles and content of these creative, and sometimes even offensive or obscene, visual expressions in social media. It also discusses the role of social media in facilitating this unique gamer-created phenomenon.

Keywords

  • Mobile gaming
  • Base design
  • Fan creativity
  • Online communities
  • Participatory culture
  • Participatory art of creation
  • Pixel art
  • Isometric art

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-7341-5_9
  • Chapter length: 19 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-981-15-7341-5
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 9.1
Fig. 9.2

Courtesy of https://www.yworks.com/pages/isometric-graph-drawing; https://cocland.com/guides/all-about-walls

Fig. 9.3
Fig. 9.4
Fig. 9.5

Courtesy of https://www.pinterest.at/pin/556124253973825843/; https://forum.supercell.com/

Fig. 9.6

Courtesy of https://www.reddit.com/r/ClashOfClans/; https://in.pinterest.com/pin/814729388819591432/?lp=true; https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-funny-village-designs-on-clash-of-Clans; https://apk-dl.com/art-layouts-for-clash-of-clans/com.sangharsh.arts

Fig. 9.7

Courtesy of https://www.reddit.com/r/ClashOfClans/comments/6qzmtb/havent_seen_this_3d_base_design_before/

Fig. 9.8

Courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/coc_art_by_psihopat/

Fig. 9.9

Courtesy of https://forum.supercell.com/showthread.php/18419-Funkiest-Most-Creative-base-designs/

References

  • Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit MUDs. Journal of MUD Research, 1(1), 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartle, R. (2001). A wish list for massively multiplayer games. The Themis Group. Retrieved June 24, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjork, S., & Holopainen, J. (2005). Patterns in game design (Vol. 11). Hingham: Charles River Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collaros, J. (2015). Clash of Clans: Designing games that people will play for years. Retrieved from GDCvault, https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1021858/Clash-of-Clans-Designing-Games

  • Dena, C. (2008). Emerging participatory culture practices: Player-created tiers in alternate reality games. Convergence, 14(1), 41–57.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, M. (2010). What is an affordance and can it help us understand the use of ICT in education? Education and Information Technologies, 15(3), 205–217.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hoy, M. A. (2010). From point to pixel: A genealogy of digital aesthetics. Doctoral dissertation, UC Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, M., & Sihvonen, T. (2011, September). In perpetual beta? On the participatory design of Facebook games. DiGRA Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, bloggers, and gamers: Exploring participatory culture. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeBlanc, M. (2004). Mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics: a formal approach to game design. Lecture at Northwestern University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehtonen, M. J., & Harviainen, J. T. (2016). Mobile games and player communities: Designing for and with clans. Design Management Review, 27(3), 20–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, R. A. (1979). Revitalizing the culture concept. Annual Review of Sociology, 5(1), 137–166.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Seckel, A. (2004). Masters of deception: Escher, Dalí & the artists of optical illusion. Sterling Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, A. (2010). What is video game culture? Cultural studies and game studies. Games and Culture, 5(4), 403–424.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Stadler, M., & Kruse, P. (1990). Theory of Gestalt and self-organization. In F. Demeyere, E. Rosseel, & F. Heylighen (Eds.), Self-steering and cognition in complex systems (pp. 142–169). New York: Gordon & Breach.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, T. L. (2006). Play between worlds: Exploring online gaming culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou, China

    David Kei-man Yip

Authors
  1. David Kei-man Yip
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Kei-man Yip .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Open University of Hong Kong, Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong

    Sunny Sui-kwong Lam

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Yip, D.Km. (2020). Creative Base Design: A New Form of Self-Expression in Competitive Games. In: Lam, S.Sk. (eds) New Media Spectacles and Multimodal Creativity in a Globalised Asia . Digital Culture and Humanities, vol 3. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7341-5_9

Download citation