Heres a Tip, Keep the Change

Sarah Elliott

Table of Contents
Table of Contents..................................................................1 Introduction.........................................................................1
Design History.................................................................................................. 1 Vision Statement.............................................................................................. 2 Logline.......................................................................................................... 2 Synopsis....................................................................................................... 2 Game Description............................................................................................. 2

Formal Elements...................................................................3
Objectives........................................................................................................ 3 Gameplay Description...................................................................................... 3 Tutorial......................................................................................................... 4 Character Selection...................................................................................... 4 Conflict/Argument......................................................................................... 4 Challenge/Procedures................................................................................... 5 Outcomes..................................................................................................... 5

Dramatic Elements................................................................5
Game World..................................................................................................... 5 Characters........................................................................................................ 6 PCs............................................................................................................... 6 NPCs............................................................................................................. 6 Story................................................................................................................. 6

Reflection............................................................................. 6
Dissoi Logoi...................................................................................................... 6 Composition..................................................................................................... 7

Introduction
Design History
This game is an assignment for my Advanced Writing class. However, the idea stems from years of working in all types of restaurants. Generally, most people tip a decent amount but there are still a handful of stingy tippers in the world. Or, even worse, people who stiff you!

Vision Statement
Logline Heres a Tip, Keep the Change is a role-playing game that shows the player what a restaurant experience is like from the customer and servers point of view. Synopsis Most people eat in restaurants, and most people tip at least 15%. This role-playing game is targeted to everyone who has not worked in the food industry. People who have not worked in the food industry before generally do not know how hard of work it is, and tips, especially good tips are greatly appreciated. This game will give players an inside look into the logistics of working in a restaurant and they will hopefully see that tipping should not be optional.

Game Description
The game has two levels. The player will first be the customer. They will be greeted by the server and then seated. The customer will choose what they want to eat and drink. Time will go by faster as they wait for their drinks/food and text boxes will pop up showing the minutes that have gone by. Depending on the complexity of their food/drink order, the food/drink will take longer. The customer/player can order desert and then they will receive the bill. They are able to choose how much they would like to tip the server. The next level the player is the server or waitress. They have five tables to make sure are happy. There is a meter on each table and it goes up or down depending on how much attention you pay to them. The player/server will have multiple things to do, such as refill waters, get an order or run food; however, they can only do one action at a time. When the selected action has been completed they can choose another action to attend to. More tables will start to be seated as the game goes on, making more actions needed to be attended to. If the tables meter gets below 50% the server receives no tip. If the player reaches the end of the work night, there will be one table left who stays until an hour after the restaurant closes. There will be a small box that will pop in the corner that shows crying kids. The kids are the player/servers children who are crying for their parent, but they can not leave because the customers are holding the server up. Finally, when the customer leaves, the server will do their side work and then go home. The money they made that night will go into their bank account.

Formal Elements
Objectives
As the server: Be attentive to your tables and make the most money you can

Gameplay Description
The home screen will have a button that says play. There will be cheesy, fun music playing in the background. Once the player has chosen to play the game, the next screen is from the eyes of a customer. The customer opens a door into the restaurant and is greeted by a hostess who then walks the customer to the table. After they are seated, a server comes to the table and asks for their drink order. A box then pops up on the right side of the screen and the player has multiple options of what to drink. They can choose water, juice, beer or a liquor beverage. The time lapses and the server brings the customer their drink. Then, another box pops up on the right hand side with a menu off all types of food. The player can choose what to order and make it easy or complicated by adding more ingredients. The more ingredients, the longer the food takes to cook. The time speeds up again and the server brings the table the food. When the player is done, the check is brought to the table. The player can tip the server depending on how they thought the server did. The first level is over and the home screen pops back up. The caption says, Now its your turn to be the server! The next screen is a male and female standing in a restaurant. The player can choose which gender they would like to play. They can also choose their hair and skin color. After the character selection is over, the next screen is a view from about the restaurant overlooking five tables. The player will see exclamation makes pop up around the restaurant. These exclamation marks indicate something needs attention and are directly above the task the player needs to complete. The computer will randomly activate the exclamation marks. For example, there will be five tables with customers and an exclamation point above one table indicating they need more water, need to order or need their check. The player will click on the exclamation point and watch the server from above complete the task. They will have numbers to indicate what order the exclamation points popped up. Once the server is done with the task the player can click on another exclamation point to be addressed. The exclamation points start slowly popping up but as time continues in the game, more people come into the restaurant and more exclamation points begin to pop up. There is also a meter at each table indicating the level of happiness the customers have with their restaurant experience. The player can choose to address the exclamation points in order or help

the tables whose meter is dropping. If the meter gets below 20 percent then the customers will leave and you receive zero tip. After about eight minutes the player will see customers start to trickle out of the restaurant. In some scenarios, there will be a few customers who decide to stay late. If that occurs, a box will pop up on the right hand side to show the servers kids crying for their parent. But, they can not leave until the customers have left. Towards the end of the level, all the customers will be gone and the player has to complete a few more side work tasks before they can see the total number of tips they made. After the side work is completed, the amount of money in tips the player made will go into their bank account. A screen will appear at the end of the game to ask whether they want to play again or quit the restaurant. Tutorial There will be a tutorial in the game. As the player starts to play, as the customer, directions will pop up on the side of the screen to tell them what choices they have for their character. Then, for the second level, when the player is the server, pop up directions will appear for the first few minutes. The player should catch on quickly because it is just repetitive actions, so the directions will stop after 3 minutes or the player can choose to have them not appear. Character Selection The player is the customer for the first level. They will not get to choose what gender or skin color because they will have the view from the eyes of the character. For the second level, the player can choose to be male or female and also their skin color. The gender or race is not meant to aid my argument about tipping. It is just for the player to relate more to the position. The player will see the character from above the restaurant looking down on all of their tables. Conflict/Argument My argument is that people who have not worked in restaurants do not know how hard of work it is and therefore usually do not tip an appropriate amount. Also, a lot of the issues, such as slow food or the wrong order is not the servers fault, but other circumstances that aid to a negative restaurant experience. So, the main conflicts in the game are time management and satisfying the needs of the customers. If the server does not efficiently attend to the needs of the customers, then their profit for the night will decrease due to a small tip. The external conflict is man vs. man because the customer is relying on the server for good service and in turn the server is relying on the customer to give them a good tip for their services. Also, since there is a meter gagging the customers happiness of their restaurant experience, the server will have to choose what is more important, completing the

tasks in order to be fair or to address the tables that are becoming unhappy. Challenge/Procedures The player will enact the conflict in a fun and challenging way. It will be a fun game because it is a familiar setting to people and it will also present challenges because it will be hard for the player to please everyone in the game. The argument emerges when the player decides to help the less happy meter tables than go in order to be fairer. The player will control their server character solely from their mouse on the computer. Outcomes The outcome of the game is to make as much money as you can as the server. The player should feel like they have worked hard and should receive 20% of the food sales for the night. However, if the tables were unhappy because their food was late, their drink was wrong, etc. then the player can reflect on their performance compared to the amount of money in tips they received.

Dramatic Elements
Game World
My game is a role playing game. The game represents a realworld scenario of a restaurant. The world, however, differs from reality. In an actual restaurant the server would have people helping them with things like filling water and running food to make the customers experience better and work be more efficient. The style of the game is like the Sims, realistic and from an overhead view when the player is the server. However, it will be set up like the first picture yet more realistic like the second picture. The restaurant has a simple, American setting. There are wood floors, tables and chairs with red seats. The server and the hostess wear the same uniform, black pants and a white shirt.

Characters
PCs In the first level, the player controls what they want to eat, drink and tip the server. In the second level, the player uses their mouse to click on the tasks that need to complete in the order they choose. The player has to wait until the character finishes the task in order to click on another task to be completed. The character walks in a realistic way and does not speak. All of the communication in the game is done through text boxes. NPCs The NPCs are the customers who come into the restaurant that the player deals with. Also, on the first level, when the player is the customer, they are also a NPC but they have choices of the food, drinks and tip amount. But, their movements are controlled by the computer. The customer NPCs look like Sims and the view on the second level is far away so you can not see much detail about the customers. They move in a realistic way but do not speak. The player only knows what they need when the exclamation point pops up and says what needs to be attended to.

Story
The story is there the player is first a customer and then a server. The server has to wait on tables and address any need of the customers promptly, or their nightly income will suffer.

Reflection
Dissoi Logoi
Some people might play the game and be reassured that tipping a small amount is sufficient because after playing the game from the servers perspective, they might think it is too hard to please everyone

and they should expect low tips sometimes. Some players may argue that choosing the male or female character and their race may change how much they were tipped.

Composition
The game design has music, player interaction and choices the player must make that make its composition technique create an argument. Some benefits of this game are that it gives people an insight into what it is like to be a server in a restaurant. It also shows the player that some of the circumstances during a customers restaurant experiences are not solely reliant on the server. Some drawbacks are that the game may not support my argument wholly nor change the minds of those who tip poorly. This game could be used in a high school classroom, because this is when young people begin to go out to eat on their own with out their parents and they can learn proper restraint etiquette for themselves.