Many times, it’s hard to make a UI that works well. Good thing these games show you how to do it.
User Interfaces, or UI, are invisible when they’re done right. Or at least the work that goes into putting them into action is mostly ignored, if not ignored altogether. The user interface (UI) connects the game and the player. Without it (or bad UI), players may not know what’s going on in any game.
Still, cool or stylish UI design can give players power, clarity, and that tingly feeling that comes from pressing a big red button or flipping an electric switch. These games have UI taken care of, whether it’s for immersion, getting information across well, or just being famous.
The Fallout Series
This user interface is so strong that it would still work after an atomic bomb hit it. The older Fallout game does a great job of capturing a sense of “skeuomorphism,” which means experiencing an object (in this case, menus) that stays true to its original form. Old technology that was made to last through the bomb has rusted over over time and been damaged. The screen is full of thick buttons that can be pressed.
Fallout games have had a realistic Pip-boy-based UI system since the 3D versions. The character moves through the game’s menus using a device on their wrist. The story says that the Pip-boy is awkward and heavy, but it also feels simple enough to be easy to use, so the player never gets too lost in awkward item lists.
Dishonored
The sound of rusty iron hitting smooth steel and the rustling of paper are just a few of the ways that the Dishonored menu UI is immersive. The visual UI designers are also very important. Putting that aside, the Dishonored series is a great example of good user experience (UX) because everything is clear and easy on the eyes.
The screen is full of broken glass, stylish cuts, and blood blots, but the art style helps tie everything together and keeps the player from getting lost as they explore the game’s choices or power-ups. It really shows how a world covered in soot would feel. I mean, even the pause menu is a work of art. It combines the fast-paced action of cloak-and-dagger with the seriousness of the scene.
Ocarina Of Time
While later games in the series haven’t been afraid to try new things, The Legend of Zelda’s first 3D game did a lot of cool things for its time, like coming up with brand-new ways for the player to easily interact with the controls. Including the camera lock-on (or Z-targeting system) and the very important action button that changes based on the situation.
The developers wanted Navi to take the place of the camera lock-on system at first, but while testing, they found that it wasn’t always clear what Link was looking at, so they added the familiar four-arrow pointer. It looks like the inventory screen is also very excited about being in 3D and inside a cube, which makes the player feel like they are in a portable armory. Also, who could forget the famous “play your own music” feature? The UI rule book was written, printed, and folded by Ocarina of Time by itself.
Persona 5
Glitzy, picaresque, and beautiful. Persona 5‘s anime and pop-inspired interface design is a work of art in and of itself, full of charm and personality. It perfects the game’s main ideas. It can be hard to understand, just like any other work of art.
The fifth game’s UI may be too much for people who are new to Atlus games or the Persona series. It may even be UX-unfriendly. But once the player gets used to the flashy and high-style look, every other dialogue box or screen will seem pretty plain.
The Sims
It would be too much to ask players to keep track of every human need, friendship, skill, attribute, and other thing. It seems crazy to ask them to do that for a whole family of fake people. Maxis took what could have been a mess of information and organized it in a way that was both easy to find and nice on the eyes.
The Sims also has a very well-thought-out wheel that shows each exchange. This way, the choice at the top doesn’t get more weight than the others. The buy/build menu is beautiful, with each item cleverly organized into a number of useful groups with easily recognizable symbols. The canvas is also very clear, so the player can start building their dream home.
Disco Elysium
A group of artists worked together to make the core of the team behind Disco Elysium, which is why the menus and details for other players are so beautiful. But the conversation window, which is what the game’s main gameplay is based on, did something very interesting.
Players with a high real-life Perception skill might notice that the window looks a lot like how Twitter displays threads. Lead designer Robert Kurvitz said that conversation was meant to look like social media, complete with all of its flashy features that catch people’s attention. Because of this, the writing on the right side looks stronger and clearer than if it were in the more common bottom-middle position.
Astroneer
At first glance, this independent spacecraft game might look like it doesn’t have any user interface (UI), but there are a few contextual hints that show up. Astroneer, on the other hand, cleverly hides all the information a player needs (about health, energy, air, etc.) on the player or in their pack, so the player can always keep their eyes on the cool and dirty world of Teheran and beyond.
When Tunnel Rush player opens their pack or gear, they see UI that is directly put onto their in-game gear. Autos-snapping lines or unobtrusive bars show you how to do everything, from crafting to exploring. This makes your trip through the alien scenery feel very real.
Dead Space
Dead Space is probably the first game that comes to mind for players when they think of good user interface. It has great environmental storytelling and some of the first mechanics for dismembering bodies. While other games have shown how much life an enemy has or how many bullets they have, Dead Space does all of this from a third-person view.
As Isaac plans his way through the Ishimura (or, more accurately, through piles of dead bodies), the map is shown right in front of him. Dead Space is known for its atmospheric horror drip. Without such a clever game-to-player language, it might not have had as much of that.
Assassin’s Creed
It’s not by chance that Assassin’s Creed’s user interface is very simple. This lets the beautiful views in the game take up most of the screen. It’s also not true that all of the UI can be changed or turned off in the menu. The game was obviously meant to be played without any UI at all, with the controls being enough to get the job done. The control UI and the minimap were probably added late in the creation process.
Without any of its UI, you can play Assassin’s Creed (especially the first game), though it might be a little hard to get used to at first. Altair will let the player know which weapon button to press with a quick animation. Also, going to the top of buildings will let the player see the city map for themselves instead of showing them a GPS-like overview in the mini-map. Later games stopped not having a HUD, but the menus and overlays were still beautifully made.
Hearthstone
The Hearthstone developers didn’t want a smooth, flat user interface. Instead, they wanted something that would look good in real life, with a “feel over efficiency” mindset. They wanted to show how exciting it is to open a deck of cards in real life. Bouncyness and dynamic turning movement, something that felt real, magical, charming, and, in the end, “constructed.”
Even though the store has recently added new items, Hearthstone still feels like it was made by hand by a master of the “craft.” It’s less about “words and numbers” and more about bright, popping animations and lots of things that don’t match.
