Video Game Design, Tone, & Color

In this image of a level in the Nintendo DS puzzle game Meteos, tone is being used to differentiate the objects from each other. By juxtapositioning lightness and darkness, our eyes are able to distinguising different objects, their edges, and changes between them. For example, in the top half of the image, the lightness of the sparkles and stick figures juxtaposed against the darkness of the outer space background creates a contrast great enough to separate the said objects. Tone is interacting in dimension in this image of Meteos. For example, the planets in the top half look three-dimensional because of tone. Their round shapes are reinforced by the highlights, shadows, and the tonal steps in between. Tone creates the illusion of round, tangible objects from the two-dimensional because that is how we perceive round objects in light.

Color is operating most dominantly in the bottom half of the image, where the player looks to the most. The object of the game is to align three or more blocks of the same color together. Once aligned, the matching blocks will become rockets that will shoot all blocks above them into space and back at the evil that rained down the blocks. Hue is most important in playing the game as players must match the different colored blocks together: blues with blues, greens with greens, and so on. The high saturation of the game's colors generate the fun, intense, and action-packed aspects of Meteos. Color interacts directly with shape during the game. The dominant shape of the game is the square shape of the blocks. Since all blocks are the same shape and scale, The element of color characterizes the blocks, as well as the shapes within them, such as the blue "teardrop" block or the red "fire" block. Matching color and shape is fundamental in Meteos.

image source: http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/DS/Top+10+DS+charts/feature.asp?c=9943
game info: http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/4LUrMFrGvMRuQiuHjKUozvSIhxhIoQxY