Trailer Review - Inbento
This is a lovely game trailer which in its simplicity makes it easy to see the efficiency of its structure. This trailer is less than a minute long, has only nine shots, and yet it is the perfect encapsulation of some necessary components for an effective game trailer.
Unique hook
Clear introduction to the gameplay design
Story framing
Indication of scope and variety
The first shot is a white cat's paw opening up a book which reveals a bento box. Only seconds in, this trailer does a good job of hooking the audience and differentiating itself (unless they really dislike cats). Without seeing any more shots, I could already say to someone: "Did you see that game about cats making bento boxes?." Had the book opened up without the cat's paw it would be that much less specific.
The next series of shots are some of the game's puzzles, starting with one of the simplest where you insert a square of salmon into the box to complete it. It's very easy to see how the game is played from these shots because they really take their time. I don't even mind the HUD elements on the left and right showing menu buttons and the level number because the shots are long enough that there's ample time to absorb everything on screen.
It’s important for gameplay clips to be as long as they need to be in order for the audience to absorb the information, and also for the pacing of the editing to befit the style of the game. This is a contemplative puzzle game, so it makes sense for the shots to be longer (though by puzzle game standards this might technically be much faster than a new player would get through these, but by trailer standards, these are very generously paced clips)
This game's art and design is clean an easy to understand, which makes the trailer editor's job much easier :P
Notice the breadth of the levels; it skips from level 1-2 to 2-6 to 3-8 to 4-1. This gives a nice intro to some unique blocks in the game and shows you how they work. It would be too boring to show the first three puzzles because they probably only build upon each other in small increments, but by skipping around we get a nice variety of puzzles.
After the puzzles there are a few story scenes of the mother cat looking at recipes, shopping for groceries and cooking for their kitten! This doesn't contribute to gameplay design ideas, but I like how it indicates there are some story elements. I always like when games have at least a little bit of story in them, so this montage says the game has more to it than just a series of puzzles. I don't know this for sure, but this montage makes it look like I might unlock more story scenes after I play more puzzles.
Cats? SOLD.
The final shot is a three-way split screen of more advanced puzzles. At this point we're already familiar with the basic gameplay, so all this shot needs to say is: "There are more complicated puzzles to come." This shot is here to satisfy the people who might be worried the game is too easy. Also, by not seeing the puzzles get fully completed, it's goading the audience to play the game.
Teasing out the more complicated stuff is a good way to show the audience they've only scratched the surface and need to get the game to see more.
Super simple structure, but very effective! To recap, here’s what the trailer accomplished:
Introduced the character and premise
Showed instructive gameplay & puzzle variety
Showed story to indicate game rewards or goals
Showed advanced gameplay to tease scope and complexity
A lot of game trailers don't have even this basic structure, which makes them confusing and less effective. If you're new to making trailers, following this basic structure will be a very good place to start. As much as I love intricately cut fast trailers with crunchy sound effects and a pulse pounding score, I also appreciate trailers like this which do their games justice in a very simple and non-flashy way!
