Two criteria that are important to assessing the game Blackbar are the objectives of the game and the role of the player. The objectives of the game are the goals of the game and what the player is trying to accomplish. The role of the player is how the player relates to the character. The player will either take on an active role or passive role.
In Blackbar, the objective of the game is to read the letters and use context to fill in the missing words. However, there is only one correct word. The player is essentially the person receiving the letter, and some of the words have been censored by the Department of Communication. It is the player’s job to figure out what the censored words are. The point is to get as far into the story as possible. The difficult part is that there are no hints or clues. The role of the player in Blackbar is that it is a game in the first person so the player directly takes on the role of the receiver of the letters. The player is making the choices of how to interpret the letters, but the player is not able to visualize the character, as they are the character.