Got a complex game? Have you tried turning the tutorial into a ๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐? Curiosity is one of the strongest drivers of human motivation. It can even override rationality and survival instincts. If you put a sign on a door that says “whatever you do, DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR” we all know people are going […]
You’ve probably seen Jenny Nicholson’s phenomenal documentary on the Star Wars Hotel. If you haven’t, consider watching it after reading this piece, as it’s a fantastic look into real-world level design, theming, gameplay, logistics, and where a sense of “value” comes from through the nerdiest lens possible. While explaining the booking experience, Jenny makes a […]
Let’s talk about the biggest incentive-alignment problem in Pinball: The ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐๐. Pinball builds escalation into its game design through the use of upgrades and special modes unlocked during play. Players accomplish objectives by making specific shots, often somewhat risky, building up to a game state change that massively increases scoring potential – and often […]
Have your players ever groaned when they got a notification they had a bunch of unclaimed rewards? Mine have. That’s not a good sign. Legends of Runeterra had this problem. The game wanted to be generous, so it gave out so many free rewards that opening them became an annoyance. Riot Games gives devs free […]
Just ran a 5-hour session on how to design monetization systems. So many studios miss the beautiful reality of games: designers are alchemists. If you know what youโre doing, your designs can increase the value of your gameโs goals and rewards. If something feels like itโs worth $5, then you have a lot of trouble […]
Counter-intuitively, a common reason that players are afraid to waste consumable items is that the items are too weak – not too strong. Devs often reduce the impact of consumables so players will be less afraid to waste them, or out of game balance concerns so they can ensure players can overcome all of a […]
A few days ago I posted here about the Machine Guarding technique. I talked about how this idea from industrial manufacturing helped our team solve one of the game’s peristent annoyances, and how it was a huge win that had no meaningful downside. It’s as close to “strictly better” an improvement as you can get. […]
Many people tend to assume system design is about algorithms, spreadsheets, data, and math – and so it should be perfect for AI-based solutions. In reality, systems design is much more about figuring out how to present incentives to a player in an intuitive and sustainable way, identify the emergent consequences of how mechanics and […]
When working on Rise of Shadows at Blizzard Entertainment we had an extra slot for a mage Epic, and not much time left to experiment. I knew a lot of mage players loved playing a bunch of spells in one turn, using mage’s cost-discounting effects to turn 1-cost and 2-cost cards into free flurries of […]
Let’s talk about “Net Fun” in PvP games. If your game is only fun when you win, you have a big problem. Matchmaking can’t fix this. Given a 50% win rate, Humans still feel the impact of losses more intensely than we feel the benefit of gains (thanks “loss aversion”). I think about it like […]
