The Clash of Choices in Game Design
The Clash of Choices in Game Design
The Clash of Choices in Game Design
By Josh Bycer
May 28, 2023
Summary
One of the many balancing acts of game design is the act of creating cool, interesting, unique, abilities for the player to use, and then balancing said abilities within the scope and design of your game.
Players found optimal ways of playing that rendered a lot of the difficulty of the game moot.
In every game imaginable, the choices that the player has access can fit different roles or situations based on the utility and balance present.
If your game has four damage types - fire, earth, water, and physical, and you design a boss that only takes damage from physical damage, then that is railroading the player's choices.
Constantly making the game harder by weakening choices and the player's ability to play will end up frustrating those who feel like they're being punished for figuring out the game.
Creating good and interesting choices in your game is about providing the player with different ways of approaching the gameplay, and designing your game around the assumption that the player can and will figure them out.
Remember this one point - no matter if you are building a game for experts or novices of a genre, not everyone is going to want to play the game the same way.
Reference
Bycer, J. (2023, May 28). The clash of choices in Game Design. SUPERJUMP. https://www.superjumpmagazine.com/the-clash-of-choices-in-game-design/