Creating Positional Heuristics Through Limits

Players develop two types of heuristics: positional and directional heuristics. Positional heuristics tell them how well they are doing, and directional heuristics tell them what to do next. You need to give players good positional heuristics so they can interpret feedback. Without this, they cannot learn the game. This means games should establish strong positional heuristics as soon as possible.

One approach to establishing positional heuristics is through limits. Suppose you have a card that can score up to 6 points. This tells you that scoring 6 points means you did an excellent job. If you score less than 6 points, you have a clear benchmark for how much you need to improve next time.

The danger with limits is that they can flatten gameplay if overdone. This is especially true when limits apply to the entire game rather than one subgame. I have encountered prototypes where a player can effectively earn at most one point per turn. This is too restrictive. If you earn that point, the game becomes boring, and if you miss it, it becomes frustrating. Players need a wider range of outcomes to serve as effective feedback.

The general principle is to keep limits localized. You may limit a player in one subgame but allow them to outperform over many. If they feel like they have hit an absolute ceiling, they will lose interest. People replay games largely to pursue mastery, of which a "perfect score" is one of the clearest signals.