Managing Cognitive Load Through Resource Outlets

The most precious resource in games is player attention. There is only so much to go around, and when players run out, they feel overwhelmed. Attention burden is caused by options and passive effects the player must track because they might matter for future choices.

Many games load players up with options to consider: bonuses to trigger, pieces to move, and cards to play. Preventing attention overload means creating an outlet that players use to dump what they don't need. Since players will never sacrifice an advantage for nothing, you must offer them something in return. There are three common options that reduce attention burden in different ways: by abstracting away differences among resources, by compressing ongoing value into a one-time burst, or by consolidating multiple resources into a single resource to reduce the number of things tracked.

One way to create an outlet for a complex resource is to offer players a simpler resource in exchange: an abstraction outlet. Selling things is a common way to do this. Many RPGs allow you to collect items and then sell off the ones you don't want to shops. Money is a great abstraction because it creates almost no ongoing attention cost, no matter how much you have. The downside to money and other fungible resources is that they homogenize opportunities. When you get rid of an item you don't see a use for, you may be ignoring some mechanics, stunting the development of your game understanding.

A second way to create an outlet is by letting players sacrifice resources that provide ongoing benefits for a burst of value: a compression outlet. When you spend reusable resources for immediate gains, you still interact with them briefly, unlike abstraction outlets. This also encourages proactive pruning of decisions, sacrificing resources even when not overburdened. The downside of compression outlets is that progress that can be sacrificed may not feel like progress because it is not permanent. Fortunately, there is a third option that enhances progression rather than counteracting it.

The third way to encourage the pruning of resources is to combine them to create even better resources: a consolidation outlet. For example, Sidereal Confluence gives you many resource converters to manage and creates more over the course of the game, overwhelming players with options. However, it also lets you sacrifice one converter to upgrade another. Players love combining resources like this because it feels like crafting, and choosing which objects to combine creates emotional investment in the product. Unlike the other two types of outlets, the consolidated resource may be just as complicated, but it at least reduces the number of things you have to track.

Not every game needs outlets. They are best used when the sheer number of resources threatens to overwhelm your ability to keep track of them. They set up situations in which players feel satisfied to have found a use for an unwanted resource. Just be careful how valuable you make them, or players may sacrifice all their resources and end up with nothing.