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
Both push-your-luck and memory mechanics have weaknesses that can lead to negative experiences. In push-your-luck games, an unlucky run can end much earlier than expected, leading to a bust that feels undeserved. In
Counterspells can be annoying to play against. These effects, here named after the iconic card from Magic: The Gathering but most common in take-that games, negate an opponent's action. They play
One of the big problems with turn-based games is downtime. Downtime is often framed as a lack of opportunities to make choices, yet plenty of games have low downtime despite stretches of gameplay