Hoarding Is a Degenerate Strategy
If you have played a video game RPG, you may be familiar with the frustration of a full inventory. You explore and gather items, then suddenly run into a wall and must decide
Feedback
When players take actions, the game needs to respond quickly with rewards and penalties so they can learn what works and what doesn't. Without this feedback, players struggle to build a model of the game.
The Most Satisfying Reward Might Be To Remove a Problem
It is tempting to see progression in games as a process of gaining more and more resources and options. But options create noise. When players have many options, it takes more effort to
Without Repetition, Autobattlers Are Just Theorycrafting
Feedback is essential when learning games. But choices made in autobattler games occur outside the battle itself, delaying feedback and hiding which choices led to success or failure. Autobattler feedback becomes comprehensible only
Accidental Progression Is Still Progression
We want players to feel like they are getting stronger over the course of the game, but increasing their power level as a function of time alone feels unearned. Players want progression to
Players Don't Care About Counterfactual Success
One game I am working on right now is a social deduction game with a drawing element. Players conceal subtle details in their drawings in case they are randomly selected for a secret