Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
not frustrating to learn how to play the game. It is important to immediately provide the tools for or
instruction on how to play your game. Players should be able to participate and understand how
the mechanics work right off the bat. This does not imply, however, teaching players how to solve
the problems. You want to leave that to them, because that is the point of the game.
Don't reveal everything
. Although we want the player to immediately understand how the mechanics
work, you don't want to give away everything. The element of positive surprise is a very powerful
tool in games. Players enjoy discovering something unexpected. Therefore, it is wise to keep some
things hidden. Even in a simple game like A to B, I was able to withhold some key information and
let the players discover it on their own. I utilized the fact that players didn't necessarily realize that
they could make a ball go in the opposite direction. More astute players discovered this right away,
while others came to realize it down the road—creating an “Aha!” moment.
Patterns are good
. The final rule of simplicity is about creating patterns. Patterns allow you, as a
developer, to recycle code and mechanics. This makes it super-easy to create new levels and
experiences without having to do much work. In order for this to work from a player's perspective,
you must continue to feed them new content. While they will enjoy recognizing the patterns, they
need something fresh to apply them to. For example, in A to B, when a player realizes that a good
combo is to use a speed reducer immediately followed by a bouncy wall, he discovers a re-usable
pattern. By changing up the locations of points A and B, however, and adding additional modifiers,
the player is presented with a new situation to apply what they've learned. This is an effective
method to keep the player in a state of flow. This means the challenge is the perfect balance
between difficult and easy. By slowly compounding more and more of the skills they have
developed, you can maintain this flow state and progress from easy to difficult levels quite smoothly.
Figure 2-5.
The beginning of the level screen, the modifiers available in bottom right
