Every game player has his or her favored type of game play,
whether consciously or subconsciously they play a game to gain something from
it on a psychological level, as a game designer we must see the psychology behind
both the game we design and the people that play it. In this process we must
answer the questions before it the
player asks it, thus keeping the game from losing its appeal. Building a puzzle
game puts us in strategy column, making it important to anticipate what we
think the players will do to solve the puzzle/obstacle and change it up, upping
the challenge of the game. If it is too
easy the player may walk away, second we must understand the importance in utilizing
the appropriate type of reward system in
the game. If the game posses to be draw out with high difficulty or too little
for too long of period without a reward system to balance out the players work
(& time) may result in a player walking away.
A reward system is a must, but it is also important to
determine how it is executed. In this process the designer must decide how and
when each reward is given. The How/When is vital to game players interest and
desire to continue playing that game. In the Game world the dispensing of rewards has been generalized into two types
of methods, Ratios and Intervals. Ratios;
are rewards given based on the number of actions a player completes. Intervals;
are in which the period of time changes
after each reward. It is our job to get inside the players head and keep them
on their toes and interested in our product, in doing so these are some of the
things we need to look at and understand about game design.
Michael
