Does a Game Need an Ending?

[khanstruct1]

I know, the broad answer is “no”. (Just look at all those Sim games or the piles of casual games.) Though I would argue that games without an ending are more like toys rather than games.

More specifically, I suppose, does MY game need an ending? I’m creating a game similar to Stardew Valley, except that it takes place during a zombie apocalypse, and I’ve gone back and forth with the idea of designing an actual ending for the game, or simply leaving the goal up to the player or possibly having things like “percentage of completion” like Stardew has.

Now, there is a story and lore kinda going on in the background of this game, but it has very little impact on gameplay. For instance, players will find newspaper articles that reveal hints about the origins of the zombie outbreak, but that’s really just for flavor. I have no intention of having them do something about it (I don’t even know what they could do about it.)

Like all hopeful fools, I of course have dreams of a sequel game, but my intention with that is to simply start the sequel by explaining how the first game was resolved and moving on from there.

I think the biggest issue I have is that this game will be filled with content and randomness, so I don’t really want to get to a point where I tell the players, “You’re done now”.

Thoughts? Pros? Cons?

[halley]

Classically, games which have endings have winners. Games without endings have high-scores. If you give neither a chance to win, nor a stick by which to measure their achievement, then yeah, that central game loop had better be its own reward and only those who find a zen flow state will want to play.

[khanstruct1]

@halley

Classically, games which have endings have winners. Games without endings have high-scores. If you give neither a chance to win, nor a stick by which to measure their achievement, then yeah, that central game loop had better be its own reward and only those who find a zen flow state will want to play.

I think that might be the camp that I’m in personally too. Even when playing Stardew Valley, I was never interested in getting the 100% completion score. I just wanted to find all the hidden items and events. It was just a fun thing to play with my girlfriend, so long as we always had another task to work towards.

The problem you run into with that, of course, is then the reason people eventually end up quitting is not because they’re finished but because they’re bored, and that’s never a taste you want to leave in your players’ mouths.

[khanstruct1]

@""

Open world games will let the player continue to play long after the story has finished and so players may still feel like they’ve quit because they’ve become bored of the world rather than because they’ve finished the story.

Perhaps you could make your game a survival game where there is no end and the goal is to try and survive for as long as possible.

For me personally I generally don’t enjoy the story or the quests. I remember playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and hating the initial introduction period. I couldn’t wait to get away from the gang and to go off and explore on my own. For a few days I would just explore and always dreaded having to go back to the gang to do the scripted story stuff and all the tedious chores and quests.

I’ve always been the same way. The only reason I would go back to the story was because I was hoping it would unlock new open-world things to do.

[bugfinders]

Depends on the game. Many games like MMOs dont arguably have an end. But they have vast worlds where theres a good chance you have not been and seen everything so you go to new places. However a lot of games there are leader boards so while you might play till the end. You see your score was 5k less than some other dude and you go back in to beat him. Or do it faster or both. To an extent a lot of games that do well have a form of player set goals where sure game has an end but maybe now you want to do the game without x or whatever. Games with that flexibility do well

[khanstruct1]

@bugfinders

Depends on the game. Many games like MMOs dont arguably have an end. But they have vast worlds where theres a good chance you have not been and seen everything so you go to new places.

True, but most of those MMOs end up suffering from that endless struggle to pile on “end game content”, which personally I think is a waste of time. I think what keeps most people in those games is the social aspect.

@bugfinders

However a lot of games there are leader boards so while you might play till the end. You see your score was 5k less than some other dude and you go back in to beat him. Or do it faster or both. To an extent a lot of games that do well have a form of player set goals where sure game has an end but maybe now you want to do the game without x or whatever. Games with that flexibility do well

Definitely. My game has no leaderboards or anything (I’ve never been a fan of arbitrary stuff like that, though I accept that it does work for some), but it does have a branching skill tree and other content which will hopefully add to the replayability. With it being 2d pixel art, it’s much easier to pour in truckloads of content (new gear, items, NPCs, etc.), and I have always LOVED games with hidden content (invisible blocks and warps in Mario, hidden characters and weapons in Final Fantasy, etc.).

[bugfinders]

@khanstruct_1

True, but most of those MMOs end up suffering from that endless struggle to pile on “end game content”, which personally I think is a waste of time. I think what keeps most people in those games is the social aspect.

I dont disagree here, although oddly i played everquest for nearly 20 years and never did the “end game”, so watching each expansion play to those who got their toons to max level in <24 hours (with herculean prep and effort from teams of people), and then moaned there was nothing to do, was annoying… There was so much to do along the way, different races, different classes, different choices, it had hundreds of zones and in all that time, i still never got to all of them!! Oh, and i Solo’d most of it

As you say a game which has replayability with different choices is often a key to keep people playing.

[kdgalla]

Add constructive elements, like how you can build in MineCraft. People have made actual working computers and full size replicas of the Starship Enterprise using MineCrafts construction tools. If your game does not provide the player with an end-goal, then people should be able to create their own goals.

[khanstruct1]

@kdgalla

Add constructive elements, like how you can build in MineCraft. People have made actual working computers and full size replicas of the Starship Enterprise using MineCrafts construction tools. If your game does not provide the player with an end-goal, then people should be able to create their own goals.

Excellent point. People LOVE expressing their creativity, which can lead to a whole meta subculture within the game.
And yes, my game does have base-building elements, as that’s always been one of my favorite aspects to games as well. I have no idea what the story is in Ark: Survival Evolved, but you should have seen my houses!