Hi, I open this thread in order to generate a debate about repetitiveness in video games, since it is a problem that I am going through. I’m trying to create a simple but fun 2d game, but, I feel like it gets repetitive as I go through the levels. Do you know how this effect can be avoided so as not to bore the player?
I have thought about Mario Bros, a game with the same enemies as always, the same mechanics, but, even so, it is a very fun game and it does not feel repetitive to play. How do they do it? What resources do they use? If you can give me a couple of theoretical ideas, I would appreciate it.
i think it’s better to avoid theories and academic questions and just get direct hands on feedback. You could post the game in feedback friday and have others play it.
in general though i think games like mario steadily increase the challenge over time. In order to know where the point is that most players are familiar enough that they may get bored and need another level of challenge, you’ll just have to test with an audience, or go with your best guess.
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I highly recommend reading “The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition”
But if you want some fast and dirty advice:
- Focus on orthogonal game design. Make obstacles, enemies, abilities, weapons, and tools situational.
The biggest killer of fun is just increasing numbers (like Heath of enemies and player damage).
Instead construct situations that require adaptive decision making.
Good game design is a series of interesting choices.
- Create predictable reactions with unpredictable outcomes.
In Halo, if you kill an elite you know that the grunts will run, but you don’t know where they will run to.
- Use the Nintendo model of stage design.
Give a player a mechanic.
Give them a safe area to use the mechanic.
Give them an area that is unsafe to use the mechanic.
Give them a moderate moderate challenge.
Give them a check point.
Give them a second mechanic.
Give them a safe area to test the second mechanic.
Give them a challenge with the second mechanic.
Give them a moderate challenge with the first and second mechanic together.
Give them a hard challenge to use both together.
Give them an area to do a “victory lap” with the mechanics.
That’s not to say you need to adhere to this strictly, but I’m sure you can see how this makes a nice “saw tooth” difficulty curve.
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@Not_Sure @BIGTIMEMASTER Thanks for the tips, I will try to implement them, level design in video games is really an art
Games are repetitive by nature. That’s not an issue. Our job is to give players lots of a thing they like to do.
When players notice that something is “repetitive” what they almost always mean is “boring”. So either your core activity isn’t interesting, or you’re not giving players what they want in terms of challenge / variation / progression / story / etc. Different people want different things, so know your audience.
I suggest examining a few successful games similar to your own. What is the core activity that is repeated? And what are the layers on top which are changed to keep it interesting over time?
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