Players Expect Some Setbacks......................
Players tend not to enjoy games that can be played all the way through the first time. If
the game is so unchallenging that players can storm right through it on their first
attempt, it might as well not be a game. If they wanted something that simple they
might as well have watched a movie. Remember that gamers are drawn to playing
games because they want a challenge. And a challenge necessarily implies that the
players will not succeed at first, and that many attempts must be made to overcome
obstacles before they are finally successful. A victory that is too easily achieved is a
hollow victory. It is not unlike winning a fistfight with someone half your size.
It is important to understand that players want setbacks because of their own
shortcomings, not because of the idiosyncrasies of the game they are playing. When
players fail, they should see what they should have done instead and they should
instantly recognize why what they were attempting failed to work out. If players feel
that the game defeated them through some “trick” or “cheap shot,” they will become
frustrated with the game. Players need to blame only themselves for not succeeding,
but at the same time the game must be challenging enough that they do not succeed
right away.
It is also a good idea to let players win a bit at the beginning of the game. This will
suck players into the game, making them think, “this isn’t so hard.” Players may even
develop a feeling of superiority to the game. Then the difficulty must increase or “ramp
up” so that players start to fail. By this time players are already involved in the game,
they have time invested in it, and they will want to keep playing, to overcome the obsta-
cle that has now defeated them. If players are defeated too early in the game, they may
decide it is too hard for them or not understand what sort of rewards they will receive if
they keep playing. If a game allows players to win at first, they will know that success is
possible and enjoyable and will try extra hard to overcome what has bested them.
Players Expect a Fair Chance.......................
Players do not want to be presented with an obstacle that can only be surmounted
through trial and error, where an error results in their character’s death or the end of
their game. Players may be able to figure out the proper way to overcome the obstacle
through trial and error, but there should be some way to figure out a successful path on
their first try. So, extending this rule to the whole game, extremely observant and
skilled novice players should be able to progress through the entire game without
dying. It may be that no players will ever be this skilled on their first time playing, and,
as we discussed, ideally the designer wants players to have many setbacks before com-
pleting the game. However, it must be theoretically possible for players to make it
through on their first try without dying. If players keep dying from each shot-in-
the-dark attempt around an obstacle, they will realize that, due to short-sighted design,
there was no real way to avoid all of these deaths. They will be frustrated, they will
curse the game, and soon they will not waste their time with it any longer.
14 Chapter 1: What Players Want