Game Refinery

MARCH 20, 2025

Once acquired, players could use these characters in battles but also interact with them through messages and other in-game social mechanics. Some of these could be obtained by playing through the event, while others required in-app purchases, so there was a balance in trying to keep all players relatively happy.

Animation 130

Animation Animation Mobile Gaming Mobile 130

Brand Game Development

JANUARY 13, 2020

You and all the other players in the game play as Spirits who fight off the Invaders – basically, people who want to colonize your island. Sure, cooperative play is not exactly some exotic unseen mechanic too. Balanced asymmetry leads to greater variety. Spirit Island flips the standard colonization theme on its head.

Game Design 130

Game Design Game Designer Games Balance 130

PreMortem.Games

DECEMBER 16, 2024

RimWorld is balanced around sitting on a single map, with everything easily accessible. One with ruins of a collapsed civilization, where you have to fight through raiders and remnants of that civilization to claim your spoils. Interacting with the wider world is entirely optional. “Some ideas also come from our community.

Dev 104

Dev Development Feature Prototyping 104

Radiator Blog

AUGUST 12, 2022

Modern Quake tools have much better lighting controls than 25 years ago, including alpha masked texture-based shadows and some nice ambient light configs, but it's still pretty primitive by today's standards and I had to iterate a lot to balance the shadowing vs. the self-illumination for a natural look.

Prototyping 130

Prototyping Fantasy Fighting Terrain 130

Deconstructor of Fun

JULY 20, 2020

Riot’s Team Fight Tactics (TFT) was launched quickly to catch the emerging auto-chess genre that was gaining popularity as a mod on Twitch. Till date Team Fight Tactics has reached bit over 11M installs. A brand that is known to avoid excessive monetization mechanics steering always away from pay-to-win systems.

Fighting 52

Fighting Games Mechanics Balance 52

Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 28, 2024

New Entrants are Struggling to Break-In While elder games have been fighting over a stagnant TAM of players, new entrants have struggled to gain traction into the market. Games that tweak existing mechanics are not enough to break into this entrenched space. Differentiation : A new shooter must offer more than just incremental changes.

Console 52

Console Co-op Content PC 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 29, 2024

Events with different mechanics sometimes complement each other, but at other times they divert players' attention, resulting in reduced activity and monetization. We had a case with an event based on merge mechanics. They just liked the mechanics and continued playing until the event had ended. Try different combos, too.

Mechanics 98

Mechanics Content Puzzle Games 98

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 1, 2024

We never want the player to feel too powerful, playing more of an underdog role, thus our heroes fight back and repel the pirates with water based weaponry and equipment normally used for farming irrigation. Fortunately with so much water all around the player is never too far from a refill to keep the fight going.”

Studios 104

Studios Prototyping Visual Scripting Art 104

Game Refinery

OCTOBER 11, 2022

Similar to the mechanics of Genshin Impact, the player explores the vast open-world by climbing on the walls, swimming in the rivers, gliding in the skies, wiping out enemies, and solving different kinds of puzzles. Tower of Fantasy also has a balanced PvP mode, Apex League, with a seasonal ranking system and rewards for the best player.

Fantasy 130

Fantasy Co-op Open World Feature 130

The Bottom Feeder

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

Is that new mechanic fun? That fight really stomped me." "Do So I went onto Twitch and YouTube and watched how Serious Gamerz did the hard fights. The fights were just too fast and chaotic for anything else, especially against the tough bosses. Then they went back to standard tactics and concentrating on the fight.

Fighting 95

Fighting Games Balance Writing 95

Grid Sage Games

MARCH 10, 2022

Mechanics that are never quite worth taking advantage of, items that haven’t lived up to their potential, or were later superseded by other options but remained unchanged, or even long-term experiments that were included at some point but never updated/expanded/removed. Alien Artifacts.

Balance 52

Balance Mechanics Beta Prototyping 52

PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

“RimWorld is balanced around sitting on a single map, with everything easily accessible. One with ruins of a collapsed civilization, where you have to fight through raiders and remnants of that civilization to claim your spoils.” Interacting with the wider world is entirely optional.

Dev 118

Dev Development Feature Prototyping 118

iXie gaming

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Striking the right balance between revenue generation and player experience is essential. Cons: Potential for P2W (Pay-to-Win): If not balanced carefully, this can lead to a pay-to-win dynamic, where players who spend more have an unfair advantage. But what is the ideal way to monetize a game, if there is one?

Balance 52

Balance Content Games Platformer 52

Sirlin

APRIL 8, 2015

Yomi is a fighting game in card form and it's the competitive card game you should be playing. Just like in a fighting game, you have to learn your character's strengths and weaknesses, read your opponents' tendencies, and land combos when you can. (It's already on iOS, the web , and in physical form.)

Cross platform 52

Cross platform Fighting Feature Balance 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 6, 2023

Although the Tactile team has several titles under their portfolio, the well-known swapping mechanic is not very common among their games. Especially with their two most recent titles Lily’s Garden and Penny & Flo , Tactile has been a stronghold for story-driven puzzle games with the collapse mechanic.

Balance 52

Balance Puzzle Mechanics Animation 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 4, 2019

All of which results in a near slots experience that makes the most of addictive slots player psychology , while using casual versions of proven F2P mid-core mechanics to capitalise on feelings of Loss Aversion and Skinner Box driven habit forming. Most definitely, “Spins” drive all core loop engagement. Attacks and Raids - PvP Gameplay.

UX 52

UX Mechanics Build Point and Click 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 3, 2019

This deconstruction will cover: The game’s core loop Why having chosen a basic match-3 mechanic was a safe bet What other games have tried The game’s features and to which kinds of players it caters How time-limited offers and events are run successfully. The Matchers Gonna Match E&P’s core gameplay is carefully designed and balanced.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Feature Build Balance 52

Filmustage

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022

The mechanism is a metal rod, on one side of which the actor is attached, and the stuntman himself is dressed in a green or blue suit and controls the ring at the other end. Many professional stuntmen, like Monique Canderton (link to the IMDb profile ), argue that it is impossible to replace the Wires mechanisms.

Film 52

Film Racing Scripting Fighting 52

Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 10, 2021

I spend most of my waking hours thinking about game mechanics and how they will make players feel. Fighting Power Creep with Scarcity As the Lead Designer on Legendary: Game of Heroes , I invested a lot of time on our first few hundred heroes. Fighting Purchase Regret with Ownership. In my heart, I am a game designer.

Asset 52

Asset Games Fighting Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 15, 2022

Balancing relies heavily on gear, maps are crowded with question marks, Boss fights feature repetitive mechanisms. Battle: Simplified skill point system and amazing visual effects The core of the skill system relates to balancing and mechanisms. In the later game, raid mechanisms become quite rich.

Cutscenes 52

Cutscenes Art Content Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

This is a balance play to ensure players are completing the pass at a speed necessary to maximize player attention while reducing economic inflation from free pass rewards. That’s because these new tiered purchase options include an old fan favorite, luck mechanics! Thus driving on player engagement and stickiness.

Mechanics 59

Mechanics Content Feature Mobile 59

Grid Sage Games

JULY 17, 2022

I’m reminded of Beta 11’s spicing up the main complex with Heavies and Cargo Convoys , though in this case it’s not just adding one or two new mechanics but instead about turning Garrisons into proper branch maps in terms of content distribution… Encounter Architecture. …alert level xD.

Beta 52

Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 2, 2022

For example, keep it simple for an older player of a casual puzzle game versus a hardcore gamer who understands managing resources and more complex systems Game economists must be careful to balance monetization techniques without blocking the fun.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Balance Mobile Gaming 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

The usage of spells, tactics, and magic items : Mechanics reminiscent of classic puzzle game boosters, but with more limited uses. Puzzle RPGs where the real meat is on the RPG and hero collection mechanics. After a successful Boss fight, the player was shipped off to the next island. Why did these changes not work?

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Mechanics Content Dev 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2020

Over the past year, Hypercasual saw massive diversification in terms of core mechanic design. But with an increasing number of hypercasual games fighting for the same audience with often very similar visuals, gameplay motivations and marketing tactics, IPMs are bound to suffer and therefore indicating market saturation.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Platformer Studios Data 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 25, 2022

The game won over millions of gamers with the adorable Cookie characters and a perfect mashup of RPG and Build & Harvest mechanics. As a mobile game, how did Cookie Run: Kingdom accomplish this through its gameplay mechanics? System The system design of the game and the in-game stats balance demonstrate Devsisters’ high standards.

Baking 52

Baking Simulation Build Animation 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 27, 2019

And since there are two to three missile platforms to fight for on a map, it often leads idle areas appearing on the map. Grinding Pace of Combat The mechanics underlying the missile launch remove the potential for great all-out attack moments that could have been one of the key selling points of the game.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Build 52

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 12, 2021

On the other hand, Axie Infinity mashes familiar turn-based gameplay with a Hearthstone-like card battler mechanic. All of this is rooted in the fact that having a card battler mechanic live in the core gameplay greatly increases the player skill ceiling , especially when playing against other players. Energy / hour (60 Energy / day).

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Games Balance Game Design 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 4, 2020

This game packs some of the best balanced, nerve- wracking, strategic gameplay on a mobile device. Even better, the team has showcased a holistic focus on the game: Masterfully balanced the gameplay with regular nerfs/buffs, refreshing the meta Designed for both elder and new players, often forgotten by mature games Took risks (e.g.,

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming 52

iXie gaming

MARCH 2, 2025

This makes it ideal for fighting games, Metroidvanias, and RPGs. to deliver fluid animation, layered environments, and tight control mechanics. is a playground for creative expression, balancing modern mechanics with timeless design principles. offers a balance between artistic expression and performance efficiency.

Art 52

Art Game Design Game Designer Hitbox 52

Sirlin

JULY 25, 2019

I’m aware that this is a subjective claim, that people will be skeptical, and rightly so because so many other fighting have done a questionable job with “accessibility.” User Interface for Friend Matches This is the kind of innovation that isn’t new to the world, but it IS new to fighting games. Has it been done in a fighting game?

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Feature Fighting Point and Click 52

Game Analytics

DECEMBER 28, 2022

Think of this as a hyper-casual Beyblade game with a merge mechanic mixed in the middle. What we liked about Spinner Merge is how they came about the idea of bringing in the merge mechanic. Cart Crash is an incredibly satisfying game that relies much more on timing than any other mechanic. Spinner Merge by Sunday.GG.

Mobile Gaming 98

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Games 98

Radiator Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

This fighting game health mechanic is too fussy and unreliable for a busy shooter. So to survive fights for the first half of the game, you have to trust the level designers to leave enough health consumables around, Doom / Quake style. no mind control) only 5 powers (+1 PvP only power). Limited regen (e.g.

Fighting 130

Fighting NPC Puzzle AI 130

Ask a Game Dev

OCTOBER 10, 2024

World of Warcraft's old raid system where raids supported only 10 or 25 players are examples of such where tuning and mechanics were modified to specific player numbers. However, doing this for one to eight players (or, as it stands now in WoW anywhere from 10 to 30) means eight balancing passes for every encounter.

Fighting 52

Fighting NPC Balance Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 15, 2024

The gameplay heavily relies on RNG-based mechanics and incentivizes long sessions, resembling an RPG-themed slot machine. However, there are notable areas for improvement such as refining gacha mechanics, optimizing ad placements, and enhancing social features to foster long-term retention and revenue growth.

Point and Click 97

Point and Click Mechanics Feature Content 97

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

This analysis is written by Taras Koshelev (Lead Game Designer at My.Games Venture Capital) who focused on game mechanics and loops and Michail Katkoff (Founder of Savage Game Studios) who covered the market and marketability. After carefully composing a balanced team of fighters, the player takes their party of stalwart heroes into battle.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Tile Mechanics Build 52

Sirlin

DECEMBER 30, 2014

Certain in the realm of fighting games it blows away every other attempt. YRCs The biggest new feature of the fighting system is the YRC, or yellow roman cancel. I think this is a really bold move on the developer's part and also the most surprising feature that I've seen in a fighting game in years. Why is it called that?

Fighting 52

Fighting Feature Balance Mechanics 52