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.

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Fighting NPC Balance Mechanics 52

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.

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Fighting Games Balance Writing 92

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.

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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.

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Dev Development Feature Prototyping 118

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that are never quite worth taking advantage of, items that haven’t lived up to their potential, or were later superseded by other options but remained unchanged, or even long-term experiments that were included at some point but never updated/expanded/removed.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

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Balance Mechanics Beta Prototyping 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.

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Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Games 98

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?

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Balance Content Games Platformer 52

Game Refinery

OCTOBER 26, 2023

The ever-changing nature of the mobile market means that new monetization mechanics are constantly emerging and evolving. One of the most popular monetization mechanics is the subscription-based battle pass , which was introduced via Valve’s DOTA 2 in 2013 but popularized by the worldwide phenomenon, Fortnite.

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Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Co-op 88

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?

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Fantasy Feature Fighting Point and Click 52

Game Daily

MARCH 10, 2023

But Omega Royale, which began development three years ago, will be a ten-player fight to the death, in which players individually take on waves of enemies, but must also send baddy boosts against human players. But innovating on basic TD mechanics proved to be a challenge. “Our intention is to ensure that all cards are balanced.

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Co-op Mechanics Balance Build 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.)

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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.

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Balance Puzzle Mechanics Animation 52

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.

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Prototyping Fantasy Fighting Terrain 52

Grid Sage Games

OCTOBER 2, 2022

The entire mechanic revolves around a single new utility: the Scrap Engine. Although in both cases the results are indeed based on the inputs, the process is not deterministic, so it’s not a pure “crafting” mechanic in that sense. A new utility is born. Constructs can be power sources, propulsion, or weapons.

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Engine Engineering Mechanics Balance 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.

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Point and Click Mechanics Feature Content 97

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.

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UX Mechanics Build Point and Click 52

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.

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Fighting NPC Puzzle AI 52

Game Industry News

JULY 31, 2021

Their leader, Shel-La, explains to Sisko that the Ennis are imprisoned on this nameless moon, fighting an unending war with the Nol-Ennis as part of a punishment for being unable to come to a peace. When Shel-La revives, Kira argues with him about setting defensive perimeters and fighting his war smarter. Immortality is part of that.

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Fighting Balance Mechanics Communications 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?

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Fighting Feature Balance Mechanics 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.

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Console Co-op Content Cross platform 52

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.

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Puzzle Tile Mechanics Build 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.

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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.

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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.

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Asset Games Fighting Mobile 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.

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Mechanics Content Feature Mobile 59

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 5, 2021

Go in, loot, fight players and/or AIs, survive and extract’ is the formula pioneered by DayZ , and later honed by Escape From Tarkov , which gets the heart pumping even after thousands of play sessions. There’s no reliance on overly realistic, gameplay-affecting survival mechanics like limb injuries, hunger, or thirst.

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Console Mobile Mobile PC 59

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.

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Fantasy Co-op Open World Feature 52

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.

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Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

Sirlin

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

There's a delicate balance in Codex between rushing down and teching up. Soon enough, units and heroes get big enough to overcome those bonuses and crush a weak defender if they don't start putting up a fight. Usually this sort of design is driven from mechanics first.

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Build Mechanics Feature Fighting 52

Big Games

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Unicorn Run also introduces flying powers and shooting mechanics to help you achieve higher scores, adding an extra layer of excitement to the gameplay. With a balanced mix of realism and accessibility, it features excellent handling, damage modeling, and a variety of cars and tracks.

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Graphics Racing Entertainment Games 52

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Being able to backtrack is generally going to be more realistic in the RPG sense--of course your character should be able to go back and pick up that item they left behind, or fight that enemy that scared you away before. In a game setting, though, this can be quite an annoyance from a design perspective (harder to balance!)

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Point and Click Mechanics Feature Open World 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.

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Mechanics Platformer Studios Data 52

Radiator Blog

MAY 5, 2021

It is much better than the boring shot reverse-shot cutscene stuff going on in AAA RPGs these days, and makes Skyrim's "sit" mechanic more meaningful. Destroy the player's expectation that relationship mechanic = main cast member. It's not uncommon to walk between towns and fight like 6 different packs of wolves. Money sink.

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Open World NPC Cutscenes Terrain 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.

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Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Build 52

Keith Burgun

JANUARY 27, 2023

I mean, you spend a LOT of time fighting in this game. In JRPGs, when the battles are fun, it’s actually usually that the party-building / character configuration mechanics are good. One last thing about the combat: it is very poorly balanced. And the battles kind of suck. Let’s talk about that.

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Writing Fantasy Fighting Cutscenes 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).

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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.,

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Puzzle Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming 52