Random Thoughts on Game Design

I couldn’t think of a way to express this as an article and it covers random genres. So here are some rules that I feel that games should (loosely) follow.

1. If the player manages to get somewhere that they shouldn’t, reward them. Even if you don’t think they’ll ever get there, just put something there as a surprise. For example, having a question mark block after the flagpole in SMB would have been mind-blowing.
    
2. If the player is at maximum health and are due to encounter a health pickup, they should be rewarded. In Zelda for example, if a heart were due to spawn when cutting grass while at full health, a rupee should spawn instead. In more difficult games, where health pickups are less frequent, an extra life should be granted instead.
    
3. If the player is due experience points, this should be a function of the number of enemies defeated. It is more difficult to defeat more enemies, and so should reward more experience. The formulas I’ve derived are below with the former being more generous than the latter.
   
   
   EXP x [1 + (N-1)/N]
   or
   EXP x [0.5 + N/(N+1)]
   
   
   Where EXP is the total experience gained and N is the number of enemies.


4. If the player beats the first x boss phases without taking damage, they should be automatically skip either all of those phases or the first x-1 phases.
    
5. Midway checkpoints should come before the hardest challenge and this should be followed by a much easier but more fun twist on that level’s central theme.
   
   The progression should be:
   Introduction to the mechanic→Test the player→Challenge the player→Checkpoint→Difficult challenge→Fun twist on the mechanic→End
    
6. If the player is having to repeat a section in rule #5, implement an optional risk which carries a reward. For example, in the difficult challenge, place a one-up if they make a dangerous jump.
    
7. When awarded with a higher maximum HP, current HP should be recalculated to remain in proportion with the new max HP. If my character is at full health and I increase my max HP, I shouldn’t now have less than 100% health.
    
8. Healing magic and items should be more potent when used in battle compared to when used on the field. This encourages the player to take a risk to recover more health at the expense of a turn and also to enter battles with less health as they would be discouraged from using the items on the field.
   
    
9. Again in an RPG, if a party member automatically changes which enemy they’re targeting due to their original target having been killed/run away/turned invisible, the damage should be reduced to 2/3 or 3/4 (depending on how generous you’re feeling). This encourages the player to think about how they’re attacking, rather than simply having all characters target the same enemy.
    
10. Monetary rewards should be exciting, so that players can only after completing a challenge (or heavy grinding) afford a new and exciting piece of equipment. I’ve only ever seen this done well once – in Quest for Glory, the only practical way to obtain the chainmail is to be rewarded for completing one of the early story quests.

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