recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Gachapon Design Can Add Suspense to Unknown Outcomes

Gachapons are capsule machines in Japan that contain random figures outside. Despite their old design, they do well enough over there that they have continued to earn spots in modern stores. They are simple - put in a coin, spin a wheel, and out pops a capsule with a random figure inside. The act of spinning the wheel and the time between getting a capsule and opening it up adds a lot to the experience. Several games have used this idea of suspense to make the act of getting random things exciting, and even addicting.

What's important is to have some time and/or some action between receiving an unknown item, and revealing what that item is. Flashing lights and sounds add a lot as well.

## Puzzle & Dragons

Gachapons are a fairly common element in many mobile games, but Puzzle & Dragons is one of the most popular games to feature a gachapon. The rarest and best monsters in the game can only be gotten through using the "Rare Egg Machine," a gachapon machine that takes the game's premium currency and spits out gold or silver eggs. Gold eggs contain the best monsters, and have a fanfare when they are opened.

In order to play the gachapon, the player has to swipe down on a virtual lever on the machine to get an egg to drop, similar to turning the crank on real life gachapon machines.

The Rare Egg Machine in PAD is very lucrative for the developers behind the game, and you can find many videos on Youtube of players chasing after particularly rare monsters by inserting potentially hundreds of dollars into the machine.
Game objects doesn't make the player believe in the game's environment

Some games have world objects which interact with the player. The characteristics of the object must be such that it makes the player believe in the world and is very important in involving the player in the game. The realism is lost in the game world if the objects don't have those characteristics.

In Elder Scrolls, the horse that the player controls can easily climb the most steep mountains present in the Skyrim world. Even though the path looks impossible to climb, the horse can somehow climb and reach the peak of the tallest of mountains. This looks funny and it loses a bit of realism.

Here is the screenshot:
Adding VR Integration to a Game Not Designed For It Can Lead to a Negative Player Experience

Adding VR integration to a game without changing the controls and outputs to account for the increased movement on the player's part can lead to, depending on the type of game, the same player experience as without VR, at best, or at worst cord entanglement or motion sickness.

## Team Fortress 2

TF2 was designed and released years before viable virtual reality headsets came on the general market. However, for TF2 players on Steam, there is an option to activate VR support for the game and play with a headset such as the oculus rift. The only benefit to playing TF2 with VR enabled is the novelty of VR itself. Given that the control scheme is not changed or modified for VR, players who play using VR are at a disadvantage to those who are not. For example, a player typically can not turn as fast as they would be able to using the typical controls of a joystick to move the camera. This option of using the controller rather than the headset's orientation to move the camera is still afforded to players in VR but the quick movements that don't follow with the player's own motions can cause disorientation and motion sickness.
Competitive Games without a non-competitive mode may cause players to not play as often

Competitive gaming is taking the world by storm and players invest countless hours into becoming the best of the best. Naturally, there is a heavy emphasis on a player's rank--everyone strives to reach that top rank and stay there. However, some games only offer a single game mode: the competitive game mode. This means that every time a player wants to play a round/match in the game, the result of it will effect their ranking. Games that do this don't offer players a game mode that they can practice in. This may cause player to not play the game as much because they don't want to take the chance on reducing their rank.

**Example #1: Clash Royale**

"Clash Royale is a fast paced, card based PvP brawler." Players build decks of 8 cards and brawl another player for 3-4 minutes. The winner of the match will gain crowns, which are used in player ranking, and the loser loses and equal number of crowns. The game's meta is always changing and so players are always changing up their decks. However, I find myself never changing my deck once I find one that works because I know that if I try out a new deck, it may not work and I will go down in rank. Additionally, once I've reached a new rank, I find that I don't play the game for a while in fear of losing my newly acquired rank and so that I can receive some of the rewards that come along with rank. Players shouldn't have to be "afraid" of playing your game, this is why Clash Royale needs to have a non-competitive mode where players can practice new decks without effecting their ranking. They do offer a training mode where players are matched up against an unsophisticated AI, but this is not sufficient enough for a player to really practice.

**Example #2: Rainbow Six: Siege**

As a tactical first person shooter game, Rainbow Six: Siege (R6S) is rather successful due to the variety and randomness of players' strategic moves in game. However, lots of players quit the game (incluing muself) because current modes this game has require almost pinpoint knowledge of each maps if players want to play competitively. However, for new players, there is no "casual" game mode like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that can let player learn different maps in a more casual environment.
Generosity in an Unkind Genre - Clicker Design

Incremental games, also called idle or clicker games, are games where the player uses simple actions and patience in order to gain currency. This currency is then used to obtain items or incite events that increase the rate of which the player gains this currency. One of the most popular known is Cookie Clicker. A genre that exploits the stubbornness and impatient nature of the player, it can and is almost designed to be a frustrating experience. The beginning phase, which may last anywhere from minutes to days, can be the most rigorous with waiting and utilizing smart investment strategies being the main points for maximal currency production. However, it does not have to be that way. There are clicker games whom exploit the exact opposite feelings of exhilaration and production when they feed the player "high points" and play with the rates to be more kind or generous than usual.

###

### Examples

#### Doomsday Clicker

In this game, the "reset benefits" are wildly inflated. Where resets to gain crucial statistics advantages are accompanied with large gains and seemingly little setbacks. Within just a few minutes, and even days if you have the patience. Resets are done with **quadrillions** in percentage gains, making mid to late game play more rewarding, and a less frustrating experience than their counterparts.
Haptic feedback increases player immersion

Good haptic feedback in games leads to player immersion, as it allows to feel physically what is happening on the screen. Allowing yet another avenue for the player to interpret and understand what is happening on the screen.

### Examples:

#### Rocket League

Whether it be, boosting, collision, or jumping, rocket
league constantly keeps you informed of what is happening on the field through
a steady stream of haptic feedback to your controller.

Need for Speed

When playing this fast paced racing game, the player is given haptic feedback through controller vibration. This happens to warn the players of cops approaching, gives the player kind of a panicky feeling. The haptic feedback also happens when the player speeds up or crashes which gives the game the player a more realistic driving experience.
Character Customization, class and Skill set up for character continuing in new versions or sequels

When new update or sequel have story line and characters which are continuation of the previous one, it increases the immersing in game, I become much more attached to my player or character. For example in Mass effect franchise your game choices character choice and power ups from mass effect 2 can be downloaded and used in Mass effect 3 which made it more enjoyable and immersing.

**Deus Ex: Mankind Divided**

In this game, the progress that the main character, Adam Jensen, made in the previous game, Human Revolution, carries over to the next game. It's not exactly what the player had, but the essentials of what he gained last time so it does not feel like God of War where everything gets stripped away from you.
Effect Boosters help players earn reward faster

In the massive multiplayer online role playing games, where the games never really end for the players and they keep competing with each other for various in-game rewards and achievements, sometimes these achievements or goals might require player to play continuously by “grinding” for a set number of hours. Adding boosters in the game which help player achieve the goals faster or in a shorter duration of time is a great way to help the player with their idealistic in-game goals without them having to spend the original long grinding hours required for such set goals.

## Examples

**Guild Wars 2**

Guild Wars 2 is a great example for such a game, where players may access boosters from the gem store or an in-game trade NPC for various in-game currencies. These boosters contain effects such as, experience boost, gold boost, magic find boost, etc.
Having Multiple Solutions to Game Objectives

Having multiple solutions to in-game objectives adds to the replay-ability of the game. Players can play the game and beat it one way and then sit down and play it again and complete the game in a completely different way. This will allow players to find new things in the game, new solutions, and keep them coming back to play it. It also facilitates different play styles; the different routes and solutions to various objectives can be tailored to the different play styles of players.

**Example #1: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided**

There are some very large and intricate levels in this game. Because they can be so large, it allows multiple paths to be found to the same objective's location. One route may involve fighting every enemy on the map, while another route will be more hidden and allow you to bypass the majority of the enemies. For players that like shooting and killing enemies, guns-blazing then they would take the first route; and for players that like to feel more sneaky and spy-like, they can take the more evasive route. A single player that wants to experience the entire game is able to replay the game to discover all of the routes/solutions to the same missions.

## Example 2: Far Cry 4

In *Far Cry 4*, player got many options to clear their objective. One of the significant instance is when in the final mission (Choose your Golden Path) there is different story line and gameplay depending on the player's choice to either kill Amita or Sabal. Player also have hidden choice to kill both of them, which leads to completely different gameplay. It depends on their game style to what choices they should take because each faction of the tribe leader have different way of helping the player.
Avoid redundancy in abilities and controls to keep the play style unique and streamlined

Designers should always make sure not to repeatedly use the same/similar mechanics in a game. In some games the addition of redundant abilities/mechanics can make the controls overly complicated and awkward. This can be most often noticed in mmorpg environments where when expansions are released, new abilities are often added but rarely removed. To keep gameplay fresh and compelling designers should always consider avoiding/removing redundancy.

## Example

World of Warcraft pruning abilities

World of Warcraft has been running for 12 years. Over this period many classes have had abilities added, changed and removed, along with their entire play style changed multiple times. For example in the expansion Warlords of Draenor, many classes and specs had abilities pruned from their spell books because they no longer fit in the style Blizzard envisioned for the spec. They also did this again in the most recent expansion Legion to simplify game play while fitting into their new vision of the classes and specs.
Connecting Game Music and Player Location - Creates a Deeper Understanding of the Environment

It is common logic now that different areas of a game will have different background audio and music. But a more nuanced effect is changing these elements based on a player's location within the level. By shifting elements of a backing track based on the player's location, the player may come to associate different areas within the game environment with those changes. This adds another layer to exploration and navigation, and gives the player another way to recognize their location. In addition, it makes the environment feel larger, deeper, more fully realized - the shifting music adds a sense of consequence to the act of moving from one point to another.

Proteus takes place entirely on a single island, and the game's engagement with the player comes from encouraging the player to explore and wonder about the island and its features. A major tool in encouraging exploration is the ever-shifting musical track, that reacts to the player's location, their proximity to various landmarks, and whether or not they look at certain objects. In addition, all the sound effects in the game (such as animals running and jumping, or rain falling) are more musical in nature, allowing them to contribute more directly to the music. The constantly shifting music and very specific cues associated with different locations creates a deeper understanding of the environment - atop mountains most of the track pulls away, creating a sense of isolation and coldness. Standing next to a stone the player may hear a low hum, perhaps the sound of a ghost, or just a reminder of the warm earth underfoot.

This video showcases some of this transitions, including a drastic change at 10:00 when the player discovers a log cabin, one of the few signs of human habitation. The mysterious cabin has an equally strange effect on the music, suddenly muting the bright sounds in a mournful tone. This adds considerably to the mystery of the object, and encourages the player to think further about why it might be on the island, and about the island itself.
Forcing a gadget or a mechanic on the players can be really frustrating

Adding mechanics or gadgets to a well established game and forcing the use of those on the players ends up frustrating the player. Players usually are happy when given a choice to complete any game objectives with multiple ways. But sometimes designers end up forcing their ideas on to players which can lead to players feeling aggravated. More so even, in a well established game franchise when the designers introduce a new gadget or mechanic its use should be left up to the player. This is much more appreciated by the "old player base" which the game has built through its previous releases.

## Examples

### Batman: Arkham Knight

Arkham Knight is constantly trying to justify the Batmobile's presence, forcing it upon the player at nearly every opportunity it can get. Taking the aerial route in the game is actually faster than travelling in the batmobile. Also the missions that need to be performed with batmobile become repetitive and players would have appreciated a choice as to whether use the batmobile or not rather than being forced by the game's designers.
Bad Flirting - Makes Players Hate Their Own Character

Romance options are meant to draw the player in, help them to identify with and care for the NPCs, and increase immersion. However bad flirting dialogue does the exact opposite, pushing the player out of immersion and if bad enough can cause the player to cringe in embarrassment and even hate their own character just a bit in that moment.

#### **Example #1 -**

**Dragon Age II**

                Bioware is normally very good at creating 3 dimensional characters and interesting dialogue, but they sometimes struggle with the flirting. Dragon Age II is one of their worst offenders. The dialogue that follows choosing the flirt option in the dialogue tree is frequently awkward, clunky, and feels very forced, like sappy romance novel dialogue. And when the other characters respond it's generally not much better. Sometimes they even react in a way that conveys the very awkwardness the player has just felt. A romance subplot can open the story to some interesting new places, but sometimes it almost doesn’t feel worth it to subject yourself to such pain and choose that flirt option, especially when you know that Anders will respond with some twilight-esque drivel.
Create a Flow of Gameplay That Appropriately Balances Periods of Tension & Relief

## Snack

Generally, there are two types of games – ones that are action-packed and ones that are more timid.

 While action/combat dominates the former type of game, there should be a rewarding period where the tension of constant action is released, a short period of time to let the player take a breath and acknowledge their accomplishment. This experience should be satisfying, perhaps by making a killing blow or capturing an objective. These moments of relief should happen periodically within a level. Similarly, in games that are more timid and relaxing, a moment of tension can offer a significant, memorable experience for the player if used periodically.

These breaks in the flow of gameplay keep the experience interesting for the player and allows designers to highlight important milestones in play and narrative.

## Examples

### *Pac-Man*

In Pac-Man, the player spends most of their time running away from ghosts, collecting small pellets scattered throughout the level. The limited power pellets spread out in the corners of the level offer a break from the chase, and rewards the player with a moment of relief (and beyond that, an opportunity to strike back). These periodic moments of role reversal keep the player interested by offering them a new experience for a short time, and give them something to look forward to from the core gameplay.
Experience Sharing System allows players to level up (items) in various ways

## **Overall Description**

In multiplayer games with leveling systems, players may need to level up characters or items or both in the game in order to progress and experience more content. Being able to level up in multiple ways gives players various choices on experiencing the game and finding interest points.

## **Example for Demonstration**

### ***Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare***

Weapons in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare have individual levels, and more attachments will be unlock for multiplayer as the weapon levels go up. The new experience sharing system ensures that players can level up their weapons in Zombie mode and carry levels over to multiplayer games. Therefore, players can unlock attachments for weapons by either playing multiplayer matches or playing zombie mode with other players.
Allowing the player to choose between Linear Storytelling and Open World Content can keep a player happy and interested

Linear game play is sometimes viewed as a negative form of game design as big open and free worlds become more popular.Yet linear narratives tend to have a stronger compelling story than big open world narratives. How can a game have a strong narrative while still being open world? ‘Many games have created a way for a player to essential warp back and forth between story and open world exploration. This allows the player to decided if they want to advance through a linear narrative story or experience free open world content.

### **Examples**

**Final Fantasy XV**

At a certain point in Final Fantasy XV the game becomes incredibly linear. This method is used to bring a sense of isolation and desperation to the player. It makes the player feel what the character on screen is feeling. Some players like this and some do not. In order to satisfy both the game offers the player a way to go at their desired pace through the linear story. If a player wishes to return to the open world content they can at almost any time. If the player wishes to stop the open world content then they can easily get back to the linear narrative.
Constant repetition of obvious information can cause player frustration

Sometimes an action or event in a game is repeated multiple times throughout the experience. If extra information about that action or event is given every single time it occurs, it can add a lot of tedium and frustration to the player, especially if the performance of that action could be indicated by a simple audio or visual cue. For example, if a player uses a health item and a text box appears every time to tell them they used it, it can become frustrating and break immersion for the player. Initial tutorial prompts to explain what something does is understandable, but eventually a game should divert from constant and relentless over-information and trust that a player understands how the systems set up within the game work.

## Examples

### **Pokemon**

There are many installments in the *Pokemon* series; the fact that there are so many installments speaks to its popularity and overall good game design. However, not every aspect of the series is exemplary. In a game like Pokemon, there are a lot of actions and events that are repeated constantly throughout the game, but there are some of these that could and should be minimized. One of these is whenever a new item of any kind is acquired. Not only does the game inform players they received the item, but it brings up a whole new text entry to tell them where in their inventory it was placed. While this might be helpful in the beginning stages of the game, the constant reminder of where it was stored defeats the purpose of designing an inventory system of a "pack" with specified pockets for certain items. Players easily intuit how this inventory system works, and constantly being "taught" about it gets grueling and annoying very quickly.

### The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Skyward Sword is another game that contstantly has to remind the player of different information in the game. Every time the player picks up something in the game, whether they have gathered it a hundred times before, the game has to tell the player what the item is what it is used for in the game. This can become extremely extremely tedious and annoying as most players will remember and recognize items after they have picked them up time and time again. it also doesn't help that the text speed of the game is so incredibly slow that players can't even skip past the informational text very fast.
Bad Controls in Games

Games with bad controls could really annoy players or even piss them off. Bad controls include with bad movement, bad shooting accuracy, bad camera angle adjustment, etc. Bad controls cause player could not shoot at the correct target, players could not move to the expected area, players could not win the battle and so on.

Examples:

GTA 4 has a very bad control for car movement. It just looks like the car is pretty slippery and sometimes it flips without player pressing any wrong keys/buttons. Just imagine if there is a very bad control in a car racing game, it would definitely give the player a bad taste of the game and the game company doesn't even need to make a sequel any more.

Tomb Raider.

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. Tomb Raider is the tenth title in the Tomb Raider franchise, and operates as a reboot that emphasises the reconstructed origins of Lara Croft.

The game play is destroyed by lousy controls which are slow to initiate and often times will have player jumping towards a bullet instead of away from it. Early versions of Tomb Raider had a control system

in which you had to rotate your character 360 degrees before running away from an opponent which is just generally bothersome in itself but when the rotation takes so long that an enemy has free range for open fire for more than 2 seconds it’s more than just bothersome.
Bad Gamepad-to-Mouse/Keyboard Conversions (and vice versa)

This is a classic mistake and once again, what's most surprising about it is that games persist in making it. One factor that harms entertainment is that some developers treat mouse and keyboard as secondary setup. The difference between those and gamepads is significant, because usage patterns differ. For instance, keyboard is better suited for 'broad' interfaces, assigning a key to each action, whereas gamepads rely on the 'deep' variety, in this case: button combinations and sequences. Simply mapping buttons onto keys, or vice versa, is often insufficient. But that is exactly what many developers do.

### **Assassin's Creed**

A good example of this is Assassin's Creed. Its controls make a fairly good sense when playing with gamepad, but the keyboard/mouse mapping is unwieldy and counter-intuitive. Even worse, the developer has imposed an artificial, and very severe limit on mouse sensitivity, probably to match it with the maximum turn rate available with gamepad. There is no gameplay reason for this, because instant 180-degrees turns are available anyway, as well as looking behind avatar's back. In other words, higher mouse sensitivity would not give the player any real advantage, other than being able to play comfortably.

### Dark Souls

Another good example of this snack is the original *Dark Souls*. The game is originally released on Playstation. The controls of this game were very fluid and easy to use with a gamepad, which is necessary to play the game. However when the game was ported over to PC, the designer didn't seem to take a lot of time to set up smooth controls. They do not follow a typical control system on PC. What was even worse was that, the on-screen controls were still showed based on gamepad controls. The players can see the controls in the keybindings (which are in the menu), but it is hard to bring up the menu at first place.
Blatantly Favoring One Play Style Over Another - Leaves Frustration in Some Players

It is important for developers to take note of the different ways users engage with their game’s mechanic during play testing. Some players will naturally gravitate to different methods of play than what was originally intended, or will be more interested in exploration than anticipated. It is wise for the creators to adjust the game to accommodate these different play styles, especially in more competitive games. When they fail to do so, some players can feel frustrated as it takes the element of choice away from the game. The player is unable to interact with it in the way that they want to and, as a result, the play feels punishing. This is only compounded in games where one player is in a competition with another player whose play style is more largely supported by the design.

Many multiplayer 2D platformers have good examples of this favoritism in the way that their camera is bounded. Trine is one such example of this. The camera is tied to whichever player is in the front. If this player gets too far ahead of another player, the player in the back falls off the screen and quickly dies. This completely ignores the fact that the player being punished could be more interested in collecting all of the available items than the player who is always rushing forward. In killing them, the creator is punishing them for having a more completionist style than the other player. This penalty is then compounded by the fact that this player now has to wait until the next player reaches a checkpoint to be revived.

## Demonstrative Examples

### **Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge**

In the clan battle mode of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, players fight against each other with an assortment of weapons. However, the game is unbalanced becuase it favors the attacks of players that use the scythe weapon. This weapon has an attack that causes a lot of damage and is very simple to input. This in consequence makes most players choose the scythe weapon because all other weapons are not as effective.
Allow players to customize combat actions

Quite a few games get stuck in a position where they bore the player with a singular style of attack. Repetively hitting the A button makes for pretty stale combat. Games that have the most success in their combat systems allow the player to customize how they fight, wether it's on the fly with a series of button combinations, or a menu system which allows them to set a series of special moves to an easily accessible controller input.

Example:

**The World Ends With You**

    The World Ends With You uses an interesting combat system which revolves around collecting pins (attacks) which you can then add to a deck of six. There are a variety of base behaviors the pins use, and then each

type of pin adds different modifiers or effects on top of those behaviors. These pins can be switched at any time out of combat, and work in a priority system based on where they are in your deck. The large amount of pins in game allows for each player to figure out a system that works for them personally.

**Door Kickers**

Door Kickers has a unique gameplay where you need to either eliminate the enemies in a room or rescue the hostages. The game allows the player to pause and plan next action of the soldiers that players are controlling. This adds more dynamic to the gameplay and much more enjoyable to watch the plan either go wrong or success.
Crafting a Unique Gameplay Experience through an Unexpected Higher Difficulty

Games that includes various difficulty modes tend to repeat the same gameplay experience for every mode with the sole difference being the values of some of the parameters of the difficulty setting such as enemy hit points and damage taken by the player. However, a unique game experience can be created for every higher difficulty mode to incentivize the player to try out their skills and witness new game content not available in the easier modes. By adding variety to the encounters the player faces and the rewards they gain on these modes, the player essentially plays a new game as it is sometimes impossible to have an advantage by means of previous playthroughs on an easier mode.

## Demonstrative Examples

Ninja Gaiden: Sigma

In Ninja Gaiden: Sigma, the player has to alter their strategy when fighting bosses on higher difficulties as they now spawn two enemy companions. The player may also venture into previous areas to encounter new enemies or special weapons to gain an advantage in combat. The hard mode of Ninja Gaiden: Sigma also offers two unique boss fights with characters that are only alluded to in the easier difficulties.

**Guild Wars 2**

Guild Wars 2 follows a similar system, which raises the difficulty of certain boss or event encounters based on the number of players participating in it. With the higher number of people, the mechanics of the boss or events tend to change making it more difficult or challenging for the players present.

**Diablo III**

Diablo III does an excellent job of crafting a unique gameplay experience for higher difficulties because not only do enemies have more health and do more damage, but the player rewards are also much better. For example, players can gain a huge boost in experience if they play in higher difficulties. The designers also include additional rewards such as more gold dropped by slain monsters and an increase in chance of finding unique and rare items. All of these bonuses give the player an incentive to work towards higher difficulties so they have a higher chance of being rewarded the items they want. This keeps players coming back month after month to obtain better loot and keeps the gameplay experience fresh because of the challenge.
God-like Player Characters Reduce uncertainty and player interest

In many games, becoming God-like or super powerful tends to
be a standard evolution of the player character. However, when the player character reaches that point, the game’s uncertainty tends to decrease to near zero. At that point the outcome of the game is nearly guaranteed and players tend to lose interest in the game. If game designers choose to make this progression it is best to wait until near the end of the players play cycle, otherwise players will likely lose interest as all challenge in the game is gone.

### Saints Row IV

In *Saints Row 4*
the player is placed in a virtual alien simulation, and given superpowers. But from
the moment the player enters the world they are far more powerful than the
majority of opposing NPCs that exist in the game world leaving uncertainty at
zero and player play time super low, as it becomes a guaranteed rinse and
repeat method to win the game, with very little uncertainty.
AI that has been Done Right

NPC’s AI design seems really crucial to a game and it might affect the gameplay and player’s engagement of the game. There are tons of games that did not have the right AI so when players interact with the NPC or AI, we can clearly see the pre-written script that is running behind them which kind of throw players out of the game’s atmosphere. Lots of games, such as micromanagement games and simulator game, requires a “proper” AI design to let the game flows well and being much enjoyable by the players during game play.

Example: Prison Architect and Rim World.

Both games are simulator games but with a different theme. The AI design of these two games is pretty much identical. Players have the option to control the NPCs or let the AI controls the NPCs. How this works is that the game itself is able to control the NPCs if the player is not controlling them. Due to both are a simulating game, each NPCs has its own role and do things based on the role they have in the game. Players can assign them to a specific task and let them complete by themselves in order to push the game forward. However, when encountering some danger or crises, for example, the house is burning or NPC being chased by a wild animal, the programmed AI can act to that certain kind of situation. The NPCs can stop there work to extinguish the fire or fight the wild animal. They know how to prioritize what they need to do in order to push the game forward. In these 2 games, the AI also will tell NPCs to do things even when players forgot to do so. For example, the basic sleep and eat. When it is time to sleep/eat, the NPC will go to bed/find food if you are not controlling them and even if they did not finish their work. This is why these games are fun to play and watch.

### Age of Empires 2

In Age of Empires 2 the game quickly scales up from different difficulty levels. The AI system is very challenging on a difficult setting and almost non existent on a easy setting. One way the developers attributed to this was on higher difficulty levels they actually gave the AI more resources and peasants to collect and harvest resources for their army. Doing this made it extremely hard to wipe the map of all your enemies. In the Campaign driven mode they gave you less heroes to finish the level and less resources to defeat the campaign levels.
Iconic Landmarks in the Game World

Now-a-days game worlds are getting bigger and bigger and it is very irritating for the player to not know where he is in the game world. Of course maps and mini-maps help but at times those can also become cumbersome with are the tiny icons overlayed on it.During such times it is always better to have some iconic places in the game that are visible from a far distance. This helps the player by giving him a sense of direction in the game world. It also reduces the time he spends at looking or figuring out the map/mini-map.

### Examples

#### 1.Assassin's Creed Unity

The Notre-Dame Cathedral in the game Assassin's Creed Unity is one such landmark. As you can see from the image it stands out from the rest of the structure in the game.

### 2. Skyrim's Throat of the World

The name of Skyrim's center landmark lends itself to the concept of iconic landmarks for the player to use as directional/distance reference. This mountain can be seen from far distances and is the highest structure in the game. When the player approaches Whiterun early in the main quest line, the Throat of the World is presented to him/her in a way to inspire awe - it's something one won't forget the first time they see it, and although it's an obstacle in foot travel, it separates Skyrim into regions.

3- Dark Souls

One of the great strengths of the Dark Souls design is a commitment to world coherency. Most important locations in the game - dungeons or buildings - are unique and visually memorable. And while standing in one area, the player will notice those buildings in the distance. Until, thirty minutes later, they are standing at the gates. This coherency makes the world feel much more solid, as the player understands the large-scale geography of the world. Seath's Tower sits above Anor Londo which sits above the Undead Burg which sits above Lost Izalith which sits above the stone trees.
Clean in-game color scheme: help players play the game

A well designed color scheme helps player play the game. With a clean color scheme, everything in game can be separate and player won’t mistake one thing for another and miss some important visual information. It can also help player with identify the enemies or pick up, and orientate themselves in the game world.

Example: *Team Fortress 2*
In *Team Fortress 2*, players are separated by blue and red. And most time the environment use yellow, white dark green and avoid using the similar color with players, which makes players stand out from environment and easy to identify. Also, designers slightly add slight blue element in blue team controlled area, and slight red element in red team controlled area, so players can always tell where they are even the map is completely symmetrical
Character alignments can be useful for extending scope of the game

Some games, especially role playing games, make **characters adhere to certain sets of traits** so that their actions can be justified during the game. This comes in handy in case of **player-created characters**. When these characters are aligned to something, say a faction, players have a **clear idea about the rules governing them**. It can also help in design of social dilemmas which belong to characters rather than players.

**Dungeons and Dragons**

In D&D fantasy role playing game, alignment is a categorization of ethical and moral perspective of player characters, non-player characters and creatures. Players are allowed to choose among the alignments shown to seek a balance between extremes.
Give player a verb that don’t interact with others: make part of the game feel independent from others

Give player a skill or a new verb to play with is not always good for the game, especially the relationship between the new verb and other parts of the game are weak. Some new skills are only used to certain condition in games, and certain condition can only be solved by these skills, that makes part of the game feel independent from other. When develop a new verb, designer should try to make it connect with as much other verbs and objects in the game as possible.

Example: *Batman : Arkham Asylum*
In *Batman : Arkham Asylum*, players can get a decoder that used to hack and break electronic devices, but it is only used to open door or defuse bomb, and it is completely useless in fighting and sneaking around, which is the main parts of these game. So when using decoder to hack a door, I always feel somehow disconnected. If game allowed player to use decoder to help player sneak around by shut down light or something, it would sure feel more useful.
Having companions throughout the gameplay adds more dynamic experience

In games where the player is always accompanied by one or more NPC teammates, it is much easier for the player to be involved in the story. Especially for games that have a more dynamic gameplay style, having an NPC companion along the way could be very beneficial. They may not be a great help in fighting the enemies, but they can definitely be useful when it comes to expressing the story of the game. Game designers can speak through the mouths of these NPCs. It helps the designers to communicate better with the player. Also, when there's a clear bond between the player and the companion, the player will be even more involved since he or she knows that this companion is their responsibility.

## Examples

### **The Last of Us**

In The Last of Us, Joel and Ellie are doing anything they could to survive. When the player (Joel) is engaged in a fight, Ellie will help by throwing bricks or bottles to the enemies. More importantly, the interactions between Joel and Ellie is the most memorizing. Their conversations give the player a more detailed background of the game. Gradually, players will believe that their job is to protect this little girl, because the bond between Joel and Ellie is more than clear.
Individual Character Setting Customization in Class Based FPS’s

There are many class based games in the FPS genre. With any
class based game, each class and character has a very unique feel and mechanic.
Each character fills a roll in the game as a whole. This makes each character
have a unique play style compared to the rest of the characters. Whether your
roll is a tank, dps, healer or something in between, each character is played
differently.

This unique play style for each character would mean that
each character would have different settings and speeds. Allowing the player to
set and save individual character game settings makes it so that you can create
a custom feel and pace for each character. This also allows you to jump into
the action each round, ready and able to select any character without any game
setting changes.

Example: **Overwatch**

In Overwatch, the game allows each character to have custom
game settings set and saved. The player can to set, sensitivity, cross hairs
and many other settings for each character in the game. This allows the player
to create the perfect settings to match their play style for each character.
A Simple Mechanic Used Multiple Ways - Creates An Enjoyable Atmosphere For The Player

When a game is able to find a simple, fun mechanic and then use that mechanic many ways throughout the game, it creates simplistic enjoyment for the player. By iterating off of a simplistic mechanic, it lets the player progress and feel like the mechanic stays fresh, while cutting out all of the complex difficulty that some players don't enjoy. By doing this, the player is able to enjoy the atmosphere of the game more, rather than focusing on a difficult mechanic. This is pivotal for games that center around in-game narrative and atmosphere.

**Example: Stardew Valley**

In Stardew Valley, there is one simple mechanic that is used in multiple ways. If you click, with whatever tool that you have in your hand, then it will do something different. The action is basically the same, and is easy to pick up, but you need to switch between tools and weapons to be able to perform different actions. This keeps the game interesting, while still staying simple.
Giving Players Time to Think and Plan

Many MOBA games like DOTA, League of Legends doesn’t seem to give the player a chance to have a “breath time” after killing an enemy. What player often do was smashing the ability keys to land hits on the enemy. This games are not new player friendly and have a steep learning curve.However, by address this problem, games like Battlerite did pretty well on giving the player a short “break” or “think time” after killing an opponent.

**Game Example:**

**Battlerite**

Battlerite introduces a new game mechanic when a player kills an enemy, the whole arena will be in a short period time of the slow motion. By using this short period of time, the player can think what to do next. Not only giving the player a “positive” feeling after killing the enemy, but also gives them plenty of time to think what to do next. Fall back to help other teammates? Keep charging to the next enemy?

**Okami**

Players attack primarily through a paintbrush system: where the player can pause a battle and freely rotate the camera around the area. This is often encouraged and sometimes necessary depending on the type of enemy being faced. For example, certain enemies may only have a particular weak point which can be attacked by the brush attack, necessitating players pause to line up an attack. Another example is using this pause and rotation to line up an attack which spans across multiple enemies.

**Civilization VI**

Civilization VI is a turn-based grand strategy game. Player will have plenty of time thinking about their strategies and moves before entering next turn, this will optimize players' idea and thoughts and become time-consuming at the same time.
Great Background Music - Significantly enhance player's emotional experience

Music often has the ability to express the deepest and the most authentic emotional feelings. The emotions and perceptions of a game are often delivered by the background music that runs though the whole game, which then inspires and resonates with player's personal experience. A game is a complete world by its own, and music is one of the crucial parts. It helps to improve player's gaming experience as a whole when there is a great background music that correlates with the characters, scenes, and story in the game.

**Examples:**

**To The Moon**

In my opinion, To The Moon has the best music throughout the whole game. The music is actually quite simple in terms of complexity, but it has a fascinating way to invoke the player's deepest feelings. The music in To The Moon plays an important role in making the player part of the story. Example soundtrack: For River

## Xenoblade Chronicles

Consider the background music in Xenoblade Chronicles. Each area generally has two tracks - one that plays during daytime, and another during nighttime. For most tracks, the nighttime track is a softer, slower piece with less intense instrumentals. Take the Gaur Plains day and night themes, for example.

[1]

[2]

However, some areas change significantly from day to night. Valak Mountain during the day is a snowy white expanse that frequently experiences blizzards. The music is what you might expect from an ice level in a video game. But during the night, the crystals on the mountain glow yellow and shoot beams of light into the sky, and the music changes to a somber piano piece to reflect the change in mood.

[3]

Using this technique sparingly can create very memorable moments for the player!

### **Monument Valley**

the background music of Monument Valley is kind of match its art style. It is smooth and soft. The music creates a mood for player during the game, and help them to relax while they solving the puzzle. It become part of the game. People not only recognize the game by its art style, but also by its music.

**The Legend of Zelda**

When it comes to great music through out a game, The Legend of Zelda is still the game to beat. It was risky, and memorable. It always matched the pace and level of the game. When the level wanted to increase a feeling or decrease that same feeling the music was a leading factor of the game design to do that.