Harshness in Games

Some random game design scribbles!

Games can feel “harsh” for a number of reasons, and although seasoned gamers have built up a tolerance for certain kinds of harshness, it can be off-putting for newcomers. Musing about it a little, a game can feel harsh because of:

Randomness seems to have too high of an effect on your fortunes, making the game feel capricious or arbitrary
-The game could have too high of a degree of Skill Compensation, making the game feel overly judgmental when you make mistakes
-The game can combine a long playtime with high endgame swings of fortune, which can make you feel like you have “wasted” time
-The game can feature prominent directed confrontation, leading to feeling singled out or ganged up on
-The game can have a lot of snowballing (common to engine building games) which can make early mistakes (when the player might still be learning) feel too important/punished too much
-The game can have a perceived forgone conclusion, where the outcome seems inevitable or almost inevitable (mitigated in some euro games by hiding victory points), and therefore the game seems pointless to continue

Have a great Wednesday,

Brett

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