Introduction
A sort unspoken
rule in game design is that players should be able to lose. Just about
every game has some kind of fundamental mechanic that is possible to
fail. Whenever this happens, the player needs to try again and repeat
the process until successful. This is thought to add drama, tension and
also make the player's actions count.
It seems to be believed that
without it games would not be games and instead some kind of boring
linear entertainment. I think this position is wrong, extremely hurtful
and if not fixed, will become the downfall of the medium. In this post
I will explain why.
The Problem
In
a book or movie it is common that the reader/viewer need to experience
very upsetting events, that can be very hard to read about/watch. This
is especially true to horror, where the goal is often to upset the
reader/viewer and to evoke emotions such as anxiety, fear and disgust.
It is also common to have more boring and slow sequences in order to
build mood, explain character motivations, etc. These are not
necessarily very fun/easy to experience but will make up for it later
on and acts as an important ground to build the story from.
Note that
these "hard to repeat" moments are not merely handy plot devices or
similar. They are fundamentally crucial for creating meaningful
experiences and many (if not all!) of the great works among books and
movies would not be possible without them. Yet, at many times the only
reason one can put up with these kinds of sequences is because one know
there is an end to it. Just keep on reading/watching and it will
eventually be over and hopefully an important payoff will be given.
This
is not true for games. Whenever in a situation where loss is possible,
the player is forced to meet certain criteria or she will not be able
to progress. It is not possible to just "stick with it" to complete
these kinds of sequences. The player needs to keep playing the same
passage over and over again until proper actions have be performed. Not
until this is accomplished is the player allowed to continue. This
either comes in the form of skill based actions (e.g. platform
jumping), navigational problems (e.g. find the way out) or some sort of
puzzle that needs to be solved.
For sequences that are meant to
be emotional this can be devastating. Often the player is not compelled
to relive the experience and/or any impact the sequence was meant to
have is lost. Also, it sets up a barrier and effectively blocks certain
players from continuing. How can games possibly hope to match the
impact of books and movies, when the ability to have critical
"hard-to-repeat" moments are nearly impossible because trial-and-error?
Case Study: Korsakovia
This problem is very evident in the game Korsakovia. The game puts you in the role a man with Korsakoff's syndrome
and is played out in a sort of dream world, interwoven with dialogs
between you and your doctor. It is a very interesting experience, but
also a very disturbing one and the game is extremely brutal on the
senses. Even so, I felt compelled to continue and it felt like
worthwhile experience. This was until I the gameplay started.
Korsakovia has all problems associated with trial-and-error (skill,
navigation and puzzles) and this combined with the exhausting
atmosphere made it impossible to for me to complete it. It was simply
not possible for me to replay certain segments of the game and what was
the first time around immersive turned into an annoyance and a
(literal) headache. I am convinced that the game would have been a lot
better, and possibly a truly great experience, if the trial and error
mechanics where removed.
I do not mean to trash Korsakovia and I
think it is a really interesting experiment. However, it is such a fine
example of how trial-and-error can go wrong and I urge you all to try
it out. Considering that it is a research project, I think that is mission accomplished for the creator!
Allowing The Player to Play
The
problem with players not finishing games is something that recently
have gotten more and more attention in the games industry. After
analyzing stats collected, it has become quite evident that something
needs to be done.
For example, less than 50% of players ever completed Half-Life 2-Episode 1
which, considering the game's length, polish and difficulty, I am sure
that is a very high figure compared to other games. This means that
more games have started to try out methods at solving the problem. Some
examples are:
- In Secret Files: Tunguska one can choose to show all of the interactable areas in a scene (reducing pixel hunting).
- Alone In The Dark allows the player to skip chapters in order to force progress in a game.
- New Super Mario Brothers Wii has a mode where the game takes over control and completes sections for the player.
- BioShock never really kills the player but instead just teleports them to a different part of the map and leaves the enemies and environment in the same states as when the player "died".
While this might sound like steps in the right direction all of these solution suffer from the same problem. They are all ad-hoc and breaks the immersion. The solutions are after thoughts, do not really belong in the game world and feels more like cheats than a part of the experience (BioShock possible excluded as it actually works it into the story). When the player chooses to display items and other interaction points in the game, it turns the game from a living world into an abstract interface.
By skipping chapters in Alone in the Dark the player effectively skips
part of the narrative and misses out on parts of the experience. The
trick used in Super Mario removes any interaction from the game, which
is definitively not good for immersion.
Finally, although
BioShock is by far closest to having a working solution it still feels
tacked on and can easily lessen immersion (for example when forced into
respawn, charge with wrench, repeat situation). The player still also
needs to overcome certain challenges and are forced to repeat sections
over and over. However, there is never a moment where the player is
unable to progress, given that they are willing to stay at it, no
matter their skill level. It is far from an ideal solution, but a lot
better than blocking players from progressing.
I think that the
proper way to solve this is to incorporate it as a feature in the game
from day one. Making sure that players are not unnecessarily blocked
from continuing, is not something that should be slapped on as a side
thing. It is also very important that players do not feel that the game
is holding their hand every step of the way, something that can be very
hard unless planned from the start. It is crucial that players feel
that the performed actions and choices are their own and that they are
not just following commands like a mindless drone.
Fixing this
issue is really important. Games can not continue to deny content to
players and demand that they meet certain criteria in order get the
full experience. Not only does it discourage people from playing games,
it also make it impossible to create more "holistic" experiences. By
this I mean games that require the entirety of the work for the player
to truly appreciate it (something I aim to talk about an upcoming
post). It will be very hard indeed to insert deeper meanings into games
unless this problem is dealt with.
Less Challenge, More Immersion
Allowing
the player to get the full experience and not having win-to-progress
situations is a good start, but just the first step in the right
direction. As with Bioshock, the game can still have trial-and-error
like moments, where the player is forced to play section over and over
in order to continue.
This brings us back the problem that I mentioned
in the beginning: that repeating a certain experiences will either
lessen their impact and/or discouraging the player from progressing. As
these "hard to repeat" sequences are crucial in order to expand the
horizon of the medium, it is essential that we find ways of adding
them. And in order to do so, trial and error must go.
I think
that first step towards this is to throw away the idea that a
videogames needs to be a challenge. Instead of thinking of a game as a
something to be beaten, it should be thought of as an experience.
Something that the player "lives" through rather than "plays" through.
Why designers are unable to do this probably because they are afraid
that it will lessen the sense of accomplishment and tension of a game.
Many seem to think that trial-and-error based obstacles are the only
way of creating these emotions. I think this untrue.
Let's first
consider accomplishment. While this is normally evoked by completing a
devious puzzle or defeating an enemy, there are other ways to feel
accomplishment. Simply performing a simple act that changes the game
world somehow can give this feeling. For instance planting a tree or
helping out an NPC. There is no need for these to be obstacles in order
for one to feel accomplishment either and thus any sort of
trial-and-error is removed. It can also come in other forms such as
just reaching a destination. Also, if designed correctly one can trick
the player into thinking they accomplished something, for example
escaping a monster even though there was no never a way to fail.
Creating
tension is not only possible without using trial-and-error; skipping it
may even lead to increased tension! When the player fails and is forced
to repeat, there is no element of surprise left and it often also leads
to immersion being broken. For example when playing horror games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill
I can be play for quite some time without dying, feeling highly
immersed. However, once death (which is part of the trial-and-error
mechanic) occurs I am pulled out of the atmosphere and suddenly realize
that I am playing a game. This means death lessens the immersion and
breaks the flow of the game. But will it not make the game more scary?
Regarding death and fear-factor, consider the following:
1)
If the player fears death because of a trial and error system, she
fears an abstract mechanic and not something of the game world. By
worrying about a game mechanics, the player is pulled out of the
experience.
2) Once death has occurred, the player will know
what to expect. If killed by a creature that jumped out from behind a
corner, the next time the encounter will have far from the same effect.
Instead
of punishing the player, I think it is better to add consequences. Even
just making the player believe that there are consequences (which Heavy Rain
successfully does) can be enough. Also, if one keeps the player
immersed then it is also easier for the players to roleplay and
convince themselves that they are truly in great danger even though
they are not.
In our game Amnesia,
we are doing our best to reduce the amount of trial-and-error and still
retain a really terrifying atmosphere. So far it is looking very good
for this approach and we have only seen good things come out of it (I
guess time will tell if we pull it of or not). If horror games, that
are notorious for using trial-and-error mechanics to enhance their
mood, can do fine without trial-and-error, I see no reason why other
genres shouldn't.
To sum things up: When one relies on abstract
game mechanics for creating emotions, one does so at the cost of
immersion and the players ability to become part of the game world.
End Notes
Of course trial-and-error should not be banned from game design. Many games like VVVVVV
and Super Mario thrive on the trial-and-error and has it as an integral
part of the design. Likewise, many adventure games are supposed to have
tricky puzzles, and could not do without them. Some games are meant to
be "just games" and to be a challenge to the player. I am not in anyway
opposed to this kind of design.
However, in other games trial-and-error is just bad and really drag down the experience. In its worst form trial-and-error:
- Discourages players by setting a standard of what sort of players are allowed to continue.
- Greatly lessens the emotional impact of events by requiring repetition.
- Breaks immersion and makes the player focus on abstract game mechanics.
- Forces games to focus on moment-to-moment fun and discourages a holistic payoff.
I would like to end with some wise words from funny man Dara Ó Briain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdQK4Wp10qo (Check at around 3:18!)
(From a British program called Gameswipe, which is well worth watching in its entirty)