Lecture
This week the lecture focused on chance and randomness within a variety of game types. It was interesting to consider the fact that randomness not only adds to replayability, but can also help balance multiplayer games to make win conditions more achievable for all skill levels. Chance also adds an element of variety and excitement that is unfortunately not present in more linear, authored game experiences. It is true that my most exciting moments in Sea of Thieves (2018) have come as a result of the game’s various random emergent systems working in tandem to create memorable gameplay.
The concept of input and output randomness was also something that I hadn’t considered before. Input randomness (procedurally generated levels, randomly drawn cards etc.) seem to be a more preferable implementation of chance than output randomness (hit chances, loot boxes, etc.) I believe that this is because input randomness still allows players agency in how they respond to their random situations, whereas output randomness takes all choice away from the player, leaving them at the mercy of the game’s systems.
GDD work
Taking this information into account I have begun thinking about how chance could be implemented into my GDD game, Slam City Skates. I would like to use randomness to add a level of emergence to the game that would help to make the game more replayable, and for the world to feel alive. This could take the form of random events that occur while exploring the map, such as street skate battles, tagging opportunities, or chases. There could even be a challenge mode in which you have to skate your way through a procedurally generated playspace as quickly as possible.
Individual challenge
The challenge for this week required us to add elements of randomness and chance to tic-tac-toe. At first, it proved a challenge to come up with concepts that dramatically altered how the game is played. By considering the core aim of tic-tac-toe (to create a chain of symbols), I eventually came up with the premise of chaining electricity to power up generators.
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Taking place on a traditional tic-tac-toe board, players must route their electrical current to it’s corresponding generator.
Players (energy source) start in one of the bottom corners, and must create a chain leading to the opposite corner (generator).
The first player to create a stable connection wins.
Once a chain has been created, it must survive the opponent’s next roll in order to become ‘stable’. This allows the opposing player to have a chance for rebuttal.
In the event that two chains are concurrently powered, the first chain to be broken loses.
Players must roll a d4 to decide their actions each turn:
1 and 2 – Place your symbol anywhere on the grid
3 – Swap one of your symbols with an opposing symbol on the grid
4 – Remove an opposing symbol
Above is an example of a late-game board with noughts having established a connection.
The connection is not yet stable, meaning that crosses have a chance to fight back on their next roll.
This could be done by:
Placing a cross in the bottom-left and creating their own connection (roll a 1 or a 2).
Breaking noughts’ connection by swapping symbols (roll a 3).
Breaking noughts’ connection by removing a nought (roll a 4).
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I was very happy with the finished concept, as I think it retains the spirit of tic-tac-toe, while adding in some fun spins on the formula. I received some encouraging feedback:
One particular submission that I found especially exciting as from fellow student Steven Sizer. He envisioned a tic-tac-toe game using class-based combat, with the middle tile being occupied by a boss with a large health bar. I really like the idea to make the most desirable space on the board also the most difficult to obtain and I can imagine players fighting each other to get to destroy the boss first.
Iron designer challenge
Our iron designer challenge for the week saw us tasked with making a game based around a deck of 100 cards. The game could take on any form, but had to use all of the cards within its design.
My team went for a two-person game in which players race each other to the centre of the playspace and obtain the treasure located there. Titled ‘Sky Bridge: Race Above the Clouds!’ players would be building their own bridges through the sky to reach their goal.
Cards could either be bridge cards (which are used by the player to advance), or sabotage cards (which could be used to sabotage the opposing player’s movements). Players can only hold three cards at a time, allowing for some decision-making, but mostly leaving them at the mercy of the card deck’s random ordering.
I feel that this idea has potential to be a fun competitive game. There are enough elements of randomness for it to be consistently fresh and varied, while still allowing enough player agency to make it so that tactical decision-making is required to succeed.
Further reading
Following on from the topic of this week’s lecture, I watched GMTK’s video (2021) on randomness in games, which elaborated on a lot of points covered in the lecture. It was helpful to see the applications of input and output randomness in popular games. Despite dealing with a lot of randomness, Into the Breach still feels fair due to its use of exclusively input randomness, meaning that the player is still given a chance to respond and pivot. The only time it utilises output randomness are when the results of that chance would benefit the player (potential to ignore enemy damage.)
From there I found my way to episode 183 of the Ludology Podcast in which the two terms were first coined (Engelstein and Hova 2018). It was valuable to hear Geoff Engelstein’s perspective that input and output is “the fundamental difference between randomness that supports strategy, and randomness that undercuts strategy” (Engelstein 2018). I agree with this statement; in that some randomness can work with the player as an aid in gameplay and some works against them as an obstacle to be overcome.
References
ENGELSTEIN, Geoff and Gil HOVA. 2018. Discussion about randomness on Ludology [podcast]. Available at: https://ludology.libsyn.com/gametek-classic-183-input-output-randomness [accessed 15 October 2021].
Game Maker’s Toolkit. 2020. The Two Types of Random in Game Design [YouTube essay]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwI5b-wRLic [accessed 15 October 2021].
Sea of Thieves. 2018. Rare, Microsoft Studios.