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[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Needs examples]]
[[Category:Difficulty-Related Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
''Rules and effects in games that lessen the differences of value used to measure competition between players.''

Although players may win or lose games, or fail to complete them, the designers of these games may wish to steer when this occurs, especially if the game is supposed to take a certain amount of time. One way of doing so is introducing [[Balancing Effects]] - giving those that have an advantageous position disadvantages and vice versa. Besides giving designers more control over how long time a game should last, this can hinder losing players from having to endure uninspiring gameplay or making gameplay breakdown due to them stopping to play.

=== Examples ===
Power-ups in the [[Mario Kart series]] or the mini-game ''Monkey Race 2'' in [[Super Monkey Ball 2]] give speed boosters only to the players that are not leading the races. In the latter, further [[Balancing Effects]] can be added through an option that makes leaders have a lower maximum speed than other players.

Multiplayer online first-person shooters often have possibilities to force teams to be balanced in numbers. Some, such as [[Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory]], have functionality that can automatically reassign teams based on experience to try and balance the teams further.

Many board games, e.g. [[Egizia]] and [[Ursuppe]], determine the player order for the next turn so that the leading players go last and trailing players go first.

== Using the pattern ==
[[Balancing Effects]] can be designed in a game to be preemptive or correcting. Preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] try to maintain [[Player Balance]] in [[Multiplayer Games]] so that imbalances do not occur or, for [[Single-Player Games]], ways of trying to set challenge levels, while correcting [[Balancing Effects]] try to correct imbalances when they have occurred. An alternative to [[Balancing Effects]], which can be used together with them, is [[Limited Foresight]].

[[Handicap Systems]] are preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] that are put into effect before gameplay begins. An example of the latter is making powerful actions into [[Extended Actions]], an another form of preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] is to make these [[Extended Actions]] into [[Interruptible Actions]] since other players can interfere with the actions, especially if they do not have any effect before they are completed. [[Collaborative Actions]], [[Cooldown]] periods for actions and [[Powers]], and [[Delayed Effects]] can all have [[Balancing Effects]], since the limit how easy or often player can make certain actions and how easily others can avoid them. Other ways of creating preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] consist of designing [[Illusionary Rewards]], requiring [[Tradeoffs]], allowing players to choose [[Selectable Sets of Goals]] that best fit their abilities, or providing [[Diminishing Returns]] to players that otherwise could become clear leaders. One example of a [[Tradeoffs|Tradeoff]] possible with [[Tools]] and other [[Equipment]] is to make them [[Deterioration|Deteriorate]] with use; this forces players to choose between avoiding to wear down their usefulness (through [[Decreased Abilities]] or [[Ability Losses]]) to solve current problems or save them for future challenges.

If [[Balancing Effects]] are direct, these effects can ruin an [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] for players and even make them avoid trying to achieve what should be goals for them. Having [[Balancing Effects]] affect the players results indirectly can solve this, for example through [[Character Development]] progressing slower for already skilled [[Characters]], or by making [[New Abilities]] be additions to those players already have to pick form when using [[Budgeted Action Points]] or make them into [[Temporary Abilities]]. Countering [[New Abilities|New]] or [[Improved Abilities]] with [[Ability Losses]] or [[Decreased Abilities]] is another solution. [[Resource Caps]] shows an example of how preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] can be achieved through modifying how [[Resources]] are handled, although the [[Resource Caps]] may in turn affect how actions can be made, e.g. by providing caps for [[Budgeted Action Points]].

Correcting [[Balancing Effects]] are generally some form of [[Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment]]. Specific examples of correcting [[Balancing Effects]] include giving [[New Abilities]] or [[Improved Abilities]] to disadvantaged players and giving [[Ability Losses]] or [[Decreased Abilities]] to advantaged players. The classic case used in [[Races]] is [[Decreased Abilities]] in the form of [[Movement Limitations]] through  having a lower maximum speed. To support players having [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]], the positive effects of correcting [[Balancing Effects]] are usually [[Rewards]] to disadvantaged players for completing goals while the negative effects are usually [[Penalties]] to the advantaged players for failing to complete goals. The evaluation function that determines the [[Balancing Effects]] is for the reason of maintaining [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence|Exaggerated Perceptions of Influence]] often masked from players through the presence of [[Randomness]], as for example is done in the [[Mario Kart series]] by making all [[Pick-Ups]] look the same, or nearly the same, even though they have different effects, or by hiding the actual rolling of [[Dice]] to be able to make [[Fudged Results]]. Another example of a correcting [[Balancing Effects|Balancing Effect]] is to decide the order of [[Turn Taking]] so that disadvantaged players give the most advantageous positions - this is found for example in [[Ursuppe]]. While this is one way of [[Varying Turn Orders]] in a game with [[Turn Taking]] many other versions exist, including those were players can change the order by gameplay actions. One use such correcting [[Balancing Effects]] is to compensate for [[Asymmetric Abilities]] and [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] such as [[First Player Advantages]]. [[Balancing Effects]] that are supposed to even the playing field for [[Late Arriving Players]] or those engaging in [[Drop-In/Drop-Out]] gameplay need to be correcting rather than preemptive. Games with [[Evolving Rule Sets]] can provide [[Balancing Effects]] in the tweaking of game rules in updates, and while this may occur in between game instances this is a form of correcting [[Balancing Effects|Balancing Effect]] in that it is the result of observations of imbalances in the gameplay.

[[Transfer of Control]] can also be used to correct imbalances, but these are often linked to the [[Rewards]] or [[Penalties]] of any of the players. A common solution is to have forced [[Shared Rewards]], so that the player who gains the [[Rewards|Reward]] must share it with someone else, typically the most disadvantaged player. Controlling how [[Spawning]] occurs can also be corrective, either placing disadvantaged players at [[Strategic Locations]] or placing advantaged players at bad locations.

[[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]] are a specific type of [[Balancing Effects|Balancing Effect]] that can be applied on games with [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] or [[First Player Advantages]] as long as players are willing to make [[Meta Games]] of them by playing the game several times.

[[Multiplayer Games]] with more than two teams or players competing against each other automatically have some corrective [[Balancing Effects]]. This since players perceived as leading form the natural starting point for [[Uncommitted Alliances]] with the [[Mutual Goals]] of ganging up against the leader but can also lead to [[King Maker]] effects. These [[Uncommitted Alliances]] are common in games with [[King of the Hill]] goals but can also be found in games that allow [[Player Decided Results]] and [[Player-Decided Distribution of Rewards & Penalties]]. Sufficient [[Game State Overviews]], e.g. public [[Scores]] as [[Ursuppe]] uses, are required for this form of Balancing Effect to occur since players need to be able to notice who is leading.

[[Game Masters]], as [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] that have constant access to the complete game state and can enforce their own [[Player Decided Results]], can perform both preemptive and corrective balancing effects during gameplay. They can, as can [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] in general, make the [[Balancing Effects]] hidden from the players and difficult to detect.

Games using primarily [[Randomness]] to judge outcomes can easily be designed to have [[Balancing Effects]] over time or when considering several game sessions together simply by taking statistic of probabilities into account. However, games with [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can fake the [[Randomness]], e.g. through [[Fudged Results]], to explicitly create [[Balancing Effects]] during gameplay.

== Consequences ==
[[Balancing Effects]] can help games maintain [[Tension]] as long as possible in games and to allow [[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]]. [[Balancing Effects]] in [[Multiplayer Games]] can provide both [[Player Balance|Player]] and [[Team Balance]]. In [[Single-Player Games]] they are in contrast used to provide the specific level of difficulty, e.g. [[Casual Gameplay|Casual]] or [[Challenging Gameplay]], and this often through [[Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment]]. Regardless, [[Balancing Effects]] can provide [[Smooth Learning Curves]] since they can compensate for lack of experience or player skill.

While ensuring that players have a chance of finishing in good positions, [[Balancing Effects]] can work against them having a [[Determinable Chance to Succeed]]. It can also make [[Perceivable Margins]] more difficult to provide, remove feelings of [[Game Mastery]], and lessen the [[Value of Effort]] for what has been achieved in games. [[Balancing Effects]] have a volatile relation to [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] - when players do not notice the [[Balancing Effects]] it can support the other pattern but when players can notice that it is explicitly the [[Balancing Effects]] that tip the scales it instead works against them having an [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]].

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Casual Gameplay]], 
[[Challenging Gameplay]], 
[[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]], 
[[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]], 
[[Smooth Learning Curves]]
[[Tension]]

==== with [[Multiplayer Games]] ====
[[Player Balance]], 
[[Team Balance]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Asymmetric Abilities]], 
[[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]], 
[[Character Development]], 
[[Drop-In/Drop-Out]], 
[[First Player Advantages]], 
[[Late Arriving Players]], 
[[Multiplayer Games]], 
[[New Abilities]], 
[[Spawning]], 
[[Turn Taking]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Ability Losses]], 
[[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]], 
[[Budgeted Action Points]], 
[[Collaborative Actions]], 
[[Cooldown]], 
[[Decreased Abilities]], 
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]], 
[[Delayed Effects]], 
[[Deterioration]], 
[[Diminishing Returns]], 
[[Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment]], 
[[Evolving Rule Sets]], 
[[Extended Actions]], 
[[Game Masters]], 
[[Handicap Systems]], 
[[Illusionary Rewards]], 
[[Improved Abilities]], 
[[New Abilities]], 
[[Randomness]], 
[[Resource Caps]], 
[[Varying Turn Orders]], 
[[Selectable Sets of Goals]], 
[[Shared Rewards]], 
[[Temporary Abilities]], 
[[Tradeoffs]], 
[[Transfer of Control]]

[[Decreased Abilities]] together with [[Improved Abilities]]

[[Ability Losses]] together with [[New Abilities]]

[[Uncommitted Alliances]] together with [[Multiplayer Games]]

[[Movement Limitations]] together with [[Races]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Randomness]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Determinable Chance to Succeed]], 
[[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]], 
[[Game Mastery]], 
[[Perceivable Margins]], 
[[Value of Effort]]

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''Balancing Effects'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) ''Patterns in Game Design''. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
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