Movement Limitations

Negative changes in how movement is done.

In games where movement is an important aspect of game play, limitations to movement abilities are common. These Movement Limitations may be part of the game environment and effect all players that enter an area, part of what defines specific game elements, or negative effects of hostile actions or dangerous events.

Examples

Icy areas in Super Mario 64 and Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory make steering difficult and affect acceleration and deceleration. The banana peel, polygon ball, and ice cube power-ups in the Monkey Race 2 party game in Super Monkey Ball 2 all let players shoot or drop objects that negatively affect other players movement if hit.

Many racing games, e.g. Super Monkey Ball series, make the leading vehicle have a little lower maximum speed than the others vehicles in order to increase the chance of the other vehicles catching up, or have this as an balancing option.

The boxes that have to be moved to specific spots in Sokoban also limit how players can move in the game, potentially trapping them and make levels impossible to solve.

Using the pattern

Movement Limitations can occur in both Real-Time Games and Turn-Based Games. In Real-Time Games they typically take the form of making Maneuvering more difficult or decreasing speed but can also make areas of the Game World into Obstacles or Inaccessible Areas (typically marked with Outstanding Features). In Turn-Based Games movement is nearly always limited by Budgeted Action Points but the cost for movement can be different for different kinds of movement to signify specific Movement Limitations. When the action points can be used for other actions as well this further imposes limitations and forces players to do Risk/Reward choices.

Area Control by other players can cause Movement Limitations. In Turn-Based Games this is typically explicitly governed by rules forbidding movement, increasing movement costs, or making Units moving into the area under control stop their movement. In Real-Time Games the Movement Limitations is implicit and enforced by threats of Combat.

Can Be Instantiated By

Diegetically Outstanding Features, Environmental Effects, Inaccessible Areas, Obstacles, Traps

Shrinking Game World is an example of a way to achieve this form of Movement Limitations although no benefits can be gained by being in the area which is removed.

Consequences

Movement Limitations modulates Movement or Maneuvering and often makes Game World Navigation more difficult, and can be important components of Balancing Effects and Handicap Systems in Races. The pattern can replace or be combined with reduced Health as Penalties or the effects of Damage as a way of instantiating Decreased Abilities. Tension and limited Freedom of Choice can be the consequence of Movement Limitations while Downtime are can be created by temporary but complete losses of movement abilities.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Damage, Decreased Abilities, Downtime, Penalties, Tension

with Races

Balancing Effects, Handicap Systems

Can Modulate

Freedom of Choice, Game World Navigation, Maneuvering, Movement, Races

Can Be Instantiated By

Diegetically Outstanding Features, Environmental Effects, Inaccessible Areas, Obstacles, Traps

Can Be Modulated By

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Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

A rewrite of the pattern Movement Limitations that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.