Ever Increasing Difficulty
The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Contents
Examples
Many Arcade Games, e.g. Pac-Man or Centipede confronted players with more and more difficult levels. However, due to practical reasons concerning programming, the difficulty in these games flatten out as some point so they are weak examples of the game.
Players of both tabletop and computer-based versions of Roleplaying Games, e.g. Dungeons & Dragons or the Fallout series, typically meet more and more difficult opponents until either the game or campaign ends, or they simply stop playing.
Using the pattern
Games are typically design for Ever Increasing Difficulty to ensure that players at some point have Challenging Gameplay and Tension. This can only be guaranteed in Unwinnable Games since these can for practical purposes indefinitely increase the difficulty, but a weaker form of the pattern can be found in games that have end conditions but provide Ever Increasing Difficulty until those conditions are met. This is a weaker form since skillful or experienced players may neither experience Challenging Gameplay or Tension from them.
Designing Ever Increasing Difficulty depends on finding ways of making challenges more and more difficult as gameplay progresses. Generally, this is designing a Positive Feedback Loops where succeeding against a particular challenge makes the next challenge be more difficult. An archetypical examples of this is presenting players with some form of Enemy and when a player defeats that enemy a stronger or more difficult Enemy is presented. A variant of this is using more and more difficult Waves of Enemies. An alternative, which does not have to rely on Combat or otherwise overcoming Enemies, is to have more and more difficult Levels. This can be automated through having Levels be Procedurally Generated Game Areas.
Games with Ever Increasing Difficulty often also have Increasing Rewards. This adds another reason or lure to continue playing or entering new areas of gameplay (instead of Grinding in already completed areas). When the Increasing Rewards provide Rewards that make gameplay easy, the combination of Ever Increasing Difficulty and Increasing Rewards can lead to a Red Queen Dilemma design.
Narration Aspects
Ever Increasing Difficulty often harmonizes rather well with Predetermined Story Structures in that these in general also want a rise level of Tension as gameplay progresses in a game.
Consequences
Ever Increasing Difficulty typically creates Tension, and this is often a motivation for having the pattern present in a game. Since the pattern strives to put players in overwhelming situations at some point, it also sets players up for FUBAR Enjoyment and Spectacular Failure Enjoyment. Games with Ever Increasing Difficulty also provide Further Player Improvement Potential as long as the difficulty at some point goes beyond the players' skill at the game.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Challenging Gameplay, FUBAR Enjoyment, Further Player Improvement Potential, Spectacular Failure Enjoyment, Tension, Unwinnable Games
with Increasing Rewards
Can Modulate
Predetermined Story Structures
Can Be Instantiated By
Enemies, Levels, Positive Feedback Loops, Procedurally Generated Game Areas, Waves
Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
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History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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Acknowledgements
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