Grinding
The repeating of simple actions many times to collect resources or complete goals.
Games often only let players choose what to do from a small set of possible actions. Even so, the choice of which action to perform can make the gameplay interesting or can the challenge of succeeding in performing the action. However, some games require players to, at least some of the time, repeatedly perform actions that are trivial to do so many times that the primary challenge becomes to endure. This type of gameplay is called Grinding.
Contents
Examples
Games that require players to collect resources for later use, e.g. Minecraft, World of Warcraft, and Eve Online, often exhibit Grinding since the actual looking for the resources and collecting of them is rather easy to do but is something that needs to be done a lot. The satirical game Progress Quest critiques these kinds of design by being a game where the computer does the Grinding for the players, leaving only the minimal character creation in the beginning of the game in the hands of the player.
Games with a high level of granularity in the variables and elements in the game world, e.g. the Hearts of Iron and Europa Universalis series, can easily force players into Grinding just to set all parameters correctly or move all their units.
Using the pattern
Grinding may not
Unwinnable Games
Left 4 Dead series Achievements Challenging Gameplay Casual Gameplay Exaggerated Perception of Influence Mules AI Players Quick Travel Grind Achievements Persistent Game Worlds Non-Player Help Encouraged Return Visits
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Give that Grinding typically is experienced as a form of labor, it adds Excise to a game. Even if Grinding is not perceived as enjoyable by players, having completed a goal based on it (e.g. Grind Achievements) does provide a basis for a sort of Game-Induced Player Social Status.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Excise, Game-Induced Player Social Status
with ...
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
Potentially Conflicting With
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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Acknowledgements
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