Polyathlons

Polyathlons are tournaments where each competition requires different skill sets.

This pattern is a still a stub.

One way to vary gameplay in a tournament is to make players play different kinds of games. As these games typically have different skill requirements, playing them makes the areas of competences required to win a Polyathlon larger than other forms of tournaments as well as making it more likely that players have different specialties. The latter allows more players to have experiences of winnings, as they can have partial victories within the tournament by winning individual games.

Examples

Example: Triathlon,Pentathlon andDecathlon, where the outcome of the whole event is based on the outcome of a series of game instances of different sports; pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and cross-country running in the case of Pentathlon.

Example: WarioWare, Inc. consists of many Mini Games, which are played sequentially to progress in the main game.

Using the pattern

Polyathlons are games consisting of several different games or events.

The games in a Polyathlon can either be chosen to require particular skills within a category of expertise, or be chosen to spread the requirements between categories (such as Dexterity-Based Actions, Memorizing, Luck, Negotiation, or Rhythm-Based Actions). When the requirements are different, player can choose to develop specific Competence Areas as part of their planning.

Polyathlons do not have to be so complex that they require several different play sessions to complete. Using, for example, Quick Games, as in WarioWare, Inc., a Polyathlon can have the same time requirement as ordinary games.

Minigames

Selectable Set of Goals

Consequences

The primary use of Polyathlons is to provide Varied Gameplay for players and force them to either prioritize some Competence Areas or be a generalist. If players can affect which games are to be played through having a Selectable Set of Goals, Polyathlons lets players use Extra-Game Information knowledge about other players' skills at playing specific games, especially if choosing one game means excluding another.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Competence Areas, Varied Gameplay

with Selectable Set of Goals

Extra-Game Information

Can Be Modulated By

Selectable Set of Goals

History

An updated version of the pattern Polyathlons that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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