Supporting Goals

Goals whose primary effect is to help players achieve other goals of a game.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Example: In the case of Chess, the subgoals of capturing the opponent's pieces can be seen as Supporting Goals for the higher level goal of checkmating the king. They are not necessary to achieve the checkmate but make it easier to complete.

Example: Getting the power pill in Pac-Man can be seen as a Supporting Goal for the goal of taking all the pills as the ghosts cannot capture Pac-Man during the time he is affected by the power pill.

Example: Real-time strategy games, such as Age of Empires, have many Supporting Goals, from identifying and collecting resources to building defenses and scouting enemy territory, all of which support the goal of defeating the opponents. Much of the skill in those games lies in balancing the struggle towards the different Supporting Goals so that the chances of succeeding with the overarching goal are maximized given the particular circumstances of a specific game instance.

Left 4 Dead series

Consequences

Can Instantiate

Goal Hierarchies, Progress Indicators, Varied Gameplay

with Algorithmic Agents

Companions

with Non-Player Characters

Casual Gameplay, Cooperation, Team Combos

Can Modulate

Challenging Gameplay, Game World Exploration, Gameplay Engines, Player Balance, Risk/Reward , Trade-Offs, Traverse

Relations

Can Instantiate

Goal Hierarchies, Progress Indicators, Varied Gameplay

with Algorithmic Agents

Companions

with Non-Player Characters

Casual Gameplay, Cooperation, Team Combos

Can Modulate

Challenging Gameplay, Game World Exploration, Gameplay Engines, Player Balance, Risk/Reward , Trade-Offs, Traverse

Can Be Instantiated By

Area Control, Evade, Factions, Gain Information, Improved Abilities, New Abilities, Optional Goals, Pick-Ups, Sidequests, Races

Can Be Modulated By

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Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Conflicts, Red Herrings

History

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

Acknowledgements

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