Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment

Games that during gameplay adjust their difficulty depending on how well players progresses.

Providing the right level of challenge for players in a game can be difficult for game designers to achieve solely through creating challenges in advance. While they can let players have influence on this, e.g. through a scale of difficulty settings or by choosing their opponents, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment is rules in the game system that adjusts players' challenges depending on how well they are gaming.

There is a US patent related to Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment.

Examples

Borderlands, Fallout 3, and Oblivion all uses Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment systems to within certain limits scale the strength of enemies to those of the players. While changing this is quite natural for these combat-oriented games, Racing Games such as Mario Kart series and Super Monkey Ball series instead typically increase the maximum speed of the last racers to help that player catch up.

Board Games can also have Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment systems. Shadows over Camelot increases the difficulty of other challenges when quests are solved, and Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game has mechanisms for balancing gameplay halfway through game instances when playing with a odd number of players.

Using the pattern

Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment is in Single-Player Games used to try and reach a certain difficulty level, possibly set by players through Difficulty Levels, while for Multiplayer Games it is instead used to achieve Player Balance. In games with Teams, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment systems are also applied to achieve Team Balance.

A prime choice for these systems are if they should be possible to turn on and off, i.e. if they are Optional Rules - if always active they may not be revealed to players to give them an Exaggerated Perception of Influence. One reason to make them optional is that they can they work as a form of Difficulty Levels; another reason to make Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment systems optional is that the decrease the Value of Effort possible in games.

Can Modulate

AI Players, Damage, Enemies, Movement, Multiplayer Games Single-Player Games

Can Be Instantiated By

Decreased Abilities, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Game Masters, Increased Abilities

Consequences

In Single-Player Games, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment acts as a Balancing Effect, not necessarily making gameplay even between players and the system but towards reaching Casual Gameplay or Challenging Gameplay depending on the game design. If players can choose to have Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment it can due to this function as Difficulty Levels and can also help preserve a sense of Value of Effort.

Systems for Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment and Handicap Systems, both in themselves and as examples of Balancing Effects. They can give players Exaggerated Perceptions of Influence, especially if not revealed to them. When such systems forcefully but secretly change outcomes of game events, they give rise to Fudged Results.

with Multiplayer Games

Player Balance

with Teams

Team Balance

with Drop-In/Drop-Out

Freedom of Choice

Relations

Can Instantiate

Balancing Effects, Casual Gameplay, Challenging Gameplay, Difficulty Levels, Exaggerated Perception of Influence, Fudged Results, Handicap Systems

with Multiplayer Games

Player Balance

with Teams

Team Balance

with Drop-In/Drop-Out

Freedom of Choice

Can Modulate

AI Players, Damage, Enemies, Movement, Multiplayer Games Single-Player Games

Can Be Instantiated By

Decreased Abilities, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Game Masters, Increased Abilities

Can Be Modulated By

Optional Rules

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

Value of Effort

History

New pattern created in this wiki.

Acknowledgments

Ian Bogost