Tension

The feeling of caring about the outcome of actions or events in a game without having full control over them.

Games may make players feel stress or apprehension, but this is typically less or a problem or even a wanted characteristic in them since players typically have willingly volunteered to take part of the gaming activity offered by the game. This Tension occurs when players have emotional investments in uncertain outcomes where some of the outcomes are perceived as being negative and others as being positive.

Examples

Example: Having placed most of one's markers in a bet in Poker is a classical case where players can feel tension.

Example: The dark and claustrophobic environments in the Doom games easily cause Tension as players guide their Avatars through rooms and corridors, expecting monsters to appear.

Left 4 Dead series Space Alert

Diplomacy So Long Sucker

Forbidden Island Pandemic

Using the pattern

Making players feel Tension depends on making them care about some part of the game and then introduce uncertainty that the outcome will positive or be the best possible. Player Elimination and Early Elimination are generic patterns to increase Tension to players by threatening to remove them from the ongoing game instance. Player Killing is typically a part of these patterns but can be used independently of these to raise Tension in games.

One of the primary ways to make it doubtful that things will turn in the best possible way for players is to introduce opposition. The two primary categories for this is PvP and PvE. The former is typically done through Enemies controlled by Dedicated Game Facilitators or Game Masters and Traps while the latter is done through players and other Agents. To be in opposition, Excluding Goals need to be set up, e.g. Competition, Conflict, or Overcome goals (for opposition based on PvE, Consumers with no positive effects that automatically consume players' Resources provide similar Tension to players as Enemies and opposing players). The most common types of specific Excluding Goals are probably Combat and Races but Stealth provides another example that does not require Combat. While losing a game or a local competition can be the sole effect of being outdone by one's opposition, the threat of suffering Penalties, e.g. Damage or Death Consequences, during gameplay can further increase Tension. Tension based on opposition can be modulated so that it is maintained for longer periods of gameplay time through Balancing Effects. This can be further modulated by using Near Miss Indicators, forcing players to make decisions related to Paper-Rock-Scissors structures of attacking, by making the Enemies more powerful over time through Ever Increasing Difficulty (Boss Monsters being a typical example), or by making Tied Results impossible through Tiebreakers.

Tension can be increased by making gameplay actions more difficult for players. Challenging Gameplay is an obvious solution while Balancing Effects can be used to try and make all players have Tension by making it hard for leading players to maintain their position. One of the ways games can be more difficult is to stress players to perform actions more quickly. Time Limits, e.g. how long Power-Ups last or how long one has to do Action Programming or Tactical Planning, does this by forcing players to have to try to complete their actions in less time than they may want to use. While Real-Time Games do not in themselves create Tension, the need of doing either Action Programming or Tactical Planning or feeling the need for Stimulated Planning in such games can be enough to create Tension in a game. Quick Time Events, Speedruns, and Temporary Abilities are other examples of patterns that can force players to have to act faster than they prefer. Shrinking Game Worlds can combine the need to perform actions quickly with also limiting the gameplay areas in which these can be done (Forbidden Island shows how this can provide Tension in a Turn-Based co-operative game). A final example of how gameplay actions can be made more difficult is to deny players any periods when they relax by using Always Vulnerable.

Most games provide players with some game elements which are designated as theirs or whom they represent in the game. Such Characters or Abstract Player Constructs provide a natural starting point for players to be concerned about. Companions and Game Items that can be Stolen can do this as well but typically work as ways of increasing the interesting in the Characters or Abstract Player Constructs. While all these may give players initial parts of the game to care about, this caring can be increase during gameplay if the players' Value of Effort are tied to them, e.g. through Character or Abstract Player Construct Development.

Another way of increasing Tension is removing agency for players when they have started actions. Turn Taking is an old solution to this found in classical board games such as Chess and Go since once one has completed ones turn one cannot affect the game until the other player has done his or her turn, and one will have to accept mistakes one has made. Helplessness, either involuntary or through committing to Extended Actions, is another way to make players temporary unable to do anything about their game situation. Extended Actions and Delayed Effects does not necessary remove overall agency but can make players have to wait for wanted effects in a game without being able to quicken their arrival when can also cause Tension. Delayed Reciprocity also does this but adds the factor that some other players or Agent can decide the outcome; in general any possibility of Betrayal or Traitors creates Tension in a game. Examples of games where this is especially obvious is Diplomacy, So Long Sucker, and Intrigue. Removing players from games can be seen as the ultimate form of removing player agency, so having Player Elimination is a way to add Tension to games. This can be even greater if Early Elimination is possible, but this can also backfire since players may not be committed enough to the gameplay when the elimination occurs unless some type of commitment is enforced at the beginning of the game, e.g. through Betting.

Limiting how long players have to try and succeed with actions is an effective way to create Tension. This can be done as explicit Time Limits or be achieved implicitly through The Show Must Go On. Time Pressure increases Tension but does not have to provide explicit Time Limits to do so, as for example having to be the first to complete a task shows. These types of Tension can then be further increased by requiring Attention Swapping or having Disruption of Focused Attention. Another way to modulate the Tension is by restricting players' powers or freedom, for example, by Shrinking Game Worlds, Limited Set of Actions, or Movement Limitations. The two latter work more efficiently if players have either had greater freedom earlier or if they have lesser freedom or power compared to others.

Forcing players to make commitments and then not letting them affect the outcome, or at least limit how they can affect the outcome, can create Tension. Betting and Stealth can do this and are similar in this since they are activities that require Turn Taking, Downtime, or No-Ops, and both are usually combined with other patterns that can create Tension in this fashion, for example Leaps of Faith, Randomness, Tradeoffs, Risk/Reward choices, and the possibility to feel Luck. Geometric Progression combined with Investments and Positive Feedback Loops can create this form of Tension as the invested Resources are bound, and failed investments cause not only the already invested resources to be lost but lessen the value of Resources that have not yet been invested. This form of Tension can be further modulated through the presence of Progress Indicators and Game State Indicators but can be ruined by Perfect Information about the evaluation function and all the game state values that affect the function. Tension can however be lost instead of created if the players lose a Perceived Chance to Succeed because of necessary Leaps of Faith, extended Downtime, or Turn Taking.

Many of the patterns in the previous section are related to Investments, something that can cause Tension in itself as long as it can be lost in some way. Progress Indicators and Game State Indicators can cause Tension in relation to Investments as well, here by pointing out how much a player stands to lose or how little remains before the Investments pays off. Games that make use of Hovering Closures can also cause Tension in this way where the gameplay effort made by players can be seen as Investments.

+++ To add Investments Hovering Closures +++

Spectacular Failure Enjoyment, FUBAR Enjoyment

Many aspects of Cooperation and Social Interaction where players have to rely on other players' actions give rise to Tension. Any interaction where Uncertainty of Information or possibility for disinformation exists due to player communication can generate Tension, but it is especially likely to occur with Delayed Reciprocity or when Betrayal and Bluffing is possible. Examples when Tension can be created in this fashion include Player-Decided Distribution of Rewards or Penalties and the presence of Shared Resources. Tension related to Social Interaction exists in many cases for both the ones that can lose from the actions and the ones that can gain, as is typical in Social Dilemmas. Any type of gameplay which requires communication can become more tense if it needs to be done with Limited Communication Abilities.

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Reversability and the possibility to recreate previous game states through Save-Load Cycles lessens Tension, as players can replay moments that contained Tension and the feeling is less likely to be as strong on subsequent exposures. Therefore, Tension does not usually work together with general Experimenting, although they can do so when the experimentation is motivated by Player Defined Goals.

Tension can be caused by putting players in the position of missing Rewards or in the position of receiving Penalties, which either affect themselves or something with which they have Identification. Especially Competition and questions of Ownership can evoke Tension, in the latter case either because players have Gain Ownership goals or because opponents want to take away Ownership of something from players. Anticipation is a way to modulate Tension, the more Anticipation players feel, the more Tension they will also likely feel. Feeling forced to perform actions within a certain Time Limit, for example in The Show Must Go On, can in some cases be a reason for Tension to occur. Game Pauses in general have an effect on levels of Tension.

Within the context of single game instances the problem of repeated exposure can partly be mitigated by Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses, as for example, naturally occurs in Tournaments or can be explicitly designed through Boss Monsters or Narrative Structures.

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Tension can be difficult to evoke in players when some other specific patterns are present. Games with Casual Gameplay, Framed Freedom, or Pottering are specifically designed to avoid Tension, so these are naturally difficult to combine with the pattern. Private Game Spaces and Safe Havens do this also, but at localized areas of the games (which may be irrelevant if these are the only places a player can act). Invulnerabilities function similarly but relate to Abilities, Damage, or Environmental Effects. While Turn Taking can create Tension, it can also lower or remove Tension in players since they can plan without interruption when it is their turn, and often even when it is not.

Many activities and goals in games combine several of the aspects discussed above. For example, Combat or Aim & Shoot activities give players opponents and threaten to take cause Damage or take Lives. Continuous Goals and Extended Actions with Delayed Effects can combine the risk of losing ongoing Rewards with the threats of Penalties, e.g. through King of the Hill or Evade goals.

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Can Be Instantiated By

Alternate Reality Gameplay, Ambiguous Responses Characters Camping, Experimenting, Extra-Game Consequences, Feigned Die Rolls, Guilting, Interruptible Actions, Randomness, Red Herrings, Spawn Points, Territories, Token Placement, Action Programming

Narrative Aspects

Narrative Structures can create Tension in games in the same ways as in other narrative mediums, and can be modulated by Clues or Red Herrings, but can also do so in games through modulating players' Perceived Chance to Succeed, typically by giving players an Uncertainty of Information. However, when narratives do not contain Tension, or when the unfolding of them causes players to have Downtime, players are likely to lose any feeling of Tension. Game Masters can notice these occurrences and adjust the Narrative Structure or interaction accordingly.

Predetermined Story Structures Clues, Detective Structures, Traces

Consequences

Tension is one of the more direct ways games can be designed to have Emotional Engrossment. While this can be a negative to some players, it can instead provide FUBAR Enjoyment to others and succeeding with some activity while under Tension is likely to increase the perceived Value of Effort of the activity. Even failing while playing under Tension can be positive since players can after the fact have Spectacular Failure Enjoyment. These experiences can however easily spill over from games into the real world as Extra-Game Consequences, and the risk for this happening increase with the presence, as especially combinations of, Extra-Game Rewards, Game-Based Social Statuses, and questions of related to Heterogeneous Game Element Ownership.

Repeated exposure to the same form of events or actions decreases the Tension they cause, so Replayability and Tension is difficult to combine, especially if the Tension is caused by Predetermined Story Structures, Surprises, or other effects that rely on players not knowing what will occur.

Tension can make some activities more difficult to perform. One such activity is Aim & Shoot and another one is Tactical Planning.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Emotional Engrossment, Extra-Game Consequences, Spectacular Failure Enjoyment

Can Modulate

Aim & Shoot, Tactical Planning

Can Be Instantiated By

Agents, Aim & Shoot, Always Vulnerable, Alternate Reality Gameplay, Ambiguous Responses, Attention Swapping , Balancing Effects, Betting, Betrayal, Bluffing, Boss Monsters, Camping, Challenging Gameplay, Characters, Clues, Combat, Companions, Competitions, Conflicts, Consumers, Continuous Goals, Cooperation, Damage, Death Consequences, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Delayed Effects, Delayed Reciprocity, Detective Structures, Disruption of Focused Attention, Downtime, Early Elimination, Enemies, Excluding Goals, Experimenting, Extended Actions, Extra-Game Consequences, Evade, Ever Increasing Difficulty, Feigned Die Rolls, FUBAR enjoyment, Game Masters, Game State Indicators, Guilting, Helplessness, Interruptible Actions, Irreversible Events, King of the Hill, Leaps of Faith, Limited Communication Abilities, Limited Set of Actions, Lives, Luck, Movement Limitations, Near Miss Indicators, No-Ops, Overcome, Paper-Rock-Scissors, Penalties, Player Killing, Player Elimination, Player-Decided Distribution, Predetermined Story Structures, Progress Indicators, PvE, PvP, Quick Time Events, Races, Randomness, Red Herrings, Risk/Reward Shared Resources, Shrinking Game Worlds, Social Dilemmas, Social Interaction, Spawn Points, Speedruns, Status Indicators, Stealth, Temporary Abilities, Territories, The Show Must Go On, Tiebreakers, Time Limits, Time Pressure, Token Placement, Traces, Tradeoffs, Traitors, Traps, Turn Taking, Uncertainty of Information, Value of Effort

Game Items together with Stealing

Geometric Progression together with Investments and Positive Feedback Loops

Helplessness together with Extended Actions

Real-Time Games together with Action Programming, Stimulated Planning, or Tactical Planning

Action Programming together with Delayed Effects

Can Be Modulated By

Time Limits, Turn Taking

Possible Closure Effects

FUBAR Enjoyment, Spectacular Failure Enjoyment, Value of Effort

Potentially Conflicting With

Casual Gameplay, Downtime, Framed Freedom, Invulnerabilities, No-Ops, Leaps of Faith, Perfect Information, Pottering, Predictable Winner, Private Game Spaces, Replayability, Safe Havens, Turn Taking

History

A rewrite of the pattern Tension that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.