Value of Effort

The gameplay experience of that one's efforts during gameplay have value.

Practically all games make players perform action during (or before) game instances. However, not all require or allow for actions where players can put meaningful effort into these actions, and not all games

Examples

Anti-Examples

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Using the pattern

Designing for Value of Effort in a game is not only about making players effort feel meaningful for them, it is considering how player actions and game events can diminish or destroy those efforts. Therefor, giving players the possibility of feeling a Value of Effort can often require much thought about what other patterns to avoid or at least use carefully. A prime example is Setback Penalties which quite clearly can remove player effort. Others, for example Luck and Randomness can put in question if making an effort is worthwhile. Balancing Effects, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, and Fudged Results can do this also to a lesser degree and may not disturb Value of Effort if done skillfully. Non-Player Help, Player Augmentations, and Player/Character Skill Composites all remove so of the skill needed by players to complete goals or overcome challenges which can reduce the Value of Effort of doing so; Grinding and Purchasable Game Advantages can likewise do so by replacing a need for skill with endurance or money. Backtracking Levels lessens the value of having reached the turnaround point of the Level but otherwise does not have to critically affect the Value of Effort in a game. In contrast, reaching Unwinnable Game States can make players realize or feel that all their previous efforts have been in vain.

Multiplayer Games can both remove Value of Effort for individual players by having other players do the necessary work (typically in games with Cooperation) or by allowing players to perform actions that goes counter to other players efforts; in the latter case this is especially likely if actions are Interruptible Actions. Multiplayer Games that are designed to support Drop-In/Drop-Out gameplay or Late Arriving Players typically also have issues with Value of Effort since the design goal described by those patterns typically require solutions that affect how stable or necessary players' efforts are. Finally regarding Multiplayer Games, those that allow Predictable Winner can completely remove the Value of Effort for other players (except maybe through encouraging Kingmaker actions).

Besides being a Subjective Pattern, Value of Effort is fickle since players may feel that a game rewards their efforts at one moment but the next feel they don't due to some event or action by another player sabotaging those efforts. Irreversible Events can avoid this by making players action cause such events, but this often needs to be balanced with letting players influence each others gameplay and providing Tension. Discontinuous Progression can be used as an alternative. By having efforts that can be interrupted or sabotaged be translated into safe effort at certain points, a game design can provide Tension and possibilities of players influencing each other until enough effort has been put into some action or goal and then translate that to something which players can safely feel a Value of Effort about.