Player Balance

Design structures in a game which works towards players having equal chances of succeeding with actions in a game or with winning the game.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Most players want games to have the mechanics that give them the same or better chances to win or succeed with actions as other players. As this typically means that all players need the same chances to win or succeed, most games try to have Player Balance. However, this Player Balance does not usually consider the skill of players and usually only apply to the beginning of games.

Example: the symmetry in traditional board games such as Chess or Go guarantee a high level of initial Player Balance, although being the first player to do a move usually has some advantage.

Example: fighting games can allow players to modify their health by a percentage to give different players different health values and thereby counter imbalances in the skill of damaging the opponent.

Examples

Anti-Examples

optional

Relations

Drop-In/Drop-Out Time Limits Achievements Massively Single-Player Online Games Randomness Game Element Insertion Dedicated Game Facilitators Player/Character Skill Composites Challenging Gameplay Exaggerated Perception of Influence Determinable Chance to Succeed Combos Turn Taking Characters AI Players Enemies Freedom of Choice Heterogeneous Game Element Ownership Free Game Element Manipulation Late Arriving Players Handicap Achievements Power-Ups Single-Player Games Game Worlds Evolving Rule Sets Varying Rule Sets Game Masters Massively Multiplayer Online Games Non-Player Help

Crafting Character Development Player Characters

Can Instantiate

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Can Modulate

Competition, Gameplay Mastery

Can Be Instantiated By

Diminishing Returns, Negative Feedback Loops, Negotiation, Paper-Rock-Scissors, Player Augmentations, Player-Decided Results, Privileged Abilities, Public Player Statistics, Symmetric Goals, Symmetry, Variable Accuracy

Sanctioned Cheating in Multiplayer Games

Balancing Effects, Drafting, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, Handicap Systems, Killcams, Orthogonal Differentiation, Sanctioned Cheating, Self-Facilitated Games, Symmetry, Team Development in games with PvP

Balancing Effects, Drafting, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, Handicap Systems, Orthogonal Differentiation, Self-Facilitated Games, Symmetry, Team Development in games with TvT

Can Be Modulated By

Ability Losses, Decreased Abilities, Non-Renewable Resources, Reconfigurable Game World, Red Queen Dilemmas, Role Reversal, Spawning, Supporting Goals, Symmetric Resource Distribution, Tournaments

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Asymmetric Abilities, Asymmetric Goals, Asymmetric Resource Distribution, Asymmetric Starting Conditions, Camping, Early Leaving Players, Empowerment, Entitled Players, Extra Turns, First Player Advantages, Flip-Flop Events, Geometric Rewards for Investments, Invulnerabilities, Multiplayer Games, New Abilities, Player Augmentations, Player Killing, Positive Feedback Loops, Privileged Abilities, Privileged Movement, Procedurally Generated Game Worlds, Purchasable Game Advantages, Reconfigurable Game Worlds, Red Queen Dilemmas, Strategic Locations, Tiered Participation, Weapons

Gameplay Mastery in games with Player/Character Skill Composites

Gameplay Mastery, Skills, Tools, or Vehicles in Multiplayer Games

Persistent Game Worlds when Abstract Player Construct Development, Character Development, or Crafting exists in the game

History

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

Acknowledgements

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