Asymmetric Starting Conditions

That players do not begin their game sessions with the same possibilities.

Examples

Classical Board Games have Asymmetrical Starting Conditions simply because they are turn-based and being the starting player is usually advantageous. Chess solves this in tournaments by letting players play several times and take turns which side they play. Go usually does this as well but can make use of compensation stones, called Komidashi in Japanese, for the white player that plays second; Based upon statistics this handicap has been set at 6.5 stones when using Japanese rules (the half point is to avoid ties).

It has been proven for the more modern Hex that the first player has a winning strategy (the short proof is part of its Wikipedia entry); it is however non-trivial determining it.

Memoir 44

Using the pattern

Game Worlds

Asymmetric Abilities Asymmetric Goals Asymmetric Information Asymmetric Resource Distribution

Turn-Based Games

One has some options in making games balanced even if players have Asymmetrical Starting Conditions. The most obvious one is Balancing Effects but another is to use Back-to-Back Game Sessions or Rotating Starting Player.

Consequences

Asymmetrical Starting Conditions is likely to make Player Balance difficult to achieve in games, unless modulated by Balancing Effects or having extensive play testing to ensure that no imbalance actually exists.

Relations

Can Be Modulated By

Back-to-Back Game Sessions, Balancing Effects, Rotating Starting Player

Potentially Conflicting With

Player Balance

History

New pattern created in this wiki.

Acknowledgements

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