Difference between revisions of "Replayability"

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[[Category:Aesthetic Patterns]]
 
[[Category:Aesthetic Patterns]]
 
[[Category:Patterns]]
 
[[Category:Patterns]]
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[[Category:Needs references]]
 
[[Category:Needs references]]
 
[[Category:Needs revision]]
 
[[Category:Needs revision]]
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''The level to which a game provides new challenges, learning opportunities, or experiences when played again.''
 
''The level to which a game provides new challenges, learning opportunities, or experiences when played again.''
  
This pattern is a still a stub.
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Many games are designed to be played many times. In order for these to be interesting, the game must offer new challenges to players or give players new experiences that are perceived as entertaining enough to merit continued playing. The degree to which a game provides these incentives determines its level of [[Replayability]].
 
+
Many games are designed to be played many times. In order for these to be interesting, the game must offer new challenges to players or give players new experiences that are perceived as entertaining enough to merit continued playing. The degree to which a game provides these incentives determines its level of Replayability.
+
  
 
=== Examples ===
 
=== Examples ===
 +
[[Chess]] and [[Go]] have so many possible outcomes that players have very little chance of ever playing two games which are exactly the same. This means that every game session will have new challenges in which players can test their skills.
  
Example: Chess and Go have so many possible outcomes that players have very little chance of ever playing two games that are exactly the same. This means that every game session will have new challenges in which players can test their skills.
+
[[Space Alert]] can be played many times due to having several different missions and randomizing enemies and challenges. [[Torchlight]] and the [[Diablo series]] does it through letting players use different classes, in the [[Elder Scrolls series|Elder Scrolls]] and [[Fallout series]] this is instead achieved through letting players personalize their characters through choices of abilities and skills. Players who have completed the levels of [[Portal]] can still find challenges in these by trying the challenge and advanced modes available.
 
+
Example: The multiplayer first-person shooters Team Fortress Classic and Return to Castle Wolfenstein and the Battlefield series allow players to choose a character class to play. This gives them special abilities, which means that beyond the normal differences in gameplay due to varieties in players and levels, players also have different possibilities of what to do and have different roles in their teams.
+
  
The challenge and advanced mode in [[Portal]]
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Multiplayer [[:Category:FPS Games|First-Person Shooters]] such as [[Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory]], the [[Team Fortress series]], and the [[Battlefield series]] allow players to choose a character class to play. This gives them special abilities, which means that beyond the normal differences in gameplay due to varieties in players and levels, players also have different possibilities of what to do and have different roles in their teams.
  
[[Left 4 Dead series]]
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The [[Left 4 Dead series]] provides certain [[Replayability]] by allowing players to take on different roles through having different weapons than the other players. They provide more [[Replayability]] through letting players team up against other player groups where the two available sides have radically different gameplay (and the infected team have very different abilities within the team).
[[Space Alert]]
+
[[Torchlight]]
+
  
 
== Using the pattern ==
 
== Using the pattern ==
 +
An [[Uncertainty of Outcome]] is a basic prerequisite for [[Replayability]] but some general approaches to how [[Replayability]] can be achieved exist: providing [[Further Player Improvement Potential]] so players can have the goal of trying to play better next time, letting the challenges players meet differ between game instances, allowing the challenges to be solved in several different ways, or letting players compare results between different game instance through [[Trans-Game Information]]. Besides these strategies, [[Save-Load Cycles]] and [[Reversibility]] provide local [[Replayability]] within games and  allow players to do [[Experimenting]], but they have little effect, or negative effect, on [[Replayability]] of the game as a whole.
  
[[Internal Conflicts]]
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Games that provide a huge potential game state space seldom offer players exactly the same challenges and thereby provide one form of [[Replayability]]. Another is to use [[Randomness]]. All but the most trivial uses of [[Randomness]] make gameplay challenges different, but this can become more explicit when it is used to create different [[Ephemeral Goals]], [[Quests]], [[Levels]], or [[Game Worlds]] for every game instance (as for example is done in [[NetHack]] and [[Minecraft]]). A slightly more limited version is to use [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] or [[Asymmetric Goals]] (as for example [[Memoir '44]] or team versus team matches in the [[Left 4 Dead series]]), but this can be use together with other solutions to multiply the variety of challenged encountered (that is, most types of [[Asymmetric Gameplay]] can be used to this effect). [[Open Destiny|Open Destinies]] guarantee that different end states can exist, but how much this creates [[Replayability]] depend heavily on how early these start diverting and how much they influence gameplay; [[Internal Conflicts]] and [[Freedom of Choice]] work similarly but guarantee the presence of choices rather than end states. [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] that are aware of players who have played the game before can change the setup of the particular game instances to provide new challenges. This can for example be achieved through [[Reconfigurable Game Worlds]] (quite often through [[Tile-Laying]]); although games with [[Player Constructed Worlds]] can allow the players to reconfigure their [[Game Worlds]] without the presence of [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] ([[Settlers of Catan]] provides an example of this).
  
Replayability can be achieved by letting the challenges differ between game instances, by letting challenges be solved in several different ways, or by letting players compare results between games through Trans-Game Information.
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While varying the challenges in the ways mentioned above given [[Varied Gameplay]], this can also be achieved through letting players have different ways of trying to meet the challenges. [[Asymmetric Abilities]] - and especially those providing [[Orthogonal Differentiation]] between game entities - are an easy way to support this but letting players complete the game or parts of the game in different ways can be done through providing them with a [[Selectable Set of Goals]] (and is another way through which [[Asymmetric Gameplay]] supports [[Replayability]]). While this is typically done by providing players with different sets of actions but which are performed in the same medium, [[Player-Avatar Proximity]] shows how [[Replayability]] can be achieved through offering players the opportunity through physical enacting gameplay actions or doing so through avatars. [[Optional Goals]] and [[Sidequests]] can provide some varieties as well since players can try to try and complete different set of them, or all or none of them, compared to earlier game instances. [[Easter Eggs]] can offer the same type of options for players, as long as they are aware of them (e.g. through linking [[Achievements]] to them). [[Functional Roles]] in [[Multiplayer Games]] lets players try to solve different types of sub-challenges to the overall challenges and therefore can provide [[Replayability]] as long as players are willing to change roles between game instances or game sessions.
  
Games that provide Cognitive Immersion and have a huge potential game state space seldom offer players exactly the same challenges and thereby provide one form of Replayability. Dedicated Game Facilitators that are aware of players who have played the game before can change the setup of the particular game instances to provide another way to achieve Replayability by altering the challenges. This can for example be achieved through Reconfigurable Game World, although some games allow the players to reconfigure the Game World without the presence of a Dedicated Game Facilitator. Different challenges are also provided in games that give Varied Gameplay by having roles that players have to choose before gameplay proper begins, and by arranging that these roles have Asymmetric Goals or Asymmetric Abilities.
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[[Replayability]] is often acquired through [[Meta Games]] by supporting players with [[Trans-Game Information]] to measure their level of successes with previous game instances, which can be their own or other players. For games that require player skill, [[Replayability]] becomes automatic as players strive to achieve, test, and show [[Gameplay Mastery]]. Similarly, games where players can make use of [[Strategic Knowledge]] have a certain level of [[Replayability]], as players can develop this knowledge between game sessions to improve their gameplay (this assumes the co-presences of either [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] or [[Further Player Improvement Potential]] since perfect [[Strategic Knowledge]] makes replaying a game pointless). While this can make players engage in [[Strategic Planning]], the level with which [[Strategic Planning]] can be done before games can also modulate the [[Replayability]]. [[Scores]] and [[High Score Lists]] can be used as a measure of [[Gameplay Mastery]] in both [[Single-Player Games|Single-Player]] and [[Multiplayer Games]], and allow the players to have a measure of their [[Gameplay Mastery]]. [[Speedruns]], formalized to be measured by the game system (as [[Portal|Portal's]] or [[Cogs]] time challenges do) or improvised by players, can perform the same function. [[Tournaments]], with the exception of [[Polyathlons]], also allow for a similar type of [[Replayability]] as a game is typically played several times to create the outcome of the [[Tournaments]]. [[Near Miss Indicators]] can show players how close they were to succeeding, encouraging them to try again and possibility also increasing their chances of succeeding by the information the provide.
  
Letting players complete the game or parts of the game in different ways can be done through Selectable Sets of Goals or otherwise through the support of Varied Gameplay within the game. Optional Goals give Freedom of Choice of how to try and solve the overall game. The Replayability of such games increases by letting the players measure how many Optional Goals they have completed, for example, by using a Score or having Easter Eggs that give access to Inaccessible Areas.
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[[Achievements]] can explicitly encouraged [[Replayability]] already present through other patterns, for example to make players make use of different [[Abilities]] or choosing different goals from a [[Selectable Set of Goals]] (especially if they are [[Excluding Goals]]); [[Testing Achievements]] are in particular worth mentioning here since they can encourage players to first test different ways of playing before committing to them.  
  
Replayability is often acquired by supporting players to measure the level of their successes or failures. Score and High Score Lists can be used for this in Single-Player Games, and allow the players to have a measure of their Game Mastery, either to let players measure their own skill or to allow a Social Status among other players. Tournaments, with the exception of Polyathlons, allow for a similar type of Replayability as a game is typically played several times to create the outcome of the Tournament. Near Miss Indicators can show players how close they were to succeeding, encouraging them to try again and possibility also increasing their chances of succeeding by the information the provide.
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[[Unwinnable Games]] and those with [[Permadeath]] do not in themselves provide [[Replayability]] but they are often designed to function as such (e.g. through having [[High Score Lists]]), so this type of game may be considered if [[Replayability]] is a high level design goal.
  
Save-Load Cycles and Reversability provide Replayability on a fundamental level within games. These allow players to do Experimenting and to choose the length of play sessions, but they have little effect, or negative effect, on Replayability of the game as a whole.
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Games that are challenging or provide experiences based upon the lack of knowledge of players, i.e. [[Imperfect Information]], are difficult to combine with [[Replayability]] if the information is not changed between the game instances. [[Quizzes]] is an archetypical examples of this. The problem is is due to the [[Trans-Game Information]] players acquire when [[Memorizing]] of what happens in the game which can be used in later game instances. This information can affect [[Replayability]] in many ways: [[Surprises]] in [[Predetermined Story Structures]] will no longer be [[Surprises]], [[Tension]] will be less effective when players experience the same situations again, [[Puzzle Solving]] will become trivial if it is not changed between game instances, [[Unknown Goals]] will be known in later game instances, and [[Game World Exploration]] will be pointless since the environment is already known to the players. An exception to this is [[Conceal]] goals in [[Multiplayer Games]], as the challenges in these are to find new hiding places.
  
Games that are challenging or provide experiences based upon the lack of knowledge of players, i. e., Imperfect Information, are difficult to combine with Replayability. This is due to the Trans-Game Information players acquire when they successfully perform Memorizing of what happens in the game, i. e., when they can apply specific facts learned in one game instance in another game instance. This information can affect Replayability in many ways: Surprises in Narrative Structures will no longer be Surprises, Tension will be less effective when players experience the same situations, Puzzle Solving will become trivial if it is not changed between game instances, Unknown Goals will be known in later game instances, and Exploration will be pointless since the environment is already known to the player. An exception to this is presented by Conceal goals in Multiplayer Games, as the challenges in these are to find new hiding places.
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=== Narration Aspects ===
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[[Replayability]] in a game can depend on how many different types of endings there are to any present stories. This makes [[Predetermined Story Structures]] limit the [[Replayability]] to how many different outcomes they can produce, including just being able to produce one story. In contrasts, [[Open Destiny|Open Destinies]] regarding storylines (and not game states as discussed above) can allow [[Replayability]] from a narration perspective rather than from a game state perspective. While these [[Open Destiny|Open Destinies]] in many cases focus upon [[Player Characters]], [[NPCs]] run by [[Algorithmic Agents]] that have [[Goal-Driven Personal Development]] can also be the source of [[Replayability]] through having characters with [[Open Destiny|Open Destinies]].
  
For games that require player skill, Replayability becomes automatic as players strive to achieve, test, and show Game Mastery. Similarly, when players have Strategic Knowledge in games, the games have a certain level of Replayability, as players can make use of Strategic Knowledge and improve it between game sessions as Trans-Game Information.
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== Consequences ==
 +
[[Replayability]] in a game offers players the possibility of enjoying a game beyond a single game session, and often does this through offering [[Varied Gameplay]] between game sessions. When this is due to player being able to contemplate different ways of playing, this leads to [[Stimulated Planning|Stimulated]] and [[Strategic Planning]].
  
=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
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Although developing [[Strategic Knowledge]] can be part of why a game has [[Replayability]], having complete [[Strategic Knowledge]] can work against the pattern instead. Examples of how can happen is fully understanding [[Algorithmic Agents]] without [[Open Destiny]] or being able to [[Memorizing|Memorize]] all choices that are supposed to require [[Puzzle Solving]] (this last example can be avoided through the use of [[Randomness]]).
[[Achievements]],
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[[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]],  
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[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]],
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[[Freedom of Choice]],
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[[High Score Lists]],
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[[Internal Conflicts]],
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[[Open Destiny]],
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[[Permadeath]],
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[[Randomness]],
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[[Sidequests]],
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[[Speed Runs]],
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[[Testing Achievements]],
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[[Unwinnable Games]],
+
  
[[Ephemeral Goals]], [[Levels]], or [[Quests]] together with [[Randomness]]
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Since [[Tension]] in most cases builds upon not knowing what will happen it can be difficult to combine this pattern with [[Replayability]]. This is also a reason why the value of [[Predetermined Story Structures]] may lessen with games that support [[Replayability]] unless many different [[Predetermined Story Structures]] exist or the structures support different outcomes.
 
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[[Functional Roles]] together with [[Multiplayer Games]]
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[[Game Worlds]] together with [[Player Constructed Worlds]] or [[Randomness]]
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[[Strategic Knowledge]] together with [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] or [[Further Player Improvement Potential]]
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=== Can Be Modulated By ===
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[[Strategic Planning]]
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=== Diegetic Aspects ===
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=== Interface Aspects ===
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=== Narrative Aspects ===
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== Consequences ==
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[[Replayability]] in a game offers players enjoyment of a game beyond a single game session. When this is due to player being able to contemplate different ways of playing, this leads to [[Stimulated Planning]] and players can use this to give themselves [[Varied Gameplay]].
+
 
+
Although developing [[Strategic Knowledge]] can be part of why a game has [[Replayability]], having complete [[Strategic Knowledge]] can work against the pattern instead. Examples of how can happen is fully understanding [[Algorithmic Agents]] without [[Open Destiny]] or being able to [[Memorizing|Memorize]] all choices that are supposed to require [[Puzzle Solving]].
+
  
 
== Relations ==
 
== Relations ==
 
=== Can Instantiate ===
 
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Stimulated Planning]]
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[[Stimulated Planning]],
 
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[[Strategic Planning]],
==== with [[Strategic Planning]] ====
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[[Varied Gameplay]]
 
[[Varied Gameplay]]
  
Line 92: Line 52:
 
=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
 
=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
 
[[Achievements]],  
 
[[Achievements]],  
 +
[[Asymmetric Abilities]],
 +
[[Asymmetric Gameplay]],
 +
[[Asymmetric Goals]],
 
[[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]],  
 
[[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]],  
 
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]],  
 
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]],  
 +
[[Easter Eggs]],
 
[[Freedom of Choice]],  
 
[[Freedom of Choice]],  
 +
[[Further Player Improvement Potential]],
 +
[[Gameplay Mastery]],
 
[[High Score Lists]],  
 
[[High Score Lists]],  
 
[[Internal Conflicts]],  
 
[[Internal Conflicts]],  
 +
[[Meta Games]],
 +
[[Near Miss Indicators]],
 
[[Open Destiny]],  
 
[[Open Destiny]],  
 +
[[Optional Goals]],
 +
[[Orthogonal Differentiation]],
 
[[Permadeath]],  
 
[[Permadeath]],  
 +
[[Player-Avatar Proximity]],
 
[[Randomness]],  
 
[[Randomness]],  
 +
[[Reconfigurable Game Worlds]],
 +
[[Reversibility]],
 +
[[Save-Load Cycles]],
 +
[[Scores]],
 +
[[Selectable Set of Goals]],
 
[[Sidequests]],  
 
[[Sidequests]],  
[[Speed Runs]],  
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[[Speedruns]],  
 
[[Testing Achievements]],  
 
[[Testing Achievements]],  
[[Unwinnable Games]],
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[[Tournaments]],
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[[Uncertainty of Outcome]],
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[[Unwinnable Games]]  
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 +
[[Excluding Goals]] together with [[Selectable Set of Goals]]
  
 
[[Ephemeral Goals]], [[Levels]], or [[Quests]] together with [[Randomness]]
 
[[Ephemeral Goals]], [[Levels]], or [[Quests]] together with [[Randomness]]
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[[Game Worlds]] together with [[Player Constructed Worlds]] or [[Randomness]]
 
[[Game Worlds]] together with [[Player Constructed Worlds]] or [[Randomness]]
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 +
[[Goal-Driven Personal Development]] together with [[Algorithmic Agents]]
  
 
[[Strategic Knowledge]] together with [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] or [[Further Player Improvement Potential]]
 
[[Strategic Knowledge]] together with [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] or [[Further Player Improvement Potential]]
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=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
 
=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Strategic Knowledge]]
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[[Imperfect Information]],
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[[Memorizing]],
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[[Puzzle Solving]],
 +
[[Predetermined Story Structures]],
 +
[[Quizzes]],
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[[Strategic Knowledge]],
 +
[[Surprises]],
 +
[[Tension]],
 +
[[Unknown Goals]]
  
 
[[Algorithmic Agents]] without [[Open Destiny]]
 
[[Algorithmic Agents]] without [[Open Destiny]]
 
[[Memorizing]] that can be applied to [[Puzzle Solving]]
 
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==

Latest revision as of 17:54, 13 March 2018

The level to which a game provides new challenges, learning opportunities, or experiences when played again.

Many games are designed to be played many times. In order for these to be interesting, the game must offer new challenges to players or give players new experiences that are perceived as entertaining enough to merit continued playing. The degree to which a game provides these incentives determines its level of Replayability.

Examples

Chess and Go have so many possible outcomes that players have very little chance of ever playing two games which are exactly the same. This means that every game session will have new challenges in which players can test their skills.

Space Alert can be played many times due to having several different missions and randomizing enemies and challenges. Torchlight and the Diablo series does it through letting players use different classes, in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series this is instead achieved through letting players personalize their characters through choices of abilities and skills. Players who have completed the levels of Portal can still find challenges in these by trying the challenge and advanced modes available.

Multiplayer First-Person Shooters such as Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, the Team Fortress series, and the Battlefield series allow players to choose a character class to play. This gives them special abilities, which means that beyond the normal differences in gameplay due to varieties in players and levels, players also have different possibilities of what to do and have different roles in their teams.

The Left 4 Dead series provides certain Replayability by allowing players to take on different roles through having different weapons than the other players. They provide more Replayability through letting players team up against other player groups where the two available sides have radically different gameplay (and the infected team have very different abilities within the team).

Using the pattern

An Uncertainty of Outcome is a basic prerequisite for Replayability but some general approaches to how Replayability can be achieved exist: providing Further Player Improvement Potential so players can have the goal of trying to play better next time, letting the challenges players meet differ between game instances, allowing the challenges to be solved in several different ways, or letting players compare results between different game instance through Trans-Game Information. Besides these strategies, Save-Load Cycles and Reversibility provide local Replayability within games and allow players to do Experimenting, but they have little effect, or negative effect, on Replayability of the game as a whole.

Games that provide a huge potential game state space seldom offer players exactly the same challenges and thereby provide one form of Replayability. Another is to use Randomness. All but the most trivial uses of Randomness make gameplay challenges different, but this can become more explicit when it is used to create different Ephemeral Goals, Quests, Levels, or Game Worlds for every game instance (as for example is done in NetHack and Minecraft). A slightly more limited version is to use Asymmetric Starting Conditions or Asymmetric Goals (as for example Memoir '44 or team versus team matches in the Left 4 Dead series), but this can be use together with other solutions to multiply the variety of challenged encountered (that is, most types of Asymmetric Gameplay can be used to this effect). Open Destinies guarantee that different end states can exist, but how much this creates Replayability depend heavily on how early these start diverting and how much they influence gameplay; Internal Conflicts and Freedom of Choice work similarly but guarantee the presence of choices rather than end states. Dedicated Game Facilitators that are aware of players who have played the game before can change the setup of the particular game instances to provide new challenges. This can for example be achieved through Reconfigurable Game Worlds (quite often through Tile-Laying); although games with Player Constructed Worlds can allow the players to reconfigure their Game Worlds without the presence of Dedicated Game Facilitators (Settlers of Catan provides an example of this).

While varying the challenges in the ways mentioned above given Varied Gameplay, this can also be achieved through letting players have different ways of trying to meet the challenges. Asymmetric Abilities - and especially those providing Orthogonal Differentiation between game entities - are an easy way to support this but letting players complete the game or parts of the game in different ways can be done through providing them with a Selectable Set of Goals (and is another way through which Asymmetric Gameplay supports Replayability). While this is typically done by providing players with different sets of actions but which are performed in the same medium, Player-Avatar Proximity shows how Replayability can be achieved through offering players the opportunity through physical enacting gameplay actions or doing so through avatars. Optional Goals and Sidequests can provide some varieties as well since players can try to try and complete different set of them, or all or none of them, compared to earlier game instances. Easter Eggs can offer the same type of options for players, as long as they are aware of them (e.g. through linking Achievements to them). Functional Roles in Multiplayer Games lets players try to solve different types of sub-challenges to the overall challenges and therefore can provide Replayability as long as players are willing to change roles between game instances or game sessions.

Replayability is often acquired through Meta Games by supporting players with Trans-Game Information to measure their level of successes with previous game instances, which can be their own or other players. For games that require player skill, Replayability becomes automatic as players strive to achieve, test, and show Gameplay Mastery. Similarly, games where players can make use of Strategic Knowledge have a certain level of Replayability, as players can develop this knowledge between game sessions to improve their gameplay (this assumes the co-presences of either Exaggerated Perception of Influence or Further Player Improvement Potential since perfect Strategic Knowledge makes replaying a game pointless). While this can make players engage in Strategic Planning, the level with which Strategic Planning can be done before games can also modulate the Replayability. Scores and High Score Lists can be used as a measure of Gameplay Mastery in both Single-Player and Multiplayer Games, and allow the players to have a measure of their Gameplay Mastery. Speedruns, formalized to be measured by the game system (as Portal's or Cogs time challenges do) or improvised by players, can perform the same function. Tournaments, with the exception of Polyathlons, also allow for a similar type of Replayability as a game is typically played several times to create the outcome of the Tournaments. Near Miss Indicators can show players how close they were to succeeding, encouraging them to try again and possibility also increasing their chances of succeeding by the information the provide.

Achievements can explicitly encouraged Replayability already present through other patterns, for example to make players make use of different Abilities or choosing different goals from a Selectable Set of Goals (especially if they are Excluding Goals); Testing Achievements are in particular worth mentioning here since they can encourage players to first test different ways of playing before committing to them.

Unwinnable Games and those with Permadeath do not in themselves provide Replayability but they are often designed to function as such (e.g. through having High Score Lists), so this type of game may be considered if Replayability is a high level design goal.

Games that are challenging or provide experiences based upon the lack of knowledge of players, i.e. Imperfect Information, are difficult to combine with Replayability if the information is not changed between the game instances. Quizzes is an archetypical examples of this. The problem is is due to the Trans-Game Information players acquire when Memorizing of what happens in the game which can be used in later game instances. This information can affect Replayability in many ways: Surprises in Predetermined Story Structures will no longer be Surprises, Tension will be less effective when players experience the same situations again, Puzzle Solving will become trivial if it is not changed between game instances, Unknown Goals will be known in later game instances, and Game World Exploration will be pointless since the environment is already known to the players. An exception to this is Conceal goals in Multiplayer Games, as the challenges in these are to find new hiding places.

Narration Aspects

Replayability in a game can depend on how many different types of endings there are to any present stories. This makes Predetermined Story Structures limit the Replayability to how many different outcomes they can produce, including just being able to produce one story. In contrasts, Open Destinies regarding storylines (and not game states as discussed above) can allow Replayability from a narration perspective rather than from a game state perspective. While these Open Destinies in many cases focus upon Player Characters, NPCs run by Algorithmic Agents that have Goal-Driven Personal Development can also be the source of Replayability through having characters with Open Destinies.

Consequences

Replayability in a game offers players the possibility of enjoying a game beyond a single game session, and often does this through offering Varied Gameplay between game sessions. When this is due to player being able to contemplate different ways of playing, this leads to Stimulated and Strategic Planning.

Although developing Strategic Knowledge can be part of why a game has Replayability, having complete Strategic Knowledge can work against the pattern instead. Examples of how can happen is fully understanding Algorithmic Agents without Open Destiny or being able to Memorize all choices that are supposed to require Puzzle Solving (this last example can be avoided through the use of Randomness).

Since Tension in most cases builds upon not knowing what will happen it can be difficult to combine this pattern with Replayability. This is also a reason why the value of Predetermined Story Structures may lessen with games that support Replayability unless many different Predetermined Story Structures exist or the structures support different outcomes.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Stimulated Planning, Strategic Planning, Varied Gameplay

Can Modulate

-

Can Be Instantiated By

Achievements, Asymmetric Abilities, Asymmetric Gameplay, Asymmetric Goals, Asymmetric Starting Conditions, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Easter Eggs, Freedom of Choice, Further Player Improvement Potential, Gameplay Mastery, High Score Lists, Internal Conflicts, Meta Games, Near Miss Indicators, Open Destiny, Optional Goals, Orthogonal Differentiation, Permadeath, Player-Avatar Proximity, Randomness, Reconfigurable Game Worlds, Reversibility, Save-Load Cycles, Scores, Selectable Set of Goals, Sidequests, Speedruns, Testing Achievements, Tournaments, Uncertainty of Outcome, Unwinnable Games

Excluding Goals together with Selectable Set of Goals

Ephemeral Goals, Levels, or Quests together with Randomness

Functional Roles together with Multiplayer Games

Game Worlds together with Player Constructed Worlds or Randomness

Goal-Driven Personal Development together with Algorithmic Agents

Strategic Knowledge together with Exaggerated Perception of Influence or Further Player Improvement Potential

Can Be Modulated By

Strategic Planning

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

Imperfect Information, Memorizing, Puzzle Solving, Predetermined Story Structures, Quizzes, Strategic Knowledge, Surprises, Tension, Unknown Goals

Algorithmic Agents without Open Destiny

History

A rewrite of the pattern Replayability that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design[1].

References

  1. Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.