Putting It Together

Balancing a game is a complex and demanding task. This chapter has discussed a number of approaches to the problem of balancing gameplay. The following list summarizes these points.

A balanced game should:

• Be internally consistent.

• Ensure that victory is determined by player skill, not random factors.

• Ensure that all players have access to the same or functionally equivalent core options.

• Ensure that attributes for which the player pays with points are orthogonal.

• Ensure that combination and emergence don't destroy the balance.

• Provide a consistent challenge.

• Provide the player with a perceivably fair playing experience.

• Avoid stagnation.

• Avoid trivialities.

• Allow setting of difficulty level (where appropriate).

We're not even going to pretend that this chapter is an all-encompassing, thorough treatment of game balance. The subject could take up a whole book by itself. What we have put forth here is a brief summary of the areas that interest us. There is no guarantee that you will find them as valuable as we have ”in fact, it's probable that you have other methods for game balancing that work just as well, if not better, or that cover different situations that we have not covered because of space considerations. Our main aim in this chapter (and, in fact, in this book) is to get you thinking about these issues. Then, even if you don't agree with our conclusions (and feel free to email us stating your case), our aims will have been achieved.