The creative weapons of Axiom Verge

Tools serve dual purposes of exploration and combat

Choice is a key element in video games. Most engaging game moments involve players being put in environments with a host of tools at their disposal and being tasked with besting the challenge using their powers of choice, creativity, and analysis. I’m not just talking about the overt choice in game narratives — choose the blue pill to kill the monster and the red pill to spare its life — but subtle choices present in game mechanics. These choices stem from one tool, button, or player ability serving multiple functions.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s co-Director and father of historic franchises like Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong, had this to say about mechanics that facilitate choice:

“A good idea is something that does not solve just one single problem, but rather can solve multiple problems at once.”

We can see that Miyamoto practices what he preaches. A simple but ingenious example is the jump action in Super Mario 64 (and most Mario games since). This one action, both in isolation and in concert with other actions, provides players unparalleled freedom in both navigation and combat. Mario can jump, long jump, do backflips and sideflips, wall-jump, triple jump, stomp, heavy stomp, and fly(!), all with one basic action…