Asymmetry in Games
Last week, I was trying to design a multiplayer level for an FPS game. This was something I had never attempted before and I loved the challenge. Being very bad at First Person Shooters myself, I started by watching various gameplay videos of many FPS games, like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Battlefield1 to find out how to place points of interest and objectives. I began to do some research on design patterns in FPS games. One thing that was new to me and particularly fascinated me was the concept of asymmetric gameplay, playing an important element in bringing balance into the game, particularly multiplayer ones. This blog entry is a collection of my findings and thoughts on this concept.
Before we begin to understand what an asymmetric game is, let’s consider a symmetric game. Symmetric games are those in which players start with the same state and resources and abilities are distributed equally among them. ‘Chess’ is often suggested as the best example of a symmetric game. In Chess, the units on both sides are identical and the objective of both the players is the same. Does this make the game balanced? My answer is yes, to a large extent. But over time, in such games, a set of fixed strategies arise that are proven to be successful and there is very little anyone can do to compete against it, unless you memorize the counter strategies. This might bring down the number of interesting decisions a player gets to make during the game.
Asymmetrical play refers to a form of game where players start with varied roles, skills and abilities and perspective on the same game. This might be in the form of a character class, a different deck of cards, a different set of units and tactics, or entirely different objectives altogether. One game that uses asymmetric play very effectively is Overwatch. The game supports multiple play styles and prevents one style from becoming the dominant strategy. it helps players at all levels to come up with a play style of their own and re-think/evolve their strategies as they level up. For example, let’s say the majority of the players start playing with character A. They start developing strategies as to how to beat the other As. After a while, one player chooses character B and develops a style around it that makes A seem vulnerable. So Many people start using B now and those using A start developing strategies to counter B. This continues, until C comes into the picture. And this cycle goes on. This brings in multiple play strategies and adds immense variety to the game. The way the game designers bring in balance into such a game is to limit the capabilities of the multiple characters. They make sure that no matter how strong a character becomes in the game, the character cannot do everything and always has potential weaknesses. Thus, even casual players can come up with plays that would give them an advantage. This also seamlessly brings in a multiplayer team based co-op setting where the abilities and skills of one character complements the other. The asymmetry is also achieved by giving players different objectives inside the same game. In Overwatch, one team has to defend a point and the other has to capture it, thus prompting a different play style for each character.
There are many pros and cons associated with adding asymmetry into the game. As I mentioned above, it offers a unique play experience for each player. Symmetric multiplayer offers only one perspective of the game, and although players can choose to interpret it differently and act differently, they are still interpreting the same thing. Asymmetry allows players to see all the sides of a game. But there is a downside to this too. To form an individual play style, players have to understand their character’s abilities and skills thoroughly and have a good understanding of the level before they can begin to improvise. Asymmetry creates an inherent balance issue and the onus is on the player to balance the gameplay. Moreover it makes the game much more harder to design since there are so many dynamic components involved.
Having said all this, the medium of games is an interactive and diverse one and differs from traditional film or literature in that it can bring people to interact with each other through multiplayer gaming. Asymmetry could help give a unique experience to each player by offering them multiple possibilities that align with their interests and abilities. Imagine, if in the future, a game that allows people to do what they like the most and still give a complete experience. What if one person could play a tetris game and every time a they complete a row, they spawn minions which attack other players who are playing an FPS.