Balancing Turn-Based Games is Really Hard and Scary
Replacing Difficulty With Elo
The challenge of balancing turn-based games has fascinated me for at least the last decade. I’ve participated in several game jams and wrestled with balancing my own games.
But mostly, I used to play NetHack a lot, and discussion forums were filled with people saying the game was too hard (never winning after years of trying) and people thinking the game is too easy (winning every game with stringent restrictions like never killing an enemy).
I think I’m fascinated by this because I often see these heated arguments and I end up thinking neither side is even close to thinking about it correctly. I even see developers cave to pressure and make their games easier.
Recent discussions have veered into related topics like whether “easy modes” ruin a game or if a game is “fair” or “winnable.”
Let’s start with an example to illustrate some of the points I want to keep in mind for the discussion.
Single-Player Chess
Imagine the game chess had never existed. Now a developer puts “Chess” onto Steam. It’s chess as we know it, except you play against an AI that’s around 1500 Elo.
