Game Balance

The problem of game balance is a difficult one. What is balance even? Sometimes the answer is obvious. But the more complex and asymmetric the game becomes, the harder balance is to find.

Balance is required whenever one player has a natural advantage over another due to the rules of the game or when an emergent strategy is so advantageous as to make all other useless and extraneous. Balance can also refer to ensuring that a game is not too easy or difficult for its player(s) as in a video game, where the game itself is often the main opponent.

Balance is not always necessary if the design goal of the game is somehow conveyed through imbalance, but this is not the norm. In most games, players expect that if they perform the best actions that they will be more likely to win. Challenging this basic assumption can lead to frustration in players which is not generally desired.

There are many ways to balance a game. These can be theoretical or mathematical to “prove” a game’s balance. However, in most cases the cureall, time-tested method of balancing is playtesting. With enough playtesting with playtesters of the desired audience, balance can generally be reached. Change one thing at a time, and make big changes to numbers as opposed to small (say double or half numbers) to save time.

Furthermore, an imbalanced design that confers advantages to one player can often be balanced by cycling that advantage through player via multiple rounds. This is not necessarily the most elegant but with will serve to give everyone an opportunity to experience the imbalance in similar ways over time.

I believe balance makes for happy players.