Game Balance Response

Balance is something a lot of game designers strive to achieve with their games. However, it is important to understand why balance is necessary, what balance means for certain types of games, and the different ways one can balance a game.

For most games, balance is necessary as a way to ensure the game is enjoyable to play. Otherwise, players may find themselves frustrated with how hard it is to beat the game or too bored with how easy it is to beat the game. Somewhere in the middle of the two is necessary to make sure players are interested in the game.

For single player games, balance is seen in the form of pacing. Making sure the game progresses into a higher difficulty as the game is played makes sure the players are never bored and always feel some sense of challenge. In multiplayer games, balance is needed to ensure no one player has an advantage from the start. For some games, this is due to the fact that one player starts first. For others, it can mean that some players have found a “best” strategy for playing the game, making it uninteresting for the other players involved as they cannot stop the one player from winning the game.

Some ways in which a game can be balanced include ensuring no one player has an advantage. For example, if one player goes first, the other players should have an additional set of resources at the start to make sure they do not fall behind for not going first. The second way is by making sure no one strategy trumps the rest. This is done to make sure players explore different strategies each time depending on how the game is going, each being equally appealing. The third way is by balancing individual game objects. Game objects can be balanced via transitive relationships, intransitive relationships, or a fruity method. Transitive involves making sure each object has a similar proportion of benefits and costs. Intransitive is when objects relate equally to another set of objects, such as in rock-paper-scissors. Fruity is when objects are all so unique they cannot be compared but are still valuable to a player for different reasons.

There is no correct way to balance a game as it often depends on the kind of game being made. Nevertheless, using math, instinct, or simply playtesting can help along the way.