I’ve been designing a new game, but early on in the development process, I came across a dilemma. I want my game to be approachable and inviting to new players, while still giving even veteran players an experience that doesn’t seem stale or repetitive. The ideas may seem somewhat paradoxical in nature, but I’m confident there’s a solution.
An ideal system would:
be intuitive for new players
instill a sense of excitement, rather than overwhelmingness
not create an insurmountable disparity between new and old players
not be repetitive or grindy
I’m not sure if there’s a single, perfect system that could fit all of these criteria, but I’m curious what methods you might use to address some of them, and what you yourself would like in a game progression system. I’m aware that the ‘right’ answer would depend on the game itself, but I’m more so looking for general methods that work across varying games with progression systems.
What’s the gameplay like? Are you looking for a progression system like a deeply branched skill-tree, or increasingly difficult challenges to get some reward?
I’m not sure what kind of progression system I’m looking for, exactly. My current idea involves players receiving XP at somewhat random intervals based on certain triggers hidden to the player that change constantly. My goal when creating it was to have them focus less on the leveling aspect and more on interacting with others.
Despite my attempts to shift these triggers based on aspects like their location in-game and who they have already interacted with, I’m fairly confident people will find ways to abuse the system and level up much faster than intended. It’s also quite counterintuitive and doesn’t address the problem of creating a very large gap between newer and older players, especially when older players will have learned how to trigger it much more effectively.