Level Up Workshop: Player Goals and Progression

Hello again!

In Level Up workshops, a member of the Roblox Game Insights Team hosts an interactive presentation on a game design topic such as season pass feature balance or content cadence. In these events, industry best practices and professional materials are shared, and attendees are invited to ask questions in a live Q&A.

Player Goals and Progression

Ready to create goals that motivate your players and keep them playing? In this two-part Level Up workshop, you’ll learn the value of short, mid and long-term goals, how different goals appeal to different players, and how to design a progression system that provides players with a path toward achieving those goals.

goals and progression

Part One: Player Goals

In Part One of this workshop, Roblox’s own Sr. Game designer Kael discusses the role that short, mid and long-term goals play in keeping players engaged in a game. Included with the video is a worksheet to help identify your target player types and the goals that will motivate them to keep playing!

Watch Part One on YouTube

Download the presentation and worksheet:
Goals and Progression - Part One.zip (6.1 MB)

Presentation outline:

Part I: Player Goals

  • How player goals and progression can keep players engaged longer

    • Why do players stop playing?

    • Goals give players a reason to keep playing

    • Short, mid and long-term goals

    • Goal examples: Pet Simulator X, Welcome to Bloxburg, Jailbreak

    • What qualifies as a goal?

    • Different players have different goals

    • Player type examples: Arsenal, Adopt Me, Loomian Legacy, Brookhaven

  • Design Session: Map out your goals and player types

    • Goals and player types example: Farmin’ Fun



Progression

Part Two: Progression

In Part Two of this workshop, Kael dives into progression and the systems that allow players to make progress towards goals by interacting with a game’s core loop. He explores examples of common progression systems, describes the various benefits they offer to players and developers, and provides tips for implementing progression in your own game.

Watch Part Two on YouTube

Download the presentation:
Goals and Progression - Part Two.pdf (5.3 MB)

Presentation outline:

Part Two: Progression

  • What is a progression system?

    • Common progression systems

    • Progression systems & the core loop

  • Why use a progression system?

    • Progression stages difficulty

    • Progression keeps players focused

    • Progression paces content consumption

    • Progression tracks progress

    • Progression allows for interesting decisions

    • Progression adds replayability

  • Progression should have meaning

    • But don’t lock initial fun behind progression
  • The Road Trip analogy




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64 Likes

This is really useful, thanks for making these!

9 Likes

Thanks, I’ve really needed to work on player progression for a game and I’m sure this will help!

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