Hello! I’ve made a +1 Speed Escape Obby and I’m currently working on balancing the progression. I’d like to get some advice on how to properly balance this type of game - and, to be honest, especially considering that games in this genre often turn into cash grabs.
Here’s a quick overview of my current progression system:
- The player starts at Level 1.
- The first level cap is 25, after which the player needs to rebirth.
- Each rebirth gives +0.5% multiplier and increases the level cap by another 25 levels.
- Rebirths can also be skipped by purchasing a Dev Product.
- The XP required for a level is calculated as:
math.floor(98 + (level ^ 1.5 * 19.37)) - There are also auras that provide additional multipliers and can be purchased with Robux or Wins.
- Players can use treadmills where they can AFK for different multipliers. The F2P option gives x2, while paid options can go up to x10, x16, etc.
- The overall multiplier is currently calculated as:
(iceSkatesMultiplier * rebirthMultiplier * auraMultiplier) * robuxMultiplier - There are also ice skates, which increase the player’s speed per step.
- At the start of each stage, there’s a button that allows the player to claim a win.
For the map itself, I’m planning each stage around a specific completion time. My goal is to prevent players from progressing through the first world too quickly, while still making the progression feel rewarding.
What I’m struggling with is figuring out where to start when balancing all of these systems together.
For example:
- How do I make the game not feel boring or repetitive?
- Where should I start balancing: stage times, XP, speed, rebirths, multipliers, etc.?
- What metrics should I track to know if progression is too fast or too slow?
- How do you generally approach balancing a game like this from scratch?
- How can I keep F2P progression reasonable without making it painfully slow, while still making paid multipliers feel valuable?
- What are the most common balancing mistakes I should avoid?
I’ve never really balanced a progression system before, so I’d appreciate any advice, methodology, or examples of how you would approach it.