In my game, PB & Jay, there are worlds/levels the player can enter through portals in a hub world. I’m not sure if I should add barriers/requirements to players being able to access those levels/worlds in my game. The main collectible in the game is Golden Toast, with 6 being in each world.
On the one hand, adding a requirement to continue to other worlds/levels gives the player far more of an incentive to collect the Golden Toast. Right now in the game, it’s just to know you complete stuff. There are badges for each world if you collect all golden toast in each world. This change might also help with retention as players are forced to play more (if they missed collectibles on the first run/go around).
On the other hand, it could reduce retention if the balance isn’t correct. If I implement this requirement system, I won’t make 100% of collectibles from the previous world required to continue. That’d be too much. Maybe 60% is a good number. The adding of a barrier also just, well, is a barrier. I really don’t want players to join the game and leave after playing the first world or second world, only to never play it again.
How Spyro’s Reignited Trilogy does it:
There are levels that are connected to hub worlds, but there are multiple hub worlds. My game has one hub world. Spyro has no requirements to access levels in a hub world, but you need enough collectibles to progress to the next hub world. My game wouldn’t fit this because I have one hub world. But, I do enjoy the open nature of allowing the player to play whatever.
How Kao the Kangaroo does it:
The Main collectible, Runes, are required to unlock levels. This is likely the direction I’d go in for my game.
So, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this game design challenge. If you need more info, feel free to let me know! 