In order to make the game more exciting and engaging for players, game balance is taken very seriously by developers. Your game should be designed in such a way that it is neither too frustrating for players nor is it too boring. It should be perfectly balanced in the middle.
However, it is quite challenging to balance out a game since players of all types of levels are going to play it. Any particular level might be tricky for one player but a piece of cake for the other. So, to ensure game balance and make sure that your game is enjoyable, here are some tips you can implement while building your game.
1. Identify Your Target Audience
Identifying your target audience plays a vital role in ensuring game balance and making the game more appealing. This means answering questions like who is the game for; adults or children? Is the game for casual or professional players?
The answers to these questions can really help you develop a game that has a balanced level of difficulty. So, in case you are developing a game for adults, then it should not be so easy that they would get bored and quit playing.
On the other hand, if the game is for children, then it should not be so difficult that they get frustrated and quit the game.
2. Gradually Changing The Difficulty
Slowly but gradually increasing the difficulty of the game also helps in ensuring game balance. Start the game out with easier levels or quests and keep increasing the difficulty as the player moves forward in the game. This gives players a sense of improvement.
It also helps players in building skills and confidence in themselves, so there is a high chance that they will continue with the game. Secondly, it prevents them from quitting the game by feeling overwhelmed by the high difficulty of the levels for their skill set at that time.
3. Provide Several Difficulty Levels
To balance the difficulty level of the game, offering multiple difficulty levels is also a great idea. Players can simply choose how easy or difficult they want their game to be. So, if a player is looking for challenging and difficult gameplay, they can increase the difficulty.
However, players looking for easy and relaxed gameplay can lower the game’s difficulty level. Not only this, but giving players the option to choose the difficulty levels also helps in bringing in a vast audience. This is because players of different skill sets can all play and enjoy the game the way they want to.
4. Don’t Make The Game Easier For A Skilled Player
There are many games that offer rewards to skilled players and decrease the difficulty of the game for them. On the other hand, the players who are doing poorly in the game keep on struggling, and the game becomes even more challenging for them.
Such players become discouraged and stop playing the game. This messes up the game balance, and neither party is happy in the game. What should be done is that skilled players should still get upgrades, but their difficulty level should also be increased.
The players who aren’t good at the game should be “punished” by lowering the game’s difficulty level for them.
Conclusion
Aside from the points mentioned above, developers should also make sure to keep testing and working on the game balance. Playtesting should also be implemented, where players try the game and give feedback based on their experiences.
To learn more you can check us out at Camlann Games and see how we can help you build your game!
