Controlling Flow

flow. what is flow? flow is the pace of a game. it's difficult to describe, but i guess a simple way of looking at it might be the progression of the level of excitement or involvement you provoke in the player.


a book might be written in terms of conflicts and drama introduced and hopefully concluded in some way by book's end. the pacing is generally (not always) built around three phases- beginning, middle and end. introduction, drama, conclusion.

games, however, run on a different clock

i once read an interesting book called The Art of Game Design, by Jesse Schell.
mr Schell compares the control of excitement in a game to that of a juggling performance- with the same intentions and requirements. unlike the author of our book, a juggler can't afford to take his time introducing the art of juggling to his audience, no professional busker ever displays basic skills like throwing and catching a single ball. he needs something to grab ahold of people, and make them care enough to hang around. once that's established, he might back down a little, then steadily build excitement to a final climax- whereapon he ends his performance at maximum intensity. there's no wind down to a conclusion.

the flow of a good game is built a very similar way. take something like space invaders.
initial spike of interest- an alien horde is approaching! shoot them!
step back a little- they're no real threat as yet, and i've been shooting for a while now.
build excitement- now there's only a few left, they're hard to hit! and they're moving faster!
end on a climax- ONE ALIEN RRGH SO FAST! SO HARD TO SHOOT! AND HE'S SO CLOSE!

now, space invaders isn't exactly flow on a massive scale, but the point holds for longer games too- though they might be defined more by a series of slight peaks of excitement leading up the curve towards that final climax. this is controlled in a variety of ways.

1. the difficulty.
excitement from increasing challenge. reasonably straightforward, as things get more difficult, there's a greater adrenal surge in their attempt. (careful not to lock out your player with impossible tasks though)
2. the stakes.
excitement from the increasing importance of player actions. this could be in the form of committed resources- dying means you lose more items/progress, or simply the stakes of the plot- eg. from protecting an asteroid to defending the whole earth.
3. plot investment.
excitement created by being invested in what happens next. this is a tricky one to work in, it really depends on fine writing and great plot progression. a good example is Deus Ex (1), where the player is invested in discovering more about the big evil conspiracy, and every level reveals a more disturbing secret.

think enough about any game you've played and really enjoyed- pacman, bejewelled, even seemingly mono-flow games like grinding MMOs are themselves constructed of a series of quests or objectives that fit this model.
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Anvil will be delivering on hopefully all counts.
1. difficulty. navigating the levels will never be super challenging- there are more than enough meatgrinder platformers out there- but the character-specific tasks might be more strenuous from both puzzle solving and reflexes perspectives.
2. stakes. i'm seriously considering implimenting a score or lives system...not a 'three lives left' kind of system, but more a 'this item makes death a little easier to deal with'...whether that simply means checkpoints, or some kind of fast-revive, who can say.
3. plot. i don't want to give away too much about plot at this stage, but the progression fits this model. a jolt, then a slow rise to a climax.