Feedback is something you get back in response to something you do. Feedback loops are constant responses to things that you constantly do. Most games are goal-oriented, meaning you constantly do something like getting richer or getting more points. These loops are very important for game design, and even when you don't know it, you are using them!
Mostly, loops are divided into positive and negative.
Positive - You do something good, you get a good response. This is basically what governs most RPGs, kill a monster > get XP > become stronger > kill a stronger monster... you see where I'm going with this. This is a very good thing when done right, but you need to know when to cut it short. This is because positive feedback can lead to a runaway leader problem in competitive games. Look at Teotihuacan your workers become stronger the more 'strong' actions you take, but when they are at their strongest and you take another action - they die. This is a positive feedback loop that is cut short multiple times during the game.
Negative - The opposite of positive (dah...) which means that you punish the leader and reward the players lagging behind. These are your catchup mechanisms. They can be very annoying when you succeed and feel like the game is punishing you for doing good. In Pandemic Legacy season 1, when you win you reduce your ability to improve the cards between games (one of the best things in the game). When I played, I felt robbed. We won our first 3 games and the game in response removed one of the best mechanisms for us. We did not finish the whole game. Be careful with those... and if you do use them maybe use a soft loop.
This is something I'm defining right now, so hold tight. Maybe someone else already defined it but not to my knowledge.
Soft - When your feedback loop affects the acceleration and not the speed. In all Brass versions the more money you earn the slower you can increase your income. What is hurt is not your income itself, just your income acceleration. At the start, every 1-2 steps give you +1 income, by the end of the game it is 4-5 steps for +1 income. This allows lagging players to catch up but doesn't pull the breaks on the leader.
Hard - Should I do the opposite joke again? It wasn't funny the first time?! well, ok. Don't be afraid of hard loops, they keep many games running. Sometimes the leader gets a smaller benefit between rounds, sometimes the lagging player gets a big benefit. Sometimes you just need to give people the feeling they are not out of the game and in many of those times, you need a hard negative feedback loop. As a designer, you mostly want to push the game towards benefiting the lagger instead of kicking the leader down actively.
The next one is weird, so hold on even tighter there.
Synthetic - These are feedback loops that come directly from the rules. Nothing more the say here.
Natural - These rise from the players naturally. In direct conflict games for more than 2 players, if one player become stronger players can combine powers and beat the leader down. Nothing in the rules says it should happen, but it does. Even in games without direct conflict, if you have the option to take a resource that the leader wants or a resource that the last player wants, you might take the former if they are both about the same to you.
Loop away!
Pini!
In the picture, some sort of loop... I was lazy with the picture this time.
コメント