Questions tagged [difficulty]
The level of challenge in the game, as determined by the relative ease of the gameplay.
37 questions
15 votes
5 answers
5k views
How to solve the “stuck on a level, the next level is locked” problem
Suppose I’ve got a game which is split into levels (level 1, level 2, etc). I might decide on locking levels. That is, when a player first boots up the game, they can only play level 1. Once they have ...
- 724
30 votes
3 answers
6k views
As a solo developer, how best to avoid underestimating the difficulty of my game due to knowledge/experience of it?
In designing many different types of games where a player's skill is a factor in progressing through the game, one is able to put challenges ahead of a player of varying difficulties. For example, in ...
- 724
0 votes
1 answer
191 views
Automatically setting the parameters based on player's ability
I work on a simple arcade game. The player controls a diver. The diver moves forward at a constant speed. The player can use input controls to move the diver up or down. Along the way, the diver ...
26 votes
12 answers
8k views
Avoid player getting stuck with underpowered character
For a sidescrolling shooter I’m working on, I got stuck on the following: The game allows the player to buy upgrades for their character. This oppertunity comes in the form of a shop that sits at the ...
- 413
1 vote
4 answers
312 views
How to increase difficulty of a catching game
I'm developing a game where products fall from the sky, and you need to catch them. A bomb also falls, and if you catch it, you die. I have 3 different products with 3 different scores. I want the ...
- 11
3 votes
2 answers
2k views
Balancing stats for combat difficulty in RPG Maker MZ
I'm using RPG Maker MZ to make a game but am having extreme difficulty in developing good systems for leveling my characters and making for a challenging, but fair and balanced battle (especially with ...
0 votes
0 answers
113 views
Creative difficulty "ascension level" options
I'm making a roguelike (not a deck builder though) heavily inspired by slay the spire. I'm looking to flesh out my ascension style difficulty levels with creative and interesting penalties for the ...
- 167
24 votes
8 answers
7k views
What is the design rationale behind hard content that's limited to only a couple attempts per week?
There is currently a lot of discussion in the World of Warcraft playerbase about a recently added feature: Horrific Visions. Visions are personal areas you can enter alone or with a handful of players ...
- 765
4 votes
1 answer
816 views
How to determine what difficulty is right for the game?
I am targeting mass casual audience as I am developing the hyper-casual game. The problem is that I have played Helix Jump and Color Bump 3d and those games have a pretty big difference in difficulty ...
- 373
16 votes
4 answers
6k views
How to make a 'One Hit and Dead' platformer feel fair
I am currently making a run 'n gun platformer, in which the player dies instantly when they get hit. I'm curious how to make this feel fair. I'm aware of putting checkpoints frequently enough, ...
user124517
5 votes
3 answers
454 views
How to test if a level is passable?
I am making an classic 2D arcade ball game. There will be 100 levels in this game. And after the 80th level passing the level by doing some arcade stuff will be very difficult. For example level 100 ...
- 51
4 votes
2 answers
2k views
How to design simple turn based combat system with multiple difficulties?
I am developing a small, turn-based game with spaceships. The user-controlled spaceship has two modes, let's call them offense and defense mode. The user can freely switch between modes. There are ...
- 41
8 votes
3 answers
2k views
How can I prepare the different difficulty levels for my game?
I've though about creating the game for the easiest difficulty level, and from there scale up and create the other, more difficult difficulty levels, but I'm not sure it's the fastest way to go. How ...
- 1,839
4 votes
1 answer
451 views
How can I test if my rage game's hardest levels are achievable?
I love rage games and have made a rage game too, but I always wondered how to test if levels in these types of games are too hard or not, since it's ironically too hard to test. For example: If I ...
- 158
5 votes
1 answer
552 views
Score balancing and progression limitation based on stars
Introduction I'm creating a game where the player can obtain 1 to 3 stars for each level based on the score it gets (based on the completion time). The levels are grouped in "worlds" each of which is ...
- 103