Developer Blogs - Emotional Design: Playing with Fear

Location: Blogs Theoretically Speaking
Posted by: Andrew Douglas	7/11/2006
Last time, we discussed how to keep our players encouraged, even when they weren't in the lead. Towards the end of the article, I mentioned how one player's hope is another player's fear, and so we're going to be looking at the other side of the coin today. Game designers have a lot of ways to play around with fear that go beyond just adding interest, but actually serve as the addictive hook that keeps players coming back for more. So let's go over a few ways fear can be found in games. Fear of Failure: I'm a game developer, and an indie at that, so me and the fear of failure go way back. But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about strategically applying a form of "pressure" to the player to keep them on their toes, or else they die. There are a couple of ways to do this. The Inevitable - This is probably the most broadly used category of fear in games today as it includes everything from using timers to ticking time bombs in match 3 games. It focuses the player's attention on being as efficient as possible and requires unique problem solving skills in an environment that is often filled with routine tasks. It's found in nearly every casual game, however it's also slightly counter to the standard "casual game" philosophy. Most casual games add these stressors to the experience to break up the monotony, but most casual game players are looking to relieve stress and escape pressure. It's an odd juxtaposition, and the most successful casual games reward their player's ability to handle the pressure visually and audibly, as well as by rewarding them with bonus points, bonus levels or clearing the area to make the game easier for a while. Overcoming this fear leads to a whole slew of emotions that will keep your players coming back for more - such as relief, pride and joy. Death by Dying - Another subcategory of this fear of failure is the fear that comes from dying at the hands of the enemy or at the bottom of a pool of lava. No one wants to die, and knowing that a "baddy" or a pit full of deadly spikes is coming up gets us all on edge. Some of the best games ramp up the difficulty level even further to ensure that the player can expect to die at least a few times before they get it right (note: that's not to say that you should create a scenario where the player ever only has a random chance to succeed, but rather that they must perform their required tasks well or they will be punished). You may be able to catch the review of Master of Defense by 1goodgame.com, where Savant mentions just how much he likes losing when it's his fault. It can be quite fun to put your players in a pressure cooker and then watch them sweat it out, or throw gobs of enemies that no mere human can ever hope to defeat (I'm looking at you Geometry Wars) but you can apply too much pressure, and if it's not rewarding, it's annoying and tiring - so be careful with how you balance it. Monster Closets: See Doom. Monsters appearing out from behind what used to be a solid wall will make the player jump out of his now soaked drawers if done correctly. And this is fun?? Some people thrive off the adrenaline rush accompanying that moment of surprise. Catching your player off guard isn't necessarily difficult, either. It helps to play up on the fear of the unknown here as well. Building tension through scary music and keeping the lights down low so that you can't see very far are incredibly simple and yet very effective. Audio is really key to get the bowels loosened properly. Every low budget, scary movie can pull it off, so why not games, eh? If this is your cup of tea, then so be it, but personally, I find that it's much more fun when the players can scare or surprise each other. Hiding/Camping provides it's own fears - the fear of being discovered and the subsequent fear of being ridiculed for being a camper - but catching another player by surprise is sublime. As a game designer, I rarely feel the need or desire to scare the pants off the player, but I do like to come up with ways where one player can manipulate an opponent into a false sense of security and then ambush them when they least expect it. It's a great way to put the control back into the players hands and yet still have a healthy amount of tension. And finally, there's one fear you don't want anywhere near your game: The fear of being ripped off. This can happen either in game - where a bad physics or collision detection calculation goes against the player, or it can be about the game itself - is the game really worth the money you're asking them to spend on it? Once you lose a player's trust, it's gone. If you never had it, they'll never really let themselves go so that they can truly enjoy themselves. The game is no longer fun and their wallets stay firmly in their pockets. You have to be extraordinarily careful not to play with this fear. Don't dole out cheap deaths. Don't break your own rules. Don't play silly buggers with your game demos. It's simple really, but it's fundamental. Don't screw it up. So homework time: How are you using fear in your games? Is it used effectively to draw the player in or are you pushing them away? Check your player's pulse. Does your game make their heart go pitter patter just the way you want, or is the pitter patter you hear the sound of their feet as they leave through the door? Do your players trust you? Should they? Are you using audio appropriately to get the players on the edge of their seat, and are they justly rewarded for their efforts? Alright, so enough of this pycho garbage - next time I'll be putting together some hard core tips for Torque Game Builder owners that may also help anyone else doing 2D games. And if you're an artist, or hope to aspire to one day become one, then be sure to check out our artist's blog this week. He's got a great video showing off how you can save yourself loads of time in your art creation pipeline just by cheating. Here's a quick picture to sastisfy my blog/image quota: We plan on doing some more behind the scenes videos, so if you have any suggestions, please let us know. Thanks! -Andrew Douglas theoreticalgames.com

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