10.20 - the banker vs. the ruler

Battle-Battle is the case study of the week - a game that combines randomness with strategy and even places some power of rule-making in the hands of the player.

I played Battle-Battle with Ray on Tuesday, and let me tell you; I got absolutely demolished. I did not win even one round. I was playing as The Banker, and Ray played as The Ruler. Even with being able to add 2 to my roll, it was not enough against Ray’s instant-win condition. Therefore, it was not only randomness against me but also a clear balance issue.

This principle is described as “fairness” in Chapter 11 of Zach Hiwillwer’s Players Making Decisions. According to Hilwiller, “Fairness is key to how players perceive randomness.” For instance, if I could’ve played as The Trickster instead, there’s a great chance that Ray and I would’ve been better matched up. The concept of fairness is very apparent in rank-matching video games like Call of Duty or Overwatch.

I had the opportunity to mitigate the randomness/balance double team when Dr. S gave us the task of modifying our character cards in any way we saw it. I decided to include the ability to exchange two tokens for one health point. Ray changed their card to reduce the amount of tokens. Even then, I was getting demolished. Ray made the executive decision to reduce their health by one at the start of a round. This switch was a game-changer, as I finally won not one but three rounds! And… well, Ray also won three rounds, but this was clear evidence that things were definitely more balanced.

On a similar note, the only way I was able to tell that things were as bad as they were was because there was sufficient documentation. Little did we know modifying our characters in Battle-Battle was the first step of our new game design process, and making sure that we keep track of this is integral to a good game. In Chapter 7,  Macklin and Sharp advocate for thorough game design documentation as “documenting gives you clarity about what you are making…, how it will take form…, and what to do next…”. Of course, having a clear vision is beneficial, but especially when working on a team.

Macklin, C., & Sharp, J. (n.d.). Chapter 7. Game Design Documentation. In Games, design and play: A detailed approach to Iterative Game Design. essay, Addison-Wesley. 

Hiwiller, Z. (2016). Chapter 11: Randomness. In Players making decisions: Game Design Essentials and the art of understanding your players. essay, New Riders/NRG.