100 Principles of Game Design

1. Universal Principles for Game Innovation

A/Symmetric Play and Synchronicity

Symmetric gameplay occurs when players experience the exact same thing at the same time when they are playing a game together. Chess, an analog game, is one such game (with the exception of Chess by mail, where one player knows the move well in advance of the other). Pong is the quintessential symmetric gameplay example in the video game world. Both players experience each move in tandem, perfectly synchronized; each sees exactly what the other sees on their screen.

Many console game that are multiplayer show players the same thing at the same time. In Mario Kart, players see the same “overhead map” of all the players’ progress while each “window” shows each player ...