Advanced Game Design

CHAPTER 9

GAME BALANCE METHODS

It is not enough to construct a working game with a strong concept and working systems. You must also make sure the game forms a cohesive whole with dynamic balance.

In this chapter we explore both intuition-based and quantitative methods you can use to make your game balanced and how they work with both transitive and intransitive game systems.

Finding Balance in Your Game

Game balance is a term often used by game designers to indicate how well a game plays. This balance is achieved based on the relationships between different parts in the game. As you saw in Chapter 8, “Defining Game Parts,” those relationships ultimately come down to the attributes and values of different parts and the behaviors they use to affect ...