Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

Dynamic Balance

Dynamic balance covers the opening, midgame, and endgame of classic game analysis on a much finer scale. Rather than treating the game as three discrete phases, which is fine for postgame analyses, we have to consider the fully continuous spectrum of play, from start to end. This differs from the static balance, because we have to consider the interaction of the player or players with the statically balanced system. We are concerned with not only static balance, but also dynamic balance—how the balance changes with time and player interaction.

We have to consider passive balancing, that is, keeping the system in balance with the player, without actually moving the equilibrium point. We also need to consider active balancing, shifting ...